The back three is back

For ten years, almost every team in the Northern League played with four defenders. In pre-season, five of the ten clubs used three centre-backs for at least part of every game. The back three is back, and the reasons tell you a lot about how the league has changed.

What a back three is

A back three uses three central defenders instead of two, with a wing-back on each side who covers the whole flank. When the team defends, the wing-backs drop and it becomes a back five. When it attacks, they push high and it becomes a front five.

That flexibility is the main appeal. One shape gives you two teams.

Why now

The first reason is wide players. The league is full of fast wingers, and two centre-backs often struggle when crosses come in from both sides. A third centre-back gives an extra body in the box.

The second reason is the press. Teams like Ashford press high with two forwards. A back three gives the team three players to pass between at the back, which beats a two-player press easily.

The third reason is personnel. Several clubs have three good centre-backs and no good full-backs. A back three lets a manager play his best players.

The weaknesses

A back three needs wing-backs who can run all day. If they get tired, the team has huge spaces behind them, and the wide centre-backs are pulled out of position. That is exactly how Elmwood beat Kingsbridge twice last season.

It also takes a player out of midfield. With only two central midfielders, a team can be outnumbered in the middle of the pitch.

Who does it best

Kingsbridge Athletic play the purest back three in the league, and last season their defence conceded only twenty-one goals. Northgate switch between three and four during games, depending on the opponent's shape. Riverside Rovers tried a back three in pre-season and dropped it after two defeats.

Systems do not win games. Players do. But the right system lets your best players stand in the right places.

Sofia Marín

How to play against it

Teams that beat a back three usually do it in one of two ways. The first is to attack the space behind the wing-backs, with fast wingers who stay wide and wait for the counter-attack. The second is to overload the middle. With only two central midfielders, a back-three team can be outnumbered three against two, and a good passing side will find the free player again and again.

Northgate's manager, Priya Chandran, has a third answer: change shape during the game and make the opponent change too. "Every shape has a weakness," she said. "The trick is to find it before half-time."

What to watch for

Next time you are at a game, watch the wing-backs in the first ten minutes. Where they stand when their team has the ball tells you the whole plan.