Playing in the back four
This document is based on information written by Dick Bate (National Coach U15 in England). It is quite common amongst most teams to play with a back four in defence. Certainly, when I was in charge of the Pakistan International XI team, the players seemed comfortable to play with a back four. Although playing in a back four requires players to interchange positions, the basic concept is widely used. I tend to encourage most teams I coach to play from the back line and find the following practices useful. If there are more than one team in the club, then it may be useful to use two sets of a back four. If not, then you may simply be able to use a back four and a midfield four.
Practice 1
- No goalkeepers are needed in this practice which is sited around the edge of the middle third of the pitch – marked by cones.
- Coach C starts the practice by serving the ball into any player of the 0 back four – in the instance here to O6.
- When the ball arrives at a full back (O3 in this case) it is delivered some 30 yds forward to the opposite full back (X2). As the ball is delivered by O3 to X2 the back four pushes forward to compact the play.
- On receiving, X2 transfers the ball to X5 and the team ‘changes the play’ to X3, who then delivers to either O2 or O5 for the process to begin once more.
Technical content of the practice
• Attacking
• ‘Changing the play’
• Shape of the back line, distances from each other.
• Quickly with minimum touches, possibly ‘missing out’ a centre back in the process.
• Awareness of others positioning prior to receiving the ball.
• Pass quality – along the back line
– forward to the other group.
• Supporting the forward pass
– pushing forward
– when?
– how far?
• Distances between players and role as the ball is moved across the field.
• Defending
• ‘Sliding’ defence across the pitch as opposite back four transfers the ball across their line.
• Positioning off other players in the back four – ahead, behind, distances.
• Depth of the back-line and awareness of others movements.
• ‘Spreading’ quickly as a back four player receives the incoming pass
– where, how, speed etc ?
Practice 2
• Introduce one central midfield player (or two if the team operates with two central midfield players} to each team.
The central midfield player X4/04 can now combine his play with the back four players. The four centre backs (X5, X6, O5, O6) can now receive pass and run with the ball into the midfield area, as in diagram 2. Should this action take place, then X4 replaces X6 (in the Diagram) and becomes an integral part of the back line and X6 now operates as a
midfield player. Also, on receiving the ball at the back, X6 may choose to play a “cross-pass” with X4 as he comes out of the back line. Once into the midfield area, our central back now distributes the ball into the opposite back-line and the whole process can be repeated. Additionally, the back four may choose to involve the central midfield player in
changing the play across the back, as illustrated by the Os back line in Diagram 2.
Technical content of the practice
• Attacking
• ‘Changing the play’ – all factors from Practice 1
• Combining with central midfield players
– wall passes
– feints to pass to central midfield
• Running with the ball from base line and adjustments of position from other defenders
• Involving the central midfield player in changing the play.
• Pass quickly
– across the back line
– to and from the central midfield player
– distribution from the central back in midfield areas
• Central midfield operating in the back line
• Central back operating in midfield
• Spreading and supporting any pass receiver
– where?
– when?
– how?
• Central midfield positioning distances as back four arranges the play.
• Defending
• ‘Sliding’ defence as the ball is changed across the opposition back line.
• Positioning off other players in the back four.
• Depth of the back-line and awareness of others movements.
• ‘Sliding’ of central midfield player as opponents change the play, etc.
Practise 3
Two more players are introduced with the practice. X9 and 09 operate to disrupt the flow of the play across the back line and also to act as targets for forward passes from the back players in possession. The central midfield player still operates ahead of the back line but now chooses his positions according to the movements of the striker opposing the back line players. Striker X9 in practice 3 moves according to the flow of play and where appropriate, is a receiver of the ball from his own back line.
However, back players may still pass to their opponents back line if X9 cannot make a logical and suitable position to receive. Should the striker X9 or O9 receive a pass from a back player he could lay the ball off to the central midfield player moving to support him, or feed any other
member of the back line moving forward to support. The receiver from X9 (in practice 3) now plays the ball into the back four of the ‘0’ team and they initiate play at the back once again.
Technical content of the practice
• Attacking
• As in Practice 1 and Practice 2.
• Back four players supporting striker receiving the ball.
• Quality of passes with striker’s feet for ease of lay off.
• Positioning and movement of central midfield player supporting the receiving striker.
• Defending
• As in Practice 1 and Practice 2.
• Who marks X9/09 (striker) receiving forward passes?
• How is the striker marked?
