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CoachingGuideto4 3 3
CoachingGuideto4 3 3
by
Michele Tossani
Published by
Page 4 Introduction
Page 7 Formation
Page 10 Player Responsibilities
Page 10 Center Backs
Page 11 Outside Backs
Page 13 Midfield Trio
Page 18 Attackers
Page 22 Defensive Phase
Page 41 The Offensive Phase – How the Best
Coaches Run the 4-3-3
Page 53 The Czech Way
Page 58 The 4-3-3 Around Europe
Page 62 In Depth Look at Offensive
Movements
Page 76 Transition Phase
Page 84 How to Train the 4-3-3
Most know the 4-3-3 formation was utilized by the fathers of the
modern soccer era: the members of the Holland National Team at
the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. The 4-3-3 was also utilized by
Dutch club teams during the European Cups throughout the
1970s.
The biggest factor in 2000s soccer has been the switch from a 4-4-
2 formation to configurations with a lone forward. Both the 4-2-3-
1 and 4-3-3 formations focus on three central midfielders and
have become the most utilized patterns in the modern era.
But how is this pattern utilized in today? Who are the most
famous coaches employing this system? What kind of 4-3-3 can
you see? That part of the team strategy depends on players’ skills,
coach’s preferences, and the team’s tradition.
“I've always said that Porto had a system base, and has an
established pattern that passes by a set of principles governing
1
G. Vialli, G. Marcotti, The Italian Job, Oscar Mondadori, pp. 159-160,
Milano, 2007.
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 5 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
the tactical organization. The configuration of the team, games,
and players, will sometimes force us to reposition the players so it
seems as if they are playing another system. But the important
thing is that the model does not change, but is becoming
stronger and more stable. Regardless of the system, it is important
that players act in accordance with our principles to defend and
to attack," said former Porto’s head coach Jesualdo Ferreira 2. This
book takes a look into the best 4-3-3s and provides some drills to
train for its use.
2
A. Dias,
O modelo de jogo enquanto referencial orientador da tomada de decisão
do jogador de futebol: estudo da congruência da transição defesa-ataque
da equipa de FC Porto a partir das perspectivas do treinador Jesualdo
Ferreira e do jogador Lucho González, FADEUP, 2009
Center backs
Often the center backs are tall and large but this can also work
with a pair formed by a tall and large center back playing
alongside a small and fast one such as FC Porto did in the 1990’s
with the couple formed by Fernando Couto and Aloisio. The first
one gave the team size and strength; the second tactical
knowledge and speed.
The center backs must balance the team, allowing one or both of
the outside backs to push forward in the attacking phase. The
center backs need to read the situation of ball/open and
ball/covered, calling for the back line to collapse back or to push
forward.
Outside backs
The outside backs are one of the most important aspects of a 4-3-
3 formation. They are responsible for covering the outside areas
and for gaining space moving forward when on the attack.
Because the 4-3-3 employs three strait central midfielders, there is
a lot of space between the defensive back line and the attackers.
Don’t leave the outside backs on the pitch too long as they have
the duty to support both the defense and the offense. The
outside backs have to judge when it’s time to step forward to help
the midfielders and when it’s time to stay back to prevent an
unbalance behind them.
These players are responsible for the middle of the field but must
be able to slide out wide to help out backs and wingers cover the
outside.
In the final defensive third of the field, this group should force the
ball laterally or centrally, according to the coach’s tactics. Forcing
the ball inside reduces space for the opponent’s forwards and
forces them to play where the team has accumulated the greatest
number of defenders. However, this tactic opens the central part
of the field, the most dangerous for the opponents. Forcing the
ball to the outside reduces the space for the opponents and gives
the defense the assistance of the sideline. However, this tactic
leaves the opponents free to have help from their overlapping
outside backs and gives them the chance to play cross situations
which can be difficult to defend. So some coaches ask the winger
to force the ball inside to take advantage of having three central
The two interior midfielders are responsible for the vertical part of
the pitch, but they can also go wide to play with the outside backs
and wingers.
The forwards have the first duty to put pressure high and early on
the rivals’ back line while trying to keep the ball in front of them.
As said earlier, they should force the ball outside or into the
middle, preventing the rival team from easily constructing
attacks.
There are many ways to involve the wingers during the offensive
phase:
In every defensive phase, the five rules that every single player
has to apply are:
- Marking
- Position taking
- Goal’s defense
- Intercepting
- Tackling
- Spreading out
- Aggressiveness
- Temporization
- Closing spaces
- Balance
“The new system was very positive - the attitude was to get at
them and press them high up the pitch,” captain John Terry
added. But not all teams change from a 4-3-3 to a 4-5-1 formation
when the ball is lost.
