Season 9: PLAYER ROLES MEETS FORMATION MATTERS EPISODE 29: 5-2-3 meets Player Roles

Soccerblog 7 Minutes

After 28 formations, and 308 players used, we’ve reached the final episode of our 9th season in the existence of The Soccermanager Blog… 😌

Today ends what has been quite a journey so far… From the innovation of the ‘3 at the backs’, the revolution of the ‘4 at the backs’, to the unconvention of the ‘5 at the backs’, it has been quite the roller coaster ride over here and we hope to keep that ride going for as long as we possibly can, but let’s get cracking with today’s episode, shall we?

The 5-2-3 is one of the “shape-shifting” types of formations that provides its user a decent amount of versatility which could be quite effective based on who you’re up against. Consisting of 5 defenders, 2 midfielders and 3 forwards, it is a system that allows for enough attacking threat while still maintaining some defensive fortitude. It is similar to the 4-2-4 (linked at the end) in that it requires specific types of players in order to truly get the best balance and best production from the center of the park and we will be seeking to complete season 9 via explaining why each player was chosen for this formation in particular, and how they will be getting on throughout the entirety of the 90…

DEFENCE

We start out with yet another youngish back 6 with an average age of 25 between them. In goal, we have the Portugese international who is the current number 1 for both his club and for the most in form country heading into the Euros, Diogo Costa, who may have a namesake with the Spanish mad man Diego Costa, but will guarantee that he’ll be on the pitch for every match without getting suspended! He’s a nice mix of a traditional ‘Keeper’ who also does a decent job in possession (similar to a Gulácsi) but is more focused on the fundamentals of his job so won’t primarily be too involved in build up play that much. But, when he is called upon he generally won’t let the team down with the ball at his feet.

In front of Costa, we have a back 3 consisting of the English international Marc Guehi, the Danish international Joakim Andersen, and the Brazilian international Danilo. Starting with Andersen, he is highly regarded as the best D(C) outside of the traditional “big six” and for good reasons as he is an EXCEPTIONAL ‘Ball Playing Defender’ who can pick a pass in his sleep while also being an aggressive player who isn’t afraid of getting in a scruff with any forward he’s up against. Joakim will be the main conductor of this team from deeper positions via the use of his short, mid and long range passing at every angle that being the centre of a back 5 (back 3, when in possession) provides. If it’s one thing that Andereon lacks is the ability to dribble out from the back but we’ve got that department sorted out with his real life teammate Marc Guehi, who is really progressing into being one of England’s best D(C)’s currently still playing. Guehi is sharp, focused, strong as an Ox and devilishly fast for a D(C) and represents a very rare group of ‘Stoppers’ who are actually very good at dribbling up the pitch from his defensive quarters (bonus points if you can name the other ‘Stoppers’ of this elk…). He will mostly be responsible for driving up the pitch with the ball at his feet whenever the situation allows him to since he will generally keep things simple on the ball from a passing point of view; In Luiz Danilo, we have the “vet” of this back 6 as the 31 year old seeks to be the leader amongst the rest of his defensive teammates. If it’s one thing that I don’t believe gets recognized enough is how freaking intelligent of a player Danilo truly is. Many seem to have forgotten that he started his professional career as a flying ‘Wingback’ and was once considered the hier to Dani Alves for Brazil, but a few moves to different clubs across Europe has seen Danilo completly change his game from being an attacking ‘Wingback’ to a defensive ‘Fullback’ who can comfortably play in a back 3 or 5, and in this team he will be mostly responsible for utilizing his tactical versatility to get himself into positions where overloads can occur either in central midfield or on the left flank.

Speaking of attack minded ‘Wingbacks’, we have the quite normal evolution of an “old schooled” ‘Winger’ into a modern day ‘Wingabck’ in the German Ridle Baku who is the speedster that thrives in one v one scenarios and will have the entire right flank to his own which is exactly the type of situation Ridle was born to be in. On the opposite flank, what do Filipe Luís, Reinildo Mandava, Renan Lodi, and Samuel Lino all have in common? They’ve all made their name under a particular Argentinan who happens to have a left back fetish since it is arguably the position that Simeone has had most of his success in terms of constant development of top quality. And since Lino is a student of ‘El Cholo’ you can expect him to supply a ticket to a first class flight straight to “defensive solidity” with zero delays. On the ball, Lino is quite the athlete who will provide that all too familiar Brazilian Workrate which will affect Baku’s game for the better since he’ll know that he will be the go to guy for chance creation out on the right flank.

