3-4-1-2 Formation Tactics | Strengths & Weaknesses | Soccer Coach
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.พ. 2021
- In this video we look at the 3-4-1-2 formation tactics. I share strategies on how to play with the formation and what you need to use the formation successfully. We look into the traditional way playing with the formation and also a more dynamic way of playing with this unique formation. Furthermore, I share some of the strengths and weaknesses of the formation.
This video is meant for soccer coaches, players, and anyone that would like to learn more about football formation tactics, more specifically tactics about formations with 3 in the back.
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Luis Laureano
La Vida Fútbol - กีฬา
I've played 4-4-2 for several years because of the players I've had. I tried 4-2-3-1 and occasionally 4-3-3, but it didn't fit the players I had. 4-4-2, although a bit out-of-fashion, worked for the team I had. Next year will be a different story and 4-4-2 won't do it. I think 3-4-1-2 will be a perfect fit based on the players I'll have. Thanks for this video. It was very informational.
Thanks for sharing your experience it is a great example of what it takes to compete and win. I always say that the formation a coach uses needs to consider the players on the team.
And even though I say this so casually, there is nothing casual about it. You need a lot of practice matches to endure the trial and error that goes along with learning your best possible set up. Then you have to consider alternative players because competitive drive, desire, motivation and ultimately performance fluctuates throughout the season and the alternative players may become starters.
I wish you success using the 3-4-1-2 and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Cheers!
Coach Luis Laureano
Loved this style of presentation far more than just having the notes. Your live commentary was great!
Fantastic and clear. Good to show some videos of teams playing this set-up as a follow up. Thank you. 👍🏻⚽️
I like both notes and live action thanks.
Hi, I just tried this formation in my moded PES 21 with Man City. It worked wonders! I scored more goals than I usually do, in the few test matches I played. It definitely an attacking formation and required a huge discipline and manual input defensively. Though, it's worth the risk, since I'm outscoring the opposition anyway.
This the exact same formation I use on Facebook and fifa 18, love it so much
Yes it is a great formation. It can be adapted into multiple formations as well.
This was really smart and well explained! Ty!
Hello and thank you for your support!
Coach Luis Laureano
La Vida Fútbol
Very interesting. I guess this formation requires above all high levels of fitness and chemestry between each line, and the attacking midfielder being relatives fluid.
wow. This video is very interesting for me who likes the art of ball tactics

Great. I am glad you liked it. Do you have any particular formation that you would be interested in learning the tactics about? Also, remember to subscribe! Thank you for your support! ⚽️ 🤙🏽
A very interesting formation which I feel coulda good fit for the players I gave available to me. I like the fact that It allows the central defenders to move forward and support the wide mids and takes the pressure away from the Central mids to do this and be pulled wide.
Awesome, and yeah I find it to be interesting as well. PSG seem to use this formation right now as they always begin with Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé.
I hope the formatios works for you and your team. If you have any questions, let me know.
Cheers!
Coach Luis Laureano
La Vida Fútbol
This is one of the strongest formation in modern football
Yes, PSG are showing the world how this can work. They of course have 3 very strong attacking players that make it seem easier than it is.
Thanks for your support.
Coach Luis Laureano
Great 😊
I love use this tactic in manager football♥️
That's great. How is it working for you on manager?
I like this one
Nice.
We 100% sure that ruben amorim is going to liverpool next season after the departure,i would like ruben amorim to use the 3-4-1-2 formation because he likes to play the back 3,to boost to the favorites of Trent alexander arnold and Andy Robertson,Cody Gakpo at the attacking mid to play infront of the front 2 which is Rodrygo who is likely to be signed to liverpool and to play with him alongside Diogo Jota.We will take over europe i promise with this tactic i give💀🧠
Simple but effective. I like some imput on 14231
This is my favorite formation
Same.❤
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Amazing and thoughtful explanation. I agree with your conclusions, this is a very unique tactic. In my opinion, this is a totally attacking minded formation. For it to succeed, you would need highly physical, versatile and technical players in every line of the pitch. It works wonders in the fantasy world of football manager though
Hi and thanks for your comment! Yes, I like this formation but what I don't like about it, is that you need specific type of players. Not too many clubs and academies run this system and therefore it takes a lot of time to teach the players how to play with this formation. Once the players learn how to play with this formation then, yes, it can be very offensive minded for sure.
Thanks for your support!
