4-3-3 Formation: Who Uses It, What It's Good for and Which Players Excel in It?

One of the rising formations in football is the 4-3-3, and here Bleacher Report breaks down how it works and what you need to pull it off.

It was the second most popular formation at Euro 2012 and remains a hit in Serie A and La Liga.

What attributes do you need as a player to prosper in this formation, which manager utilises the perfect 4-3-3 and what are its weaknesses?

Examples

The 4-3-3 formation is pretty popular at the moment. It seems like the in vogue alternative to the 4-2-3-1, as it suits some sets of personnel better and brings the best out of certain positions.

To help explain its schematics, we'll draw on some examples in the modern game.

Brendan Rodgers is one of football's biggest proponents of the 4-3-3, using it at Reading, Swansea and now Liverpool too.

Nigel Adkins uses the 4-3-3 in some away games, and that's the main reason why Rickie Lambert is inexplicably left on the bench half the time—he favours a three-pronged counterattack with pace.

Portugal's performances during Euro 2012 were fantastic, and that's mostly down to Paulo Bento's near-perfecting of this system.

Lazio is another side who utilises this formation on occasion.

Breaking It Down

The 4-3-3 is a high pressure, ball hungry philosophy with plenty of things going for it.

The most effective versions of this formation employ incredibly adventurous wing-backs who bomb forward at every opportunity.

The three central midfielders are all-action types, but rarely offer the kind of width needed for teams to find a horizontal balance, so flying left- and right-backs are a necessity.

Playing in central midfield in a 4-3-3 is tough work. Generally, you'll have a No. 6 dropping deep to play the anchor role. He will pick the ball up off the centre-backs and initiate attacks.

The other two take in turn to tear around like mad men in order to make sure no holes are left by the three forwards, who do little-to-no defensive work.

The formation employs one central striker and two wide forwards. They're almost always level and are required to work well with their respective full-backs.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The 4-3-3 is compact and solid yet potent in attack.

The insurance of a true No. 6 means the full-backs are covered when going forward, as the deepest midfielder can filter across and cover the holes should the opponent try to exploit them.

It also provides lots of passing options and a real chance to exert dominance over the opposition—the 4-3-3 sees as many as four-five players open and motioning for the ball at one time.

Despite having three out-and-out forwards, teams who play 4-3-3 rarely pay the price for their attacking intent.

Unfortunately, it's not so easy to pull off. The elite teams who use it—Portugal, Barcelona—use it with aplomb, leaving almost nothing for the opponents to feed on.

Anything less than elite, however, and it's easy to be undone. Southampton's 4-3-3 is nowhere near the high octane level it should be, and as a result they struggle to play to their game plan.

Fitness and positioning is key.

Who Prospers?

Much like the 3-5-2, the dawn of the 4-3-3 is borne out of the rise in agile, mobile and versatile footballers.

At a top tier level, you won't find players with specific sets of skills, but rounded sets transferable to several positions.

Arrigo Sacchi once spoke of the need or desire to rid the game of specialists. By that, he meant to do away with the "Claude Makelele role" and instead use a player who can pass, tackle, shoot and head it.

The 4-3-3 is a major step toward that, as each player is involved in multiple phases of play. The full-backs and midfielders, in particular, need to be physically superior, multi-talented and possess the desire to win.

It's a hard system to play if you're not cut out for it, so someone like Etienne Capoue, who focuses on tackling only, would suffer.

Joao Moutinho, however, who is full of energy, quick on the turn and comfortable on the ball fits perfectly.

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