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BatiGoal

Old Football Formations


 

 

In the earliest days of football there were no specific formations or designated positions. Football was played like a children’s game of kick and run: the ball was kicked long and all the players ran towards it. In 1863, the offside rule in football was formalized with the creation of the English Football Association. The rule stated that any player in front of the kicker is offside and can't play the ball. The kick and run game was gradually replaced by a game of charge-and-dribble: players dribble the ball as far as they can towards the opponent's goal with several teammates to their sides.

Players rarely passed the ball and there was no real formation. Because of excess of dribbling and the poor number of goals scored, the FA amended the offside rule. Forward passes were allowed again as long as there were three players between the receiver and the goal line. With this new rule, teams began to play a more organized football which led to the creation of tactical formations.

Below are the most influential formations in the earlier years of football.

 

formation: 1-2-7(1860s - 1870s)

new127.png

The 1-2-7 is the most popular formation in the 1860-70s. With only one center back, two halfbacks, and seven forwards, it reflects the all-attacking nature of football in that era.

The strategy at that time was mostly based on long ball to the upfield and charge-dribbling. The English team played with a 1-2-7 formation when they faced Scotland in 1872. The Scots utilized a 2-2-6 formation. Unlike the English, who played a game based on individual skills, the Scots relied on short passing and teamwork. By passing the ball among each other, the Scots were able to grind an unexpected 0-0 draw against highly favored England.

 

formation: 2-3-5 (1880 - 1925)

oldform235.png

The 2-3-5 formation is popularly known as the “pyramid” because of its triangular shape on the blackboard.
The pyramid can be considered the first formation that relied on teamwork rather than individual effort. In defense, the left and right halves mark the opposition wingers and the center backs mark the inside forwards. The key player is the center half, who marks the opposition striker and is in charge of pivoting the team from defense to offense. After retrieving the ball in defense, he organizes his team’s attack and feeds the ball to the forwards.

Preston North End used the 2-3-5 formation to become the first winners of the English Double: winning both the English League and the FA Cup in 1889. They went through the entire season without conceding a loss, earning them the nickname “The Invincibles” and encouraging other clubs to adopt the pyramid. The formation continued to dominate English football until 1925, when the offside rules were changed to allow players to receive forward passes if there are at least two defenders between him and the goal line.

In the 1930s, a modified 2-3-5 formation was popular in Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. Called the Danubian school, its primary strategy is to distribute the ball through short ground passes.

 

formation: WM/3-2-2-3 (1925 - 1945)

oldformWM.png

The 3-2-2-3 formation was popularized by Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman in 1925 when the offside rule was changed. Chapman countered the increased pressure on defense by putting an equal number of players on the offensive and defensive ends.
Three defenders (two fullbacks, one center back) and two halfbacks make up the defensive end while two inside forwards, two wingers, and one striker make up the offense. This 3-2-2-3 formation was more popularly called as the W-M formation because the defenders’ arrangement on the field forms a “W” while the forwards form an “M.”

In a game, the W-M formation works with three forwards in front of the opponents’ goal, three defenders in front of the team’s own goal, and four players forming a square in the middle. Teams that have high-endurance midfielders can play this position with seven forwards or seven defenders at a time. This can be done by halfbacks moving up in offense and inside forwards dropping back in defense.

 

formation: 2-3-2-3 (1934 - 1938)

oldform2323.png

“Il Metodo” (the method) was a football formation developed by Italian manager Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s. Fundamentally, it is a defensive adaptation of the 2-3-5 formation, formed by withdrawing two forwards from the frontline. Two center backs protect the shoulders of the goalkeeper while the left and right halves take up the opposition wingers. The center half marks the opposing striker while two inside forwards lie deep to help on defense. The center half, just like in the pyramid position, serves as the transition from defense to offense. The offensive strategy is based on counter-attacking and long balls, which the center half initiates with the inside forwards.

 

formation: MU/3-2-3-2 (1950s)

oldform3232.png

MU is a flexible football formation that was derived from the WM formation. It places equal number of players on both halves of the field and was popularized by the Hungarians in the 1950s.
The formation works with three defenders, two halfbacks, three forwards (two inside forwards & one withdrawn striker), and two wingers. The key player is the deep-lying striker, who draws out the opposing center back to make room for the other forwards. In defense, MU works the same way as the WM formation.  

It can be considered that MU brought the death of the then famous WM formation, when Hungary defeated England by a score of 6-3 in 1953. Hungarian forwards constantly swapped places, which confused a man-marking English defense and ultimately led to the blow out.

