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The Three-Man Midfield

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The Three-Man Midfield THE THREE-MAN MIDFIELD by BRIAN BARTOLO Dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the UEFA PRO Diploma 2015-2017 in the Malta Football Association Technical Centre Tutor: STEPHEN GRIMA Abstract Brian Bartolo: The Three-Man Midfield The systems and the style of play of different teams have always been of interest to the various supporters, the media, the general public and especially to coaches. In recent years it has become more and more essential that teams analyse each other’s style and system of play in order to be well prepared to play against the next opponents. Most of the teams have, in fact, employed full time match analysts to help them in performing this job as best as they can. The system and style of play are the team’s identity and these are dictated by the players themselves. The midfield players are the core of each team and therefore, most often, the team is build around these players. The aim of this dissertation is to determine how a three man central midfield in a team operates and how the players move individually and as a group in both attack and defence. The reason why a three man central midfield was chosen for this study is because, in recent years, there have been more teams using three central midfield players rather than two. The questions tackled by this dissertation are: ❖ Which are the different formations that use a three man central midfield? ❖ What are the different characteristics of these players and what impact do they have on the team’s style of play? ❖ What is the role of these players in the possession phase, the non-possession phase and the transition phase of the team? ❖ How do the various midfield players move during different situations, different phases and in different areas of the field of play? ii To My Family and Friends and All the Participants and Tutors of the first “UEFA PRO LICENCE COURSE” held in Malta between September 2015 and April 2017 iii Structure of the dissertation Chapter one gives an explanation of the different types of formations used along the years and how they evolved. It also looks at the different formations using the three man midfield and gives a brief explanation on the three main systems used for the scope of this dissertation: the 1-4-3-3, 1-3-5-2 and the 1-4-2-3-1 systems. Chapter two goes into a detailed explanation of the qualities, characteristics and roles of the various central midfield players and how they are used in different formations. It also represents the analysis of teams using the three main systems mentioned earlier. Two teams have been chosen for each system of play. Barcelona and Bayern Munich were analysed for the 1-4-3-3 system, Juventus and the Italian National Team were analysed for the 1-3-5-2 system while Manchester United and Arsenal were analysed for the 1-4-2-3-1 system. It shows the way they play in different situations against different teams with different systems and it also shows the role of the three central midfield players in each case. Chapter three, the concluding chapter, sets out the reason why these systems are used and also how players with different characteristics are used in similar systems of play and also how these characteristics influence the team’s style of play. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT II Structure of the dissertation iv TABLE OF CONTENTS V LIST OF FIGURES VI LIST OF PHOTOS VI 1 A BRIEF REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE 1 1.1 Different types of formations along the years 1 1.2 Different Formations using the three-man midfield 3 1.2.1 The 1-4-3-3 System 3 1.2.2 The 1-3-5-2 System 4 1.2.3 The 1-4-2-3-1 System 6 2 MAIN STUDY AND MAIN FINDINGS 8 2.1 The Central Midfield Players:Qualities,Characteristics and Roles 8 2.2 The 1-4-3-3 System 12 2.2.1 Barcelona 12 2.2.2 Bayern Munich 16 2.3 The 1-3-5-2 System 21 2.3.1 Juventus 21 2.3.2 Italian National Team 26 2.4 The 1-4-2-3-1 System 31 2.4.1 Manchester United 31 2.4.2 Arsenal 35 3 CONCLUSION 40 3.1 Conclusion 42 BIBLIOGRAPHY 43 v List of Figures Figure 1: The 1-4-3-3 Formation 3 Figure 2: The 1-3-5-2 Formation 5 Figure 3: The 1-4-2-3-1 Formation 6 List of Photos Photo 1: Team squeezes play to one side of the pitch 12 Photo 2: Ultra-high pressing with Busquez being the most advanced player 13 Photo 