• Is the back four defence to be organised as a zonal back four or man-for-man marker on the striker and a free back?
Practice 4
Further players can be introduced and the field lengthened. Play is from penalty area to penalty area and goals and goalkeepers now introduced, and a final progression could be made to play 11 v 11 on a full size pitch. Two wingers and two more midfield players are added to the practice,
which commences when either coach or an opposition player (in Diagram 4 it is O7) plays the ball to the goalkeeper. The back four positions to play out from the back and attempts to do so introducing midfield players if necessary. Play is free with the intention to score past the opponent’s goalkeeper.
Technical content of the practice
• Attacking
• Back four ‘shape’ to receive from the goalkeeper against three opponents.
• Awareness, controlling, touch and decision to pass, run the ball or combine with other players to progress the play from the back.
• Support and positioning of midfield players to assist any back player coming out from the back with the ball.
• Positioning of forward players in central and wide positions to receive passes from back players.
• Interchange of positions between back and midfield players.
• Distribution over short and longer ranges from back players.
• Operating as a midfield player on coming forward from the back etc.
• Roles of midfield players on forwards receiving passes from the back.
• Defending
• Roles and responsibilities of a zonal back four, or man-for-man and free back roles.
• Showing ‘infield’ or ‘outside’ by full backs.
• Marking, challenging, blocking and defending against crosses.
• Back four distance from the ball when play is with opposition back four.
• Back four and goalkeeper understanding.
In the practices above, the coach may wish to work with both sets of back fours offensively and defensively. However, it may always be recommended to simply work with one team.
Great work :)
Make sure you use it at your club. Rehan
Nice drills….These drills are very important for us because our concept is that defenders are not able to control and pass the ball…..So we should try these drills for improvements in defender’s skills and combination of defenders with other team-mates……
mr rehan its ok but for ur information….
in modern football there is no back four.
actually it depends on attacking or defending tactics
e.g
while attacking the left full back and right full backs usually become wing midfields as well as left and right outs on the flanks. where as while defending ur there is a six line defence or seven…?
e.g these back four are in the box and the right and left midfielders fall back to 18 yards etc.
perhaps two defensive midfield players also fall back to the extent of 16 yards like spain.
teams defend in numbers .
a team like german plays with two defenders and 5 or 6 midfields.
spain with three defenders and 6 midfield players.
the strategy of european coaches is ten men behind the ball.
but u need lot of stamina to implement this tactic approach.
team has to work as a cognitive unit.
i attended a 15 day course of erich ruttemoller .
he was the poineer pro licence instructor of europe, germany.
these instructors and other courses of europe they will never ever share latest tactics on net.
dont get me wrong rehan but its a fact.
tell me ur idea of deep laying defense? (2 examples plz. practical with diagram)
mid field pressing?
perhaps i can share something new with you?
but u must write at least 250 -450 words on these two topics so that we can exchange some knowledge
faisal bhai we will love a regular weekly column on technique and skill by you if you can :)
gauhar what is the duty of two or three defensive midfield players? if u can answer that u will understand what i am saying .
this is what spain did. even this is not total football.
if i have two defensive midfielders in my team i will give the full backs offensive roles and make the defensive midfielder of that side to watch that side while the other defensive midfielder can become the central midfielder for the offence! it gives me more options to contain centrally attacking sides too
faisal bhai the BACK 4 is dynamic but STILL a back 4!
I know a lot of tactics too you know :D
while virtually full backs can become wing backs with an extra defensive midfielder their main purpose of defending from the flanks remains and their organization as a back 4 is there still!
Ten man behind the ball wasnt seen for germany as ozil was given a free role and muller and podolski were also offensive players not to mention the striker.
Iniesta and Fabregas likewise!
The modern football is more based on either of the two basic formations, 4-4-2 and 4-5-1(4-3-3) with their variations driving most teams. Gone are the days of super full backs played by brazil!
super fullbacks ?gauhar ask rehan
what is the minimum level of homoglobin level required for a super full back?
alex ferguson used to have hb results before match of all plaeyrs and in interval too. this has been
confermed by a pre instructor, mohsin gillani and one phd teacher who got his doctorate from europe in sports sciences.
rehan u have got to learn a lot and i dnt mind u asking me or sharing knowledge.
remember Nothing in coaching is Right or Wrong.
this has been said by many coaches great coaches.
what i say is right you can prove it wrong and vice versa.
but a successful coach has to change with times and innovate new ideas.
