Why 4-3-3 works for Portugal

Compiling a squad for a national team may seem like an easy job but there is somewhat of a science to it. As I briefly mentioned in my last post, club squads could be assembled based around the tactical scheme that the coach is trying to implement. National team squads have to work on putting the most amount of talent on the pitch at one time.

Let's say, for instance, that a club manager's favored formation is 4-2-3-1. Generally speaking, this means his team will have a layout consisting of a 4 man defensive line, a defensive midfield of 2 men placed immediately after the defensive line, an offensive midfield comprising 2 wingers and a central offensive playmaker, and one striker. If we assume that this manager operates under the two-players-per-position rule on his squad, basic math will tell us, for instance, that he'll have to arrange his team to have 4 total defensive midfielders. Money will buy you any player you need for any position at a club, but money won't buy national team managers the right to develop their preferred system.

The primary objective of a national team manager is obviously to select the best players possible, almost regardless of position. There is some regard for position, but in a very basic sense of needing X defenders, X midfielders and X forwards.

When we look at the talent that Paulo Bento has at his disposal in generating the Portuguese national team, we notice 2 things.

First, there's a glaring lack of quality forwards beyond Hugo Almeida (operating under the assumption that we're considering Ronaldo and Nani wingers). Almeida aside, there just isn't a competent forward that would be good enough to start. Helder Postiga is far too average and Liedson isn't as productive as he once was.

Second, there is a TON of talent around the middle of the midfield. Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho, Carlos Martins, Tiago and Miguel Veloso are all players that can easily claim a starting 11 spot. Ruben Micael and Ruben Amorim are 2 other players that can contribute in the not so distant future and perfectly justify a starting role, though neither of them are currently starting at their respective clubs.

These two points make choosing a 4-3-3 an easy decision. If Bento were to go with a 4-1-3-2, he would be keeping too much of that midfield talent on the bench, using one as a defensive midfielder and the other as the playmaker. As similar as these players' skill sets are, none of them are playmakers except for Carlos Martins, which would also eliminate any formation that needs a Rui Costa or Deco type of player. In the 4-1-3-2 as well as the more classic 4-4-2, only two players from the above list of midfielders can make the starting lineup.

Fielding a 4-2-3-1 would be possible, as our friend Queiroz did many times (as well as many others before him), but this setup, and this is now strictly a matter of opinion, is way too defensive for one of the most technically sound teams in the world. Fielding a defensive line of 4 along with 2(!) defensive midfielders entails having 6 players with very defensive roles. I also disagree with pretty much any formation that has a 1 at the end of it, but that's a conversation for another time.

4-3-3 allows you to field the typical defensive line of 4 while also playing 3 of the central midfielders, which is as good as you're going to get. A traditional 4-3-3 would imply 3 strikers, though this version of it consists of 1 striker and 2 wingers that become forwards with the unraveling of the offensive play. This is very similar to how Porto works, which is part of the reason why Joao Moutinho played such an important role in these two qualifying games. He felt right at home.

A formation isn't the determining factor in who wins a football game (it's not even the most important factor, a discussion about that will warrant a post of its own). Despite this, spreading the players out accordingly is the basis for any team's success. In Portugal's case, 4-3-3 allows them to field as much talent in the midfield as possible while still maintaining an attacking mode.

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