Problems with Vermes Formation

I have been spending a lot of time since the Columbus and Vancouver games trying to figure out what is going on with Vermes’ formations. I understand that with the options we have at forward, when they are all healthy, playing 3 forwards is a good idea. But, when we look at the lack of strength in the midfield we have to wonder if the the 4-3-3 formation is really the best formation or is Vermes trying to force these players to play in this formation instead of finding the best formation that works for these players. Read on to see my take on the problems with Vermes’ formation and what I think he can do to fix it.

Why I don’t like the Wizards current 4-3-3 formation.

When it comes to a formation there are a few things each manager should take into consideration. First is the style of play, second is the positioning of skilled players, and third is the talent of the players. And it is my opinion that Peter Vermes has NOT taken these things into consideration when picking the current formation.

Current Formation

Let me try to define what I am seeing as the current formation. I think this is still something that the media is still trying to figure out as well. The pregame shows a fairly basic 4-3-3 formation, like this.

But when the team starts to play the formation looks more like a 4-2-1-2-1.

Now, I don’t know if this is something that Vermes wants to see in this formation, but it has been this way for several games now, with all of them resulting in losses. Obviously something needs to change.

In my opinion there are 3 criteria needed to pick a formation for a team. What style of play the team will be playing, what are the preferred positions for the players, and how does the player’s talents fit with formation and their position.

Style of Play

It is obvious that Vermes wants to play a very attacking style of play. I don’t have a problem with this. An attacking style can be very entertaining and can force other teams to play differently in order to counter this style. And with all the attacking options, when healthy, that Vermes has available to him this isn’t a bad option.
But, there are many different formations that can be used to create an attacking style of play. Teams have used formations with 5 defenders and still played an attacking style. Teams have used 1 forward and still played with an attacking style. In reality the style of play can be dictated separate from the formation with the formation providing different options for the style.

Preferred Positions

Ideally most managers want to put the players into their preferred positions. This makes the players happy and in turn gets better performances and production. So, in a perfect world players like Roger Espinoza wouldn’t be playing left back but more of an outside midfielder role. Obviously this isn’t a perfect world, but this is where the choice of formation can help give a player in a different formation a similar role and responsibilities as their preferred position. That is what the current formation does for Espinoza as he plays left back, he has the opportunity to get up the field and attack like a midfielder.

Players Talent

This part is very subjective and can contradict a player’s preferred position. This part deals with identifying a players skills and then figuring out where that player would best fit on the field. Vermes and the coaching staff should go through this process before each game.
A prime example of this is Ryan Smith. Smith is a quick player that has very good 1v1 skills. He won’t physically over power an opponent but he has the ball skills to dribble past a stronger defender. He plays best while facing the goal and good with both the left and right foot. These skills would make Ryan Smith a poor choice for a lone center forward. He would be best suited for an outside midfielder or a forward that could get some isolation with a defender.
Here is where I believe Vermes has made some mistakes with both selecting his formation but also in filling out his roster.

My Solution

I am not going to just leave this without giving any possible solutions. Using these same three criteria I will break down a couple of formations that I think would work better to the style of play and the player’s talents.

Option 1

With the amount of attacking players that the Wizards have I do think an attacking style would be good, but I also think that this team could play a more possession style of offense. This could utilize player’s speed to make off the ball runs to create space on the defensive side of the ball. The formation I would use for this would be a modified 4-4-2, with an attacking and holding central midfielders or a modified 4-3-3 with the central forward playing behind the outside forwards. It could look something like this.

In this example I show Stojcev playing that attacking midfielder but I could see Omar Bravo playing that role when he gets healthy. His creativity and vision could be useful with runs on goal by Bunbury and Kamara. Offensively this formation would allow the attacking mid to make overlapping runs with forwards. This would open up space for the outside midfielders to pinch toward the center while attacking to get off long range shots.
Defensively this formation would allow the containment of the opposing teams strong central midfielders. This would also allow for the forwards and attacking midfielder to pressure the opposing defense and force turnovers.

Option 2

In the game against the Galaxy, Bunbury seemed to get frustrated with the lack of service and help he had when he received the ball. Part of this is due to the fact that Bunbury is basically playing a lone forward role. On quick counter attacks Bunbury is expected to do all the work alone because Kamara and the other forward have to come back and help on defense a lot. Also in the current formation Bunbury has to play a lot of the game with is back to the goal. This doesn’t use his skills to create space and get a shot off because defenders can reduce the space and not allow him to face the goal. This 4-3-3 formation would look something like this.

By moving the outside forwards up the field more it would create more chances for counter attacks and to provide Bunbury with more options to move out wide or to play give and goes with other players when he receives the ball. However, this formation does put a lot more pressure on the midfielders to close down space. With this change Stojcev might not be the best choice for this position. Maybe someone like Chance Myers could fill that role. Or move Espinoza up to midfield and put Matt Besler in as an outside defender.

Epilogue

Now, I originally wrote this almost a month ago, but due to the technical difficulties of the website I haven’t been able to upload it. But, now that I can I would like to point out that a different formation was used and very different results occurred. Vermes went with a 4-5-1 formation with 2 holding midfielders, an attacking midfielder with 2 wide midfielders for support. The defense was Besler and Collin in the middle with Myers and Sinovic on the right and left respectively. The midfield saw Diop and Sassano playing holding roles and Arnaud moved back to an attacking role, with Zusi and Stojcev out wide. And Sapong was the lone forward. And getting 4 goals against a Dallas team that hasn’t allowed many goals the whole season let alone in one game goes to show that Vermes needs to play formations that fit the players!

Category: Team News