MIDFIELD

There ain’t a lot of formations that can say that the middle of the park is the most challenging area within its structure but unfortunately the 5-2-3 is one of those formations… The positioning of the front men mean that this midfield 2 will have a whole heap of work to do to try to deal with the inevitable overload that the opposition will aim to take advantage of. Not to worry though, because in Manuel Ugarte and Rúben Neves we have two players who will do a stellar job in providing creativity as well as stopping the oppostion from playing. Let’s start off with Rúben Neves who has gone off the grid due to him being lured out of Europe and into the generational wealth builder that is the Saudi Pro League. Seems like we’ve forgotten just how much of a baller Rúben is as he is a player who simply does it all from the middle of the park and will guarantee at least 3 “Golazos” per season. He will be responsible for getting his team playing and is quite an underrated ‘Playmaker’ in terms of the perception of his range of passing. This is solely due to him being partnered by his fellow country-man João Moutinho for majority of his time in the Prem which meant that Rúben was given more of a ‘Traditional
Box to Box’ Midfielder role due to Moutinho’s metronome skills. You can rest assured that as the main creator of this team Rúben will showcase that range of passing that he’s got within his locker since you simply don’t play M(C) and have such a brilliant technique of striking the ball without being able to pass it around the gaff.

Next to Rúben, we have who many believe is the next world class ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’ in the Uruguayan Manuel Ugarte, who has really come to prominence this season at P.S.G and is one of the first names on their team sheet. Ugarte is your traditional ‘no nonsense’ ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’ who loves a tackle but also possesses some technical dribbling skills to evade opposition pressure. And while he keeps things relatively simple on the ball, what cannot be understated is his ability to recover the ball higher up the pitch in the opposition’s half (which we personally believe is his best triait). Ugarte has a “sixth sense” for knowing where to be whenever the opposition tries to clear the ball and this will be crucially effective when applying high amounts of pressure and could see a lot of transitional goals being scored by this XI.

FORWARDS

We absolutely love seeing the make up of this front 3, and here’s why: Due to the painstaking amount of ground both Neves and Ugarte will have to cover, we’re in need of a F(C) who is quite effective at finding space in deeper regions where he can be at his best, and who better to play here than the “Space Investigator”, the man who has the driest sense of humor in world Football, Thomas “Müüüüüüllerrrrr!!!”. The Raumdeuter will effectively be the third creative spark within this XI (alongside Andersen and Neves) and will constantly drop into the midfield to collect the ball and move his team up the pitch. Thomas is one of the best off the ball operators between the width of the goals and will always create space for himself and for his teammates to wreak havoc. Whenever “Müüüüüüllerrrrr!!!” occupies those deeper spaces we’ll need at least one player to fill up the F(C) position and we’ve got two to pick from in the Senegalese legend Sadio Mané who arguably holds the mantle for the ‘Wide Forward’ with the best movement in world football today. And in Nicolás González, we have a forward who started out as a F(C) but has now found a new home as a F(R) who also has good movement into the box but likes to dribble with the ball and is currently going under the radar as the star man for Fiorentina who is bound to play for an elite club in the near future. Both Mané and González not only have accents in their names, but also provide pace, movement and finishing capabilites which mean that this team is covered in the goal scoring compartment.

DEFENSIVE TRANSITION

Although I’ve been mentioning that the 5 at the back formations are the staples for ultra defensive displays, this formation in particular is one that will benefit from applying a high pressing game due to the impact that the front 3 can have out of possession in addition to the ‘Wingbacks’ in order to stop their opposition from building up effectively. However, it is still a ‘5 at the back formation’ so even if you were to go with tradition and be more pragmatic, you can still expect your structure to be difficult to break down and with the counter attacking capabilities from the players within this specific 5-2-3, it just might do the trick to have you going all the way towards glory.

And with that, we say a hearty Avoir 👋… We’ll be taking a few weeks off to prepare for season 10 but don’t shy away from going over our previous seasons or binge this season for as long as you want since the amount of value we’ve provided as a blog simply cannot be found anywhere else…

In a bit, Soccermanagerite… ✌️ 🙂🚶‍♂️

Season 9: PLAYER ROLES MEETS FORMATION MATTERS EPISODE 14: 4-2-4 meets Player Roles

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