‘I Don’t Want To Go Back To Bould & Dixon’ – Wenger Jokes That New Formation Is Temporary

By The Editor
on 18th April 2017

Arsene Wenger hints that 3-4-3 isn’t here to stay…

https://youtu.be/uAGWjQJOjoc

Arsene Wenger hinted that the new formation he debuted against Middlesbrough could be temporary after joking with Lee Dixon that he didn’t want to return to the days of the famous back five.

When Wenger arrived in 1996, his first lineup against Blackburn Rovers consisted of back three of Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Martin Keown.

Speaking to NBC after the game at pitchside, Wenger joked that he’s been thinking about changing to a back three for a while but was reluctant to go back to the olden days.

“I felt in the first half we did quite well,” Wenger said about the new 3-4-3 system.

“I had a hesitation already to do it after we worked on it (during the week), but I thought ‘I don’t want to go back to the Dixon-Bould’… haha.”

Wenger repeated a few times that the system was designed to give us extra protection defensively, which indicates that he’ll relinquish it soon given that he wants us to be on the offensive.

While a back three guards against the threat of a counter-attack if worked properly, it could certainly give us a tactical advantage when in possession of the ball too.

Teams like Liverpool and Spurs have used it to great advantage when aiming to dominate possession, allowing them to have four central players while keeping the width through the wing-backs.

It will be interesting to see how Wenger decides to proceed.