Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical trends across the 2023/24 season.
Formations
The top 13 sides in the Premier League used either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 as their favoured shape during a campaign where those two formations continued to dominate tactical strategies.
There was a clear divide in head coaches’ decision-making though, with just one of the bottom seven teams, Nottingham Forest, using a 4-2-3-1.
The remaining clubs embroiled at that end of the table all chose different first choice systems to those favoured by those above them.
You can see the average position maps of all 20 clubs below.
Top 13 teams' favoured formations
| Formation | Teams |
|---|---|
| 4-2-3-1 | AVL, BHA, BOU, CHE, FUL, MCI, MUN, TOT, WHU |
| 4-3-3 | ARS, CRY, LIV, NEW |
Bottom seven teams' favoured formation
| Formation | Teams |
|---|---|
| 3-4-2-1 | LUT, WOL |
| 3-5-2 | BRE, SHU |
| 4-4-1-1 | EVE |
| 4-4-2 (classic) | BUR |
| 4-2-3-1 | NFO |
Luton Town and Sheffield United preferred to go with back threes, while Burnley under former manager Vincent Kompany were the only team in the division to opt for a 4-4-2 classic shape as their No 1 formation.
Higher up the table Mikel Arteta, Jurgen Klopp and Eddie Howe were the biggest advocates of a 4-3-3, with almost every other team choosing 4-2-3-1.
Those two formations boasted a 61.5 per cent share of the 760 starting formations used during the season.
British managers adopt different formations
For the second season running we saw many British head coaches adopt suitable approaches to formations.
Graham Potter, who used 10 different formations in 2022/23, was not in management, but Gary O’Neil and Chris Wilder were among many UK managers to vary their formations at their respective clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United.
Both men led the way for the most shapes used, with nine, but former West Ham United and Nott'm Forest managers David Moyes and Steve Cooper were not far behind with eight and seven respectively.
Most different formations used by managers 23/24
| Manager | No. of formations |
|---|---|
| Gary O'Neil | 9 |
| Chris Wilder | 9 |
| David Moyes | 8 |
| Steve Cooper | 7 |
| Unai Emery | 7 |
| Rob Edwards | 6 |
| Roy Hodgson | 6 |
Of the British coaches who feature in this table (above) it was Wolves head coach O’Neil that was the most flexible.
He only deployed his number one shape (3-4-2-1) in less than a third of Premier League matches, consistently flitting between a back three and back four.
Sticking to the plan
Of the 17 managers who led their clubs for the entirety of the campaign, just two stuck to the same shape in all 38 matches.
Title-chasing sides Arsenal and Liverpool did not deviate away from their chosen 4-3-3.
Fewest number of different formations used by managers 23/24
| Manager | No. of formations |
|---|---|
| Mikel Arteta | 1 |
| Jurgen Klopp | 1 |
| Marco Silva | 2 |
| Ange Postecoglou | 3 |
| Eddie Howe | 3 |
It should be noted that Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp both encourage their sides to have a fluid pattern of play, in and out of possession.
The Gunners often resembled a 3-2-4-1 shape on the ball with one full-back inverting, or on occasion it was more of a 2-3-5, with both full-backs playing narrow either side of the holding midfielder in the build-up phase.
Liverpool also used Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold as hybrid full-back/midfielders, so their shape did not always resemble a 4-3-3 either.
Mild bounce-back for three-man rearguards
Only five of 20 Premier League clubs did not start a single match with a three-man defence in 2023/24, but its popularity as a first-choice set-up remains limited.
Brentford’s Thomas Frank did use a 3-5-2 more regularly, instead of reserving it for big six opponents only.
Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner also witnessed a 3-4-2-1 shape work excellently for the Eagles, so in 2024/25 we may see a bounce back from this type of set-up across the division, despite Luton and Sheff Utd dropping down to the Championship.
Overall though, fixed back-three formations do remain low by Premier League standards.
Back four/three use last four seasons
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | |
| Back four | 532 | 543 | 603 | 595 |
| % used | 70.O | 71.4 | 79.3 | 78.3 |
| Back three | 228 | 217 | 157 | 165 |
| % used | 30.0 | 28.6 | 20.7 | 21.7 |
4-3-3 and 4-4-2 on the wane
The headline news for Premier League systems was a pretty major drop in the use of 4-3-3, which lost a lot of ground to current front-runner 4-2-3-1.
Despite Kompany’s preference for a classic 4-4-2, that is another shape which is losing popularity.
There has been a 40 per cent decline in its usage since it was the third most-used formation in 2021/22.
Favoured formations compared - 2022/23 and 2023/24
| Formation | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|
| 4-2-3-1 | 261 | 296 |
| 4-3-3 | 222 | 172 |
| 3-4-2-1 | 64 | 71 |
| 4-4-2 (classic) | 62 | 54 |
| 3-5-2 | 23 | 41 |
| 4-4-1-1 | 22 | 41 |
The two emerging formations are 4-4-1-1 and 3-5-2, which both saw significant increases.
In truth a 4-4-1-1 is very similar to a 4-2-3-1 and can probably be described as a slightly more defensive version of the same shape, with a pronounced midfield quartet sat in front of a back four.
More head coaches seem to be leaning towards using double pivot in central midfield with a No 10 in front, that drops back out of possession.
It feels as if playing a sole defensive lynchpin flanked by a pair of box-to-box midfielders in a 4-3-3 is becoming less desirable.
Interestingly, Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino, Roberto De Zerbi and Ange Postecoglou almost turned their back on 4-3-3 completely, with the Manchester City manager using it once, the former Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion head coaches using it twice each and Tottenham Hotspur's boss adopting the formation five times.
