| 11-Jul-07 05:55
riostrioff | | | 4-2-3-1 is a relatively defensive formation. using 2 holding midfielder not only to screen for defense, but also initiate attacks from rear midfield...
this formation provide large wing spaces for teams to utilize. also the distance could be drawn between the CAM and the target person (#9). therefore a fast #9 could be used very efficiently in 4-2-3-1.
france defeated brazil in 06 world cup with a 4-2-3-1.
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| 13-Nov-07 13:27
rurikbird | | | Typical Spanish formation. One of the CMs is usually more attack-oriented than the other (i.e. Baraja & Albelda). | | | |
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| 05-Mar-08 06:02
guest 134.192.56.103 | | | This formation was used by Fabio Capello to win La Liga with Real Madrid, with Beckham and Robinho used as the wing players, and Emerson and Diarra as the holding middies. However, as told above, this formation is defensive and sometimes R Madrid resultingly played \"ugly\" football - and it seems that cost Capello his job. | | | |
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| 01-Jun-08 10:27
daniel carlsen | | | The Netherlands is usually playing in the 4-2-3-1. Morten Olsen s Denmark is switching between 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-2-3 (or 4-1-4-1, based on temperament). | | | |
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| 10-Jun-08 12:03
guest 78.53.192.122 | | | The formation is not necessarily that defensive. Bayer Leverkusen used it in 07/08 and until their inexplicable breakdown in the last third of the season, they were among the teams with the most shots on goal in the league. | | | |
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| 17-Jun-08 19:50
guest 190.55.85.7 | | | This formation is not defensive.
Argentina s team River Plate use this formation in the tournament. That team is now the champion.
One of the CM is really oriented to attack. In River, Ahumada was the CM, and Abelairas was like an LM.
The RB and LB usually go to attack. For example, in River, Ferrari y Villagra.
The FW is in that place to do the goal attempt. And the ST is in that place to do the goal when he search the goal.
The RM and LM are like a RW and LW. They acts as a wing in many situations. | | | |
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| 25-Jun-08 09:53
guest 218.111.13.190 | | | solid defensive, deadly counter attack, possesion football
Liverpool use this formation from time to time
Mascherano and Alonso as holding midfielder and Gerrard as attacking midfielder | | | |
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| 02-Oct-08 17:15
guest 90.204.176.235 | | | I remember Man United using this formation to devastating effect when they beat Newcastle 6-2 away in 02/03. The personnel was:
Barthez
O Shea, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre
Keane, Butt
Solskjaer, Scholes, Giggs
van Nistelrooy
Scholes, in this advanced position, scored a hat-trick no less.  | | | |
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| 03-Nov-08 23:58
guest 190.55.17.11 | | | The US national team almost exclusively uses this formation, with Bradley, Edu, Mastroeni, Clark, etc. playing as the holding mids, Eddie Johnson or Bring Ching as our striker, and usually using Beasley on the left wing, Dempsey on the right, and Donovan in the middle.
It is incredibly defensive and boring football. | | | |
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| 22-Nov-08 02:47
guest 87.116.133.110 | | | 4-2-3-1 is formation which is most suitable for teams playing possession / control oriented football with patient build-up, reasonably lower tempo, short passing and foccusing attacks wider down the flanks. Both MCs should be able to act either as DM or as MC. AMC most oftenly has a playmaking role and is playing slightly more withdrawn than wingers which should provide crosses and/or drift into the box as second strikers. Lonely FC could be either strong or quick, ideally combination of both.
