Wing-backs in a 3-4-3: how five defenders become three and three attackers become five

Out of possession the shape is honest: five across the back, four in midfield, one striker. The wing-backs are defenders here, level with the outside centre-backs, and the line covers the whole width of the pitch. Against a 4-4-2 the opponent's wingers are marked by a defender who never has to leave the line, which is why back-three teams concede so few crosses.

The cost is obvious. There is one player up front and he is alone. Everything about the next two phases exists to fix that.

When the centre-backs have the ball, the wing-backs go. Not inside, like an inverted full-back, but out and up: to the halfway line, touching the chalk. The opponent's wingers now face a choice a 4-4-2 was never designed for. Follow the wing-back and leave the midfield four as a three; stay narrow and give the wing-back the ball with forty metres of touchline in front of him.

A wing-back is a winger who agreed to defend. The system works when the opponent forgets the first half of that sentence.— TacticFrame editorial

Behind them, three centre-backs against two strikers means the ball can always be played out. The wing-backs are the release valve; the outside centre-backs step into midfield when the wing-backs are marked.

In the final third the wing-backs arrive level with the front three. Five attackers, four defenders. The full-backs cannot mark both the wing-back and the inside forward on their side, so one of the two is free on every attack. Switches of play from one wing-back to the other are the signature move: the ball travels sixty metres and lands on a free player.

The risk sits at the back. Three centre-backs and, at best, two midfielders guard the counter-attack. That is why the midfield pair in a 3-4-3 are almost always destroyers rather than creators: the creation is happening out wide.

• Watch the wing-backs' starting position at a goal kick. Deep means the team will defend the phase; on the halfway line means it intends to build.
• Count the players in the opponent's back four when the wing-back receives. Four against five is the whole point.
• Notice the switch. If the ball goes from one wing-back to the other in two passes, the system is working as designed.