Against a Back-5: the Virtue of Patience

March 11th, 2024 – SASPD 2-0 SCIS

This was our first time playing against a back-five, and it was clear that none of us knew what to do. Although we still won by two goals, there should’ve been many more considering the difference in player quality. Furthermore, those two goals were rather lucky; the first has headed in by Cas Clysner from a corner, and the second was from a mistake by the goalkeeper when Anton Liu shot from the edge of the box after a series of dribbles and lucky bounces.

We lined up with a 4-1-4-1, our default formation. SCIS knew the difference in skill level, so they opted for a more defensive 5-3-2. This proved to be the right decision, and our offensive line struggled especially to breakthrough the dense line of defenders. We had most of the possession, but it was our first time playing against a low-block. Their back line laid deep, often just 25 yards from their own goal. When out of possession, they dropped all the way to the edge of their own 18-yard box. Their wing-backs provided coverage for the wide areas, and their three center-backs crowded the box, with one of them constantly man-marking our lone striker. The mid-block from the three midfielders also laid deep, just a couple of yards in front of their back-line. This made ball progression incredibly difficult, as there was no space between the lines, and the passing channels from our midfield to our striker – that was also man-marked by their center-back – was constantly cut off by their mid-block.

With the struggle of playing down the middle of the park, our midfielders tried to distribute the ball wide instead. However,