ono
Well-Known Member
No he didn't. He played 3-3-4 with Alaba and Lahm playing either side of Alonso. There's articles all over Google referencing the 3-3-4. He even played a 2-3-3-2 against Roma when they beat them 7-1. They played Stuttgart just before they played us a couple of years ago and had Bernat and Lahm in the middle in line with Alonso (with a back 3 behind them). Throughout the game Bernat and Lahm moved out wide to create attacking options once the ball had advanced ahead of their starting position. The formation, as with all Pep formations was perfectly fluid. Lahm and Bernat were still able to provide width as they only inverted when the back three had the ball to create two extra pivot options....which is what I'm suggesting Danilio and Walker could do just to help us move the ball to the attacking phase.
I'm not suggesting we play 3-5-2 with fixed inverted full backs. I'm saying they invert when one of the back three has the ball to create two extra pivot spots. Silva and De Bruyne or even Jesus can position themselves (for this phase of play) out wide and the spare striker or midfielder can drop in to give a central option to one of the three pivots. Once the ball has moved into the final third, the wide players can position themselves more narrowly and the inverted full backs can then position themselves out wide.
Last week, we only really had two options of getting the ball into attacking positions. One was a pass to Fernandinho who then had to link the ball up with the attackers. And plan B seemed to involve by-passing Dinho (because he had a body on him) and trying to play an intricate long pass to the forwards. Against good sides, we need more options to get the ball into attacking areas as good teams will figure us out pretty quickly.