Borussia Dortmund: 3-5-2 Here to Stay?

For the better part of the post-winter break, Borussia Dortmund and Thomas Tuchel have had their hearts set on playing some variation of a 3-5-2, but is it a permanent switch?

Just when we thought that all tactical innovations had been seen in the sport of soccer, the three-man backline with duel wingbacks resprings to life. With Antonio Conte for Juventus, Italy, and now Chelsea likely the man behind the new wave of the formation’s success, it is no wonder that so many other clubs are also making the switch. Borussia Dortmund made it to a seemingly full-time formation at the turn of the calendar and to this point, it seems to be working.

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Sure, the personnel might not perfectly fit the system just yet. Sure, there have been some rocky results thrown in with the promising ones. Regardless of the hangups, the 3-5-2 or some variation of it appears to be staying for the life of Tuchel at BVB.

How did we get here is the first question that might be asked. To that, I believe Tuchel did some real inspection of his squad over the winter break and specifically the weak points. When doing that he probably found that Lukasz Piszczek in his advancing years had lost a step. No longer is he capable of keeping up with the pacey wingers of the Bundesliga and more importantly on the ball it seems as if Piszczek just does better further in field. He was naturally drifting inside as it was to the detriment to the width in attack for Borussia Dortmund.

Piszczek isn’t the only reason for the switch as Tuchel was probably looking for more defensive stability seeing as they conceded far too many goals, primarily on the counter.

This new set up with Bartra, Sokratis, and Piszczek forming a back three with Julian Weigl sitting in front gives a natural defensive balance. With a traditional four-man backline, the two outside backs were forward much of the match leaving only the two central defenders and Weigl to break up counters. Now, simply by adding another central defender, Borussia Dortmund has more numbers naturally behind the ball. Bartra and Piszczek still roam forward, as does Weigl on occasion, but it is from a much more deeper and stable position.

Now, this new set up has generated success in big matches. Look at Benfica who only scored an against the run of play goal, or RB Leipzig who was shut out. The squad finally seems to be comfortable playing this new style and it also doesn’t take away from the attack as there is still so much talent on the field. Reus as a more centrally playing second forward when combined with the other components has led to a very heavy expected goals ratio in almost every match.

That is all well and good, but the question was is the formation here to stay. To that, I say yes. The best key is to look toward the incoming transfers. There was speculation that Mahmoud Dahoud could be joining in the summer (since debunked) and the very real deal of central defender Omer Toprak. Both of these moves, or potential moves, point toward a continuation of the formation.

Toprak is a central defender, who in Roger Schmidt’s system is key to initiating the attack through long through balls. The Bayern Leverkusen system is built on vertical, lightning-quick attack and that aspect of ball playing is perfect to rotate with the outside two of the three central defenders in Tuchel’s 3-5-2. Toprak can substitute in for either Bartra or Piszczek and create threats from the defense. Sokratis struggled early in the season as he was asked to fulfill this role and now that he is in the middle, defending is his primary focus once again.

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The Dahoud transfer (speculation) speaks to the number eight role being filled. You might ask why this needs to happen as Raphael Guerreiro has been very good since coming back from injury. Once again, to that, I’d speculate that perhaps it is in the plans for Guerreiro to take over the left wingback position from the aging (29) Marcel Schmelzer and/or split time with Dahoud. In instances when given the opportunity, Guerreiro has been stellar. Last weekend many gave Guerreiro the man of the match. He constantly torched the SC Freiburg defense and is a ferocious defender himself.

As long as the 3-5-2 is working for Thomas Tuchel, he will stick with the formation, or at the least keep it in his toolbox. The squad now knows how the formation plays and can use it in big games so my final prognostication is: here to stay.

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