Darijo Srna, computers studying football formations and the demise of the wing-back

Football Food For Thought / Jonathan Wilson / 14 August 2008 / 1 Comments

In the days when all the talk is of the "Makelele" role and the deep-lying striker, Jonathan Wilson argues the case for attack-minded full-backs having the potential to be the most important players on the pitch from a tactical perspective. Here's why...

One of the most noticeable tactical trends in recent years has been the decline of 3-5-2 - in Europe at least - and yet there is evidence that the wing-back is still alive and well.

The reasons for the gradual disappearance of sides playing three at the back - there are unlikely to be any teams in the Premier League using it as a default formation this season, and none of the 16 sides at the Euros or the 16 who made it through the group stage of the
Champions League last season - are fairly clear. As managers have sought to break the rigid lines of 4-4-2 and liberate their sides' creators, here has been a shift to playing with only one central striker - in a 4-4-1-1, a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, and once that has happened the three-man defensive line - a libero and two markers -becomes pointless.

"Imagine Team A is playing 3-5-2 against Team B with a 4-5-1 that becomes 4-3-3," explained Nelsinho Baptista, the experienced Brazilian coach who has developed software to explore the weaknesses of one system when matched against another. "So Team A has to commit the
wing-backs to deal with Team B's wingers. That means Team A is using five men to deal with three forwards. In midfield Team A has three central midfielders against three, so the usual advantage of 3-5-2 against 4-4-2 is lost. Then at the front it is two forwards against
four defenders, but the spare defenders are full-backs. One can push into midfield to create an extra man there, while still leaving three v two at the back. So Team B can dominate possession, and also has greater width."

As 3-5-2 declined, wing-backs had to find a new role. The Croatian Darijo Srna was one of the best in the world, and his performances up and down the right flank were one of the (very) few bright spots for Croatia at the 2006 World Cup. In the new climate, though, he has had
to reinvent himself, and he now plays as - deep breath - a right-sided defensively-minded attacking-midfielder for his country (at least when Eduardo is fit), providing a conservative counter-weight to Niko Kranjcar and Luka Modric in their 4-1-3-2.

At club level, though, he remains essentially a wing-back, even though Shakhtar Donetsk play with four at the back. Their coach, Mircea Lucescu, is one of the great romantics, and gives both Srna and Razvan Rat, the Romania left-back, licence to push forwards almost at will.
Other teams, of course, have attacking full-backs - Manchester United, for instance, have both Patrice Evra and Wes Brown - but Shakhtar allow both to push forward at once, with a holding midfielder - Mariusz Lewandowski or Tomas Hubschman - dropping in to become a third
centre-back.

From a betting point of view, that means three things. Firstly that Srna, who also takes free-kicks and penalties - and scored a free-kick in the 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League qualifier on Wednesday night - is far more likely to score than most full-backs. It also means that Shakhtar can be vulnerable on the break, and so have a
tendency to be involved in high-scoring games.

But most interestingly, their unusual tactical shape and commitment to attack means that the tactical shape of their opponents has a significant bearing on their likely results. Because they regularly have the full-backs joining a diamond midfield, they can swamp
opponents, especially those wedded to a simple 4-4-2. But, they are vulnerable to sides who either play 4-3-3 or, as AC Milan did against them last season, get players high up the field into the spaces where the full-backs should be (in Milan's case, effectively adjusting their
4-3-2-1 to a 4-3-3). Dinamo tried to counter them by leaving out the Chilean playmaker Pedro Morales to bolster the midfield, but that simply deprived them of a cutting edge, and encouraged Shakhtar onto the offensive, even after they lost Rat to injury.

Shakhtar are only an extreme form of a more general phenomenon. Chelsea even used Michael Essien as an attacking full-back to try to nullify Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League final. At junior or Sunday league level, the full-backs are often the worst players on the
team; at the very top, though, particularly when they have an attacking capability, they are arguably the key position in terms of a side's tactical make-up.

Comments (1)

1. Darren Peers | 09 December 2008

   I agree that the 3-5-2 has,declined,but i think that in Liverpool F.C.s current position,the 3-5-2 is a option for future use,to use while,Torres is injured.With R.Keane,spearheading attack and Babel is just behind,with Gerrard linking attack and midfield,with the two of Alonso and Mascherano,Albert Riera on the left,Kuyt on the right.Then Insua at Leftback and Agger/Skrtel center and Carragher Right back. This could possibly help create more for Liverpool as I am a very passsionate fan of them who is finding the team I love being very boring to watch with a lack of creativity