Tactics Guide: 4-3-3 False 9

•  1      This formation is another and a most sophisticated version of the original 4-3-3 basic formation.
• 2.     In this formation, the team comprises of two center backs, two full backs, three mid fielders, and 3 attackers. The modification comes in the placement and positioning of the attackers.
• 3.     As similar to the original 4-3-3 formation, this formation too has both wingers, but the striker takes a backseat in this formation and acts as a center forward (CF), and takes charge of creating more chances for the wingers to score.
• 4.     The opponent team finds it hard to defend because, it is relatively easy to man mark the striker as compared to the wingers, and this formation has it’s main attack from the wingers. Hence this formation can be easily used to defeat a team which is more used for playing against the basic 4-3-3 formation.
• 5.     For this formation to work most effectively, the wingers need to have good speed and outstanding dribbling skills, and a very good ball control and finishing ability. The same goes for the CF, as to create more and more chances the CF needs to be a very good dribbler, an awesome passer, and a sense of reading the game for creating effective chances. The mid fielders and defenders can be the same as the basic 4-3-3 formation.
• 6.     This formation gained fame during the 2011 and 2012 season, when Pep Guardiola used it in the Barcelona team winning the UCL in the 2011 season. Messi was his placement for the CF position, which worked perfectly, with the likes of mid fielders like Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets.
• 7.     This formation serves a better while playing with the possession minded philosophy rather than the counter attacking game.
• 8.     Although this formation can prove to be quite lethal, it can be exploited in the same way as the 4-3-3 formation, i.e. by using a 3-5-2 formation, or a 5-2-1-2 formation.
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