Tactics talk: Key elements of FC Dallas' 3-4-2-1
As FC Dallas officially rolls out a new tactical set-up tonight vs. San Jose, let’s look at one big club that plays this way
Tactics on a white board are just “ideas.” They still have to be executed. And the most important thing is that players find themselves in comfortable positions, not asked to perform tasks they aren’t good at, but rather assigned marching orders that snugly fit their skillset.
With all those qualifiers in place, let’s look at a couple of things FC Dallas will presumably try to accomplish from the 3-4-2-1 that we saw during the preseason.
To help, we’ll look at examples of teams that play similarly. Brighton, for one, had a lot of success with a 3-4-2-1, which Graham Potter first introduced at the Premier League side. Brighton, however, moves in and out of that alignment to keep opponents off guard. We’ll see how much that happens with FCD this year, or if the club is “ride or die” with this one.
Bayer Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso have been more faithful to the formation. Alonso (again, ensuring he has the right player profiles in the right roles) has rode the 3-4-2-1 to the top of the Bundesliga, threatening to unseat German giant Bayern Munich for the season title. So, let’s look at Bayer.
How Bayer Leverkusen makes it work
First is the build-out. I still expect Nico Estévez to ask his team to build from the back. The difference in 2024 – and this is critical – is that once FC Dallas draws opposition out, coaxing them into a smaller area, they’ll try to hit incisive passes into space, hoping to quickly bypass lines. It’s not really transition play the way we think about it; it’s more “establish possession, then try to quickly get in behind.”
There are a lot of tactical wrinkles. We can’t cover them all (and I’m sure I don’t KNOW them all, but we’ll learn more tonight) but we can look for a couple of things.
FC Dallas will try to build out with “3 and 2.” That means three in the back, plus the 2 in midfield, as in the first image above in Bayer’s build-out. Asier Illarramendi is the key here, although San Jose will surely look to shut out the passing lanes into the Spanish tempo setter, which means his partner — could be Liam Fraser, or even Sebastien Lletget or Nolan Norris — will frequently receive the first connecting pass from the back.
(From Thursday: an initial look at FCD’s 3-4-2-1)
But you’ll often see one outside back drop in, creating a “4 and 2” build-out. This is where San Jose must make a choice: if they don’t add one more to the press, Dallas builds out easily (because FCD will have San Jose out-numbered, breezing past the Earthquakes’ press.) The hope is that they do come out of a mid-block defense, adding one defender or midfielder further up the field. That’s what FCD is looking for: draw them out, then get in behind, either with a switching ball that gets a wingback isolated 1 v 1, or with a slashing run from one of the “underneath” forwards.
Dante Sealy is at his best when running at defenders 1 v 1. Bernie Kamungo is at his best when he’s running in behind the back line. So you see now a couple of things FC Dallas will be looking for as they move the ball out of the back and through midfield.
How else FC Dallas will look to spring attacks
FCD will hope to draw out defenders through the creation of tactical overloads. Typically we think about tactical overloads happening in wide areas, the way Seattle did so successfully around Nico Lodeiro in his best years there. But they can also be created centrally. Again, look at Bayer under Alonso.
Granit Xhaka is the creative force; Illarramendi will play that role for FC Dallas. Exequiel Palacios is the ball winner for Bayer Leverkusen; think Fraser or Pomykal at Toyota Stadium, once Pomykal is back to full health.
Here is a good example of a the kind of central overload that Bayer has used to great effect over the last two seasons. Here, Florian Wirtz is dropping in — and he’s very good at this. As Jesus Ferreira gets back to full health, you could see him doing a lot of this.
By creating a 4 v 3 in the middle, they are enticing a defender to move out, matching the midfield numbers. Tonight, if a San Jose winger tucks in to help defend, the visitors are probably OK. But if an outside back or a center back gets drawn out, that’s where FCD will look to spring a wingback, or find someone making a central attacking run. Tonight, based on what we saw in preseason, that’s likely to be Paul Arriola or Kamungo.
Again, those are just two of the concepts behind a 3-4-2-1. And again, they are just concepts. Players still have to execute in real time, against actual defenders who have presumably been schooled on what to look for.
Finally, I don’t expect everything to be perfect tonight. In fact, I can almost guarantee that it won’t be. FCD will miss at least three starters, including striker Petar Musa (probably arriving next week) and Ferreira (who is training again and could be available off the bench).
But no MLS team is a finished product in February. Tonight it’s about getting more familiar with more of the 3-4-2-1 concepts — and about doing enough to get the season going the right away.
From Thursday: An initial look at the 3-4-2-1