have its limitations, and the routines of the three central defenders do not seem to be enough to make the powers "sing to the end."
Three central defenders or four defenders? This tactical issue can be said to be an enduring discussion topic in football. During this period of 2020, the former seems to be on the rise. Many giants, including Juventus, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Dortmund, have used it as one of the emergency remedies to resolve the plight of the team. So the trend in the world will be "Suddenly like a spring breeze, the three defenders are popular in Europe"? Not necessarily. Judging from the fact that some teams have changed and changed back, any tactic has its limitations, and the routine of the three central defenders does not seem to be enough for the powers to "sing to the end."
has changed from a traditional four-back to a three-back in the past year. The most typical case is the Premier League Arsenal team. Since Arteta took over at the end of last year, although the Gunners are far from regaining the style of being a strong man in the Wenger era, the recovery and overall progress are still visible to the naked eye. What's more intriguing is that, as a direct disciple of Guardiola, the "Tiki-Taka Grandmaster", the former Manchester City assistant coach does not use "passage control" as an absolute tactical dominant idea at the Emirates Stadium. His current usual formation is 343, but the actual kick is more like anti-reverse.
was the midfielder of Everton and Arsenal in the player era. After hanging up his boots, he assisted Guardiola. Judging from his resume, Arteta did not actually play three central defenders in the past. So why did he choose this kind of routine that does not particularly match his image? The key is probably that the Gunners' defense was too weak. The midfielder is not strong and the defender is in a mess. This is the "big problem" that has existed since Wenger's late coaching. Then Emery and Ljungberg also got worse and worse. When Arteta took over, Arsenal fans chanted "change central defender" for a while, but the reality is that the top central defender is hard to find. A more practical and quick way to improve is to put the defender in the starting line first. Z1z
Tierney, who has a full-back background, "checks for omissions" in the three-back system. The Gunners' defensive staff has increased, and the time for the bottom plate to become relatively stable is naturally less. And "passing control flow" playing "defense first", such a deviant move, don't think that only Arteta is doing it. Even Guardiola, one of his masters, would occasionally sacrifice the three-centre defender in the face of strong enemies-choosing to let Walker retreat to the middle. This is not only a factor of the team's personnel disorder, but also out of consideration of strengthening the defense. We must know that the reason for the poor start of this season is not only due to the continuous lack of center forwards, but also the constant backcourt counterattacks that caused Gua Shuai to be quite a headache.
and Dortmund of the Bundesliga, they changed to play three central defenders in the middle of last season, which is also the reason for hope to stabilize the defense. Of course, if you want to look at the actual effect of a single game, Manchester United's away defeat of Paris Saint-Germain on October 20 this year may be the most obvious frontal battle. Before going to France, the Red Devils won Newcastle 4-1 but also lost Tottenham 1-6. Coupled with Maguire's injury, public opinion before the game was generally not optimistic that they could withstand the impact of Neymar and Mbappé. However, Solskjaer used the combination of Tuan Zebe, Lindlov and Luke Shaw to clamp down on the Paris Trident, which at one time made people think that Manchester United would re-emerge through the three-center system.
is not just a few of the above "adapted to local conditions", when Juventus coach Pirlo took office, "the courage to try three central defenders" is also considered to be one of his advantages-after all, "stubbornness and difficulty in changing the formation" is the predecessor. Surrey label. However, knowing how to be flexible does not mean that the problem will be completely solved with a change. After using the 3412 or 3421 formation in the first few rounds of the new season, the Bianconeri has actually switched back to four guards recently. The first lineup is nominally 442, but the actual kick can be 424.
The reason why Pirlo has changed over and over again, of course, is that the effect of the three-back formation is not ideal. In addition to the 3-0 victory over Sampdoria in the first round of Serie A, Juventus then faced Roma, Crotone and Verona but they all stumbled and only got a draw. The freshness brought by the new formation quickly disappeared. Instead, the offensive was not smooth and even the domestic league began to be wiped out. This will naturally force Pirlo to "go back to the old path."
It is undeniable that the three central defenders do not necessarily mean "emphasis on defense" or conservative. In the past two seasons, the "True Blue and Black" Atlanta, who has astounded Serie A and the Champions League, is the best representative of both playing three central defenders and raising the banner of offense. But the fact is that such "alternatives" are very rare, and most of their routines areCan't imitate. Under normal circumstances, adding a central defender is to stabilize the rear. At the same time, the investment in the center and front court will be correspondingly weakened. This is also evident in Arsenal. Although the Gunners have had some big victories this season, they all face underdogs. However, with the recent decline in Aubameyang's state, the team's offensive quality has also seriously deteriorated. It has been a month since he failed to score a goal in the Premier League.
In fact, these coaches who used to be four-backs suddenly changed to three-backs, but also because they have the key pieces for the change-usually they are the full-backs with excellent speed and decent ability to play as the central backs, and the wings that can go up and down. guard. This retreat can form a five-guard defensive position, and the offense can briefly change to a routine such as 442. Arsenal's Tierney and Saka, Manchester United's Luke Shaw and Teles, and Juventus' Danilo and Quadrado are all similar combinations. This season's Manchester City is a little bit special. Although Walker retreats to the middle, the left center back Ake will also pull the side when attacking with the ball, while the midfielder Rodri is slightly recovered to form a "four-back" situation.
From the above description, it is not difficult to see that compared to the common four-back system, the three-back formation is likely to have more on-the-spot changes, so the requirements for the players' adaptability may also be higher. When will the key role be played and when will it be taken, the right choice can have a good effect. On the contrary, it may cause more problems, and the defense may not be better. Dortmund is an example in this regard. First, there are not enough suitable candidates for the third central defender. Second, Ashraf has left and the "strongest right-wing defender" is missing, so they have not played smoothly in the third central defender this season. As the position of the ribs between the wingback and the center back has become the target of a powerful enemy attack, coach Favre has recently changed back to a four-back double midfielder.
Dortmund's usual starting formation last season.
It is worth mentioning that those who have long used the three-back team for a long time have also experienced problems to varying degrees this season: Conte’s Inter Milan has "Lukaku" dependence; Atlanta was also defeated by Liverpool at home in the Champions League. A bloodbath than 5; and the Sheffield United, which was unique in the Premier League last season, has also collapsed, with only 1 point at the bottom of the 8-round league. Is this tragic situation caused by the lack of strength of these teams, or the limitations of the three-center back system? There is no uniform standard for the answer, but it can be seen that it is not easy to play with this theory. Therefore, even if the arrogant and powerful players are willing to try, the three central defenders may still be just a stopgap measure in most cases.
text|Yan Yu
editor|Hu spicy soup
beauty|Tingting
