For the entirety of Brian Schmetzer’s time in charge of the Seattle Sounders, pundits have struggled to effectively explain how his teams play or why they’re successful. There have been tweaks depending on personnel, but one aspect of his approach that rarely changes is a 4-2-3-1 formation. With all the talk about a move to a 3-5-2, it seems worth while to discuss how the team’s approach and style of play might change along with the formation.
Ultimately, formations don’t mean all that much. They indicate where players start on the field, and they can point towards how a team might approach a game — more players in the center of the field to force opponents towards the sidelines, more players on the back line to shore up a leaky defense — but what really matters is how roles are assigned in pursuit of a particular style or system of play.