 

formation: 4-2-4 (late 1950s)

oldform424.png

4-2-4 is the predecessor of modern football formations and was developed by the Hungarians and Brazilians independently in the late 1950s. It is the first formation that featured a four-man backline. In defense, this formation can become a 4-3-3, with one forward dropping back to defend in midfield. The two halfbacks are tasked to block off counter-attacks. Because of a weak midfield, much of the defending will be left to the back four. The defenders should look to passing the ball as quick as possible to the forwards to exploit their numeric advantage.

When attacking, the formation works as 3-3-4, with one defender going up to push the ball. The two strikers give depth to the attack while the two wingers give width. Brazil brought 4-2-4 to prominence by winning the 1958 World Cup. Since then, it has evolved to different four-back formations like 4-3-3 and 4-4-2.

 

Do you think (one of) these formations would still work today? Would they be effective in FMM?

Thanks for reading and please share your thoughts with us.

Edited by BatiGoal
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Wow that was simply amazing mate, quite possibly the best read I've ever had on here no joke. Them formations look unreal I've never thought of making anything so extreme, i just got to try my home town Prestons invincibles see if it actually works. Keep up the good work 

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Good work fella...

I have tried WM/MW before and it got nowhere.

I do like trying different formations though.

Couple of years ago I tested a 3-6-1 with some success and one I called The Crucifix/Inverted Crucifix

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Wow, great article!

The 2-3-2-3 above is essentially the same formation I used to play (field) hockey in. I did try that formation in one of the earlier Football Managers out of curiosity and it sucked! Might be worth trying out again...

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In my current save I use 4-2-4, only with WBs instead of FBs and APs instead of Ws.

And occasionally a TM instead of one of the Poachers, or a DLP for one of the CMs.

Attacking, mixed passing, both flanks, long gk distribution, normal tackling, pressing, primary outlet one of the CMs.

 

It has worked wonders so far.

 

Excellent post by the way!

Edited by tenere1982
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If you guys liked this, you would enjoy the book by Jonathan Wilson called Inverting the Pyramid where you get more of the evolution and several anecdotes along the way. I believe the latest edition even has a chapter on Barca's tikitaka.

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10 hours ago, tenere1982 said:

In my current save I use 4-2-4, only with WBs instead of FBs and APs instead of Ws.

And occasionally a TM instead of one of the Poachers, or a DLP for one of the CMs.

Attacking, mixed passing, both flanks, long gk distribution, normal tackling, pressing, primary outlet one of the CMs.

It has worked wonders so far.

Excellent post by the way!

Thanks.

I've used 4-2-4 formation with actual FL/FR as 'wingers' for my Torino save in FMH15. Reason was because I was replicating the actual Torino side in the 50's (Superga plane crash disaster) that were playing this style back then. Just felt perfect for the career as it was a story about the club and its history. It actually worked great too.

 

10 hours ago, PriZe said:

great read :)

Thanks mate!

 

9 hours ago, veerus said:

If you guys liked this, you would enjoy the book by Jonathan Wilson called Inverting the Pyramid where you get more of the evolution and several anecdotes along the way. I believe the latest edition even has a chapter on Barca's tikitaka.

Nice, will have a look at it. Thanks.

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Interesting read. I'm aware of anything past the WM formation, but frankly none ever really works as far as I've tried.

I have very successfully implemented a flat 442 that is very much outdated in the modern game, though eventually tweaking it to include a left IF because of the skill set of my left wingers at the club.

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I couldn't help myself but test one of these crazy old formations out. Was wondering if there was still any life in them left and boy did I get an answer to that question. I started a save (My Club) with a mix of 3-5 star players with the appropriate positions and several different preferred roles in order to be able to tweak things as I go. It's a mere test so if things didn't work out it would be the end of it but if it did work out next step would be trying it out with other clubs in other countries. That's what test saves are for.

formation: 1-2-7(1860s - 1870s)

127testform.png

After some tweaking I got these player role combos working pretty well together. Remember, I tweaked as I went into every game. No reloading or replaying any game. All the following results were obtained consecutively. Here it goes.