other version is so-called narrow 4-2-3-1 with no wingers but 3 AMCs and is more suitable for playing quick, counter-attacking style. In this case, when the team breaks the attacking action of its opponent, two side AMCs quickly put themselves into wider (wing) positions to make them self more available for direct through balls from deeply positioned teammates. Central AMC most oftenly act as supporting striker. | | | |
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| 23-Dec-08 20:36
guest 89.123.89.68 | | | steaua bucharest plays like this and in my opinion it is a very deffensive formation they play like this
zapada
ogararu goian ghionea p marin/ golanski
radoi lovin/ov. petre
nicolita/semedo dayro toja/szekely
Kapetanos
the only bad thing is that they don t have a good ST and they score very hard | | | |
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| 28-Dec-08 12:04
guest 79.184.158.149 | | | Polish National Team plays in this formation. In Poland Kuba Blaszczykowski is right midfielder and he is a typical right midfielder on Europe. | | | |
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| 10-Jan-09 13:28
guest 122.144.119.74 | | | Roma is best example of a team using this formation. Perrotta playing as the attacking midfielder and Totti playing as the lone striker. This season they are struggling due to the departure of Mancini. Totti is a playmaker at heart which is partly the reason why Roma is struggling especially when he has no one to feed to. | | | |
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| 26-Jan-09 15:58
guest 58.10.204.218 | | | 4-2-3-1 can be an excellent attacking formation if two wingers can cross the ball effectively to the strikers in the middle. | | | |
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| 14-Feb-09 23:44
guest 97.80.121.233 | | | The Portuguese national team used this formation in the past 3 major tournaments under Scolari. I would not consider it defensive, but more based on midfield possession. It also provides alot of offensive freedom for the 2 wingers (figo, ronaldo, etc.), since they don t have to track back on defense as much with the 2 holding midfielders there. Also a talented CAM is required to make this work (deco). | | | |
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| 18-Mar-09 14:05
guest 84.48.92.126 | | | Listen up. This formation is the best after losing the ball. Player create a tight defense formation to close down a playing space. Liverpools Alonso and Macherano does this better than many others. | | | |
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| 19-Mar-09 23:54
guest 86.40.239.49 | | | I think the best way to lay this formation out is:
To have the central midfielders very defensive so you have your flat back four and the two midfielders holding ten yards ahead of them. Each of these midfielders helps the left and right back. For instance, if the ball is with the opponents left winger and his teammate is helping him out that side (normally the left back), then one of the CM joins your teams right back to make it 2 v 2. The other CM sits in the middle of the park so that no space opens. RB and LB get up and attack when chance arises (and if ball is going up the right side the LB tucks in with the two CB s). The CM s are breakers and as such they need to be fit and defensively minded.
The AM in the middle of the three has licence to roam and doesn t necessarily track back. He can go past the striker and make it 2 up top if needed. He s the playmaker and needs to be a good dribbler/passer and not afraid to show for the ball (Riquelme is an example).
The wingers don t track back beyond halfway line or so and get up in support of striker to make it 3 up front with ball.
Striker holds up ball and brings the rest of the team into play. Needs to be constantly hassling defenders to force a mistake (Drogba).
Thats a more attacking adaptation of the formation. | | | |
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| 24-Apr-09 00:42
guest 208.0.30.17 | | | A Benitiez special, he employed it at Valencia and won 2 La Liga titles and the UEFA Cup. He had two holding midfielders (baraja, Albelda) and an attacking midfielder (Aimar) with a stong forward. Helps keep possession and the two holding midfielders help protect the back 4, while your full backs venture high up the pitch. He later referred to this formation this year with Liverpool, where he found great success using Gerrard as the attacking midfielder in the hole, behind the quick and impressive Torres. He beat Man Utd 4v1 in their own backyard with this formation, unfortunately it looks like it won t yeild him the EPL title though. He needs to invest in a better defensive if Liverpool are going to eclipse Man Utd & Chelsea. | | | |
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| 23-Jun-09 01:44
guest 85.167.128.104 | | | This season, my club Rosenborg BK in Norway has started to play 4-2-3-1 under our relatively new coach Erik Hamren. The team has switched from exclusively playing wing-play and counter-attacking, to more ball possession football, passing the ball between the players with minimum touches between each pass, not far from the way FC Barcelona plays.. The sidebacks very often doubles on the wings, so the team still plays a form of wide wing-play combined with the central possession play. Very often the team builds up the attack to either get on one of the wings to pass the ball into the box, or getting as close to the opposite teams 16-meter, trying to lure the ball behind the opposite teams defenders so that the striker or any other player making a run, gets alone with the keeper and score.
The favored starting eleven is:
Iversen/Prica
Olsen - Sapara - Skjelbred
Tettey - Annan
Dorsin - Stadsgaard/Demidov/Lago - Lustig
Jarstein | | | |
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| 13-Aug-09 16:00
guest 62.239.159.6 | | | France won the World Cup in 1998 playing a variation on this tactic. Very well balanced with the right mixture of offensive and defensive players plus there is width but also sufficient bodies in the middle.