did you ever measure the heart beat of player in interval?
u can use ur index finger and thumb for that?
dont tell me why should i ?
there are many reasons for that?
the breath of fit player returns to normal in one minute and 30 seconds that is of international player.
of unfit player it may take three to five minutes .time.
i hope you also attend a top level conditioning clinic for soccer players.
the top pro instructors have failed repeatedly to answer my questions?
but by discussions u learn daily and till ur last breath ur learning never stops.
will a european team ever win in south america in modern times lets see in 2014.
can u study, evaluate observe brazilian tactics then europe is nothing. i think i might be wrong but no one in europe knows those tactics. you might think its a joke but since 1994 brazilian dominance was great but those players became old and they did not transfer their knowledge . they might do that when they become coaches in 10 to 20 years.
spain and holland have great setups academics where training sessions are recorded frm two three angles. they studied brazilian style of play for minimum one decade and invested for five decades in foreign players before winning silverware. and just by listening tv commentary of former players and coaches we WE will not learn.
rehan try to get a fourth division team to coach or lower lever and i would love to see you at least reach championship.
it is very very difficult to even bring team harmony among bunch of lads of manchester of pakistan.
origin .
the last time pakistan visited england was 2000 and played a friendly with coventry city . it was in premier league that year which turned out to be its last iun many years.
our national teams physique was junior school boys to university players.
coventry scored two goals and missed deliberately 35 plus headers from 8 -12 yards. there was a crowd of 500 1500 spectators too.
only a decade ago ur pff was in brief case or sometimes in one room.lol
good days might come. may be.
my qualification are i am a junior student of football.
Thanks Faisal for the message. With regards to your information, all 20 premier league teams in “modern” football are currently playing with a back 4. The world cup was dominated with a back line of 4 defenders which was obvious to anyone who also watched the World Cup final. As for your reference to Germany playing with 2 defenders, well, they actually played with Neuer, Lahm, Friedrich and Mertesacker against Argentina, in other words a back 4. Spain did not play with 3 defenders, they played with a back 4 of Ramos, Puyol, Piqué and Capdevila. They were quite straight forward with a 4-2-3-1 formation which was evident in the final against Holland who were also quite regimented with their 4-2-3-1 formation. Mourinho who recently won the FIFA manager of the year award plays with a formation of 4-2-3-1.
I think its good that you have had knowledge from erich rutemoller. I dont think many coaches however need to declare their tactics on the internet like him. I am sure it is a fact as it is wasting their time. You can simply determine the tactics by watching a game either live or on the net anyway. This is no secret. I watch many games online and can clearly see the tactics a manager adopts just like anyone can.
When you said that the back 4 fall into the 18 yard box, and the midfield onto the edge of the 18 yard box, this for a coach is dangerous. If your defenders are in the box, then this is the panic alarm being set off. Tackles need to be done, but by no means should your defence be that far back and be made to feel comfortable.
As a fellow coach like yourself who obviously has qualified academic knowledge of the game, what formation do you coach? I’d like to also know what level of coaching you have as your comments are quite intriguing. Regarding you requesting information on a deep lying defence, I will most certainly write about this in my next Friday comment. I await your response.
do you really think they play with four then i ma sorry to say you are watching the ball.
two full backs should never gotogether in attack unless ur team is very very offensive.
actually spain during transition plays in M W formation
MW is new for all of you it is 5 midfielders and 5 forwards . rehan and ali ahsan imagine observe very carefully the most offensive football is mw formation that is what is actually happening.
the most defensive is defending in numbers but now they r using the tactics which u failed to reply.
triangle and diamond shaped. the reason why messi failed was diamond shaped that is 4 defenders in front of ball where eveer it went. if we train our team with this tactics even saudi arabia will cry and be in tears and it will very difficult what to do. this is a highly maintained disciplined tactics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
which ur players cannot maintain more then 30 seconds believe me .
it can take place if ur players do open imagery daily for half and hour. plus minimum 25 minutes of this drill practice daily after warm-up. its the coaches decision where to implement it. usually it is best at 20 to 35 yards from goal line.
teams are playing with back four since 1890………!
