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In his first season in charge of Toronto FC, manager Aron Winter used a number of shapes to try and get the best out of his side. At the beginning of the year he oscillated between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1 line up, but as the season wore on and after he brought in Torsten Frings, Toronto were increasingly playing with three central defenders.
A switch to three at the back should not come as a huge surprise considering Aron Winter played in the Ajax youth system and was part of the coaching set up there prior to moving to MLS. The famous Dutch club are no strangers to switching between a back three and a back four, even at youth levels, but the decision on which system to play is not arbitrary. Three central defenders used to be a lot more common because sides playing with two strikers were also more common. You could have two of your defenders man mark the two strikers while the spare man would provide cover. If you played a back four against two strikers then essentially your centre backs are left 1v1 against the strikers – a gamble that many aren’t willing to take.
Of course, how a team plays is not solely down to the shape. If it were then one could argue that Napoli and Barcelona play similar styles. Napoli play a 3-4-3 formation almost exclusively, while Pep Guardiola has used a similar shape numerous times over the past couple of years, but that’s where the similarities end. Walter Mazzarri likes his Napoli side to sit back and counter, and while they at times have the capability to press, no one presses quite like Guardiola’s Barcelona. Hunting down the opposition unrelentingly, the Catalan club take their cue from Johan Cruyff, the great Dutchman who imported Ajax’s style to Barcelona.
So what does this mean for Toronto FC? What exactly has Winter brought to Toronto from Amsterdam? Certainly his shapes, the 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 are not exclusive to Ajax but are identified with them. He tried to institute some fluidity in the side in his first year as manager, shuffling players around to unfamiliar positions. But the high line and pressing that are synonymous with total football have been absent. Whether it’s due to lack of personnel or because of the roster restrictions and travel rigors, pressing week in and week out takes its toll, Toronto weren’t a more aggressive pressing side than any other MLS squad last year.
Heading into his second season as manager, and his first full preseason, Winter displayed a remarkably high defensive line in the Disney Pro Classic. Exploited by Orlando City, the Reds became more and more comfortable with the system as the tournament progressed and at times did show flashes of the intense hounding of opponents when they lost the ball. Another thing Winter showed in preseason was that he was more than willing to play Frings (and even Terry Dunfield) very deep again, in between the two central defenders. However, rather than simply focusing on the numbers (is it a back four? Back five? Back three?) it makes more sense to focus on the reasoning behind playing an extra man in defense.
As mentioned previously a main reason to play an extra central defender is to provide defensive cover against two strikers. A less talked about, but certainly important, reason is that it helps a team break the opposition’s press and build from the back. Looking back at Winter’s first match in charge a huge problem for Toronto starting moves from the defense was that Vancouver’s two strikers essentially man marked Toronto’s central defenders. This gave them little time on the ball and they could not use each other as options to pass to. The onus was on Nathan Sturgis, the deepest midfielder, to drop deep and become the out ball. He didn’t and Vancouver ran rampant, constantly forcing turnovers from Toronto’s defenders. What Frings dropping deep allows Toronto’s central defenders to do is to spread very wide, forcing the opposing teams strikers to follow them and creating space for Frings in the middle. This gives the German time and space to pick out a pass and the opponents are forced to make a choice. Does a striker close down Frings, leaving a central defender free, or does a midfielder push forward to press him, creating space in the middle for Toronto to dominate?
Possible Line up Versus LA Galaxy
It will be interesting to see where Frings lines up versus the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday. Many expect the defending MLS champions to play a 4-4-2ish shape which means the 3-4-3 makes sense from a numbers stand point. The beauty of Frings’s versatility is that Toronto can switch from a back four to a back three seamlessly within a match without making a substitution. It is perhaps pedantic then to focus on what formation Toronto are playing as in the preseason match against BK Hacken they oscillated between formations based on which team had possession. A smart and versatile player like Frings allows you to do that and if Winter can recognize how to maximize his efficiency then Toronto could find themselves gaining the upper hand in matches via a tactical tweak here and there.
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