eFootball 3-4-3 Formation: Tactics & Best Managers

The 3-4-3 gives you more ways to attack than any other shape we have tested. Two wingers and two wide midfielders give you four players on the flanks, a back three lets you commit numbers forward, and you can play possession, wide attacks or counters equally well. You pay for it at the back: three defenders against a good counter is thin, and the space between them and midfield is where you get hurt.

3-4-3: overview

Rank	ATested in Division 2
In one line	Four Team Playstyles all work with it, built around two strong wingers
Biggest weapon	Wide attacks from the winger and wide midfielder on the same side
Biggest weakness	Three at the back, and the space in front of them
Suits you if	You have wingers worth building a side around
Not for you if	You want to counter through the middle
Team Playstyle	Out Wide / Possession Game (counters work too)

Rank A. Ranks come from how a formation holds up as we take it up the divisions — this one holds up in Division 2. We have not logged a full run of games with it yet, so treat the rank as provisional.

What it does well, and where it hurts

The shape

3-4-3: three CBs, two wide midfielders with two CMFs, and a front three.

Three CBs, then two CMFs with a wide midfielder either side, and a front three of two wingers and a CF. There are no full-backs — the width comes from the wingers and the wide midfielders, and the CF drops in to join the build-up.

How to attack

Four players attack the flanks — two wingers and two wide midfielders. That is the spine of it, but the shape is not limited to crossing: the same players can keep the ball, break at speed, or play the diagonal in behind. Pick by what the game gives you.

Possession Game: the diagonal in behind

The patient one. Move them around through the middle first, then go wide — the pass that hurts is the diagonal, not the cross.

1. A CMF works it through the middle and out to the LWF
2. The LWF plays a diagonal through ball
3. The CF, who had dropped in, spins and runs in behind
4. The CF finishes

Long Ball Counter: win the header, then in behind

The direct one. The CF wins the first ball and the winger attacks the space beside their back line.

1. A CB goes long and the CF wins the header
2. The CF heads it down to a CMF
3. That CMF slides a through ball into the space beside their back line
4. The LWF gets away and finishes

Out Wide: the wide midfielder coming inside

The signature move. This is the underlap — the run inside the winger rather than round the outside. It drags a defender with them and opens the flank.

1. A CMF gives it to the RWF
2. The RMF underlaps on the inside
3. The RMF gets in behind their wide defender and slides it across
4. The CF meets it and finishes

Quick Counter: the one-two, then the cut-back

Win it high and go straight at them. Two passes and you are through.

1. The RWF intercepts in their half and plays it into the CF
2. The CF returns it first time and the RWF runs past
3. The RWF squares it back to the CF arriving in the middle
4. The CF finishes

Building up

How hard this is depends entirely on how many forwards they play. The spare man you have against two disappears against three, and their press has you covered. The fix is to drop a CMF in beside the CBs so the numbers work again.

Through the middle, then out

Use the two CMFs to pull them in first. Going straight out wide lets them shuffle across with you; making them come inside first is what opens the flank.

1. A CB finds a CMF in the middle
2. The two CMFs exchange passes to pull them in
3. A CMF plays a vertical pass into the CF
4. It goes out wide from there

Round the side when the middle is shut

The other way round. Go out first, come back inside to drag them narrow, then use the width you have just opened.

1. The right-sided CB gives it to the RMF
2. The RMF plays it inside to a CMF
3. That CMF switches it out to the RWF

Mistakes people make, and the fix

A front three counters you and it is three against three

A CB carries it forward, loses it, and you have two defenders left

How to defend with it

Three at the back is the thing you are managing all game. The two places it goes wrong are the space in front of the back three, and a counter that arrives with more players than you have back.

Players and playing styles that fit

The playing style matters more than the overall rating here. These are the ones the shape actually asks for.

Best managers for this formation

3-4-3 runs on Out Wide and Possession Game, so what you want is a manager with high proficiency in those. Every manager below is rank SS on eFootball LABO — high proficiency, a booster and a link-up — picked for their proficiency in these playstyles.

Best managers for Out Wide

Antonio ConteDefensive Awareness +1 / Kicking Power +1

89

V. MontellaAcceleration +1 / Tight Possession +1

89

Ronald KoemanKicking Power +1 / Jumping +1

89

Johan CruyffAcceleration +1 / Balance +1

89

Xabi AlonsoBall Control +1 / Finishing +1

89

Best managers for Possession Game

Thomas TuchelLow Pass +1 / Stamina +1

90

D. DeschampsSpeed +1 / Ball Control +1

89

Johan CruyffAcceleration +1 / Balance +1

89

Jürgen KloppSpeed +1 / Aggression +1

89

Ronald KoemanLow Pass +1 / Heading +1

89

Matchups

Matchups are provisional and come from played matches. We update them as we play more.

FAQ

Summary