Correct me if I am wrong, but I said a “FORMATION” based on a back 4………….. tactics are transitional periods during the game where you adapt. Anyhow, please tell me what your football coaching qualifications are. Thanks.
waht if i say murinho plays with 3-4-3 formation.
thats what he said to pro licence participants he lectured and starting formations are used to befool the opponents and the public too.
let me give u strange example.
before 1994 world cup brazilian team played with and practiced with 10 men.
caz emerson had a habit of getting red cards in alternate matches but he was needed for the team.
because because in that decade it was actually proved that the team which commits most fouls wins the matches. it seems strange doesn’t it?
but it is fact.
even murinho uses these tactics.
in one match there was brazilian players who was changed at 42 minutes .
he ran 11.4 kms in that time.
study this tactics carefully and do analysis ur self.
how many opponent players might have been tired caz of him?
2
4
6
or the whole team and even the keeper.
in pakistan our national players run from national camps when they are told to do cooper test or endurance test!
they say this has nothing to do with football.
let me tell you why not a single pakistani footballer is in manchester united
the answer is simple its because no one has that stamina endurance e.g like park song of korea
and agility, thrill speed skill also but for alex ferguson endurance is a pre requisite.
ask any top english football coach who had a meeting with alex and u will know. by the way they dont like pakis playing soccer!?
as u might encounter zeesh do give him these tips.
he is lean lanky like ferdinand but his calcium density in his bones is less then ferdinand .
which means ferdinand is autmatically stronger.same case of HB too.
zeesh needs to do a lot of weight training work on his endurance too.
zeesh rehman is second generation of settled migrants and his sons will definetely
be super stars if he settles in uk.and if they adopt this profession.
these english men dont have anything against pakistan but they select players on merit on which pakistani origins dont fit yet. but when they marry taller wives , their discipline improves their priorities change from business to sports, over all image changes only only only then they will play in top leagues.
if i am a coach of say any epl team i would not pick a asian player not a single one.
but send my scouts to latin and south america and africa.
we are 50 to 75 years behind.
there has to be minimum one hundred thousand like me in pakistan and when that happens we will playing in world cup.
fouls for gaining possession only
Falling 4 defenders in 18 yards was the main reason behind Pakistan conceiding 6 from Nepal
Assalam o alikum.. i want to ask:
1. if we are playing with 5 defenders (4+1), what should be the right place for 5th (sweeper) either in front of 4 defenders or behind them.?
2. when playing 4-4-2 formation, is it right to play 3+1in defence in place of 4 when both teams are equal
W-Salaam Mubashar. To answer your questions:
1) There are not many teams who play with sweepers. Not in the elite leagues anyway. However, to have one behind the back4 wuld be suicidal as the opposotion can play 2/3 strikers on side!! Based on a back 4, you can have a deep lying midfield player who can always drop in between the two centre backs which is normally common.
2) I am not sure what you mean when you say both teams are equal, but its common to see 3 of your 4 defenders holding their line when either full back pushes on high and wide
Thanx a lot for your expert opinions. Sir actually i am Captain and Coach of my college team and i like to play 4-4-2 diamond or 4-5-1 with flanks down,, but my fellows and teachers always push to play (4-3-3). 3 defenders and 1 sweepers behind, not the actual 4 and than 3 on mid and 3 forwards. Another thing is that we have good attacking mid but no well defined striker. So what will be the best formation for us.?
Regards
the only time I see teams with 2 centre backs is when they have both sets of full-backs playing in wing back positions, usually in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation a-la Barcelona and Brazil .
Barcelona’s interesting given that Sergio Busquets often goes deep to become a third centre back with Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique when Dani Alves and Eric Abidal going forward to supply width to Barcelona’s narrow midfield dominance when in possession!
However usually, the full-backs are considered part of a back-four formation who can provide support with width if needed. The popularity of the 4-2-3-1, 4-3-2-1, and 4-3-3 positions today illustrate how important full-backs are in SUPPORTING attacks whilst keeping in mind that their defensive duties remain the same even if two defensive midfielders can help cover their tracks.
Faisal bhai, you should consider visiting Zonal Marking . net with such stuff that show how modern tactics are now applied in Europe etc
http://www.zonalmarking.net/
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/01/19/twtc-the-advent-of-attacking-full-backs/
Nice one on messages gents. Let’s not get confused between formation and tactics. Formations are simple basics or getting your shape, more so when NOT in possession (4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-5-2 etc). However, your tactics during transitions in the game may be altered. Where Barcelona play with a back four, this may change when IN possession. If daniel alves has the ball high and wide, then for sure, his fellow defenders will ift across for support, cover and balance. Its like 4 fingers on a paper moving side to side in a semi circle formation. As simple as even that. The change in transition, simply depends on the tactics you employ. Liverpool vs AC milan is a great example from the champions league final in 2005. From being 3-0 down, liverpool changed the formation DURING the game to 3 at the back with a defensive midfielder cleaning up the mess in front. Upon getting back to 3-3, they resumed the game with a back 4. I am NOT mocking football that is played with a back 3, I merely stating that teams play with a back 4, and this is evident in modern day football. Not many teams play with 2 out and out forwards anymore, so having 3 defenders wouldn’t need to cater for 1 striker. We have a great hypothesis here, but I am simply stating facts. Scroll up, and if anyone disagrees with my comments, then check up the facts of those players and formations mentioned.
