position of the fullbacks

[ant6869]

good evening all,
my two fullbacks play a few yards ahead of the two central defenders in a boomerang shape they both bomb forward and get involved in the attack,
problem is that this leaves the two centerhalves 2v2 with the opposing strikers,however most of the time they do cope ok but i have read that you should leave one more defender back than there are strikers.How do others defend ,do you just send the one full back forward on the active side of the field and then ask the other three defenders to move across or is it ok to send both fullbacks forward and live with two at the back.
please let me know how you more experienced guys shape up your defence.
regards,
ant

[mcolwell]

Why not try a formation 0f 4 1 3 2 and have a deep lying midfield player to protect the centre half? Such a player can fill in in the middle and allow the left half to go left and the right half right as required. The full backs go forward and when they come back the 1 goes back into midfield. You need to be fluid in the movement though so would need to try it in some matches.

[ant6869]

thanks for the idea but i dont really want to change the formation ,more just minor adjustment to the defence,if i were to go down the route of protecting the defence with a holding midfield player i would proberbly do so at the expence of a striker say a 451.I just want to know how many defenders should you look to commit to support the attack in a 442.
regards ant.

[Ahmad Ansari]

To me it depends on the scores and what you want from the game and how much you are prepared to take risks. If my team was ahead I would leave 3 defenders(2chs+1fb) also one defensive midfielder in front of them.If I was a goal down and looking for an equalizer but not at the cost of giving more goals away again 3 defenders as mentioned. If I was a goal down and desperate to equalise I would leave only 2 chs.

[ant6869]

Very good points,i guess that depending on how the game is going is a good way to look at it,i will try to leave 3 back in the most part thanks for the advice.
regards ant.

[tony75]

alternate who attacks and defends depending on skill level, situation, ie how do opp play.

[74offsuit]

All sounds like good advice to me, I would think about a holding midfield player a bit more though, this player is not an out and out defender, but can be used to break down opposition attack play.

He then begins your offensive play. I favour a 3-1-4-2 with wing backs, and that holding player needs to be one of my best players.

[Ahmad Ansari]

Every one wishes that holding player could have been like Frank Rijkard in Holand 1988 European Champion.

[Grandy84]

I play a 4-4-2 system with my team, but only allow one fullback to venture forward at a time. With 7 of your ten outfield players getting forward, there should be ample opportunities when on the back.

Personally, I would suggest that the "active" fullback can be involved in an attack, leaving the other to step across and effectively become a third central defender. I certainly agree that the defence should always outnumber the attackers left forward, by 1 at the least!

[ant6869]

yea,
i agree we left 3 back and just let the one fullback venture forward and as you said the other fullback came across to make a back 3 (when we loose or look like loosing posession),it worked well.also not to difficult to coach the boys seem to grasp the idea straight away.
thanks for all the help out there.
ant6869