STEVEN CLARKE'S DEFENSIVE 3-4-2-1 SOLID TACTIC

tikitakamaster · December 15, 2023

STEVE CLARKE’S 3-4-2-1 SCOTLAND

Scotland has truly emerged as a formidable team, showcasing a level of excellence that brings immense joy to fans. The longstanding debate between Linden Dykes and Sterling Harlem can finally be put to rest. Steve Clarke has masterfully orchestrated a transformation within the team that extends far beyond mere victories over Spain and Norway.

The team consistently produces outstanding results, marking a departure from the historical norm for Scottish football. Let's delve into the tactical intricacies of Steve Clarke's 3-4-2-1 formation, a setup frequently observed in recent matches.

Scotland's approach revolves around maximizing their limited chances, as they do not heavily rely on intricate plays through the center. Instead, they leverage their two fullbacks in what could be described as a dynamic "swinging defense." When defending, the three central defenders compactly shift to form a flat back five, presenting a formidable challenge for opponents attempting to penetrate the central areas.

The wide forwards play a dual role during defensive phases, defending the flanks and supporting Dykes up front. This defensive strategy creates a nightmare for opponents, forcing them to constantly navigate the wide spaces. Scotland's confidence in dealing with crosses is underpinned by the flat back five, ensuring solid defensive coverage even if one fullback challenges the incoming cross.

Moreover, the physical presence of players like Linden Dykes pushes opposing defenders deeper, creating space for counter-attacks initiated from wide areas. The recent goals against Spain exemplify this strategy, as turnovers led to swift attacks down the flanks, exploiting the space created by Dykes' assertive play.

In building up their attacks, Scotland employs a "swing defense" tactic. The versatility of players like Andy Robertson and emerging talent Hickey allows seamless transitions from a 5-4-1 defensive shape to a 4-2-3-1 attacking formation. This adaptability is facilitated by Tierney and Porteous, capable of playing across defensive positions, ensuring a balanced and secure defensive structure.

Steve Clarke's astute substitutions against Norway highlighted his tactical acumen. By introducing an additional attacker and reshaping the team, he abandoned the back five for a more direct and agile setup. This shift played a pivotal role in securing the winning goal, as Dykes' physicality once again proved instrumental.

Beyond the tactical brilliance lies the intangible qualities instilled by Steve Clarke. Scotland's work ethic, discipline in defense, and bravery in attack are evident in every match. The team's resilience in the face of setbacks, exemplified by bouncing back from a significant defeat against Ireland, underscores their unwavering belief in Clarke's system.

In conclusion, Scotland's success is not merely a result of tactical prowess or statistical achievements. Steve Clarke has cultivated a rare sense of unity and commitment within the team—a collective belief in the system and a shared vision for the future. This cohesion, coupled with astute tactical decisions, positions Scotland as a formidable force on the international stage.

HOW TO EMULATE THIS TACTIC ON FOOTBALL MANAGER 2024

To emulate this tactic in Football Manager 2024, we start from a 3-5-2 formation since there is not a preset 3-4-2-1 formation in the game. Then we can adjust the players position to create Steve Clarke’s 3-4-2-1.
I tested this tactic first with the Scotland national team using the same players Clarke chose in his recent games. Then I tested it in a holiday mode with Celtic Glasgow for the first season (from the game start date, July 2023 until the end of 2023-2024 season in May 2024) without touching anything (no player transfer, no training, I just set the tactic and set pieces).
I achieved good results in both tests even though with Celtic I finished 2nd in Scottish Premier League with only 64 goals scored being the 5th attack (1st is Rangers Glasgow with more than 90 goals). This is a problem that Scotland actually has, with his forwards not scoring enough goals.
With the Scotland national team, I played one season by myself and finished 1st in the Uefa Euro 2024 Qualifying Stage Group (I started the game in July 2023 and played my first game in September 2023, so those 2 games in our schedules which are before July 2023 were played by the game engine itself), then played 2 friendly matches against France (won 2-1) and Austria and lastly, in Euro 2024, finished 2nd ahead of Serbia in the first stage group (6 points, 2 won 1 lost against Serbia) and lost the first round of 16 game against Denmark.
I only emulated Steve Clarke’s 3-4-2-1 as it is, without trying to fix its goal scoring issue, so the goal issue remains in the game too.
Let’s now examine in detail how I emulated this tactic starting from team instructions.
The tactic mentality is balanced, we want to start with a balanced approach every game to see how it goes, but it does not mean that I can’t switch to a positive mentality against weaker opponents (I did so against Georgia and Cyprus for example while I kept a balanced mentality against Spain).

