Lesson 4 of 5 · 4 min

Back to Three: Conte's System

While most of the league settled on a back four, one system kept finding managers willing to revive it.

Conte's 3-4-3

Antonio Conte builds teams around a back three that provides defensive security while wing-backs supply the width, freeing the front three to focus purely on attacking play.

A Wing-Back's Dual Role

This is the exact wing-back demand covered in Formations & Systems: functioning as an auxiliary winger in possession and an auxiliary full-back out of it, all in the same 90 minutes.

Reviving a System

Conte's use of a back three is widely credited with helping revive the system's popularity in leagues where a flat back four had become the assumed default, proving the choice between back three and back four is still very much alive.

Try it

Visit the Antonio Conte manager page, then compare the 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 formation cards on the pitch explorer.

Quick check

What does a back three free the front three to focus on, in Conte's system?

Key takeaways

A back three provides central defensive security while wing-backs supply width alone.
Wing-backs in this system function as auxiliary wingers in possession and auxiliary full-backs without it.
Conte's success with this system helped revive the back three where a back four had become the default.