This could be put down to a number of factors; being out skilled, outpaced, out muscled and generally out played by the opposition. Taking up, what would be the full back position, as a mini-Cristiano Ronaldo comes bombing down the wing stepping over the ball, once, twice, a dummy to the left, a drop of the shoulder to the right and before you even have time to turn and track back, your hapless Number 1 is already picking the ball out from the back of the net.
A tempting, yet naive, solution to counteract this reoccurring scenario would be to “park the team bus in front of goal” and have all men behind the ball in a sturdy flat back five in a 5-0-0 formation. Although this would prove frustrating for the quick skilful strikers who rely on bursts of speed and acceleration to outpace the beaten defender, it is giving license for the opposing 5 players to have a half hours long range shooting practise session, with the law of averages dictating that a few of these will find the target and result in a goal or two (or more!).
Some may tell you to always keep two at the back. This can work to certain extent, but it usually leads to two in midfield in a 2-2-1. If a defender, who has pushed forward to support a midfielder, is beaten, then this leaves too many gaps at the back, asking too much of the one other defender to cover.
The trick is to find the right balance. Keeping enough players behind the ball to defend yet keeping attacking options higher up the pitch in order to force the opposition to commit numbers to the back themselves. Below is the 1-3-1 formation which does just this.
 |
| The 1-3-1 |
Firstly there has to be a recognised defender who isn’t interested in roaming forward with the faint hope of putting his name to a goal and taking some glory. His job is to sit at the back, rarely leaving his own third of the pitch. Generally this position is reserved for the veteran of the team whose quickest days are behind him and now lacks the pace to track back from his opponents half. But what he may lack in pace he’ll require in concentration and patience to maintain that position throughout.
Then there are the two “wide” men in the -3-. These two positions are the most important for the formation to work as effectively as possible. They have to understand their role better than anyone. Think 11-a-Side Full-Backs / Wing-Backs. Without possession in their own third, they’ll be required to sit level with the central defender at the back and turn the formation into a 3-1-1, but when their team has possession, they’ll push further up offering support and attacking options higher up the pitch. But, much like our central defender, they will have to be patient not to wander off down the wing on a run or looking for a cross field ball. Once caught out this will have exposed one side of the defence, which can sometimes be salvaged by the central defender pushing over to the exposed side and the ‘2nd wing-back’ filling in at the centre. Unless at least one of the “wide men” has exceptional fitness levels and has the pace to create the role of full-back/wing-back/(attacking) winger then by all means allow this player to roam. But ideally they’ll understand their role of when to defend and when to push up offering a passing outlet for the central midfielder.
Thus we come to the man in the middle of the midfield trio. The perfect player for this would possess the talents to play a hybrid role of the defensive midfielder (often known as the Makelele role) protecting the back -1-, but also being able to bring the ball out from the back and find our two “wide” men who’ll hopefully be in position or find our lone striker up front. And, when the moment occurs he’ll play in the hole. Just behind the front man, creating chances, supplying him with the passes to score or looking to play off him and take that all important shooting opportunity himself. Granted all that may be asking just slightly more than any ‘middle man’ will be expected to play, so for our ‘middle man’ he may have to pick just one of those roles, but seeing as this is a struggling side a more cautious approach with emphasis on defending and spreading the ball to the flanks would be best.
And so we come to the -1- up top, the striker. This will be a frustrating evening for him. He won’t be provided the service he so desperately requires. He won’t be delivered the frequent balls into feet or chances to play one-two passes. He may not see too much of the ball and will probably feel like his match fee hasn’t been best well spent tonight. If he’s patient and keeps a sense of optimism that with every time the team are back in possession is another opportunity to receive the ball and create a chance on goal then he’ll find he’s alert and ready. So for when those few precious moments where the ball falls to his feet and he’s allowed to line up a shot on target, he’ll have the best possible chance of getting a rare goal for this struggling side. He needs to also remember not to get caught drifting in too deep. The further up field he holds his position; the deeper one more opposing player has to hold their position as well. This takes one more man away from your own third and giving the opposing team one less attacking option.
The above description of the system to employ with this formation is a rough guide. However, it is tried and tested. It may not work for your team, but it certainly worked for mine. We didn’t go from taking the wooden spoon to silverware glory, but achieving a respectable mid table finish was better than our usual start of season expectations at least.
