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The reds Liverpool Formation

2-3-5

By the time Liverpool Football Club was founded in 1892, the 2-3-5 formation of two full full-backs, three half-backs and five forwards was well established and this was the formation adopted by the team. It had been developed in Scottish football over the previous 20 years - previously teams had played with eight forwards and two backs. The 2-3-5 formation survived for 80 years or more, partly because football involved less rigid tactics in the earlier years.

In the early 1920s, when Liverpool won two League titles, a typical team lining up in front of the great Elisha Scott would have looked something like this: Eph Longworth and Don McKinlay were the regular full backs, with half-back line of McNab, Walter Wadsworth and Bromilow. The outside forwards (or wingers as they would be known today) were Lacey and Hopkin, with Forshaw and Chambers as inside forwards. Only the centre forward berth was subject to regular change, although Richard Johnson held down the position for the 1923 Championship winning side.

One tactical change which took place just before the war was the development of the centre-half into a more defensive role. Changes in the offside law and the development of the offside trap led to the development of the archetypal stopper, the mountainous number 5 familiar to most older post-war football supporters. Line-ups on the pitch didn t change however and a typical side in Liverpool s 1947 Championship side might have comprised Sidlow in goal, Lambert and Bill Jones at full back, Phil Taylor, Laurie Hughes and Bob Paisley as the halfbacks, and Willie Fagan, Balmer, Stubbins, Done and Billy Liddell up front. However, post-war rebuilding meant that this was very much a team effort and 26 players were used that season.

Shankly's great team of the 1960s still played 2-3-5, with the names so familiar that they can be recited like a litany by fans. The 1966 Championship team went almost unchanged all season - Lawrence; Byrne, Lawler; Milne, Yeats, Stevenson; Callaghan, Hunt, St John, Smith and Thompson, with Geoff Strong the regular substitute.

4-3-3

Tactical formations were becoming more important during the 1960s. Alf Ramsey was one of the first of a new-breed of tacticians, eventually adopting the 4-3-3 formation and winning the World Cup for England. Liverpool's formation was also becoming more flexible. With the firepower of Roger Hunt at inside forward, Ian St John often played as a withdrawn centre-forward, using his skills in midfield. Meanwhile, in a European tie against Anderlecht in 1964, Liverpool had played Tommy Smith in a defensive role as an extra centre-half alongside Ron Yeats in a move Smith later described as the start of 4-4-2 in England.

Liverpool's formation evolved into a 4-3-3 formation with the break up of the 60s team. At first players were replaced directly but changes gradually fell into place - an injury to Yeats replacement Larry Lloyd led to the permanent establishment of dual centre-halfs and a back four; and Ian Callaghan returned after injury playing in midfield, eventually moving into the centre.

However, 80 years of tradition meant that the terminology of 2-3-5 was still used to describe player positions and teams line-ups in the press. Versatility was also such a hallmark of the Liverpool team in the early 1970s, making formations harder to discern, but allowing the team to play a version of the "total football" made famous by the Dutch national team of the same period. Shankly's last ever team, which won the 1974 FA Cup final in such style, lined-up with Clemence in goal, a back four of Tommy Smith, Phil Thompson, Emlyn Hughes and Alec Lindsay, a midfield of Cormack, Hall and Callaghan and the partnership of Toshack and Keegan up front joined by Steve Heighway.

4-4-2

Under Bob Paisley the team moved to the now familiar 4-4-2, a formation which was actually very similar to their previous one as Heighway often played deeper than the Keegan-Toshack combination. A whole generation of football fans grew up believing that 4-4-2 was virtually the only way to play, as almost every British team adopted the formation for a period of 20 years. Wingers almost disappeared from the games, as the wide midfield players were not usually as aggressive as their predecessors - even Steve Heighway found himself forced to play as one of the two forwards, as he did in Liverpool's 1977 European Cup winning side which lined up Clemence; Neal, Hughes, Smith, Joey Jones; Case, Callaghan, McDermott, Ray Kennedy; Keegan, Heighway. Learning from the difficulties which faced Shankly when he had to rebuild his 60s side from scratch, Paisley made sure his sides evolved slowly, with players gradually replaced within a tried and tested formation. Fagan continued the tradition and Liverpool's fourth Europ an Cup winning team may have had only one survivor from 1977, but the changes had taken place almost seamlessly. That team in May 1984 lined up Grobbelaar; Neal, Hansen, Lawrenson, Alan Kennedy; Johnston, Souness, Lee, Whelan; Dalglish, Rush.

more 4-4-2 and some variations (1-4-3-2, 4-5-1)

Under Dalglish, Liverpool continued to play a similar formation, although in the Double season of 1985/86, Jan Molby was often used as a sweeper, playing behind the back four and only pushing into midfield if the game was being chased. Dalglish's greatest team, built in the wake of the departure of Ian Rush to Juventus, played in a fluid 4-4-2, a sign of the team's versatility being the number of players used that season, especially in defence. In the classic game against Nottingham Forest in April 1988 Liverpool lined up as follows - Grobbelaar; Nicol, Gillespie, Hansen, Ablett; Houghton, Spackman, McMahon, Barnes; Beardsley, Aldridge. Beardsley played in a deep striker's role, as Dalglish and Keegan had both done before him.

Under Souness, Liverpool continued to play 4-4-2 on most occasions, but without an obvious partner for Ian Rush they were often forced to play 4-5-1, with Don Hutchison or Mike Marsh pushing up to support the lone striker.

3-5-2

Three centre-backs was a formation used with success by Bobby Robson with the England team in the 1990 World Cup It was becoming a popular formation, especially in Scotland, in the early 1990s, but Liverpool under Roy Evans were the first major English club to adopt the formation in December 1994. The change has caused great debate, with Tommy Smith one of the formation's most vociferous critics, but many within the game see it as the way forward. It should encourage greater versatility in players of all clubs. The 4-4-2 formation seems to have bred a rigidity in ideas and playing styles - successful 3-5-2 requires centre-backs who are comfortable on the ball, wing-backs who can tackle and cross, as well as skillful and tenacious midfielders.

Evans' change to 3-5-2 began with the purchase of Babb and Scales and at first it was often, probably fairly, described as defensive 5-3-2 by most observers. As the players have become more used to the formation it has become a more attacking formation, especially with McManaman's free role leading to some to describe their current formation as 3-4-1-2.





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