Hard to defend against as you have 3 players to pick up in the \"coridoor of uncertainty\" in between the Back 4 and The midfield lines, where unless your opponent is well drilled there can be confusion as to who is responsible for picking up each of the 3 attacking midfielders. | | | |
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| 01-Oct-09 14:13
guest 213.187.175.45 | | | Becoming more and more popular among the larger clubs.
One of the key players is the center forward. He should be able to be a target man, strong, sprint through defences, win headers from crosses plus be a goalscorer.
Guys like Torres, Drogba and Ibrahimovic are good examples, and those guys aren`t cheap.. | | | |
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| 12-Jan-10 02:39
guest 76.249.245.88 | | | I disagree with the constant defensive label of this formation. With the proper technical ability placed at the right positions, this can very well be a dynamic, attacking setup. A great target man who can lay off the ball to a playmaker or to either MF on the outside of the 3 line where the best dribilinhos should be will undoubtedly cause marking issues for the opponent. Add an attacking outside back covered by a holding mid and you have quite possibly the most dynamic formation with 4 true attacking players at all times. | | | |
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| 13-Jan-10 09:29
guest 213.67.125.41 | | | It can be seen as an alternative to the 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.
You have offensive winger that can cut in to the field and support the attack, or come around on the flanks to cross in to the penalty are. You have an attacking midfielder/forward which support the attack and helps controlling the midfield.
The lone striker can be any kind of striker. He can be a quick smaller striker, like Villa, or a big post player like V.Nisteelrooy or Zlatan. Depending how the teams wants to play.
I think Russia played this formation during the Euro 2008, not sure.
However it is often used by Valencia who have a very deadly attack which contains by 4 great offensive players: Villa, Silva, J.Mata and Pablo H.
This formation can be used for possesion football, counter attack or for defensive play. It s very flexible. The only flaw is that the lone striker sometimes can get very lonely if he doens t get enough support from the midfield. There are also space on the wings for the opponent to use when the wingers attack. Which is the same problem for Barca s 4-3-3.
But otherwise is it a very good formation if you have the right kind of players. It can be quite similar to Sevillas 4-2-2 which also have equailly offensive wingers, but they have two stirkers instead. This was also used by Real Madrid. Where they have Raul in the AM/SS position with Robinho and Robben on the sides. | | | |
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| 06-Feb-10 13:20
guest 218.191.47.68 | | | The 4-2-3-1 is one of my favourite formations.
On defence the wings can hold back to create a W midfield, while the forward remains in front to pass the ball to the striker for the counter attack.
On offence, the 2 defence-midfields get it to the wings, who race down the side or give it to the forward, then to the striker. Or there are many other possibilities.
Anyway its very versitile and very useful and is therefore my favourite formation | | | |
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| 20-Apr-10 06:55
kwyap11
 Negeri Sembilan | | | This formation has a clear offensive and defensive zonal for each player. This translates to a player s responsibilities.
This formation is effective for team that adopts a balance defensive-possessive-offensive football philosophy.
Having 2 Central Midfielders means opponents would find some difficulties penetrating from the centre. And when the Forward drop down as Attacking Midfielder, this formation put balance in midfield which means opponents would have to fight for space and possession. Having a Centre Forward, this formation promotes counter-attack and through-pass which can be deadly and tiring to opponents.
As a player, this formation is simple to adhere during game play.
Enjoy this formation. | | | |
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| 22-Apr-10 13:09
guest 121.72.132.76 | | | Very effective formation if you have the right players for it. If not , too many areas that can go wrong in my experience;
1- If the AM struggles to find space to act as a link to the striker, the one man up top can become easily isolated
2- If your holding midfielders don t have a clear understanding of one another, you can end up with both trying to do the same job, or niether taking responsibility. Absolutley crucial one always presses the other holds
3- It requires a high level of technique, often with one or two touch play. As well as technique ,players need to have a good level of intelligence in their movement.
4- The distances between to attacking 4 can become too spread if players don t interchange their positions and ,ultimately, play becomes too predictable.
5-It s all about putting pressure on your opponent in their half , normally showing their play inside to your holding midfielders to turnover possession. Unless your team has a high work rate when closing down and good understanding with each other, you can end up over complicating things for your own players with little effect on your opponents.
Having said all of that, if you do have all of the above, it can produce an unplayable environment for your opponents and numerous goal scoring opportunities.
Personally , I prefer a formation where each player has a clear definative role within the team, a 4-3-3 with one holding midfielder , two ball players, 3 strikers and at least one attacking fullback. Also, 4-4-2 with pacey wingers, one holding midfielder , one ball player and two out and out strikers.