In possession
Attacking width: wide, we have our wing-backs staying wide to stretch the opponent defense and we want our team to play on the flanks.
Pass into space: Clarke’s game is not a tikitaka-like possession game, players like Mc Tominay, Mc Gregor, Mc Lean and Christie are always ready to push forward and help the attack.
Overlap left and right: well, just see how Robertson and Hickey push forward and how high and wide you will find them when Scotland is attacking.
Whipped Crosses: to help a physical striker like Dykes (or Adams) to use his strength and heading skills to score or to create spaces for his teammates, crosses that are difficult for the opponent to stop.
Hit early Crosses (this instruction can also be removed if you want your team to play a little more patiently in attack)
Dribble less: passing is more important for this type of play than constantly trying to dribble your opponent. Running wing-backs and midfielders will get the ball and try to cross it into the box rather than dribble.
Be more disciplined: as said in the tactical analysis above, Scotland players are very disciplined and well organized, they don’t go outside the path Clarke designed for them.

In transition
Watching the game won 2-0 against Spain will give you a glimpse of what Clarke wants: win the ball back immediately after losing it, that means when the ball is still in the opponent’s half, that’s why counter-press is mandatory here.
Counter: after winning the ball back, Scotland will launch fast counter-attacks starting already in the opponent’s half, that makes it easy to create chances with much less field to cover. Again, Scotland 2 Spain 0 victory came out as a result of this approach.
Take short kicks and distribute to centre-backs: Gunn will pass the ball to the centre backs, he has 3 options there and especially Tierney is very good with the ball.

Out of possession
Mid-block: I chose a mid-block pressing line instead of a high pressing line because in defense, Scotland is very flat and the two wing-backs Robinson and Hickey (or Patterson) drop down to create a 5 men defense. In this situation, the formation is a 5-4-1
Lower defensive line: the defensive line is very flat and low, they cover the central areas very well leaving spaces on the sides, because they are very confident about their physical strength and heading skills to stop crosses and winning one to one duels in the box. They are very good also to win the ball back in the sides when the opponent tries to cross from one side.
Pressing: much more often, pressing is the key to everything in Clarke’s system, his players continuously press the opponents to win the ball back and counter.
Get stuck in: if you see you are getting too many cards you can remove this instruction
Drop off more: this instructs your team to stay even more flat to cover all spaces building a great unbreakable wall in the box.
Trap outside and stop crosses (see the lower defensive line above).

Player roles and instructions

GK: Gunn: sweeper-keeper-defend: no instructions
RCB: Porteous: wide center-back- defend: pass it shorter
CB: Hendry: ball playing-defend: no instructions
LCB: Tierney: wide center-back-defend: pass it shorter, mark tighter (I feel Tierney is better at marking than Porteous and it worked well, you can remove this instruction if you haven’t players with good marking skills, it does not change how the tactic works).
RWB: Hickey: wing-back-support: mark tighter, stay wider (we want our wing-back to stay very wide to stretch the opponent, but when they have the ball, both Robertson and Hickey can cut inside with the ball to create chances), cut inside with the ball, pass it shorter, dribble more.
LWB: Robertson: wing-back-support: mark tighter, pass it shorter, cut inside with the ball, stay wider.
RCM: Mc Tominay: box to box midfielder-support: pass it shorter, move into channels, get further forward (Mc Tominay moves forward and exploits the spaces created by Dykes when he drops down and also by other teammates, so these two instructions are perfect for Mc Tominay).
LCM: Mc Gregor: ball winning midfielder-defense: no instructions. Mc Gregor is not only an engine for Scotland, he is much more, he can also move forward and create chances, he is good at passing and off the ball too.
LAM: Mc Ginn: attacking midfielder-support: no instructions. Mc Ginn as attacking midfielder on support helps to create chances and to link the play, besides he can exploit the spaces created by Dykes when he drops down.
RAM: Christie: shadow striker-attack: stay wider, pass it shorter, mark tighter, stay wider (I used the stay wider option because Christie stays wider when Robertson pushes forward on the left side to form the trio behind Dykes in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
CF: Dykes: advanced forward-attack: no instructions (this role could be also set to a pressing forward but with the lower defensive line and the middle block pressing line, our forward will drop down to press the opponent’s defenders also as an advanced forward).

This is all for this tactic, you can see the highlights in the video here: