Talking Tactics: Sunderland's struggles against the three-at-the-back

Yesterday at 01:00 AM

Sunderland have started extremely well but have developed a worrying trend playing against a back three. Why do we struggle against a 3-5-2?

As we enter the third and final international break for the foreseeable future, Sunderland remain top of the Championship table with Sheffield United, separated only by the Wearsider's slim margin of goal difference.

Rewind the clocks to August 2024 and whilst Sunderland fans were beginning to feel quietly optimistic about a potentially weaker Championship League this season, I'm sure nobody could have envisaged how the opening third of the season was going to pan out.

Taking a closer look at Sunderland's remarkable start to the campaign, Sunderland have gone unbeaten in eight games, conceded only eleven goals (of which have come across six games) and managed to keep nine clean sheets during the process.

With only two losses on the chart things are extremely positive and we shouldn't get bogged down in the minutia of performances, however there is one thing that's becoming more of a trend than a coincidence under the tenure of Le Bris and the weekends game against Coventry brought it to the fore.

If there's one thing that's prevented Le Bris from swooping three consecutive Manager of the Month awards so far during his debut in the Second Tier it's been the emerging trend that his Sunderland side are struggling to come to terms with teams deploying a three-defender formation, leading to Sunderland holding a record of 2-2-1 against teams that have set up this way.

Whilst it's still early doors in terms of the life of the 24/25 campaign, what started as somewhat of a rarity for Sunderland to face, might start becoming the norm as teams realise the most effective way to stop Le Bris' prolific triangles is to simply alter to a three back system to stifle the Black Cats.

How do 3-At-The-Back (3ATB) teams operate?

To understand how Sunderland better manage teams operating with three central defenders it's best to first look at how teams are set up in this shape and why it's so effective in countering Sunderland's fluid attacking system.

There are several variants of formation when considering three at the back however for simplicity's sake we'll be focusing on the 3-5-2 system which tends to form a 5-3-2 when out of possession, creating a straight back five with a compacted midfield trio.

Some teams will operate as more of a 3-4-3 with additional wingers to support the lone striker whereas others will opt to pack the middle and only leave the two wingbacks as the wide attacking threats as was the case in games against Coventry and Watford.

Traditionally, a 3-5-2 setup will look like the image above, three central defenders occupy the back line with two 'wingbacks' operating on either flank which push forward when in possession and drop alongside their defensive unit when out of possession.

The main principle behind deploying an additional defender means that teams can sustain 'passive possession' naturally further up the pitch due to offering an additional passing outlet within build-up at the expense of a midfielder.

Due to holding a numerical advantage during the first phase in the build-up, teams can comfortably hold the ball on the edge of their own half and therefore naturally begin their first phase of the attack much higher up the pitch.

By spreading wingbacks high & wide, teams operating a 3ATB can stretch the opposition very wide and pin them further back whilst also allowing the three central defenders to spread and occupy the vacated space in behind left by the wingbacks, thus creating counter-attacking opportunities very difficult for teams in transition.

By packing the midfield into a central trio, teams deploying a 3-5-2 variant also combat teams who utilise a 4-3-3 to sacrifice an additional striker for the added security of a third central midfielder, this means in the middle of the park teams with a 3-5-2 can often mark man to man in the middle of the park and therefore rely on three midfielders with incredible work rate in order to cover the ground required in the middle of the pitch both offensively but also defensively.

Furthermore, the deployment of two central strikers means that opposing central defenders are always occupied and therefore leaves gaps for the aforementioned midfield trio to advance into space and create overloads in the attacking third of the pitch, often leading to overwhelming waves of pressure that ultimately result in chance creation by law of averages.

Whilst almost sounding like the perfect formation, 3-5-2 systems do also have a significant drawback, due to the distribution of players across the pitch, a zonal marking system means players can be easily dragged out of position if not tactically switched on and a lack of link between the forward and midfield lines can often lead to more stagnated and direct football being played, as noted during the Luton & Coventry games.

Why do Sunderland struggle in their current system?

