Not a Footium Blog

5 at the back! As a little fun aside, if you look at the number of formations based on the number of defenders, you get:

• Back 3 – 5 Formations
• Back 4 – 18 Formations
• Back 6 – 6 Formations

So clearly back 4 is still very popular!

The Line Ups

This is how we ended the game! Had to make a few subs and try and balance this squad a little bit.

Average Squad Rating (including our 3 extra starters): 40.9

Opponents Line Up

We were up against ANOTHER 5-2-3, except at least it was 5-2-3A to spice it up a bit.

Average Squad Rating: 39.8

Real Life Context

5-3-2 is nowhere near as popular as it used to be, but some clubs who opt for something like a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 may swap into a 5-3-2 when out of possession.

If you’re wanting an iconic 5-3-2 formation, you’re looking at the 2002 Brazil Word Cup squad!

If you’re looking for other locations with a 5-3-2 tradition, Italy with it’s commitment to defence (and commitment to yanking Bukayo Saka in finals!) is a great place to look. Conte and Inzaghi are two managers who’ve had a go at it.

Strengths:

• Defensive Stability. With the ability to keep 5 defenders (and often 2 midfielders) behind the ball a lot of the time, it’s a really defensively strong formation.
• Counter Attacks. As with many defensive formations, this is a formation that looks to exploit the transition and push forward quickly.

Weaknesses:

• Lack of width. This formation can easily be exploited against teams with good width.
• Build Up Play. When this formation is not countering quickly, it can sometimes struggle to break down opponents.

We were a bit worried about coming up against 5-2-3 A!

The Match

STOP THE PRESS. WE SCORED FIRST.

Yep, it finally happened again! We finally scored first in a Footium Match, having spent ages going down 1-0, so that was a nice surprise.

This was through Yves Besson in the 8th minute, who got a whopping 8 goals in 7 matches in season 6!

Our opponents got back into it quickly, equalising in the 25th before going ahead in the 39th.

2-1 down, with relegation looming, our players picked up and equalised in the 75th! It finished 2-2.

Stats are below.

On to the next one.

See you all on the pitch!