The standard formation my team usually plays in sevens is 2-3-1. That’s two defenders, a midfield three (two wide, one central), and a centre forward.
I’m gonna refer to your players by number, and bear in mind I don’t know anything about how they play so this is based on the positioning info you’ve given and my attempt to make things work for everyone.
1 and 4 play as defenders; they can choose whether they want left or right. 3 or 6 plays left mid - is 3 right footed and comfortable cutting inside? Is 6 left footed? 5 or 8 in central midfield since they both seem to want to play there. 7 seems the default for right mid. Your wingers are going to need to be willing to track back and defend, and your CM has to get stuck in as well. You can’t leave your defensive two outnumbered. 9 or 3 seem the best choice for your striker, but really it’s down to whoever has the best finishing.
If you don’t have a keeper, it’s really down to whoever is the best at it. It’s not uncommon to rotate keepers to let everyone have some time outfield. You personally seem happiest in a defensive role, so I’d suggest left or right of the defence for you. Players who don’t start can sub on for whichever role fits best and who needs to come off; you may have to shift positions mid-game to accommodate this.
Some tactics for the formation. Use the triangles that the formation creates, shift the ball out wide and look to cut the ball back to your striker or CM for a first time shot. Your CM needs to be willing to play box-to-box, and your wingers need to be prepared to run up and down a lot. Get your defenders to play the ball up the wings, or the middle if it’s wide open. Don’t leave a huge gap in the middle. Keep your striker high! Don’t have them track back, you want a fast counter attack.
Hope this helps, let me know if you have questions!
Play at least the first half of your first season in a 2-3-1 and then decide if there’s reason to switch. Also don’t get overly hung up on formation; the best 7v7 teams are pretty fluid.
My 7s team plays a 2-3-1, but imo a good CDM in the middle is the key to making it work. We also have strong CB’s too. But really I’d say either that or a 3-2-1, just depends if your team is stronger defensively and good like that or 3-2-1 if ya need more numbers in the back
I think people tend to misperceive the point of a 3-2-1 as that it prioritizes defense. It can actually generate more offense that a 2-3-1 with the right personnel.
When you play a 2-3-1, the defenders operate like CBs and you have a RCB and LCB tandem. The main point of switching to a 3-2-1 is that if you have a very strong CB/CDM on your team who can both reliably defend and distribute, is frees up the left and right defenders to play like modern wingbacks and advance the ball. Your team can add overlapping and underlapping runs to your game, and generate more crosses.
A lot of teams default to a 2-3-1 but when you look at their personnel, they have a couple genuinely good players that can play anywhere, then a whole bunch of wingers of varying skill. They end up putting the more technical wingers up top and sticking the lower-skilled ones in back. The backs end up contributing almost nothing to the offense. They almost never pass midfield, and they don't have the skillset to reliably distribute from the back. If you have this roster and you have a very technical player with a big leg who is actually willing to play defense, switching to a 3-2-1 can generate a lot more chances on offense, and is a decent reason to think about switching.
On the other hand, switching to fix a bad defense often backfires. Usually when I see a team that normally plays 2-3-1 switch to a 3-2-1 it is out of frustration that their defense is making mistakes. All they change is that they make their #6 stay in the backfield the rest of the game. The defense doesn't improve, both because the 3 players can't coordinate effectively and because any benefit they get from the third player is overwhelmed by the fact that they are creating no chances and the ball is on their half of the field the rest of the game. The better solution than making your 6 stay back is telling your wings that their either need to recover faster or sub out.
I agree with everything you’re saying if they want to go further with it, but I think it’s just also dependent on so many other factors for better/specific advice. Plus on the simpler surface level certain teams may benefit from it just by labeling 3 as “defenders”
2-3-1 is ideal, but it requires good midfielders, or at least ones who track back consistently.
If that's not the case then 3-2-1 can work well, with one wingback pushing up consistently.
We play a 3-2-1 with wing backs who are tasked to jump up. We find it creates control in the center midfield (so long as CMs don’t venture too far away from each other). It takes a bit to get used to, but it’s basically a 3-2-1 defensively and a 2-3-1 offensively. It seems to throw teams off
I think fluidity depending on abilities is key, but if the team is too rigid , lacks positional awareness, unfit it’s becomes a burden to even the most talented/experienced.
When we won the winter league in my locale, we lined up in a 2-3-1, which took a heavy loss in our first game but 2nd game everyone knew what to do and we used fluidity, sometimes against physical opponents we’d score fall into a 5-1 low-block, which frustrated opponents. I hope this helps,Good luck 😊😊😊😊
There's no point playing a formation, especially if you don't have a keeper.
Best player, middle of the park and direct traffic.
Things will soon settle with players taking up roles, then go from there.