Traditional defensive shape for both formations
Either way, formations don t win football matches, players do. | | | |
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| 23-Apr-10 23:52
BOING BOING
 Birmingham | | | 4-2-3-1 has changed alot over the past few years. It used to be thought of a defensive formation but now it is an offensive formation. Many teams use it now and they play possession attacking football.
It usually consists of the following:
...........gk...........
..rb....cb....cb....lb..
........dm....dm........
..rm.......am.......lm..
...........cf.....
Some teams choose to play an attacking midfielder in the hole but other teams choose to play a centre midfielder in the hole and the centre midfield can sometimes drop deep and make a 4-5-1.
Valencia use Hernandez, Silva and Mata behind Villa which is an attacking midfielder in the hole.
Espanyol use Garcia, Verdu and Callejon behind Osvaldo which is a centre midfielder in the hole.
But both ways of playing 4-2-3-1 are practically the same and play the same way.
It is my preferred formation on pro evolution soccer 2010 because I can play good possession football. | | | |
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| 01-May-10 23:49
guest 86.45.51.137 | | | Only downfall to this formation offensively is that the CAM can be pushed wide and less effective (as with all modern playmakers, hence the growth of the deep lying playmaker) and also defensively, if the two wingers dont track back and make it a 4-4-1-1, the 2 CM can be outnumbered | | | |
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| 05-Jun-10 20:59
Shai
 Western Cape | | | South Africa s Bafana Bafana have been playing 4-2-3-1 under Carlos Alberto Parreira since November 2009 and are unbeaten in their last 12 matches going into the 2010 World Cup, despite being the lowest-ranked FIFA WC hosts ever. Good luck Bafana! | | | |
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| 23-Jul-10 10:55
Bra Pule
Western Cape | | | This formation for me is easily the most effective for a Mobile team that likes to keep the ball on the ground. The 3 advanced midfielders can collapse inside to support the main striker, this needs those 3 to be somewhat skillfull, wing play is provided by the fullbacks while the 2 deeplying midfielders are there to support in the middle and guard the flanks. It becomes more dangerous when the work rate of all midfielders is higher than average. Killer formation. | | | |
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| 01-Sep-10 12:26
guest 93.41.227.224 | | | I wouldn t say this is a defensive formation at all. Spalletti used it with Roma, and it was very offensive: fast and short passages, and 8 players attacking. In fact Roma often suffered when the opponents had a solid defense line and used fast counterattacks (as against Inter or M Utd, both teams with very physics players). | | | |
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| 03-Sep-10 00:05
F
 Al Manamah | | | There are different ways to utilize this formation. The back four is a given. For the center midfielders, either two strict DMs (Makalele, Roy Keane), or a deep lying playmaker (Alonso) ahead of a DM (Busquets), or a deep-lying playmaker alongside a box-to-box midfielder (Pirlo and Gattuso). I prefer the last option, give that the B2B midfielder is a hard-tackling warrior who can burst forward too.
For the front line, I prefer using three players who can inter-change positions, like Oezil, Mueller, and Podolski for Germany. Podolski and Oezil switch centre and left, and Mueller is on the right. For the front-man, I don t think a target man works for this formation (Luca Toni or Ibra) or a poacher (Inzaghi) but rather a fast and skillfull forward a la Higuain or David Villa who don t hold the ball but use their speed to bring it forward. | | | |
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| 26-Oct-10 19:58
Dean Innis
 Saint Andrew | | | My favourite formation,it gives my team cover both ways once you have the right people in the key positions,I am trying to get my new team to adapt to it in a positive way.4-2-3-1 the way to go.sign. Dino Baggio | | | |
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| 28-Oct-10 07:42
malcontent
 Washington | | | it is a mistake to categorize this as defensive and to do so is simplistic and shows a lack of understanding of the nuances of the game.
The W shape in the middle lends itself to possession football. With a deep lying playmaker as one of the holding mids, it can be very attacking. Formations are neutral, it is the personnel which determines their attacking or defensive nature. The CAM is often really a withdrawn striker, and is often a hybrid forward/CAM. Players like Wesley Schneider or Lionel Messi can do great things from this position. Often, forwards are used as the outside, attacking mids. The USA used Dempsey and Donovan in these spots, and they both play as withdrawn forwards for their clubs.