Game 1

127test1.png

Game 2

127test2.png

Game 3

127test3.png

Game 4

127test4.png

Game 5

127test5.png

Game 6

127test6.png

Game 7

127test7.png

Game 8

127test8.png

Game 9

127test15.png

Game 10

127test14.png

Game 11

127test13.png

Game 12

127test12.png

Game 13

127test11.png

Game 14

127test10.png

Game 15

127test9.png

 

Games played: 15

Games won: 13

Games drawn: 1

Games lost: 1

Goals for: 65

Goals against: 45

Goal diff.: +20

 

Conclusion:

I don't know about conclusions tbh. It's just 15 games but what I do know is that even the loudest critic of these crazy formations must at least give 'em the benefit of the doubt. Of course it's unreal, you'd never see something like this in real life anymore. Defense is leaky as hell but the 7 offensive players sure make up for it. That's what we litterally call outscoring the opponent. These old school formations are really fun to play around with and whether you're a fan of them or not they sure may be useful for certain challenges where points don't matter per se but goals do. Don't go mainstream, go outside the box. That makes things really fun and really interesting too. Next step is trying it out with other clubs and do some more testing. I wanted to share this as it may get some interest around Vibe. Let us know how it goes if you do. Goodluck!

Cheers!

Edited by BatiGoal
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So with this you basicly brought to FUN back to the game off football - this i truely an inspiering reed i must say - !

we want MORE :)!

best regards - Anders

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I have to imagine a defensively minded counter attacking side would destroy that formation. But the AI doesn't think like that. Those matches look like fun though!

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7 hours ago, AndersJ said:

Superb - i will look forward to it - it has inprired me to try a fun/crazy formation with Napoli :)

Some more testing with a real club and real players. Btw for the match instructions I didn't touch the refinements.

Home games:

  • Mentality: Attacking
  • Passing style: Direct
  • Passing focus: Mixed
  • GK distribution: Mixed
  • Tackling: Committed

Away games:

  • Mentality: Balanced
  • Passing style: Short
  • Passing focus: Mixed
  • GK distribution: Mixed
  • Tackling: Normal

Feel free to tweak these instructions tho.

 

Test Games Real Madrid

rmtestform.png

I bought Lewandowski as I was short of quality strikers for the test games

Some results below

rmtest1.png

rmtest2.png

rmtest4.png

rmtest8.png

rmtest6.png

rmtest7.png

rmtest5.png

rmtest10.png

rmtest9.png

rmtest3.png

Pretty much the same results as the previous My Club test save. 15 games, 13 wins 1 draw 1 loss. Lots of goals scored and lots conceded. It's been quite useful as I've found a new formation with 5 strikers I'm using for my current 1K career. Very effective since my low stamina striker's got 2 forwards on each side of him for support which means he's not up front on his own anymore and doesn't burn as much energy as he used to. He's now able to play a lot more 90min. games and of course score more goals in the process. But I'll post all of those findings in my career thread once I finish the current season.

Happy testing :)

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So you now garantee too me that Rooney will score goals - thanks mate thats all i needed to hear :)! Joke aside this looks really interesting.

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On 4/12/2559 at 05:38, AndersJ said:

So you now garantee too me that Rooney will score goals - thanks mate thats all i needed to hear :)! Joke aside this looks really interesting.

:)

Sounds like a challenge in the making. Have yet to test him in FMM17.

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I do sense some sort of "old school" challenge could be made from this post...

It's a great informative read to mate so well done. It has made me look at some classic tactical ideas, trying to build a sweeper system of sorts.

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3 hours ago, kts365 said:

I do sense some sort of "old school" challenge could be made from this post...

It's a great informative read to mate so well done. It has made me look at some classic tactical ideas, trying to build a sweeper system of sorts.

Uhhhh - the Lothar challenge :D??

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On 11/30/2016 at 09:05, veerus said:

If you guys liked this, you would enjoy the book by Jonathan Wilson called Inverting the Pyramid where you get more of the evolution and several anecdotes along the way. I believe the latest edition even has a chapter on Barca's tikitaka.

@BatiGoal I just saw this article and thought of your attempt here to recap some of the historical formations.  The book I recommended above is written by this guy and this article has a nice little history lesson about tactics.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/feb/21/the-question-are-full-backs-full-blown-attacking-players-now-chelsea-antonio-conte

Given how the real game has evolved with wing-backs, it's not entirely crazy to see the EME actually support formations like the one you had for your 1k challenge with 2 CDs and wide players pushed way up the pitch.

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Thanks for the link @veerus that's a great read re what we should call 'laterals' now. Those tactical changes and concepts over the many years are just fascinating.

"A good offence is the best defence" is taken literally by some teams this season. There's bound to be plenty more highly attacking formations that produce results on these FMM engines.

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