On the flip side, teams who have trouble keeping a large percentage of possession, may choose to use their near-sided winger as a method of shutting down that space. But this can leave teams exposed on the counter attack.

Teams capable of keeping a large percentage of possession may choose to use the right and left defenders as key cogs in eliminating that gap as they push forward to create overloads in attack and the central midfielders stay in the middle of the field. If they fail in that task, other teams may be able to effectively use their wingers to destroy a team playing the 3-2-3. In shutting down that space, central midfielders are often asked to create 2v1’s in defense by helping out the near sided fullback. Their job becomes even more crucial considering the massive space in between the outside defenders and wingers. Although every player has an important job to do in the system, the two central midfielders are the ones who undoubtedly have the most crucial role as they are the link between defense and attack and responsible for so many key aspects to the game. The formation is most commonly played without a natural number ’10’ (attacking midfielder) or ‘number 5’ (second centre back), making it very easy to use the formation as a stepping stone and building block into the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. The midfield duo consist oftwo central midfielders (usually different types of players such as a ‘6’ and ‘8’), and the front three includes a right and left winger with a centre forward up top. The 3 defenders include two fullbacks (right and left sided defenders) and a central defender. The 3-2-3 system includes 3 defenders, 2 central midfielders and 3 attackers. Let’s get right into it – Positions, Roles and Responsibilities in the 3-2-3 (9v9). For more on the 3-2-3 formation and its strengths, weaknesses and coaching opportunities, check out our complete guide on Coaching the 3-2-3 (9v9) and Best Formations for 9v9. The lessons learned in this article can not only be applied to playing the 3-2-3 but to many other coaching facets and situations, allowing each coach to personalize the outcomes they gain from this article. This article will teach coaches everything they need to know about playing in the 3-2-3 formation, based primarily on my first-hand experiences playing the formation over the past two years with a talented group of now under-12 players.

However, I have found that the 3-2-3 is fantastic in suiting nearly every type of player and the simple and easy variations that can be created using the formation such as shifting into a 3-1-3-1, allow coaches to tweak and change their style of play to fit the needs of the vast majority of youth soccer players.

I am a firm believer that the formation of any team should not be based around a club identity or a coach’s personal style of play, but rather based around the team’s style of play and the personnel of the team. Over the past three years of coaching 9v9 soccer, the 3-2-3 has become my favourite formation to use.

Positions for soccer numbers