was meant to say “……………fellow defenders will shift across for support, cover and balance.”
great coaches have taken one extra man frm the defense and put him in the role of defensive midfielder or left wing midfielder to finish the midfield dominance of opponents or to have a greater security in front of goal or have more possession.
formation definition which u give is okay for beginners.
for big teams if u want to see their real formation then
then \
then the right time is when a goal kick takes place.
80 tactics can be read only at that time.this is for all coaches too, if u disagree u are right and if u agree even then ur right.
there are many matches where full back fall back only once specially right full back.
there was a case in world cup for england when their right back was changed who was crossing properly. i dont remember his name , ericson was coach and he changed him and then england failed to get the ball in 16 yard box.
rehan can u answer the simplest question ?
how many times kick off takes place in match?
there are 2 or more
well do some research plz.
I am qualified, you’re not.
The following is from FIFA’s editions of “Laws of the games 2010/2011”:
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/81/42/36/lawsofthegame_2010_11_e.pdf
On page 27 it says:
Kick-off
A kick-off is a way of starting or restarting play:
• at the start of the match
• after a goal has been scored
• at the start of the second half of the match
• at the start of each period of extra time, where applicable
A goal may be scored directly from the kick-off.
Would you like it explained further? This is research. Other than Faisal, I would recommend anyone else who is reading this message to explain to Faisal as it seems he has difficulty to access any information. FIFA does not stand for ‘Faisals International Football Association’
so its 5 times and not 2. and i am qualified too brother. you want to know my licence number?
its on pff website too.
may be pff will try to cancel it soon.
i am now in management
that will be my goal to.
high level management only.
Rehan Mirza
January 24, 2011 • 3:37 am .
there are 2 or more
In other words, atleast 2 kick offs. Whats your licence number?
there is no zonal marking in modren football caz you can have three defenders on left side just for preventing crosses from teams which have deadly players on there right flank e.g christiano or messi.
ali ahsan what do you say?
zonal marking is the name of a website in this context…..you should give it a look ;) you’ll find it more than interesting
Messi and Ronaldo dont cross the ball as much as its expected from a ‘winger’. In fact, they rarely cross the ball (Messi plays like a centre forward!) The cut into the centre seeking 1-2 passes to go through on goal or score the tap-ins needed with their off-the-ball position like Ronaldo or insane dribbling like Messi!. The crossing in this case is usually provided by wide players like Sergio Ramos, Di Maria, Alves, Abidal, Pedro etc.
we r sharing ur knowledge and not competing but whats the use of four defenders when except for chelsea all european teams play with two strikers????????????????// actually its 3 52 that is both full back s take wing midfield positions. this i am refering with consultations with internatinal coach of repute. out of back three, two do the duty of man to man marking i hope you got it this time where as the last ne dooes the duty of libero or sweeper or central defender at back what ever u call him.
boss, you are right, the full back of the wing that we are attacking from becomes the widest midfielder of the lot, but then again he is a full back when his teams other side is attacking! so the back 3 actually consists of 4 players!
pakistan has been playing with 4 5 6 defenders for last 4 decades.
why not attacking football with brazilian flair.
I have not watched so many teams playing with 3 defenders as it is always 4.. Spain won the world cup with Capdevilla, Pique, Puyol and Ramos on defense while Besquets and Xabi Alonso were defending midfielders. Whenever Ramos was advancing on the flank, Besquets was there to fill his gap on right back. Watch Essein in Chelsea he is the mid but plays on defence too. Liverpool is down only because they have lost Alonso and than Mascherano both were defending mid. i dont think there is any team in EPL which plays with 3 defenders regularly. all have 4 defenders and more than 50% use additional defending midfielder (usually to break counter attacks).