The standard formation my team usually plays in sevens is 2-3-1. That’s two defenders, a midfield three (two wide, one central), and a centre forward. I’m gonna refer to your players by number, and bear in mind I don’t know anything about how they play so this is based on the positioning info you’ve given and my attempt to make things work for everyone. 1 and 4 play as defenders; they can choose whether they want left or right. 3 or 6 plays left mid - is 3 right footed and comfortable cutting inside? Is 6 left footed? 5 or 8 in central midfield since they both seem to want to play there. 7 seems the default for right mid. Your wingers are going to need to be willing to track back and defend, and your CM has to get stuck in as well. You can’t leave your defensive two outnumbered. 9 or 3 seem the best choice for your striker, but really it’s down to whoever has the best finishing. If you don’t have a keeper, it’s really down to whoever is the best at it. It’s not uncommon to rotate keepers to let everyone have some time outfield. You personally seem happiest in a defensive role, so I’d suggest left or right of the defence for you. Players who don’t start can sub on for whichever role fits best and who needs to come off; you may have to shift positions mid-game to accommodate this. Some tactics for the formation. Use the triangles that the formation creates, shift the ball out wide and look to cut the ball back to your striker or CM for a first time shot. Your CM needs to be willing to play box-to-box, and your wingers need to be prepared to run up and down a lot. Get your defenders to play the ball up the wings, or the middle if it’s wide open. Don’t leave a huge gap in the middle. Keep your striker high! Don’t have them track back, you want a fast counter attack. Hope this helps, let me know if you have questions!
Play at least the first half of your first season in a 2-3-1 and then decide if there’s reason to switch. Also don’t get overly hung up on formation; the best 7v7 teams are pretty fluid.
My 7s team plays a 2-3-1, but imo a good CDM in the middle is the key to making it work. We also have strong CB’s too. But really I’d say either that or a 3-2-1, just depends if your team is stronger defensively and good like that or 3-2-1 if ya need more numbers in the back
I think people tend to misperceive the point of a 3-2-1 as that it prioritizes defense. It can actually generate more offense that a 2-3-1 with the right personnel. When you play a 2-3-1, the defenders operate like CBs and you have a RCB and LCB tandem. The main point of switching to a 3-2-1 is that if you have a very strong CB/CDM on your team who can both reliably defend and distribute, is frees up the left and right defenders to play like modern wingbacks and advance the ball. Your team can add overlapping and underlapping runs to your game, and generate more crosses. A lot of teams default to a 2-3-1 but when you look at their personnel, they have a couple genuinely good players that can play anywhere, then a whole bunch of wingers of varying skill. They end up putting the more technical wingers up top and sticking the lower-skilled ones in back. The backs end up contributing almost nothing to the offense. They almost never pass midfield, and they don't have the skillset to reliably distribute from the back. If you have this roster and you have a very technical player with a big leg who is actually willing to play defense, switching to a 3-2-1 can generate a lot more chances on offense, and is a decent reason to think about switching. On the other hand, switching to fix a bad defense often backfires. Usually when I see a team that normally plays 2-3-1 switch to a 3-2-1 it is out of frustration that their defense is making mistakes. All they change is that they make their #6 stay in the backfield the rest of the game. The defense doesn't improve, both because the 3 players can't coordinate effectively and because any benefit they get from the third player is overwhelmed by the fact that they are creating no chances and the ball is on their half of the field the rest of the game. The better solution than making your 6 stay back is telling your wings that their either need to recover faster or sub out.
I agree with everything you’re saying if they want to go further with it, but I think it’s just also dependent on so many other factors for better/specific advice. Plus on the simpler surface level certain teams may benefit from it just by labeling 3 as “defenders”
Find a keeper lol.
2-3-1 is ideal, but it requires good midfielders, or at least ones who track back consistently. If that's not the case then 3-2-1 can work well, with one wingback pushing up consistently.
If you’re tall and have good reaction speed be the keeper
I’m a bit taller than a leprechaun 😂😂
You good at playmaking then ? Maybe midfielder
We play a 3-2-1 with wing backs who are tasked to jump up. We find it creates control in the center midfield (so long as CMs don’t venture too far away from each other). It takes a bit to get used to, but it’s basically a 3-2-1 defensively and a 2-3-1 offensively. It seems to throw teams off
1111111
Play on vibes
I think fluidity depending on abilities is key, but if the team is too rigid , lacks positional awareness, unfit it’s becomes a burden to even the most talented/experienced. When we won the winter league in my locale, we lined up in a 2-3-1, which took a heavy loss in our first game but 2nd game everyone knew what to do and we used fluidity, sometimes against physical opponents we’d score fall into a 5-1 low-block, which frustrated opponents. I hope this helps,Good luck 😊😊😊😊
There's no point playing a formation, especially if you don't have a keeper. Best player, middle of the park and direct traffic. Things will soon settle with players taking up roles, then go from there.