This formation is one that many find quite difficult to use successfully. It is a formation that possesses a lot of attacking advantages that allows its user to have a strangle hold against their opposition, but without the right players within the team there will be a leeway for the opposition to take advantage of the lack of numbers within the middle of the park. Anywho, with all of the attacking components within this formation, it tends to be a system that many teams within today’s game are currently utilizing as their ‘in possession formation’ due to being able to completely overwhelm the opposition with endless attacking positioning and movements throughout the entirety of a match. But, let’s dive deep into whom we believe will be the best XI in order to play this formation.
First off, we gotta do something about the lack of numbers within the middle of the park… If you’ve been a soccermanagerite since day 1 you’ll know that we consider the midfield region the most important area on the entire pitch. And this formation isn’t friendly for that region, so an improvisation will be needed #anothershapeshift
DEFENCE
We’re using some inverters within today’s formation, so our defensive set up (in possession) will be a back 2, or back 3 if you consider Gulácsi’s involvement. Anywho… These lads are responsible for simply ensuring that the ball can be transitioned from the defensive third into the attacking third effectively. We have a French combination in our back 2, with Raphaël Varane and William Saliba both seeking to do their respective roles to the best of their ability, but there will be more of an emphasis on Saliba to keep the ball within our possession
MIDFIELD
Introducing our first double inverted system within season 9! Once the ball gets to these lot, then we’ll be able to cause a whole heap of problems against our opposition since they will have atleast 4 players to keep an eye on within the middle of the park at all times (which will open up gaps for our attackers further up the pitch). We start off with the most important player within this XI in Martín Zubimendi who will have everything going through him both in and out of possession. Although you don’t necessarily need an out and out ‘B.W.M’ within this formation, the player who is given that No.8 shirt must be exceptional in terms of their defenisve responsibilities as well as their positioning, and in Zubimendi we have an actual ‘D.L.P’ who is also pretty good defensively, so he will be the one recycling the possession while both Konrad Laimer and Olexandr Zinchenko will assit within the midfield region. Both of them will be crucial when it comes to providing any necessary width to evade pressure, hopping in between the lines to make themselves a nucance, and dropping deep to collect the ball from William or Raphaël. But this doesn’t take away from the fact that they will be doing all of this with a supportive attitude towards Martín
FORWARDS
Although this formation is stacked offensively, the ‘Inverted Fullbacks’ will cause both Riyad and Jack to play slightly wider in order to stretch the opposition during phases of possession. But they won’t stay outwide since the premise of their stock position is to be in the central areas in between the lines. Most of us already know a lot about these two due to them playing for arguably the best team in the world at the moment (well, in the case of Jack, at least). In our “No.7” position, we have the Argentinian Giovanni Lo Celso who is primarily in this team to ensure that Zubimendi never gets isolated. He is playing in the ‘Technical Box to Box’ Midfielder role so he will be granted the opportunity to play his natural creative game with more emphasis on his engine which makes him a key cog within this 4-1-3-2 wheel….
Moving to our front 2, we have a nice combination of players who will aid in the necessary movement and finishing capabilities needed to get on the end of thier creative teammates balls. Serge Gnabry has long time been a very versatile attacking player who possesses a lot of good attributes, and in this formation he will be responsible for floating around the attacking third to make himself as available as possible, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he is a top 5 forward in terms of natural finishing (if you want proof, check out his 4 goals in that demolishing of Spurs in the UCL on YouTube)
DEFENSIVE TRANSITION
Here is where this formation causes alot of headaches… The sheer amount of numbers within the attacking area mean that there really is only one method of defending and it is via the use of an all out press. This is exactly why our ‘No.8’ needs to be extremely defensively resilient since he will also be participating in instructing the forward players in front of him on where to be at all times during these phases of play. Additionally, Lo Celso’s workrate and M(C) instincts are key to avoid any overloads, and we need to have a minimum of 3 players within the backline who are capable of dealing with any 1v1 scenarios that are bound to occur. Unfortunately, we may not have that when it comes to the lackluster capabilites of Konrad (who is a midfielder by trait) or Olexandr (who is a terrible defender… lol). Nevertheless, we still have to take the risk since what they provide in possession might be worth the number of goals that will be conceded…
With this newly found information, you can be assured that this formation will not continue to give you as many issues as it does with most.
The rest of this week’s episodes will be like a family gathering since they all have something in common with each other, so stay tuned for that Soccermanagerite! 🤞
The Soccermanager Experience 