Wolves change their hunting formation
Antonio Conte’s title winning Chelsea side left its mark on the Premier League in 2016–17. Other than being the champions that year, the switch to a back three after a first half demolition from Arsenal gave Chelsea a huge advantage for the rest of the season. Their five in attack, five in defence mesmerized their opponents as PFA Players’ Player of the Year N’Golo Kante dominated the midfield alongside Nemanja Matic.
Most of the teams in the league shifted to a back three to mirror Chelsea’s system. Even Arsene Wenger who rarely moved away from his 4–4–2/4–2–3–1 system changed into a back three. However, they failed in stopping Conte’s side from winning the title. Conte had left his mark tactically on the league that season, but most of the teams reverted back to their normal back four in the upcoming season and the current one.
Only Wolves and Huddersfield started the current season playing a back three — Southampton joined them later after the arrival of Ralph Hasenhuettl. Wolves’ system being identical to Chelsea’s 3–4–3 in 2016–17, but with a creative technical midfield duo in Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho.
Wolves’ positive start to the season saw them place 7th in the table after beating Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Similar to that Chelsea side, the combination between the wing backs and forwards dominated the wing and channel areas against the opponents’ back four. This was quite notable in their goals against Burnley, Southampton, and Crystal Palace. Three out of the four goals stemming from a combination between a wing back and one of the front three.
Chelsea’s 3–4–3 declined in its second season as teams figured out how to play against it. Incidentally, the same happened to Wolves in mid October, drawing once and losing five times after the Crystal Palace game. The game at home to Huddersfield showcased this perfectly. Huddersfield’s 3–5–1–1 gave Huddersfield an extra man in midfield to press Neves and Moutinho in the build up phase. Then when Wolves went to plan B which is usually long balls to Matt Doherty on the right side, Philip Billing was present to win the aerial duel. In addition to that, the aggressive marking of Huddersfield’s back three meant that Wolves’ front three can’t link up with the wing backs or midfielders. Total lockout for Wolves was the result as Aaron Mooy struck twice to give Huddersfield a deserved win.
Nuno Espirito Santo had to mix things up for Wolves. Firstly, he opted to switch to a 3–4–1–2 with Morgan Gibbs-White playing behind the forwards or introduce the shift in formation as a plan B during the game. Four wins followed against Chelsea, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Tottenham. Starting from the game against City Nuno introduced Leander Dendoncker into his starting lineup, pushing Neves deeper and moving to a 3–1–4–2. Despite, the loss at the Etihad Wolves won their next three games against Leicester, West Ham, and Everton.
How did the change into a midfield three empower Wolves ? Here are three major factors.
1. Dendoncker’s late runs from midfield into the box
One thing the 3–4–3 always profited from was a free player towards the far post on the end of crosses. Usually it would be the wing back, and opponents had to switch to a back five or the wingers had to trackback heavily to neutralize this threat. Late runs from midfield however are harder to track as they aren’t as frequent and the movement of the late runner is often unpredictable.
Dendoncker currently performs the role of the late runner. He mixes the runs between far post, near post and runs into channels. His run into the left channel could have resulted in Wolves’ third when the score was at 2–0 against Leicester. Raul Jimenez passed Dendoncker the ball into the left channel, but Jonny Otto was late to Dendoncker’s excellent cross.
Against West Ham he attacked Doherty’s cross with a near post run. The ball just fell behind him, and the Belgian midfielder had to flick it with a back-heel which presented an easy save for Lukasz Fabianski. The late runs finally paid off against Everton. Dendoncker was close to scoring in the first half as Jimenez set him up after Wolves intercepted the ball high up the pitch. Dendoncker’s shot wasn’t as good as the pass from Jimenez, and Jordan Pickford saved it.
In the second half, he followed a Diogo Jota shot with a sweet left footed volley that flashed past Pickford into the top of the goal. That was Dendoncker’s first goal for Wolves and it was certainly coming as his late runs into the box presented a new attacking threat for Wolves.
2. Neves operating as a deep-lying playmaker
In a midfield duo, Neves and Moutinho were easily pressed in the build up phase as seen against Huddersfield. Now, with the introduction of 3–1–4–2 Neves dropped deeper while Dendoncker partnered Moutinho. Neves now operating as a deep-lying playmaker, a role that suits him considering his vision and long range passing ability.
Also it’s a role that should enthuse Neves becasuse Andrea Pirlo is his reference in football. Neves celebrates his goals by pointing to his head. When asked the reason for this celebration, Neves explained that it’s because of Pirlo’s book ‘I Think Therefore I Play’. Neves thinks by pointing to his head, therefore he does what he likes to do and that is playing.
Neves springs balls out wide to attacking wing backs or balls in behind the defence for Jimenez and Jota. Presenting a new option for chance creation. His accurate long balls behind the defence managed to find the pacey Jota against Leicester. With the game at 2–2, Leicester’s defence pushed forward leaving spaces behind them. Neves played the ball behind Wes Morgan, and Jota controlled it with his chest then put it past Kasper Schmeichel with a left footed strike.
Neves’ impressive passing ability came to show again in the 93rd minute of the game when he played a penetrative diagonal pass to Jimenez out wide, taking out six Leicester players. Jimenez squared the ball to Jota who scored his hatrick to win the game for Wolves in the last minute. Neves’ pass to Jimenez was probably the best pre-assist this season, and those balls out wide or behind the defence are creating better goal scoring opportunities for Wolves.
3. Spaces for Jimenez and Jota to attack
The addition of a midfield player instead of a forward created more space for the two players left upfront, Jimenez and Jota. The 3–4–3 limited Wolves’ attack to the channels and on the wings. With only two players upfront Wolves now possess more dynamism in attack as the duo can position themselves anywhere in the front line not restricted to a certain position. Jimenez and Jota occupy these spaces perfectly, mainly wide to attack the empty space in the center.
The front duo have been Wolves’ main source of goals since the switch in formation. Both have contributed to 7 goals each since the switch, Jota with five goals and two assists, and Jimenez with six goals and an assist.
Some examples of the benefit of the freedom and space in the attacking line can be seen in their goals against Chelsea and Leicester. Against Chelsea, Jimenez ran into the right channel providing Gibbs-White with a good passing option. Jimenez’s one-touch shoot went past Kepa Arrizabalaga to equalize the score before his partner in crime Jota scored the winner. Had there been a third forward, Jimenez wouldn’t have probably made this run as the space would have been occupied by a marked Wolves player.
In the roller-coaster of a game against Leicester, Jota opened the scoring after darting in from the left channel towards the center to meet Moutinho’s cross. Jota had two options, a far post run or a run towards the center. Danny Simpson who was marking Jota in this attack was in a dilemma whether to defend the far post or the center. Simpson looked over his left shoulder twice to check that Jota was going for a far post run, Jota was still there. Then Simpson checked over his right shoulder to make sure that Jota hadn’t shifted to a run towards the center, Jota wasn’t there. At that moment, it was clear to Simpson that Jota was going for a far post run. Jota then changed his mind in the last second and got ahead of Simpson to score. An extra option for Jota eventually gave him the upper hand.
Removing the third player from the front line and putting an extra player in midfield, gave Jota and Jimenez more dynamism and options when attacking the space. Nuno’s switch to three players in midfield is proving its effectiveness especially after other teams began to understand his initial template. Decreasing the number of attacking players doesn’t necessarily mean hindering your attack, it can actually prove the opposite.
