4-2-4, 4-3-3, 3-5-1-1, 3-5-2…since he took over the Juventus job three seasons ago, Conte has been extremely flexible in changing his formation according to his players’ skills. He started doing it when he switched his initial thoughts from the successful 4-2-4 he utilized in the first part of his coaching career to a 4-3-3 and a 3-5-2 so as to maximize Andrea Pirlo’s skills, pairing the former Milan deep-lying playmaker with two hard-working runners in Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio, who allowed him to be comfortable when the side were without possession.
Conte’s experiments continued this pre-season with the Juventus coach working on another pattern, a highly offensive and aggressive 3-3-4. “The 3-3-4?” – Conte said– ”is an option.”
This would not be the first time in which Conte has utilized a four-man attack. He started lining up four forwards at the same time at Arezzo in the 2006/07 season as he looked to avoid relegation from Serie B. It didn’t work. The idea to play with four players up front did, however, remain on Conte’s mind as he opted for that in successful periods that followed at both Bari and Siena.
“There’s been too much talk on this particular way of playing. In actuality it’s a 4-4-2. I know of course novelty makes sometimes a great topic of discussion. If instead of saying ‘4-2-4′ I had said ‘4-4-2′ from the very beginning, we wouldn’t be discussing this ‘innovation’. Maybe all it is is just a normal idea of play. It is a normal 4-4-2.”
Although the same Conte admitted that his 4-2-4 was more a 4-4-2, there are differences between a 4-2-4 and a classic 4-4-2. The wingers in a 4-2-4 play much higher up the pitch than they do in a 4-4-2. Additionally, on his first versions of 4-2-4 Conte rarely asked his full-backs to overlap the advanced wingers.
Four-man offensive front
Utilizing a 4-2-4 isn’t anything new. Brazil of 1970 employed a similar shape and Pep Guardiola also did in 2010. It is possible to have balance with his formation. Asking the wide players to play near to the forwards when the side has the ball and having the midfielders level when out of possession can have the desired effect.
A 3-3-4 formation, though, is somewhat unusual in the modern game. The format used by Conte is not the 3-3-1-3 Louis Van Gaal displayed with Ajax or that Marcelo Bielsa utilized throughout his period as Argentina and Chile head coach.
Van Gaal and Bielsa’s 3-3-1-3 was an extremely attacking formation built to press high up the pitch, and stretch the play looking for width when in possession. The back three and the holding midfielder were the four defenders, while the two wing-forwards played high up the pitch to challenge opposition full-backs, also supporting the No.10 in the final third of the pitch. They also provided a goal threat along side the central midfielders, who were box-to-box players pushing forward to support the forwards in attack and moving back to help the outside centre-backs when the ball was lost.
The 3-3-4
But, as said, a 3-3-4 is a much more attacking formation, featuring a three-man defence, a three-man central midfield with a spare man to retain ball control, and four men up front with two attacking wingers and two central forwards.
We have seen this kind of pattern before, utilized in Italy’s Third Division and Serie B by the innovative Ezio Glerean. He was the first to employ this system while he was in charge of Cittadella. At Cittadella, Glerean had Gianni Migliorini, Giulio Giacomin, and Achille Mazzoleni as the midfielders. Up front, Stefano Ghirardello was the central forward, Marco Scarpa and Riccardo Rimondini or Sturba were the wide-forwards while Andrea Caverzan was the playmaker, playing closer to Ghirardello. The great advantage of using four forwards is that there are more offensive players in the final third at the same time. It also gives you four men able to put pressure on the ball and on opposition defenders to win the ball high up the pitch.
For Conte, it takes a slightly different form and can arguably be described as a variation of the classic 3-5-2 formation that has brought him great success at Juventus so far. The reason to call it a 3-3-4 is simply because the wing-backs play so close to the two central forwards or because Conte may utilize two wide-forwards as wing-backs.
Although Conte has noted that it will be very hard to see Mirko Vucinic, Carlos Tevez, and Fernando Llorente together on the pitch at the same time, it’s still a possibility in some situations. Vucinic could play as the left-winger, asking him to drift inside from there, employing a classic wing-back like Stephane Lichsteiner on the right flank to guarantee balance.
Then there is Simone Pepe who could be deployed as an offensive wing-back, running up and down the line. The midfielder could be utilised here, alongside the three influential centre midfielders, Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, and Claudio Marchisio. The latter two players, who are the midfield runners could be asked to support the forwards, to overlap the wing-backs and also to help the central defenders with the wing-backs, out of position, closing the gaps on the flanks.
Conclusion
With the wing-backs immediately moving forward, Juventus could press the opposition at goal-kicks, preventing them from playing the ball easily into midfield. Juventus’ players do have the attitude and tactical know-how to adapt to new tactics and new ways of thinking. The 3-3-4 is still a ‘plan B’ but Conte could try to install it and utilise it when needed to get the best out of both Llorente and Tevez in the same line-up.