Coach Luis 🤙🏽
@@LaVidaFutbol indeed, I believe it takes a lot of time to teach the players how to do their roles in a convincing manner. But it sure makes some dividends. I can think of 3 successful clubs who use this approach in a very similar way: Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Sporting Lisbon. I believe their success comes mostly from the versatility of the 3 centre backs, who most of the time can also play as fullbacks and have the right notion of how to cover the flanks, and also from the defensive midfielder, who is technically gifted and also capable of dropping back to play as a ball playing defender. This gives the stability to the other players, who are attacking minded players in almost all of time. But who am I to say anything, I'm not a coach!
One fascinating thing about this tactic is, if you can teach the players and get all the necessary attributes, many of these players will turn into elite or world class. Nagelsmann, Gasperini and Amorim have turned nobodies into recognized international players.
Hi just a question. With a system like this, would the technical requirements of the players needed for 3412 be transferred to others?
@@steffancavill-fowler1306 I think so. This tactic is mostly about repetition and settled patterns, players would thrive under these circumstances. But of course I'm talking about hard working individuals with high levels of teamwork. Personally I like to play with only one playmaker behind two strikers, this role is the only one with total freedom of movement and choice of what to do
@@ferrenberg makes sense. I am looking at this for a hockey team. I have a back 3 already and like the width and ability to have a good short game up both sides of the pitch and have a strong attack focus.
Amazing work, but I think that ti use this formation Is more important mental approaching than tactics. If two wings don't feel midfildier but Defender, Is really difficult Attack the opposite half
I agree. It’s important to have the right the players to be able to use this formation.
Today psg playing with this format ...so i tried to know about the tectic ....3-4-1-2..front two neymer, mbappe and in place of 1 there is messi...Just curious to know if this formation is to use messi more for attack???
What the individual instructions for this efootball 23
Do you need two defensive midfielders for this formation? Youve already got 5 defenders so cant the central midfielders be more offensive?
Well, due to the positioning, they are considered defensive midfielders. Depending on the type of players that you have and your style of play would determine how those two players are used. I do have to say that there should always be at least one more defensive minded. The middle should not be exposed with a backline of 3.
In this video I actually show the two variations. In the first, the center midfielders can take more part in the attack as you have three fixed center backs but int he second variation, the two outside center backs are playing as defensive wingbacks which would ultimately leave the two CDM to stay more defensive.
I hope that makes sense and answers your question. Thanks for your support.
Coach Luis
I dont know if anyone will answer this but would it not be better to convert into a 4-4-2 when defending, the only thing that would need to change is to have two different type of players on the flanks, so let me explain, lets say one of the "wing backs" would be a more defensive style player, so more akin to a traditional wing back/full back role while on the other side it would be a more offensive type of player like a full on left/right midfielder, and as you transition to defending the "number 10" would go help the side which has the more defensive wing back and help defensively, and the more offensive wing back would already have one of the three centre backs come to his side and help cover the area thereby transitioning to a 4-4-2.
Hello and thank you for your message. I apologize for such a late response. I am a football coach and the summers are always full of work.
So, to answer your question, yes that is possible. If you have one defensive wing back and one offensive wing back then that is certainly a possibility but its also the CDM players that would determine if we use the 442. Meaning, if we have a player there that is more defensive and the other is more offensive then the more defensive CDM would simply drop in between two CBs and create the 442.
In the video I explain about a more dynamic way of using the 3-4-1-2 so the outside CBs are actually players that can play as fullbacks or as centerbacks so dropping the #6 would be more ideal. Using the more traditional way, with 3 true center backs, dropping a fulback would be a better but with 3 traditional players, they would be too slow to match up with fast wingers which is why this way would usually defend with a back line of 5.
I hope this answers your question and again, I apologize for the late response. If you have any more comments questions or concerns, let me know. Thanks!
Cheers!
Coach Luis
La Vida Fútbol
@@LaVidaFutbol No need to apologize for a late response, thank you for answering in this much detail, much appreciated, have a nice day!
I coach high school soccer and will be using this formation against some stronger opponents. Normally we play a 3-5-2 with the wingers being true wingers rather than wing-backs and the 8s being defensively responsible. We basically concede the wings in defense, but that will not work against stronger teams. In a 3-4-1-2 my wingers will become wing-backs, but I have concerns about their fitness and ability to get upfield to support the attack. Any suggestions?
