{"id":18289,"date":"2026-09-02T16:44:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T15:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/back-three-revival\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T16:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T15:44:37","slug":"back-three-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/back-three-revival\/","title":{"rendered":"Tactics board: the back-three revival is real this time"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a fashion in 2017 and a fad in 2021. The difference now is who is playing the wing-backs \u2014 full-backs who were wingers a season ago, and the spacing that comes with them.<\/p>\n\n

The width problem<\/h2>\n\n

A back three only works if the wing-backs stay high, and the wing-backs only stay high if the centre-backs can defend the channel alone. Northvale have spent two windows buying exactly that profile.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Bracton\u2019s left wing-back touched the ball 84 times on Saturday \u2014 more than any midfielder on the pitch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Why it failed last time<\/h2>\n\n

The 2021 version asked wingers to defend and full-backs to cross. This one asks neither. The wide players are attackers with the ball and a five-man line without it, and the transition between the two is rehearsed to the step.<\/p>\n\n

It is not a back three. It is a front five that occasionally retreats.<\/p>\u2014 Analyst at a Premier Division club<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n

The catch<\/h2>\n\n

It costs a midfielder. Every side playing it this season is short in the middle, and the ones with a fit number six are the ones near the top.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a fashion in 2017 and a fad in 2021. The difference now is who is playing the wing-backs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_spx_person_id":0,"_spx_fixture_id":0,"_spx_pick_id":0,"_spx_eg_facts_label":"","_spx_eg_facts":"","_spx_figure_caption":"","_spx_news_feat":"","_spx_video_url":"","_spx_duration":"","_spx_views":"","_spx_presenter":"","_spx_media_state":"","_spx_start_at":"","_spx_media_status":"","_spx_episode":"","_spx_subject":"","_spx_subject_role":"","_spx_story_year":"","_spx_duration_seconds":0,"_spx_view_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,61],"tags":[200,235,262],"spx_comp":[],"spx_fixture_ref":[],"spx_series":[],"spx_format":[],"spx_video_kind":[],"spx_show":[],"spx_sport":[],"spx_flag":[],"class_list":["post-18289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","category-tactics","tag-premier-division","tag-tactics","tag-wing-backs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_comp","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_comp?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_fixture_ref","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_fixture_ref?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_series?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_format?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_video_kind","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_video_kind?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_show","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_show?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_sport","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_sport?post=18289"},{"taxonomy":"spx_flag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preview.sportpulse.anpsthemes.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/spx_flag?post=18289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}