The 4-3-1-2 can count on having its four midfielders all lined up in
the middle. That means it has four central midfielders against
three in the 4-3-3.
“If you look at Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, when they lose the ball,
they directly apply pressure so the opponent does not have the
time to get the ball. You need the whole team defending and you
need the whole team attacking. It is as simple as that … but if
you’re not used to playing the 4-3-3 configuration, then there are
moments when you’re waiting [for something] to happen and
then you are too late,” said Toronto FC assistant coach Bob de
Klerk. 3
3
M. Scianitti Toronto FC coaches still believe in their system, The
National Post, 7/26/2011
Luis Enrique came to Italy trying to repeat the success he had with
the second Barcelona team, Barcelona B, in the Spanish second
division.
When he was the Barca B’s head coach, Luis Enrique changed his
basic 4-3-3, switching to a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2 depending upon the
best way to attack opponents.
The half-backs are the players that need to give width to the
team. In some matches, Luis Enrique utilized a former midfielder
at those positions. For example, he used Simone Perrotta, a
former holding midfielder, winger and also an attacking
midfielder.
This means that Luis Enrique’s team has a lot of players in front of
the ball. The consequence is that the passes have to be very
accurate or the team could be exposed to the opposition’s
counter attacks.
It was the former Ajax’s No. 14 jersey who instilled a rule that “all
age levels must be trained to control the ball, have vision to know
where they will put the ball with one touch when they get it, and
have the ability to pass well and to play in a 4-3-3 system”. 6
But, truth is that over the last forty seasons, the Catalans
employed five former Ajax members as coaches: Vic Buckingham,
Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal, and Frank Rijkaard.
4
L. Valdisseri, Possesso palla, entusiasmo e fiducia in Luis Enrique. Una
squadra stile Barcellona, Corriere della Sera, Dec. 2011
5
www.direttanapoli.com
6
G. Hunter, The truth about Barca's system, ESPN.com, 11/1/2011
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 46 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
When Arsenal’s coach Arsen Wenger was accused of copying
Barca’s 4-3-3, the French coach pointed out that he employed the
4-3-3 at Monaco two decades before.
7
Quotes from Arsenal website
8
D. Winner, Arsenal v Barcelona: Dennis Bergkamp defends Arsène
Wenger's beautiful vision, The Telegraph, 3/30/2011
The first was Juan Manuel Lillo, former coach of Real Sociedad,
which since the time when he was driving the Cultural Leonesa,
Segunda Division in 1991-92, employed a similar attitude. "My
goal was to press and try to steal the ball in the opponent’s area
of the field," explained the Spaniard. "It was the most symmetrical
way I could find to play with four strikers. One of the advantages
of a true four striker lineup is that it allows you to play up with the
midfield and defense, so everyone benefited. But you must have
the right players. They have to be very mobile and must be able to
play when they have the ball. We must remember that forwards
press up to play, and not play to press. "
The second coach was Javier Irureta, who introduced this type of
play at the highest level with Deportivo la Coruna at the
beginning of 2000. The 4-5-1 was a version of Irureta’s offense
with Victor, Valeron, Fran and Makaay.
9
Sport.es, 27 agosto 2008.
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 48 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
"After more than twenty years, we are trying to play soccer in that
way. We have variables, sometimes Sergio Busquets gets free,
sometimes we have Xavi as center midfielder ... to have players
that play centrally we have a lot of ball movement. We have to
start play from the bottom. The goalkeeper passes to defender,
the defender to midfielder, midfielder to striker ...,” said
Guardiola. 10
10
M. Lopez, D. Torras, Tito Villanova: “El Barça juega al revés que los
demás”, El Periodico, 9/6/2010.
11
M. Lopez, D. Torras, Tito Villanova: “El Barça juega al revés que los
demás”, El Periodico, 9/6/2010.
12
Ibidem.
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 49 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
A different way to play a 4-3-3 is that run by Juventus’ coach
Antonio Conte. Coming to his former team after a brilliant
coaching career, the former Italian midfielder at the USA 1994
World Cup was well known for using a 4-2-4 formation. He
changed his mind with Juventus where he found a player that
maybe he didn’t want initially, the National Team playmaker
Andrea Pirlo. With such a good midfielder that isn’t a holding one,
Conte changed his soccer strategy to stay with Pirlo and take
advantage of his excellent technical skills. To do it, Conte opted to
switch his initial idea of a 4-2-4 to a hybrid 4-3-3, sometimes called
by analysts 4-1-4-1 with Simone Pepe and Mirko Vucinic out wide:
In this way, Pirlo has more freedom and less defensive duties. The
play starts with him. When the ball is on the opponent’s feet, Vidal
is the man charged with adding pressure to the opposite team,
while Marchisio stayed back for Pirlo.