Hello and thank you for your support and for your question. I see your concern and why you would be concerned about your players meeting the demands of the formation. If you have wingback that were converted vs true wingback players then you should definitely be concerned because wingers naturally want to attack and make decisions based on this instinct. So my suggestions to you when playing against tougher opponents are the following: 1. Keep an open mind to play in a back line of 4 (e.g. 4-2-3-1) in which you have fullbacks who have a priority of being defenders who can go up and not attackers that are forced to be back 2. if you decide to play your wingers as wingbacks, make sure they get the extra fitness work in so that when it is time for league championships, they are ready. 3. try the different formations with a back line of 3 and see what best suits the team for the season. As a high school coach you do not have so much time and so many scrimmage matches to see what works but you can experiment against 'easier' opponents so that the team is better suited for when you guys play better competition. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. I would be happy to help.
@@LaVidaFutbol This is great. Thank you!
@@BizInTheFrontPartyInTheBack Anytime. In the future I will offer a video analysis service on my website but it is not yet prepared. If that is something you would be interested in, let me know and we can discuss how to go about it.
Cheers!
Coach Luis Laureano
La Vida Fútbol
@@LaVidaFutbol As in how to analyze game film?
@@BizInTheFrontPartyInTheBack so there are two possibilities, 1. you record a match and outsource the game analysis to me. 2. you record the match and we go through game together and focus on specific topics to help improve your team's performance.
Hello when using the formation is it okay to press all over on soccer manager world ?
Hello and thank you for your question. Well I am not familiar with soccer manager world but running a press throughout a match is definitely tough. In real life, Liverpool are one of the teams that do such a great job in meeting the pressing demands but even they have spurts and moments in which they defend in a zonal defense. So, it is important to have the players to play in such a way and then you have a better chance of success.
Thank you for your support.
Cheers!
Coach Luis Laureano
La Vida Fútbol
@@LaVidaFutbol Liverpool should use this formation with teams always targeting Trent on the counter
Can you you use high press as 3-4-1-2?
In the 3-4-1-2 formation not so much because the first and second lines are too open and can be easily outnumbered but if you push the CAM up and defend in the 3-4-3, then that would be a more secure high press.
I started using this formation in fifa 05 when I was 9 years old 😅
Crazy to think that FIFA 05 is now retro. It's great formation for sure!
Cheers!
Coach Luis Laureano
Số 6 đá tiền vệ Trung tâm và trung vệ. Số 10 tiền đạo ảo và Trung tâm.
In this formation how many goals can no 10 score
If it is great team then many goals. Currently PSG uses this formation but it is the two strikers who score most goals.
What team do you coach
As of now, I coach an U19 team. Due to the pandemic, we have been inactive since early November. I am not sure if we will get to finish the season. Do you coach?
No
@@milialpius2182 okay. well i hope i can help you with any of your football learning.
Make for a 4 1 3 2
I can do that. Thanks for your support.
Which formation is best against this formation?
I would use a 4231 to play against this formation. The back line of 4 should be able to cover the two strikers, allowing one or both fullbacks to push up the field during attack. The center would well protected with the two defensive midfielders and the CAM. The outside attacking midfielders would also be helpful protecting the outside lanes. And because of the spaces that the 3412 naturally has, they would be somewhat vulnerable during counter attacks.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, let me know.
Thanks!
Luis Laureano
La Vida Fútbol
@@LaVidaFutbol thank you sir 🙌🏻
@@LaVidaFutbol what about 4 1 2 1 2?
This is how i'll know who watched the video
You watching this Man United/OGS?
Hi, sorry didn’t watch the game, just highlights.
@@LaVidaFutbol hahah I think you missed the sarcasm in that comment friend.
I meant the current manager of Manchester United might do well to watch this video and consider it.
Essentially he is using a 4231 and is getting done by a low block which leads to counters. I feel this formation would allow him to play both Cavani and Ronaldo, whilst being able to press other teams in the final third. 3 at the back could act as a good insurance to mop up the breaks.
Rashford won't fit in this style and Pogba will need to be more defensive and I don't see that happening
@@uncleseekx Rashford would be one of 4 players trying for the two striker positions, and 2 of his competition are over 34 and can't play every game. This is how it always used to be with two up top.
Pogba is leaving soon anyway, and OGS insists on play Fred and Mctominay in the midfield regardless.
DVB also competes for one of the no.6 spots as well as being an option at no.10 as an understudy to Bruno.
Tldr: plenty of options and it can't be any worse.
@@bogstandardash3751 what if Pogba stays? And what you said isn't bad. Rashford and Greenwood be the other 9's we have. Shaw and Telles for the LWB position. Bissaka will be turned to a right center back. Still lot of places to fix though
No offense, just this formation almost same as 3-5-2. Because i can create a 10 in 3-5-2.🤷♂️