As I'm sure many regular readers will be aware, I've spent numerous weeks discussing the importance of Le Bris and his preferred 4-3-3 system that has paid us immensely well during the beginning of the campaign however it's worth looking at why this falls short against the 3-5-2. Le Bris has become accustomed to operating a more direct approach with a less-than-average possession number this season, with Sunderland near the bottom of the average possession charts with only 46.5% possession.

As discussed above, one of the major strengths of the 3-5-2 is the ability to apply natural pressure to the opposition by holding the ball comfortably in the middle third of the pitch and therefore squeezing the opponent deeper, given Sunderland are a team that naturally like to spend their time without the ball, this puts Sunderland at an immediate disadvantage when facing a 3-5-2.

In addition to the possession advantage providing a perceived control advantage for the opponent, it also prevents Sunderland from dictating the tempo of the game and often allows waves of relenting attacks to build, this was particularly prevalent against Luton and endured effectively throughout the second half against Coventry. As Sunderland's midfielders are often man-marked out of the game, wingers are forced to drop deeper to support and therefore further compact the middle and nullify and threats on the break.

It's not just the possession that causes Sunderland problems though, when they encounter a talented wingback, it also creates a whole host of problems for Le Bris, take the Watford game for example, the Hornets deployed Festy Ebosele and Yasser Laourci, both of which are blessed with pace and power and required Sunderland to double up during open play. The obvious issue here being that this then left Watford's wide centre backs free during build up and allowed them to transition on Sunderland quickly by playing the ball quickly backwards before going sideways to the spare man.

How does Le Bris Combat the 3-5-2?

One way to counter the 3-5-2 whilst retaining shape is to deploy a midfield double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 as Sunderland did against Preston, the aim of this was to suck forward the opponent's midfield trio before using the two pivots to distribute quickly threaded balls between one another and the advancing forwards to exploit the space vacated by the pressing midfield.

Sunderland's main issue came with the fact that both Dan Neil and Alan Browne don't possess the mobility to occupy the large spaces required for containing two holding players and therefore Chris Rigg was often left isolated against a flat Preston middle.

This approach, although worked in preventing the hosts from scoring ultimately came at the expense of any attacking output and resulted in an uneventful 0-0.

Another tactic when addressing the wingbacks is to use the touchline to the defensive side's advantage as an extra defender, the first half against Coventry was a perfect example of this with Van Ewjik and Da Silva often receiving overhit passes or simply running the ball into touch as Sunderland's fullbacks forced them wide of the touchline.

By forcing the wingbacks wide, it leaves their only option to bombard the box with early crosses or to attack on the outside which Sunderland defended with relative ease in the first half and demonstrated a strong trust in our fullbacks to defend 1v1.

Perhaps the most effective way to smother a 3-5-2 though, remains a simple tactic of retaining possession, again something that in the first half Sunderland did very well.

Where the obvious problem lies, however, is that this goes against Le Bris' core coaching philosophy and therefore feels unnatural given the way he's coached his side this season.

By retaining the ball, the back three quickly becomes a back five and therefore can't administer the same level of passive pressure backed up deep into their own half as if the wingbacks push to high, they leave space for pacey wingers to exploit.

When the back three become a five, Sunderland's wingers are able to position themselves out on the touchline and allow our fullbacks to occupy the half space and isolate the three central defenders, this means that when the opponent does regain the ball their only option is to clear out and hope to win a second ball.

What does this mean going forward?

During the international break, I'm sure Le Bris will discuss the pragmatic requirement to sometimes retain the ball for longer than he'd like when facing teams that set up this way, however, I'm sure across the league other sides will also be aware of our glaring dislike when facing three at the back and will be looking to adjust their shape for facing Sunderland in the coming months.

If anything, this rant wasn't created to vilify Le Bris' approach to this season as I think his coaching has been fantastic, I think it's just important to address that Sunderland's system as good as it is, like any formation will have natural strengths and weaknesses.

It's just more about understanding how we retain the free-flowing attacks we've become accustomed to seeing, whilst also understanding that as the league continues, more teams will try to stifle us in this way.