Faisal, what is your qualification, where do you coach and who is this coach of repute that resides in Pakistan where you get your information from? I am just confused that you have NOT researched the premiership, la liga, germany, Holland, Spain….. etc. These teams play with a back 4!!! Anyway, just simply answer even the first question, so atleast I can understand your point. Barcelona, Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern……. these teams play with a back 4 and 1 striker. I think its commendable you consult reputable coaches from Pakistan. However, I am in the UK where we have Pro licence coaches in abundance which I meet and consult. This makes no difference to what my eyes see however.
I would urge you to do your homework. However, I am open to your comments. So, please send me a resource which backs your debate. So atleast, you can correct UEFA, FIFA and atleast the English FA with your claims, because it seems that myself and the most of the earth must have been watching a different world cup where there was a constant formation of 3 defenders.
What is your qualification Faisal? Please state
” seems that myself and the most of the earth must have been watching a different world cup where there was a constant formation of 3 defenders ”
so atlast u agree on three defenders . that was what i was trying to get u say and u did that ur self.
u still did not answer my ? about deep laying defense the term which u have started speaking.i have not missed many english premier league matches since 1987. teams are defending with six defenders and even more. its dangerous if ur opponents shot but not if they are not allowed to shot from 32 yards minimum. thats where marking of three feet occurs. that is arms lenght. it depends on the coachs tactics. this is waht all european teams did in this world cup.the only way to get the ball is through crosses or double one touch wall passes. perhaps counter attacking strategy which alez ferguson uses is more exciting too but for that u need the fastest strikers of international repute which alex ferguson has at his disposal.
mr rehan in the end the main thing is it is the quality of players who make the strategies , tactics successful and break them down.
will alex be successful with pakistan or maradona?
we really really dont have that quality yet?
we are a cricketing nation and not football.
caz from one road of lahore you can have 2 3 cricket teams e.g frm whole of allama iqbal town yu can have 200 -300 cricket teams but only one football team.
when you have quantity of players then you can also have good quality too.
even hockey players have been given central contracts but why not football players.
look at faroe islands results of last decade?
losing badly to england, germany turkey italy so badly badly?
I didnt agree. please read carefully. thanks.
the coach of repute are tom saintfiet and antonie hey and lim kim and george kotton too as i did a refresher course with him too.
very good. I am sure they delivered well
You never met Tom Saintfiet or Antoine Hey, coz they have not been to Pakistan. You only saw their CVs when I sent them to you at your past PFF time.
Hi Malik, i think its quite obvious whats going off here. Thanks for making this point clear anyway. Please scroll up to see my comment abou the kick offs with the link I submited. Please tell Faisal as I am not sure he understands.
Its useless to argument with Faisal sahib. ;) He knows everything and everybody.
I wont criticise anyone, but if there is credible information from a source, then for sure, lets have it. Subjective and objective are two separate forms of information. I have provided objective information and links. Some obviously have not.
sorry yaar thats not true . rehan sorry yaar i have no right to assess. what ever you teach our young coaches has to be credible and plz start from basic and take to higher level. do visit pakistan so that yuo can know our basic club problems.
i have long chats with him on msn and dozens of emails.
he wanted me to be his manager that was when pff did not take him.
both of the above mentioned coaches gave up their respective jobs for pakistans seat but these non- technocrats appointed kottan.
and i never mentioned that i met them did i?
ofcourse we had long chats and i had emailed antonie hundreds of times. as well as lim kim too.
four more then a decade epl teams played with back three whether u agree or not its a fact. manchester united was an exceptional they used 4 players at domestic level and in champions league they used 5 in all matches.
I suggest you get out of Pakistan and attand a coaching seminar. Especially in Europe. You will learn a lot.
i have been to libya, syria, saudia arabia and bangladesh.
Hopefully you will come to Europe some day.
Sir Rehan please tell me that what will be the strongest formation if a team is playing in a attacking position?
Shahid, you are as much a Sir than i am!! Anyhow, your strongest formation simply depends on the attacking options of your team. If a team has good attackers, then you have a reliable task force which can attack. Tevez is absolultley fantastic, as is Torres and David Villa. All are different in their own right. For me personally, i would say 4-3-3, o 4-5-1, but I am sure there will be a difference of opinions. I am a Liverpool supporter and under hodgson, we saw a a team who relied on getting the ball to a striker to often. After watching Liverpool against Wolves on Saturday, we saw players beaking forward in abndance because they were quick and reliable. I can only suggest that a good attacking team will have good attacking players.