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Why and how do they use 5-3-2?

Written by LA-Kobayashi

Now in J-League and Div. II, most clubs use 3-5-2, because midfield is important in Hattrick. The formation that is popular next to 3-5-2 is 3-4-3. This game has more goal average than a real football; it is that offence is more important than defence. So, it is logical that three FWs.
However, there are only two teams using 5-3-2 as main tactics. They are different from the mainstream. They are Kyoto Tigers (32108)and Ikube Wanderers (940391). Despite the teams which were promoted, but both teams have achieved 3 wins in a low in the league. I tried short interviews for the two managers, ikube4ever (3965933) and LA-Junnja (129966).

This is English edition. There is Japanese edition, too.
これは英語版です。日本語版もあります。

The both teams won the league match of 15th. It means your 3 wins in a low in the league.
Congratulations.

At first I asked LA-Junnja (129966).

1)
You had used 4-5-1 in last season. Why did you change your formation into 5-3-2 in this season?

I used 5-3-2 in last season. In the last game of the season, I used 4-5-1 in combination with 2-5-3 in friendlies in order to train Passing (=14 players training Passing each week).
So basically, I am applying the same formations as last year.

2)
Why are not 4-5-1 and 5-3-2 popular in high level league?

4-5-1 is one of the worst tactics, because it gives you no Attack. You are open to Counter Attack, and you cannot use Counter Attack yourself either. It only works if you want to get a draw.
5-3-2 is actually quite a nice formation to use. But you need a solid Defense base for it.
I think the real problem is that Defending training is not popular in higher leagues, which is why managers do not use Defensive formations.
Defending does not help you getting a spectacular game - which people enjoy - and Nippon has famous examples of teams training Defending getting crushed when reaching J-League. Sandle Wearing Goldfish Tenders (note; An old team of Nippon. teamID 32065. He is the last successful defensive team in J-League. But he hadn't been able to win the league) was the most famous.

3)
Maybe you would train defence. Did you choose this formation for training? Or do you train defence because of this formation?　In your youth, you use 4-4-2…

I changed my formation because of training. Before I was training midfielders, but I found that boring. It is challenging to train defense and still win games, I like that. Honestly, I did not think I would promote from Div. III this season, and I still believe Div. II will prove too difficult for my team at this point.
I am surprised I got 3 wins, the first 2 were probably lucky.
I just started my Youth Academy, and I don't put a lot of time into it. I know I am not using the full value of it right now.

4)
What is the reason why you use 5-3-2? 5-3-2 advantage is? In your opinion, what is a weak point of 3-5-2 and 3-4-3?

I don't look so much into the formations, but rather how the managers are using them. They are so many managers who choose a formation and play it blindly. It wins most of the matches for me.
Winning games is still more important to me than training, and I can change my formation if needed to win. So far, I didn't really need to change my 532 (^.-)

5)
You always use 5-3-2 formation in this season. However, you use various tactics patterns such as the positioning that attached importance to one side, or using Play Creatively or Counter Attack. Do you consider that they have worked effectively?

I think it works effectively because the managers are using the same patterns.
Against Tivoli (32207), I knew she would be hard to beat because of good Attacks on 2 sectors and homogeneous Defence. So I tried to get a good midfield to be just under 50% and play Counter Attack (big mistake since I was above 50%), and tried to get decent attack on my wings where she had a weak point. (213192394)
Against Hustlers (32107) , I saw midfield should be OK, and I went all out on his weakest defense side. (213192401)
Against Shoguns (32139) I wanted to minimize his chances because of high attack rates. I made another mistake by playing Attack in the Middle while I wanted to choose Attack On Wings... (213192399)
So you see, I made two big mistakes in my first 3 games. I have been lucky (^^;) Each of the games, my opponent is too strong for me, but they don't play tactics.

6)
It is a characteristic that your team strong in the air. Does this compensate for lack of offensive ability?

My weakest point is Midfield, not attack. All teams around me can trash me with midfield. This is why I bought a new IM this season, to compensate a bit and elevate my ball possession if needed.
My strong point is first my experience. My players have around World Class experience level. Then secondaries: my players have all strong secondaries and can change their style according to the game. They can play towards middle, towards wing, offensive, defensive, creatively,... And my ratings can reach around World Class for most of the tactics (Counter Attack, Attack in the Middle, Attack On Wings...).
For the specialities, maybe pirxy (526977) is a bit better than me, but not so many other teams.

He points out that many managers use the same tactics every game. He suggests that necessity for wins is not to choose superior formation, but to attack accurately a weak point of the partner. It is possible with 5-3-2. Rather it is important that we have players of various types to widen flexibility of the tactics.

Next is ikube4ever (3965933).

1)
You use defensive formation of 5-3-2, and your attacks depend on Attack in the Middle. However, the reason doesn't seem to weakness of your team's potential. In fact, in the last season, your team had allowed only three goals by the same tactics and had won the III.12. Why do you use 5-3-2? What is advantage of 5-3-2?

Advantages of 5-3-2 in my opinion are purely financial. When you want to buy/train defenders they only really require defending. IM + Wingers have need of inner midfield, passing/defending and stamina (minor skill once passable has been achieved). Older defenders at higher levels are much cheaper to buy than inner midfielders.

2)
Then, in your opinion, what is a weak point of 3-5-2 and 3-4-3?

From a financial point of view 3-5-2 and 3-4-3 are very difficult to keep over the long term. The overall team salary etc at some point begins to overwhelm the team. Midfield is still extremely important to win matches BUT it's not the only thing that's needed.

3)
With 5-3-2, you can use other tactics. For example, shall you use Counter Attack?

I have two formations. 5-3-2 Attack in the Middle and 5-4-1 Attack On Wings. It takes a long time to get tactics up to a decent level.

4)
Maybe you would train defence. Did you choose this formation for training? Or do you train defence because of this formation? You play by 3-5-2 in your youth.

I chose formation because of training but I only need a few youth players a season so I try and get the 19 yr olds passable in other skills purely to sell (and to do well in the youth league! not important I know!).

5)
In This season, Ikube Wanderers has challenged Div.II for the first time. Is your target to win the league?

Win the league? Definitely not! 5th/6th is the aim!

It is a contrastive opinion. Against LA-Junnja (129966) said that variety was his strength, ikube4ever (3965933) removes it from financial efficiency. They use same 5-3-2, but their base seems to be different greatly.
ikube4ever (3965933) said,

I don't want to explain my WHOLE strategy behind hattrick. Suffice to say Hattrick is all about MONEY! Having a strong team is all well and good BUT if you don't have a sound financial base one day you'll have to sell all your top players.

Thank you very much, both managers.

In addition, there is another team that use 5-3-2. It is mateiji (32138) in II.2. In last season, they had played with 3-5-2 in III.3. Now, they use both formations; 5-3-2- and 3-5-2. However they have not gotten good result. The tactics cannot always overturn difference in team’s quality…