This solution was also used by the new Italian National Team
coach, Cesare Prandelli, when he was the coach of Fiorentina. In
that situation, he sometimes lined up Adrian Mutu as left wing in
a 4-3-3 formation, but didn’t ask to him to collapse back to the
midfield during the defensive phase, switching the pattern from a
4-3-3 to a 4-4-2.
Another example came from the 2011 Copa America, where the
finalist Paraguay’s coach Gerardo Martino lined up three central
midfielders, with a forward as winger on one side and another
forward near the central striker.
Zeman is one of the most brilliant offensive minds of all the last
30 years. Zeman is the coach that in the 1990s, with as small a
town as Foggia was, built an attack that scored 15 more goals
than the next best Italian Serie A offense in his first season. His
attacks were often the best in the league.
He’s the coach who can take unknown players and turn them into
international stars. He has done it many times.
- high intensity;
- high attention;
- high searching for depth
His forwards are true attackers. Their first objective is to cut inside
to explore the field behind the opposite defensive back line. In
other words, they want to move towards the goal as soon as
possible.
His teams need to be in very good shape to run his system, “It
doesn't matter how long you run, but where and why you run.”
The wingers have to cut inside leaving space open for the
overlapping backs. A winger, an interior midfielder and an
outside back have to form a triangle with the forward who has to
lead the movements of the other two teammates.
13
Corriere dello Sport, 11/3/2011
14
Corriere dello Sport, 11/3/2011
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 55 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
Zeman wants three players inside the penalty box during a cross
action. So, if an outside back or a forward is outside the box, there
are always three other players inside. The playmaker has to be
ready for a long distance shot.
In the locker room before every game, Zeman often tells his
players that he doesn’t want to see anyone throw the ball away.
According to him, the ball has to be continuously moving and
never planted. He wants ground play and the passes to occur
while the ball is in motion and to never have the ball standing still.
For him the ball has to be played from the goalkeeper to the
defenders: it makes no sense to have the whole team pushing up
and then to throw the ball long.
With the ball in the goalkeeper’s hands, the ball control is with his
team. From the moment when the ball is kicked long towards the
In this game, the Portuguese manager left behind his much loved
concept of a high defensive line, with Chelsea playing deeper
than usual.
As you can see, Villas-Boas was forced to change his 4-3-3 shape
due to the players’ skills and age.
His initial idea was different. Andre Villas Boas is a 4-3-3 fan and he
tried to bring in some of Mourinho’s tactics. Some players liked
this. This is what captain John Terry said earlier 2011/2012 season,
“Personally, I prefer the 4-3-3. To me, this system is more about
our opponents and allows us to find spaces that hurt a team less
beefy than us.”
15
R. Smith, Why isn't Villas-Boas's philosophy working yet?, The
Indipendent, 12/6/2011.
Like Zeman, Villas Boas believes that a team has to reach the goal
as soon as possible:
By the way, the 4-3-3 formation isn’t a new brand for Chelsea.
16
France Soccer, 8/23/2011
17
D. White, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas's soccering philosophy,
The Telegraph, 8/13/2011
He wants his team building depth lines, i.e. creating the maximum
possible line of depth.
18
B. Viner, Brendan Rodgers, The day Jose left Chelsea, it felt like
someone had died , The Independent, 22/4/2011
19
http://zonadepressao.blogspot.com
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 60 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
Van Gaal switched his formations from 3-3-1-3 to 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1
during his career. The things fixed by those changes were in an
effort to control the ball and the game.
The number one objective for the attackers is to find open spaces.
They have to find them through vertical and cut movements. To
run those routes correctly, it’s necessary that the attackers be able
to move at the right time.
This is especially true for the wings. Every wing has four
movements available:
The wing comes to the center back that has the ball. He receives
the ball and passes it to the interior midfielder. Following up with
a triangle pass to the holding midfielder and then a pass to the
other interior midfielder who plays a one-two pass with the
winger to send the right back into an overlapping action:
The team needs to be balanced when the ball is lost so that it can
regain it immediately.
The 4-3-3 of former Porto’s head coach, was built defensively. The
players near the ball on the strong side had to play according to
ball positions, while the players on the weak side had to make
positional adjustments to the situation.
The main movement when the ball is lost is that done by the
player nearest the ball. His movement towards the ball is needed
to try to regain control of the ball, or to stop an immediate
counter attack so that the rest of the team can reorganize itself.