This is evolved from the 4-4-2, and is VERY similar to the 4-2-1-3. Spain used this in the 2010 Final, while Holland used a 4-2-1-3, and the two systems were nearly identical. | | | |
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| 04-Dec-10 14:02
dof amvm
 Brasov | | | Both Germany and Holland used the 4-2-3-1 with a False 9 and False 10 combo at the World Cup. Thus their average shape resembled a slanted 4-2-4-0.
As was mentioned it can used either for possession and attack with a deep playmaker or defense and counter-attack. | | | |
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| 08-Feb-11 05:51
John-Philip
 Ontario | | | Currently the most popular formation in world football. Started becoming popular in WC 2006 when many cautious teams used it and did well (e.g. semi-finalists France, Portugal and Germany).
The manager who pioneered it in the 2000s is RAFA BENITEZ. He started using it to amazing success with Valencia 2001-2004. Breaking Real/Barca monopoly and winning two La Liga titles. He later used it with Liverpool. He uses 2 holding midfielders, one slightly attacking and one breaking play (Baraja & Albelda / Alonso & Mascherano) and one attacking trequartista or second striker in the hole (Aimar / Gerrard). | | | |
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| 05-May-11 06:47
jeff from usa
California | | | I like the 4-2-3-1 and Iuse it for my older youth teams and teach it to my younger teams. with it we can play more defensive and get 9 behind the ball quickly or leave more targets for outlet balls forward depending on the opposition or need for that particukar game, Man marking from the center backs, tough tackling from the central mids and midfield width moving forward from the outside backs is crucial. In my mind it can be defensive and relying on the counter attack or can be used as high pressure to win the ball back higher up the field. | | | |
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| 18-Oct-11 22:24
Paul
Havering | | | We are using this in our first season of 11-a-side.
If you have the right players for each roll it is great. We have 2 great hard working tacklers and they never both go forward and so we have good cover in the middle. Even if opponent has good wingers, if your RM and LM work hard to close down it can still be a 4-5-1 when you don t have the ball. Best part about this formation [for kids] is the ability to get out of your own half. 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 is three rows accross the pitch. However, 4-2-3-1 gives an extra layer and the 2 holding midfielders push on the 3 attacking midfielders, thus allowing an opportunity to move the ball and the players up the pitch. | | | |
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| 25-Oct-11 10:06
Coach Carter
 Ostfold | | | This formation, like most others, is not necessarily defensive, nor necessarily offensive, the instructions given, and the coach s/manager s definition of the roles is everything. BUT, I agree that most teams that use this formation take more advantage of the defensive structure of the formation, rather than looking at the offensive opportunities. The formation is excellent when it comes to counter-attacking, as well as for keeping possession, but the structure of the formation tempt many teams to focus on defense, and never to come in a numerical disadvantage, which in my opinion is very cowardly. The formation depend on creative and offensive-minded midfielders, for it to be fun to watch . Used properly, this formation gives great opportunities in attack, if you dare to push one of the central/defensive midfielders up when in ball possession. If you succeed on pushing up a midfielder when in possession of the ball, this formation is very much like the offensive-minded 4-3-3; my personal favorite beside the 4-2-3-1 formation. | | | |
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| 22-Jan-12 17:09
guest 76.206.49.149 | | | A lot of coaches use this formation nowadays. Teams like Madrid, Mexico, Holland, England, Spain, USA, and Arsenal. So it is a constant formation. This is can be a very defensive or very attacking or a balanced formation. You attack with 4 and defend with 6 basically. It is good for possession and counter-attack football. I coach for a team in America and I use this formation and the players like it and get used to it quickly. | | | |
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| 13-May-12 04:14
guest 118.93.164.78 | | | Chelsea use it under Di Matteo - They advanced past Barcalona with it
Cech
Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Cole
Lampard, Mikel
Kalou, Mata, Ramires
Drogba | | | |
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| 29-May-12 01:37
TonM
 Noord-Holland | | | The problem with 4-2-3-1 is that it easily can become a 6-0-0-4 system. This can especially be the case when there is too much distance between the defenders and the attacker(s). For this system to be effective the team has to play in a compact way while at the same time each player should be given enough space to perform his actions. | | | |
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| 05-Jan-23 22:20
guest 45.133.182.18 | | | This plan aims to control the middle of the field, relying on a skilled playmaker to build counter-attacks from behind | | | |
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