The Return of La Maquina ft. Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck.

The River Plate of 1941-47 had one of the weirdest shapes but had the most fluid front 5 seen in World Football at the time.

The team was led by Cesarini who nurtured Pozzo's Metodo and then by Jose Maria Minelli too. Both of them had a defensive midfielder who had defensive responsibilities but needed to initiate attacks too.

The last line of defence was a sort of back 3, with 2 centre-backs and a right half who dropped to form a back 3 as a right back. The Goalkeeper was the old-fashioned one. The front 5 was where the excitement began. It was so fluent and adventurous, even by Argentina's standards at the time. They were the most revered exponents of La Nuestra.

The front 5 consisted of: Loustau (outside left), Labruna (inside left), Pedernera (centre forward), Moreno (inside right) and Munoz (outside right).

Loustau: was sort of a box to box player but on the left, he patrolled the left wing. "ventilador-wing", or even a tornante that Helenio Herrera used in his Catenaccio team. (I was thinking to put him as a CWB)

Labruna: a prolific scorer who took advantage of the space Pederenera left. (IF (A))

Pedernera: dropped deep to vacate space for the other attackers, also created chances. (DLF (S))

Moreno: helped out in defence, creative force of the team and also roamed around alot. (I would say Treq but he isn't defensively aware...)

Munoz: not much was said about him, but I would put him as an IF (S) as he helps create chances and score.

My aim right now is to do this with Arsenal. I'll show you 3 of my experiments:

1: The Weird 3-2-1-1-3

Positives:

-Lots of Attacking Movement

-Lots of chances created

-Midfield not as disconnected as you may think

- 3 man defence is good, but....

Negatives:

-left flank is very weak and open

-Wide mid does not track back

-even If I set him to man mark the opp. player he will leave him as soon as he reaches the box.

Instructions (Team):

Wide Players Swap: simply to add more movement and unpredictability up top.

Roam From Positions: says it in the name.

Be More Expressive: really want the team to be a creative and expressive force.

Run At Defence: La Maquina encouraged dribbling. Everyone in the team is entitled to that except for the Regista who's role is to link and create different positions.

Instructions (Player):

-all front players besides Treq have 'Roam More' and 'Cross Less' and 'Dribble More'.

Mentality and Strategy:

Attacking: La Maquina played fast football and were always in control. They took opponents by surprise and played swift football.

Balanced: The front 4/5 were extremely fluid and the back 5 were organized and defended. They didn't go up the field to help, hence why the full back isn't attacking as normal FBs do.

Next post I'll show the 4-2DM-3-1 that I have made.

2: 4-2DM-3-1

This was no where near the shape of how La Maquina played. Although what I am doing is 'modernizing' their system. The left-back is Loustau. The front 4 do not need an intro.

This is the movement I would normally expect from it:

White: Movement of Trequartista

Black: Possible movement of designated player

Blue: Passing triangles and options

Positives:

-Lots of Attacking Movement

-Lots of chances created

-The 'Balanced' Fluidity is working well, everyone besides the ones on Defend are supporting the transitions and attacking movement.

-the 3 in my AM strata are getting the most shots, which is exactly what I want.

-the left back is really getting involved all over the pitch.

-the Regista is the link between midfield and attack and Wilshere/Arteta do it perfectly.

Negatives:

-vulnerable to crosses (not really because of the system)

-finishing is poor (also not because of the system)

-midfield may be overrun at times which leads to us not controlling the game (may change Treq to AM (s))

-creativity may be one dimensional if Regista has an off day.

Instructions (Team):

Wide Players Swap: simply to add more movement and unpredictability up top.

Roam From Positions: says it in the name.

Be More Expressive: really want the team to be a creative and expressive force.

Run At Defence: La Maquina encouraged dribbling. Everyone in the team is entitled to that except for the Regista who's role is to link and create different positions.

Instructions (Player):

-all front players besides Treq have 'Roam More' and 'Cross Less' and 'Dribble More'.

Mentality and Strategy:

Attacking: La Maquina played fast football and were always in control. They took opponents by surprise and played swift football.

Balanced: The front 4/5 were extremely fluid and the back 5 were organized and defended. They didn't go up the field to help, hence why the full back isn't attacking as normal FBs do.

Next post I'll show the 4-2DM-3-1 that I have made but with differing roles in attack.

3: A Different Style of 4-2-3-1

Positives:

- AM (s) retreats back to help defending when the pressing fails

- we have more than one source of creativity

- the central midfield zone is more balanced and connected

Negatives:

-nothing yet because it's pre-season. The Community Shield against City is the perfect match to analyse and check out.

reserved3

Looks good will give it a try with River Plate from Fenech Ultimate Stars DB with most of the original players you mention