“It’s just that easy, ah? We play 5-3-2, then we win every game and perform always on the top level. If it would be that easy, then probably anyone can be a Premier League manager because, ‘just play 5-3-2, let’s go’.”
After their second-half improvement against Manchester City on November 29, Daniel Farke was asked about the impact of Leeds United switching formation. It seemed so simple, trading two wingers for a centre-back and a striker at the break, but it was incredibly effective.
The Leeds manager insists there is so much more to it than changing the team’s shape, and he’s certainly right, but redeploying his players to different areas of the pitch has seen a huge step forward over the past two and a half matches. The turn in the tide at City, undone late on by Phil Foden, was followed by a 90-minute domination of Chelsea and then a chaotic but encouraging draw with Liverpool.
The intriguing aspect of the last match was the pivot Farke made back to the 4-3-3 when Leeds had to chase that game at 2-0 down. That return to two wingers also proved effective in those circumstances, but had it not been for two defensive lapses, United’s 5-3-2 was looking just as solid against the defending champions.
The hope for everyone connected to Leeds is that this new shape will prove to be the key that unlocks their potential in the Premier League. There were very promising displays as a 4-3-3 in the opening nine games, but they did not deliver points. Eventually, performances alarmingly dropped off at Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest.
Between half-time at Etihad Stadium and full-time against Liverpool, Leeds held an 8-5 aggregate lead over three of the pre-season title hopefuls. The balance of goals for and against is evidently working, but it looks robust on the eye, too.
Leeds seemed to have a man advantage in defence and attack. At the back, a lower block has forced opponents to go through the air with the ball, which suits their gigantic centre-backs. In attack, the endless engines of Jayden Bogle and Gabriel Gudmundsson make them options on the sides as the two strikers and supporting midfielders flood the centre.
This formation suits the long-ball approach from deep, too. Based on the summer recruitment model around physicality, going long and clearing danger from their own half quickly suits a team that Farke has repeatedly admitted are technically inferior to many of their opponents at this level.
In the win against Chelsea, which generated the team’s second-highest expected goals (xG) tally of the season, the advantage of using both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha in attack was clear. Their height and strength ensured that goalkeeper Lucas Perri frequently had two outlets he could go to with deliveries from deep.
That two-pronged approach gives defenders so much more to think about. It stretches them, and if the Leeds strikers can then win those aerial duels, it offers a priceless platform for the rest of the team in the opposition’s third.
Here, in the early stages of the second half, Perri’s enormous pass goes into Calvert-Lewin, but Nmecha is close to him, looking for that flick with a run in behind. It draws the two Chelsea defenders away from the oncoming Leeds midfielders.
It’s Ao Tanaka who picks up the knockdown. Tanaka uses his head to flick the ball out to Gudmundsson on the flank. This is the perfect image of what this shape gives the wing-backs.
The Swede has acres to run into here, with away right-back Malo Gusto drawn into covering Nmecha. Gudmundsson brings the team upfield and has time to recycle possession into Nmecha, who has proven to be mobile, intelligent, and a useful targetman.
Anton Stach comes forward to help. The ball is moved around a couple more times, and eventually it runs for Ethan Ampadu, who, in the first instance, is fortunate that Joao Pedro’s block bounces back to him. However, the captain can then drive forward, away from the attacker.
He is able to find Gudmundsson again as the spare man. And then we have the bread and butter of this formation: crosses into the box for the strikers, and potentially Stach, to compete for in the air.
The cross is close enough for Calvert-Lewin to go up for it, so Chelsea have to guard him, but it runs for Nmecha, whose header only loops into the air for a half-clearance. Leeds recycle again, this time using Bogle in that wide space, before Stach delivers another killer cross into the box. Calvert-Lewin dives for it, but it’s Nmecha who forces a good save from Robert Sanchez.
There was another good example much earlier in the Chelsea match. Perri goes long again, but it’s Bogle, in that advanced wing-back role, who goes up for the high ball. With three centre-backs able to spread wider across the pitch, Bogle and Gudmundsson have much more security with the forward positions they take up.
You can see how Rodon is covering off that ground behind Bogle with Jamie Gittens. The No 2 heads the ball on for Calvert-Lewin to attack down the channel, while Tanaka and Ampadu close in to support them both. Again, in one pass, Leeds are on the edge of the Chelsea area, with numbers in support.
Calvert-Lewin’s heeled pass does not make it cleanly back to Bogle, but the right-back is able to outmuscle Marc Cucurella before chipping the ball into Ampadu. The skipper then clips the ball towards the corner for Calvert-Lewin to chase again.
The No 9 drives to the byline and cuts back for Tanaka to fluff his lines. It’s a dangerous moment with a poor finish, created by a long pass into an area where United’s formation gets support around Calvert-Lewin.
There were advantages to this shape when playing shorter, too. Very soon after half-time in Manchester, when the formation was first employed, Perri had several passing options around his box thanks to the trio of centre-backs in front of him.
The goalkeeper went to Jaka Bijol on his right. You can see the wing-backs are not in shot, released down the flanks by the security and the width of the back three. Ampadu then drops into that hole to receive the pass from the Slovenian.
With hindsight, City should have arguably pressed the Leeds captain tighter at that point. He roams forward, and we see the deeper brief Farke had given Nmecha, who comes short to offer Ampadu an option. James Justin, at left wing-back, is the second most advanced player in black at this point.
As Nmecha pops the pass off to Ilia Gruev, Pascal Struijk is freed to overlap around the left, offering another passing option. Tanaka looks to occupy the gap Nmecha has left in attack, arriving from deep.
Gruev has to retreat with the ball because City’s pressure is too much. The Bulgarian goes to the touchline and then starts again with Bijol, now in acres at the heart of the split back three. Tanaka drops in and swiftly plays Bogle in, down that advanced role again, for one of the early crosses that can create such panic with a big front two.
Matheus Nunes is pressured into the first of his two errors, passes to Gruev, and, as we now know, Leeds eventually score through Calvert-Lewin. Leeds have created a five vs five by the time Tanaka feeds the striker into the box.
The system has looked durable in defence, too. Here, Liverpool are attacking, and you can see the banks of five and three when Leeds are defending.
Dominik Szoboszlai can’t find a decent angle forward, so he has to go to his left, and you see they have to keep going from side to side because Leeds have packed out their third. Cody Gakpo doesn’t find any joy in running at Bogle, so Curtis Jones has to switch possession, where United’s left has collapsed slightly.
Even then, the visitors have to go for a flighted pass, and that’s meat and drink for Joe Rodon, with only Gakpo or Florian Wirtz to contest it. Milos Kerkez puts in a whipped cross from the left, and it shows off Perri’s gigantic frame as he punches the ball clear under pressure from Hugo Ekitike, leaving the striker in a heap on the turf.
Those deeper, disciplined banks, asking the opposition to go around the sides or shoot from range, play into the strengths of United’s big men in the box.
Nmecha’s absence at Brentford may prompt some to consider the 4-3-3 again, but with the hosts likely to want to dominate possession and territory, the 5-3-2 can still work with a smaller forward running off Calvert-Lewin.