3: Midfield players in “vertice basso” position 14 Photo 4: 1-3-4-3 in attack with Busquets between the central defenders 15 Photo 5: Messi and Rakitic exchanging positions 15 Photo 6: High pressing pushing opponent to one side 16 Photo 7: Rotation on the right side 17 Photo 8: Hummels during Build up 17 Photo 9: Compact midfield to close passing options 18 Photo 10: 1-2-3-5 formation in attack 19 Photo 11: Kimmich's run from the blind side 19 Photo 12: Team rotation 20 Photo 13: Striker and Central Attacking Midfielder exchange positions 22 Photo 14: Three-man rotation between striker, central midfielder and wing-back 22 Photo 15: Central midfielder attacking the weak side 23 Photo 16: Two central midfielders in the striker position 23 Photo 17: 1-5-3-2 formation during the non-possession phase 24 Photo 18: Squeeze play on the flank 25 Photo 19: Attacking in numbers 25 Photo 20: 1-5-3-2 in defence with straight line midfield 26 Photo 21: Three-man midfield creating space to receive the ball 27 Photo 22: Italy's deep compact defending 27 Photo 23: Attacking with central midfielders and wing-backs 28 Photo 24: Holding midfielder finding the right space 29 Photo 25: Midfield players breaking the lines 29 Photo 26: Advanced midfielders creating different options in attack 30 Photo 27: Rooney pushing opponent’s play to one side 32 Photo 28: The holding midfielder between the two central defenders 33 vi Photo 29: Space left in midfield to exploit 33 Photo 30: Midfield players creating passing angles 34 Photo 31: Midfield with “vertice basso” 35 Photo 32: 1-4-4-1-1 Tight in defence 36 Photo 33: 3v2 Defensive numerical advantage on the flanks 36 Photo 34: 3v2 on the flank with Central Defender covering 36 Photo 35: Three-man midfield aided by the wingers in non-possession phase 37 Photo 36: Central Attacking Midfielder filling space left by Striker 38 Photo 37: Winger pushes in to create space for the advancing full back 38 Photo 38: Fast counter attack. 3v3 situation 39 vii 1 A Brief Review of Existing Literature In football several types of formations are used. Some of these formations are very similar, (pushing just one or two players up or down the field to become a different formation). Others are totally different formations. The early formations in football reflected the all attacking nature of the game, almost completely ignoring the defensive phase. The first international game recorded, back in 1872 between England and Scotland, clearly shows this. England played a 1-1-1-8 or 1-1-2-7 formation while Scotland played a 1-2-2-6 formation. Ironically, with so many players playing in attack, the game ended in a 0-0 draw. 1.1 Different types of formations along the years The first long term successful formation was the 1-2-3-5 formation and was first recorded in 1880. This was the first formation with three midfielders which, however, differ a lot from the modern three-man midfield. This formation lived long and it was used by Uruguay to win the 1930 World Cup. Next came the 1-2-3-2-3 formation used by Italy to win the 1934 and 1938 World Cup. This system also used three central midfielders but with different characteristics. Some critics argue that Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Bayern Munich used a modern version of this system. During the same era there was also the WM formation which basically means a 1-3-2-2-3 formation. This was mainly invented to counter the new offside rule which was introduced in 1925. But soon the 1-3-3-4 formation took over and was mostly used in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The 1-4-2-4 system came next and it was developed successfully in the late 1950’s. It was mostly developed by Brazil and Hungary. Its first success was seen at club level in Brazil by Palmeiras and Santos but it was also used by Brazil to win the 1958 and 1970 World Cup. This system was quickly adopted throughout the world after the success of Brazil in the World Cup. 1 The more modern systems are more flexible and with the movement of one or two players, one might argue that the system has changed. The 1-4-4-1-1 system is the first system using a three-man midfield, although the advanced midfielder is more of a second striker who “drops in the hole”. The 1-4-3-3 was a development of the 1-4-2-4 system and was adopted by Uruguay in the 1950 and 1954 World Cup and also by Brazil in 1962.
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