Athletic's "English" 3-4-1-2

[MFCJack]

Background: I have long been an admirer of Athletic Bilbao's cantera policy of only using players from the Basque region of Spain, which overlaps in to southern France, the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa has only added to my intrigue and admiration. Bielsa has had great success with Chile in recent years and has been appointed Athletic's new manager over the summer. As pointed out by Jonathan Wilson it is a change that was not really required. Athletic had been steadily improving under Joaquín Caparrós with something of a Golden generation of players including Spanish internationals Javi Martinez, Andoni Iraola and Fernado Llorente not to mention the likes of youngsters Mikel San Jose, Ander Herrera and wonderkid Iker Muniain.

Bielsa has an alternative style of managment and heavily favours a three man back-line. This is a significant break from the traditionally "English" style of Athletic's play. They are traditionally big, strong and bludgeoning players but Bielsa has had some trouble applying his methods over recent months but has recently had some success as pointed out by Jonathan Wilson in this Guardian article. My hope was to develop a formation with a back three that captured the synthesis of traditional Bilbao and the influence of Bielsa. The success has been incredible and here are my findings.

The Plan: Play a back three that with a flexible midfield capable of defense and attack allowing a forward three to remain high up the field and launch quick counter attacks to produce a greater number of "quality" chances than the opposition. Also with heavy pressing from the midfield allowing them to star attacks higher up the field.

Team Instructions: A fluid set up with greater creative freedom and heavy pressing in a zonal marking system with greater freedom to roam.

Defense: Firstly the goalkeeper doubles as a sweeper able to sweep in behind the high back three. The defenders are all capable of "recycling" possession therefore all three are set as ball playing centre backs. The most central of the three is set to cover the two stoppers ahead of him. This allows the back three to always have the numerical advantage over the opposition.

Midfield: The wide midfielders are effectively full-backs and so need to be capable of defense and attack. I have used converted full-back with some success. They often drop deep to track opposition wide players but they also push on to attack opposition full-backs. The central midfielders are also required to be capable in defense. One is set as a ball wining midfielder crucial for wining the ball high up the field and laying the ball off to a deep laying playmaker who can launch the attacks. Both sit deeper than the wide men in attack but press harder in defense.

Attack: With the midfield and defense instructed to win the ball this allows the forward three to express them selves in attack. Between the lines of midfield and attack a Trequartista is able to float between the opposition defense and midfield. Ahead of him lies both a poacher and a complete forward set to attack and remain high up the field.

Personnel: In goal I have used Gorka Irazioz but recently signed the French, and Basque, St. Etienne stopper Stephane Ruffier. Both are quality keepers and capable of dealing with the large number of long shots this tactic encourages. In defense my first choice stoppers are Mikel San Jose and Fernando Amorebieta and Borja Ezika set deeper to cover them. San Jose and Amorebieta are also free to venture forwards at set pieces and offer an added aerial threat.

In midfield my first choice widemen are Cesar Azpillicueta and Igor Gabilondo. Both need replacements ready and it is a place I rotate often, with Andoni Iraola and Inigo Perez, as it drains stamina quickly. Azpillicueta also has a long throw that proves useful in the final third. Centrally Javi Martinez is the ball winner and captain. He is not only strong and tactically aware but also very capable of passing which allows the side to keep hold of the ball when required. Alonside him I deploy a deep lying playmaker often Ander Herrera who offers little in defense but is an excellent passer of the ball with great creativity but I often use a more defensively minded player against stronger opposition.

In attack the Trequartista is Iker Muniain who despite being only 19 is the most important player in the tactic. If he has a good game the side generally win but has disappointing me a little with his finishing at times. Ahead of him is Fernando Llorente who scored 23 goals in 37 league appearances in my first season but also 10 assists. As a complete forward Llorente is able to combine his strength, pace and technical ability to become more involved in play than a target man. Finally alongside Llorente is a poacher often Gaizka Toquero or young Guillermo Fernandez who are there to add the finishing touch to many moves and both have score a good number of tap-ins.

Results: In my first season I finished 2nd in La Liga loosing only 4 games all season, 2 against Barca, 1 against Real and the other disappointingly to Racing. Only Real and Barca scored more and conceded less. Unfortunately a red card for Gabilondo in the Europa League in the Second Knock-out round cost me away to PSG. Nevertheless I was delighted with the start. In my second season I have started La Liga well and won my first three scoring 12 and conceding just 1. My finest result so far is

in my first Champions League game.

Llorente got both the goals in the last 20 minutes. The first was from a long ball but the second showed the combination of wide midfielder Azpillicueta to Trequartista De Marcos who played Llorente in through the centre backs to give him a clear cut chance. Statistics wise Inter dominated 58% of the ball and 20 shots on goal but 13 were from long distance and Inter only created 1 CCC to my 4 despite the domination of possession and territory.

At a later date I might analyse some of my performances further to show how it works in greater depth. Feel free to discuss or ask questions.