Why the hate for 3/5/2 ?
It's actually a great system when the wing-backs have endurance and speed :
- 3 center backs constantly
- A deep-lying playmaker or a 10 depending on the triangle in midfield
- 2 forwards
Weakness is obviously on the wings, as the wing-backs need to be both good on attack and on defense during 90 minutes and constantly provide.
I think United were nice when they exploited the width in the final third but the problem is that Valencia was constantly crossing which ended up being too predictable instead of sometimes dribbling towards the box thanks to dummy runs from one of the forwards (or the 10). The 2 forwards were utterly stupid, let's be honest. Once, I saw both Welbeck and Rooney do the same exact run and they were 5 meters far from each other surrounded by defenders. When you have 2 forwards, either one plays the depth and the other one plays the width or the two split the width. If they do the exact same thing in the axis, the system is doomed.
People are too conservative. 3/5/2 is a great system when mastered. Internationally it is proven (WC proved it effective if it wasn't already), so let time do its work. And bring on Kagawa and get Rooney the fukk outta heeeeere !