After two weeks of playing formations other than the 4-3-3 (the 4-4-2 and the 5-3-2), the Dynamo enter this week’s match against Orlando City with a choice to make: return to the 4-3-3 or stick with the experiments Wilmer Cabrera’s been trying. Given the personnel and the opponent, the former has to be considered the best option.
Orlando play a 4-4-2 diamond, a formation that, as you have seen with the Dynamo, plays very narrow and relies on positional work from the outside midfielders to both defend the channels and circulate possession. There are no true wingers in the formation, meaning that the attack starts and ends with the central attacking midfielder and depends a lot on the full-backs’ ability to move up and down the flanks.