The Romans had a unique knack of evading defeat.
In the famous battle of Boudica, the British rebels numbered at 230,000 while the empire could sum only 10,000 soldiers. Despite immense physical odds, the Romans were tactically superior – This made all the difference. “Testudo” was the name of the formation that brought the fall of Britain and the death of 80,000 formation-less rebels.
1500 years later, Britain learned from their mistakes and adopted the famed “1-1-8” formation while playing football. It was a testament to the style of early football which only focused on attacking.
Alongside the offensive formation, football in the 19th century was about individual quality rather than team performance. Matches would see a maximum of 3-4 passes being strung together per game. Many people claimed that this style of football often got messy and unentertaining.
While England tried to win matches with the “1-1-8”, Scotland wanted to experiment with a bit more passing. Therefore, they decided to bring one of the attackers to a midfield role, creating a “1-2-7” formation. Unknowingly, this was the start of the “build-up play” which is done by every team today.
In 1872, England played Scotland in an international friendly. Both teams pitched their respective formation and playstyles. With 15 attackers on field, experts still struggle to understand how the score finished 0-0.
In lights of this event, Scottish team Wrexham A.F.C decided to adopt a “2-3-5” formation. The rewards of their innovation were reaped immensely through their winning of the prestigious Welsh Cup.
The formation, more commonly known as the pyramid, offered a better defense than the prior formations. Simultaneously, having three midfielders was contemporary and gave a stronger focus on playmaking.
In the next 50 years, “2-3-5” became a household tactic in football. The era of overloading attackers was over. Fluidity in short passing became a must. This formation propelled Italy to win two consecutive world cups in 1934 and 1938.
After such glory, every team would have adopted the pyramid were it not for the introduction of the offside rule by the footballing association (FA). The purpose of the rule was to create sophistication in the plays and add more team coordination.
The FA’s aims were definitely achieved.
A disciplined backline could now easily play an “offside trap” to mitigate attacking plays. Defending started gaining the respect it deserved.
In recognition to the change, Arsenal did a complete rehaul of the “2-3-5”. A winger became a defender, another winger became an offensive midfielder and a midfielder also became an offensive midfielder: the seemingly invincible “3-2-2-3” or WM was born.
The formation won them 3 league titles in a span of only 4 years.
In the above picture, you see Real Madrid pitching the WM in their legendry 1955-1960 campaign. During the period, Los Blancos reigned King of Europe five consecutive times.
Many teams tried adopting WM into their squads, but they simply could not make it work as the ball would often get “stuck” in the midfield. People soon realized that the “3-2-2-3” did have a quirk; teams needed to play together through close-nit passing.
The remedy to the formation finally arrived a decade later from the Brazilians. Many people often recall this triple world cup winning side through their brilliant individuals’ players: Pele, Zico, Garrincha and the list could go on. Yet, for the first time in football history, they also fielded 4 defenders! Their “4-2-4” was played as such that offence began all the way from the defence.
Short passing at the back was unfathomable but the South American side did not care. Almost 40 years later, people still remember this side and will continue to do for decades to come.
4 defenders also highlighted the impact defenders can have on a game. The art of defending was truly born during this era. Hence, the focus on defense continued with the development of formations such as “4-3-3” by Leeds United, who became heavy weights of Europe. Unlike other formations discussed, the “4-3-3” is in use by every team for the past 50 years. During the dominance of Italian teams in the 1990s, ultra-defensives formations such as 4-4-2 were also used.
While the Romans used the “Tsuedo” to start off their battles, they would often switch to other formations amidst the battles. This dynamic change would add another layer of confusion towards their enemies.
Similarly, what really changes football was the invention of dynamic formations. Originally thought of by Hungarian manager Gustav Sebes, the idea emphasized changing formations mid-game depending upon situations. For example, a winger could drop back in the 4-3-3 resulting in a 4-4-2 formation.
Hungary would adopt this style in the World Cup and score a record 27 goals in 5 games. Unfortunately, they lost 3-2 to West Germany in the Final; often argued as a very controversial win due to biased refereeing and doping favoring the victors.
The dynamics variation in formations of modern-day football is even greater than that of the past. Teams such as Real Madrid may pitch a 4-3-3; however, they easily switch to a 4-2-3-1 or a 5-3-2 mid-game.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are often seen to switch formations at least 5-6 times during a game!
While the early 90’s focused on defense, today’s game has a strong emphasis on build-up play and rotations. Defenders can often find themselves playing as midfielders. Ergo, it is my believe that this will create more unique offensive formations which will be entertaining to watch. For example, Leeds United are said to field a new “3-3-1-3” this session. I believe we might even one day see the return of a “2-3-5”; albeit, it might just be a dynamic change used in the final 10 minutes by a desperate side.
Football formations make a game entertaining and we must always remember to thank teams such as Wrexham or England who dared to innovate and, in such way, created the foundation of entertaining football.