By Alex Trukan
Wing play utilising full width of the pitch is a very popular attacking strategy used by many teams. Playing with two wingers positioned wide by the touchline stretches the opposition back line, creates spaces in midfield, gives licence for the full backs to overload central areas as well as provides an opportunity to create scoring chances from crosses. On the other hand, playing without traditional wingers gives more opportunities to overload central areas, but it doesn’t mean wide areas aren’t used at all. Having strikers and midfielders occupying the middle part of the pitch forces full backs to provide width as well as provides chances for the midfielders and strikers to make forward runs from central into wide areas what often puts the opposition out of balance.
In the first initial building up phase, when centre backs are in possession, it is important to create spaces for the full backs to receive. However, the best area to start utilising full backs would be closer to the opposition’s half (easier to apply pressure in wide areas). In order to make it happen, central midfielders should start in the central areas and provide opportunities to play through the middle first. That will narrow up the opposition and prepare spaces wider for the second phase of build-up.
Second option would be to use full back straight away from the centre back, but that should be starting to happen around half way line and on the opposition half. In this case, the midfielders as well as strikers would be also positioned centrally but be available as a passing option.
This kind of position of midfielders would trigger full back not only to provide support from behind but also to make an overlap run and start to stretch the opposition on their own half and provide width instead of traditional wingers.
After the full backs gets into wide position, several movements can be made. One of the most popular ones would be a forward run of one of the midfielders into spaces between the opposition centre back and a full back into a pocket of space. Role of the strikers would be crucial now. One of them should stay around the penalty box and occupy both centre backs whereas second one can come short to support the full back and at the same time occupy one of the midfielders preventing him from tracking the runners.
Another option would be to recycle the ball through the centre and utilise opposite full back who has already made a forward run triggered by the ball being on the opposite side and one of the midfielders providing defensive cover. When playing without traditional wingers, both full backs should be able to make forward runs and stay on the opposition half at the same time.
Apart from full backs, another crucial role to play in attack have strikers. Their starting position would be in the central areas, between the centre backs (and one of them needs to stay there all the time) but that is only a platform to make runs into wide areas from inside-out. That can be executed in the initial phase of attack, when opposition is organised and striker provides an option to pass and combine for the full back. As the opposition back line will move horizontally to track the run of the striker, it is a good opportunity to play in behind into the second or third striker.
Another option involves one of the strikers starting in wide areas to then make a forward run and receive through ball. That is especially effective when the ball is being switched from one side to the other and opposition is not protecting the ‘blind side’ well.
Playing without traditional wingers also has major drawbacks, especially out of possession and in transition to defence. One of the main problems is the protection of wide areas which are often left available to penetrate until full back provides pressure on the ball in his zone (usually around the defensive third). That can be solved by midfield three stretching wider and one/two strikers dropping deeper to cover opposition midfielders and half spaces but it requires a great deal of organisation and structure.
Using tactics with narrow midfield and strikers’ units is a very interesting alternative for traditional 4-3-3 with wingers positioned wide. It provides many opportunities to unbalance the opposition but at the same time leaves a lot of room to exploit when out of possession. Regardless of the benefits and problems with the strategy itself, the main priority would be analyse if this way of playing suits the available players and therefore not forcing the strategy on players at all costs but rather than that taking it as a framework to start from and adjust it to suit individual strengths and weaknesses.
By Alex Trukan, Development Coach, Nottingham Forest
@AlexTrukan