Evolution of the front three
The day after Tottenham completed the loan signing of Gareth Bale from Real Madrid, Son Heung-min scored four goals in a 5-2 victory against Southampton, all of them set up by Harry Kane. In the space of a weekend, Spurs offered a vision of the future and, while Jose Mourinho may no longer be at the forefront of tactical development in other regards, with a very modern front three.
Front threes have existed almost since football began. Once the 2-3-5 became the default formation in the 1870s there was a front three implicit within it, given the way the insideforwards would typically drop deeper, feeding the wingers and the centreforward. That was a process formalised in the late 1920s with the advent of the W-M (3-2-2-3) in response to the 1925 change to the offside law.
Through the 1950s, as one wing-half dropped deeper and one inside-forward advanced, W-M became 4-2-4, a system that both effectively neutered the traditional winger by denying him acceleration room, and allowed a greater flexibility of attack as full-backs began to advance. When the front three returned, it was as a lop-sided variant. Brazil had won the 1958 World Cup with a 4-2-4 but by 1962, when they won it again, one of their wingers had dropped deeper to create a 4-3-3. And for a while, that was the way it was: the front three consisted of a strike pairing with a forward high on one flank. That’s how Nottingham Forest won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980, with John Robertson out on the left while the right-sided midfielder, Martin O’Neill or Archie Gemmill, tucked in and played deeper and narrower on the other side.
But there was also a parallel tradition that grew up in countries where a sweeper had become common. Karl Rappan’s Servette were probably the first to play that way in the late 1930s: from the basic 2-3-5, one full-back became the sweeper, with the wing-halves dropping back to flank the other full-back, leaving a centre-half in midfield, who was supported by the retreat of the inside-forwards. It was a broadly symmetrical system, even if the inside-left (the 10) was often more creative than the inside-right (the 8).
It’s that understanding of the 4-3-3, one that became common in Argentina, the Netherlands and Germany, that dominates the modern understanding of the formation. What has changed over the past half-century, though, is how the front three now interact.
The idea of inverted wingers, cutting in onto their stronger foot, is not new, but for a long time the idea persisted on the wide players in the 4-3-3 as essentially creators. They may weigh in with 10 goals a season or so, but their principle job was to supply the central striker. Recently, though, that has changed.
Roles have always evolved in football. Most obviously, the full-back has gone from being, as the name suggests, the most defensive outfielder as he was until the advent of the back four, to become in the modern game a source of crosses and goals, almost a deep-lying winger. But the idea of what the centreforward should be doing and where goals should be coming from has shifted radically over the past decade. A centre-forward doesn’t have to be a false nine to take on some of the characteristics of that role.
Liverpool, perhaps, are the most obvious example. At the beginning of his career, Roberto Firmino was a defensive midfielder. His greatest
What has changed over the past half-century is how the front three now interact
asset was his understanding of space and positioning and he has brought that to bear on his interpretation of the central attacking role, dropping deep as Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah go beyond him. It’s an over-simplification but their starting position means that they both are coming from deeper positions and are naturally occupying the space between the full-back and the central defender, naturally hitting the weak point of an opposing back four – something facilitated by overlapping full-backs, who at least partially occupy the opposing full-back.
But it’s not just Liverpool doing it. At Arsenal, as Alexandre Lacazette has adjusted his game to drop deeper in the middle, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has thrived from a starting position on the left, which means a high proportion of the chances he has fall naturally for his favoured finish, opening his body to curl the ball into the far post with his right foot. Teams as diverse as Sheffield United and France, have been successful with non-goalscoring centre-forwards. Even Manchester City when Gabriel Jesus, a far better presser than finisher, plays centrally, are reliant on goals from wide.
Kane has always been an unusually versatile striker, somebody without one obvious outstanding attribute. He can be the prime front man, or he can also play behind him, and as such should be ideal for springing Son and Bale as they run beyond him. England, with two of Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford in the wide roles may benefit as well.
The front three has undergone another evolution.