“Depending upon the area where I gain the ball, the tactical
behavior of my players is different,” said Jesualdo Ferreira 20.
Basically, there are two ways to answer losing the ball: immediate
pressure or collapsing back.
By the way, this is not a strict rule and some coaches like to attack
in any situation.
“On my team, exactly where the ball is lost, I want the man closest
quickly giving pressure. I often say that if the left side of the
opposing team recovers the ball, the player with the most
responsibility is the closest man, which, in a 4-3-3 structure, will
be the interior right midfielder who will have the task of being the
first to make the pressure. After that, the entire team has to
organize and then realize that it's time to join the area," said Jose
Mota. 21
20
A. Dias,
O modelo de jogo enquanto referencial orientador da tomada de decisão
do jogador de futebol: estudo da congruência da transição defesa-ataque
da equipa de FC Porto a partir das perspectivas do treinador Jesualdo
Ferreira e do jogador Lucho González, FADEUP, 2009
21
F. Festa, Importância, comportaplayerstos e operacionalização da
transição ataque-defesa no futebol inserida num contexto de jogo
colectivo: a perspectiva de treinadores da primeira liga, FADEUP, 2009
During an offensive transition, the first pass is the key. When the
ball is gained, this first pass can be a forward pass to gain field
position; a diagonal and short pass to maintain control of the ball
and avoid the opponent’s pressure; or a pass back to get away
from the pressure zone.
To exit from the pressure zone, the team with the ball has to make
the correct first pass in the correct mode and in the correct
direction. Sometimes the idea is to gain the ball on one side and
to quickly switch to the other side of the field.
22
Ibidem.
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 78 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
Coming back to the 4-3-3, another key factor is the zone where
the ball is conquered. The pitch is divided into three zones: first
third, second third, and third:
Depending upon the zone where the pressure is given, you can
have a defensive block pressure, a medium block, or an offensive
block.
When and where to put pressure depends upon the players’ skills,
the situation, and the opponents’ skills.
Barcelona’s Josè Mourinho opted to stay low and play a low block
defense against Inter while he chose to stay high and play a high
pressure with Real Madrid.
Another factor to consider is: how far is the distance between the
ball and the players in front of the ball.
There are differences if a 4-3-3 squad gains the ball on the offense
after immediate pressure against a 3-5-2 team or against a 4-3-3
team.
©WORLD CLASS COACHING Page | 80 A Coach’s Guild to the 4-3-3
If the 4-3-3 team wins the ball in its own third, it would be more
difficult to play the first pass as a direct long ball to the forwards.
Maybe in this case, it would be better to play the first pass as an
unload one to the midfielders, which allows the forwards to gain
field position by pushing up and to see if there are spaces
between the opponent’s midfield and defense line.
He wanted to have five players around the ball’s area and the
other players ready to support the transition.
The wing is in the central position. This player can run a fast break
in three directions. If the winger is on the flank, he can run in just
two directions.
23
A. Dias,
O modelo de jogo enquanto referencial orientador da tomada de decisão
do jogador de futebol: estudo da congruência da transição defesa-ataque
da equipa de FC Porto a partir das perspectivas do treinador Jesualdo
Ferreira e do jogador Lucho González, FADEUP, 2009
Ferreira stresses that his team make good decisions; the team
must be able to recognize when it’s time to play a fast-break and
when to slow the pace to keep ball control.
But if you want to give the team an offensive identity, you have to
start with the offensive phase. As former Palermo Coach Delio
Rossi once said, starting from the offensive phase means giving
the team a precise message: you want an offensive oriented team.
The forward movements are a key for the 4-3-3 offensive phase.
They have to be combined. A good solution is to have a forward
move to the ball while the others search for depth.
But if the opponents’ defensive line is high, all the forwards can
move in the same direction:
- the attacker nearest the ball comes towards the ball; the
others go downfield:
In a pitch between the midfield line and the box, two teams play 9
vs. 9, first with the hands (but they can score with their feet with a
one-touch shot), then with the feet:
To train a 4-3-3 focus on ball control, there are some drills that can
be beneficial. On a small pitch, 40x40 meters, three teams play
an A and B vs. C team game. Two teams have control of the ball
and the third one tries to gain the ball. When the ball is lost, the
team that lost it plays against the other two teams.
Internet
www.zeman.org
www.calciatori.com
http://zonadepressao.blogspot.com
The Guardian,
The Telegraph,
NY Times
O Jogo
A Bola
Record
The Coaching Philosophies of Louis Van Gaal and the Ajax Coaches
by Henny Kormelink and Tjeu Seeverens.