At the elite level, the sequence of numbers which create what we regard as ‘formations’ play a peripheral role in the overriding tactical thought of managers.

However, they supply us mere mortals with an entry-level understanding of concepts and ideas installed by the great thinkers that have tinkered and adjusted on the sidelines since the sport’s modern inception in the mid-to-late 19th century.

Football has long been about the empowering of individuals and the maximisation of talent at one’s disposal, but collective cohesion has played a perpetual role in claiming success, too. Managers have conjured up an array of configurations in order to best utilise ten outfielders, with the once revolutionary and subsequently ubiquitous 2-3-5 and W-M of Herbert Chapman drifting out of fashion in favour of banks of four and liberi – depending on where you were on the globe.

In contemporary times, default formations serve as a springboard for in and out-of-possession structures. Teams are in a state of constant flux, with game-states and different phases of play requiring alternate solutions.

Historically, though, we cannot deny the significance of formations in aiding a manager’s ability to manifest their ideals onto the pitch and arguments will forever be provided for the superiority of one configuration over others.

Let’s run you through some of the best and most popular football formations.

Synonymous with ‘Total Football’ and Pep Guardiola, the 4-3-3 has come to represent progressive footballing ideals.

The system was championed by Rinus Michels’ swashbuckling Netherlands team of the 1970s led on the field by Johan Cruyff, with the likes of Michels and particularly Guardiola utilising this formation in a bid to establish midfield control. Guardiola isn’t wedded to the 4-3-3, though, and has proven to be experimental in roles beyond Catalonia, but much of his managerial career has been spent attempting to overwhelm and manipulate opponents via the midfield supremacy a 4-3-3 supplies on paper. Mind you, it does help when you’re blessed with one of the all-time great triumvirates in Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Jurgen Klopp drifted away from gegenpressing and his once preferred 4-2-3-1 in favour of a more Guardiola-like system which helped Liverpool to the 2018/19 Champions League crown and Premier League title the following year.

There are an array of 4-3-3 interpretations. Michels vouched for ordered fluidity, while Klopp wanted his full-backs to bomb on, his midfielders to provide cover and wide players to operate from the half-spaces. Guardiola’s 2017/18 Manchester City – relentless users of the system – looked different to his Barcelona teams thanks to the deployment of an inverted full-back in midfield.

Teams can spring into a 3-2-5 or 2-3-5 in-possession shape and defend with wingers engaged high up the field. The system offers balance and the aforementioned control of central areas.

The romance of the number ten arguably peaked in the 90s, which brought about a rise in prominence of the 4-2-3-1 (or 4-4-1-1). The only notable difference between the two is the depth of the wingers in comparison to the midfield pivot.

To maximise the creative genius of the number ten, teams drifted away from 4-4-2s in favour of having their masterful playmaker operate from between the lines – the zone between an opponent’s midfield and defence.

Nowadays, the system doesn’t necessarily aim to cater to one star, but to facilitate the high-pressing ideals of a litany of managers. Guardiola’s City assistant, Juanma Lillo, is said to have played a key role in Spanish football’s abolishment of the 4-4-2 in favour of the 4-2-3-1. Ironically, though, the 4-2-3-1 can easily morph into a 4-4-2/4-2-4 pressing structure with the attacking midfielder joining the striker in the first line of defence.

Marco Silva has worked wonders with the 4-2-3-1 at Fulham, with balance supplied all over the park. The sturdy double pivot can cover full-backs when they advance, with connections being developed between a marauding number ten and the respective winger/full-back in wide areas.

This number ten can also run off the centre-forward, as Dele Alli did masterfully during his Tottenham heyday, with Mauricio Pochettino utilising his three creators behind Harry Kane in close proximity to initiate combinations and allow for more effective counter-pressing.

Former Argentina manager Carlos Bilardo is credited as the pioneer of the 3-5-2, with the 1986 World Cup-winning boss evolving a liberal, free-spirited Argentina team from the days of Cesar Luis Menotti into a rugged, hard-nosed outfit that was entirely built around Diego Maradona.

Bilardo aimed to free up his superstar by switching to a back three and allowing Maradona to roam from a central striking position. Argentina’s number ten withdrew from a forward role in a bid to get on the ball as much as possible and he dazzled in Mexico to lift an unfancied Albiceleste team to World Cup glory.

In truth, the formation quickly went out of fashion after Bilardo’s departure from the national team (Italian coaches adored it, mind), but there has been a contemporary emergence – most notably through Antonio Conte at Inter, with the Nerazzurri claiming the 2020/21 Serie A title under his watch.

The system frees up the wing-backs and facilitates vintage combinations between the front two, but the 3-5-2/5-3-2 is vulnerable to switches of play with teams typically surrendering territory and control. It’s not a system used for regaining the ball high up the pitch which has seen many managers stay away from it. Conte’s Inter, however, were utterly destructive in transition thanks to the telepathy established between Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku, the attacking instincts of Achraf Hakimi and running power in midfield.

Mike Bassett’s favourite has long been associated with the primitive English game, but the 4-4-2 actually has Russian roots. Viktor Maslov took the 4-2-4 used by the 1958 World Cup winners Brazil and made it his own. Maslov guided Torpedo Moscow to the Russian league title in 1960 while deploying two banks of four which offered defensive solidity, zonal marking and a cohesive press.

Maslov’s 4-4-2 helped turn Dynamo Kyiv into a domestic and continental powerhouse in the late 60s and the Soviet coach’s ideals doubtlessly inspired better-known revolutionaries like Arrigo Sacchi and Valeriy Lobanovskyi. Maslov appreciated the balance the system supplied, as well as the potential for defensive solidity and attacking fluidity.

The system’s utilisation in England wasn’t quite as cultured and it eventually became a tool for direct possession play. English teams focussed on getting the ball out wide and crossing for two strikers in the box, with physical frontmen deployed to win aerial duels against centre-backs.

Despite the potential of succumbing to midfield overloads, the 4-4-2 remains a prominent pressing structure which Mikel Arteta, in particular, has had great success with at Arsenal, evolving the Gunners into one of the most fearsome teams without the ball.

As is the case with any formation, managers have weaponised the 3-4-3 in a myriad ways. Johan Cruyff’s midfield diamond, for example, was a daring structure that only the Dutchman would back to succeed.

The 3-4-3 is typically associated with wing-backs and wingers/inside forwards working off a focal point up top. Conte became the first manager to win an English league title in 50 years while using a back three, doing so with Chelsea in 2016/17, which sparked a brief revolution in the Premier League. Conte had previously made the most of the three elite centre-halves he had at his disposal at Juventus, winning three successive Scudetti in Turin, but Italians had grown used to seeing back threes triumph in the land of catenaccio.

Alberto Zaccheroni won the Serie A title with Milan in 1998 with a 3-4-3, while Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli were the Atalanta of the early 2010s: stylish and flamboyant. The system has defensive connotations, but many managers have empowered attacking stars within this framework. Think of Zvonmir Boban under Zaccheroni, Marek Hamsik under Mazzarri, Eden Hazard under Conte, etc, etc.

The wing-backs are critical to the system’s functionality, while only a well-balanced midfield pair will provide stability required in central zones. Inside forwards supply routes for ball progression from the half-spaces, with their respective movements opening up space for the centre-forward to run into in behind. Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres scored a hatful while operating as the focal point of Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 and the system will soon be in action at Old Trafford.

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