The explosion of the three-back line in elite football: facts, reasons and advantages of an upward trend

When reviewing it compositions of the 98 teams which are part of it Europe’s top five leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1) you can quickly see the development that a type of tactical organization has: the line of three defenders (or five, when the two lanes are added to the defensive work), as opposed to the more traditional ones of previous decades four men in the background.

The numbers largely support the theory. Going back just five years, we find that only 18 of those 98 clubs opened the 2017-2018 season with a lineup of three or five defenders. The lineup was very present in Serie A (eight teams), something to be expected considering his heritage catenation and the usual application of this regime in Italy. However, its absence in the other top leagues was evident. And the teams that used it were mostly lower level clubswhich in many cases showed more of the defensive power of scoring with five men.

Five years later, the picture is completely different. In Italy, more than half (11 out of 20) of Serie A clubs use this line of three. In Germany and England, it is present in eight groups. In France and Spain, in six. In other words, of these 18 clubs, they 39 current. ONE over 100% increase in just five seasons. Including teams fighting for the title in their respective leagues such as Tottenham, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Roma, PSG and Marseilleincluding.

But Why did this explosion of the system happen and what are its virtues? The main thing to note is the increasing importance of stripes, as fundamental pieces of an attack. Having three central defenders at the back means these players can relax a lot more which in defense of four and have greater depth and projection in the opposite field.

names like Achraf Hakimi, Ivan Perisic, Filip Kostic or his first steps Marc Cucurella at Chelsea (or earlier at Brighton), are just a few examples of players who, playing on the wings of this three/five line, became key players for their teams and regular participants in the generation or even definition in the opposite area.

In a context of more and more sports game, finding lanes trained to cover the entire band over the course of 90 minutes has become much more common. And with them comes one of the most sought-after goals by any manager in the world: numerical superiority. In a 3-4-3 formation, the versatility of these types of players allows you to have at times five defenderswithout losing the possibility complete the half with four midfielders And until they arrive at the opposing area with four or five men.

well done, the shape maximizes the width of the fieldboth in defense and attack. And at the same time, allows the outside attackers not to be forced to move exclusively laterallybut that they can occupy central spaces much closer to goal situations.

PSG’s second goal in their recent win over Lille is perhaps the the best possible example of what the scheme can create by having defining lanes on offense.

It is worth noticing how three attackers (Neymar, Messi and Mbappé) are at center rails and they are theirs stripes (Mints and Hakimi) that give width to the wings. And once one of these players manages to break the line of midfielders, that aforementioned numerical superiority is created, with five PSG men spread wide, against just four defenders. The result is inevitable.

Outside Europe, the development of the three lines is much less visible. In the Professional League of Argentina, just 3 out of 28 teams use the shape frequently: Gabriel Milito’s Argentinos Juniors, Rubén Darío Insúa’s San Lorenzo and Ricardo Zielinski’s Estudiantes. On the final day of Liga MX, only four groups defended with this composition: Puebla, Juarez, Pumas and Atlas.

What will happen in the World Cup? At Russia 2018, only three teams used this tactic as their main option: England, Belgium and Costa Rica.. Three over 32. And while we have to wait and see what happens in Qatar, the start of the 2022-2023 European season hints that sooner or later, these kinds of lineups will come to an end. it extends to all kinds of other landspossibly including the next World Cup.