Calcio Coaching: The Three Man Defence

Serie As current trend of deploying a defensive back three is not an innovative strategy, having already
been used extensively in the late 1990s and the turn of the new century. Dino Zoff used it effectively
during Euro 2000 (reaching the final) but after falling out of favour for a number of seasons, the tactic is
now back en vogue in the Italian top flight. Coaches such as Walter Mazzarri, Francesco Guidolin,
Antonio Conte, Roberto Donadoni, Alberto Zaccheroni and Gian Piero Gasperini all currently favour this
tactic.
We shall now endeavour to understand how it works, uncovering its strengths as well as its weaknesses.
The main point to remember when discussing the three man defence is that a team does not actually
defend with three players! It will be down to the coach to decide how many men must be behind the ball
when out of possession, and that will usually mean the majority of the midfield. So, Udinese for example,
who employ a 3-5-1-1 formation usually defend with at least seven players, allowing the front two and
perhaps one of the wide midfielders to remain in a more advanced position to help with the transition from
defence to attack. Napoli however, are much more aggressive when they lose the ball and will expect
their strikers to be the first line of defence when possession is lost.
Principles of a three man back line
The three man back line relies on the following:
The team must be compact in all areas to allow the three centre backs to organise themselves
Pressing and pressure work from attackers and midfielders to allow defenders time to find correct
position
Immediate pushing up of defensive line once ball is played away from goal
Offside tactic played only when ball is moving away from goal as an act of pressing rather than when the
opponent is moving towards goal in an attempt to try and win an offside decision
Attempt to funnel opponents play through the middle where the team will have a numerical advantage
With the above considerations in mind the coach must decide how he wants his back three to defend. He
has the option of a normal zonal defence, a more rigid man marking or a combination of the two.
With man to man marking, two of the three defenders will pick up the opponents forwards whilst the third
centre back will act as cover. This means that the defenders should always be 2v1 against the striker,
which is a big advantage. This is most effective when the attack is coming from a central area. See image
1.
With a zonal style, the backline will be expected to slide across the width of the pitch, and the wing back
from the weak side (the side opposite to where the ball is) to fall back and take up a defensive position.
See image number 2, which shows the left wing back drop to fill the gap alongside the centre backs.
As mentioned previously, a three man defence is heavily reliant on the rest of the team participating in the
defensive phase. Here we shall show two instances of a defensive shape that a coach would expect his
team to take up depending on whether he wanted a high pressure or a low pressure style.
Again, situations dictate when these two options would be used. High pressure (see image 3) when the
players are fresh and the game is still in its early stage or if you are losing and want to take a risk. Low
pressure (see image 4) would be used if players are tiring or you are trying to contain a result by making
the space between the defenders and the goalkeeper much smaller.

High pressure will try to win the ball back in a more advanced position, therefore being closer to the
opponents goal when you win possession. Low pressure will allow the opponent to get closer but with
less space to play in. If the attack and midfield fail to participate properly in this defensive phase, the
three center backs would become very exposed, as we shall see later.
The underpinnings of the defensive three are not altogether different to a back four. The main advantage
of using three centre backs is in the attacking phase, especially if you have strong wing backs. Napoli are
at their most dangerous when players like Christian Maggio and Juan Zuniga attack the wide spaces.
Udinese have their own double act in Pablo Armero and Dusan Basta, whose inexhaustible energy
supplies allow them to support the attacks well as the defence.
However, this tactic like any other, has its weaknesses which can be exploited. Most notably, a striker that
is able to move out wide at the right time, can take a centre back with him allowing the opposite side
winger to cut into the centre where he can attack the space vacated by the defender. In image 5, Alberto
Zaccheronis Inter (yellow) are in trouble as Lazio (in dark blue) have pulled two defenders towards their
forward who is wide left. This allows a central midfield player and a winger to get in behind the Inter
midfield and create a 4v3 situation on the edge of the box. The Lazio player on the ball has no pressure
to worry about and can advance easily, giving him many options to pass the ball. The low pressure
defensive strategy has failed and their is a risk of allowing an attempt on goal. Perhaps in this situation a
back four would have been more effective, as the centre back would not have needed to move over to the
right side.
Secondly, the big gaps that would normally be patrolled by a left or right back can be attacked especially if
one of the wing backs fails to drop in and cover the space (see image 6).
This is the most obvious weakness of any formation which deploys three centre backs and it is doomed to
failure unless pure wing backs are used to play on the flanks. It relies on the energy levels of the wide
players to cover the whole length of the field. Without this type of player it is not a tactic that should be
used.
The weaknesses are not so much with the strategy; but the failure for players to take up the correct
positions or in other the words the human element to the game.
Perhaps that is the whole beauty of football and tactics, nothing is guaranteed to be effective every time
and coaches and players must continue to work hard in training to synchronise movements as best they
can.
A team can never think it has mastered a particular formation and neither can it believe it has the perfect
solution to every game. Mistakes will, sooner or later, happen and the team will concede.
Understanding his squad and the capabilities of his players are probably the most important traits of any
coach when deciding on which formation to use.