Nuno Espirito Santo arrived at West Ham United with a reputation as a defensively minded coach who favoured three – or in West Ham’s case more often when out of possession -sometimes five at the back and hitting sides on the break to win games.
Graham Potter’s frequent experimentation with a three-centre back solution similarly seemed to end in disaster and Potter left London Stadium with a reputation as the defensive-coach whose side couldn’t defend. Now it seems fresh oxygen is being breathed into the ‘three at the back‘ formation for reasons of ‘entertainment value‘ – courtesy of espn.co.uk today.
“Now Maximilian, about that three centre backs’ set-up”…
Hammers fans would probably have a facepalm moment at the thought of Max Kilman lining up as a third centre back just now… But espn‘s report today makes it clear that ‘The Premier League is boring‘ – and their solution to fixing it?
“Want to overachieve? Play a back three…Over the past 10 or 15 years, if a team has overachieved, they were probably playing a back three.When RB Leipzig made a run to the Champions League semifinals in 2020, they were playing a back three. Remember how Atalanta used to flirt with Serie A titles every season? For most of that time, they played a back three.
“When Thomas Tuchel was brought in to replace Lampard midseason, what did he do? He switched to a back three. How about when Sheffield United finished in ninth place a season after being promoted? A back three. Heck, remember when Tottenham Hotspur used to challenge for Champions League places instead of fending off a place in the Championship? The last time they finished top four, they were playing a back three.”
Bemoaning the lowest number of goals from open play and the dominance of set plays, the repot suggests Nuno’s and Potter’s instincts might have been sound.
“The game is screaming out for someone to try something different — and to me, that’s where the value of a top team switching to a back three lies: it’s different.”
Heaven forbid. It might work at Chelsea, it might work at RB Leipzig: But for West Ham right now, fighting for their lives, just nobody, please, mention a ‘back three’ to Nuno: Fighting his instincts and sticking four attackers on the pitch has been paying dividends and creating excitement enough for one season.
How many titles have been won with a back four?