Osarian 4-3-3

See also: List of phrases used in Osarian football

The Osarian 4-3-3 (also known as Suzakudo or The Way of the Firebird) refers to a specific tactical system used in association football, popularised across the multiverse by the Osarius national football team. The system's development is widely attributed to former Muirford Athletic and Callisto City coach, Hugh Collingwood, and was documented in depth in his best-selling book Suzakudo: The Way of the Firebird, released in 2198. The use of the Osarian 4-3-3 was popularised throughout the nation when adapted by Amandeep Sahota at Hastmead Diamante in their rapid ascent up the Osarian football league pyramid. Sahota carried this system over to the national team when he eventually replaced Alain Montblanc – who had already begun a gradual shift in the same direction – and led Osarius to a World Cup semi final. Jermain Lewis used a variation of the system to lead Firewood City to a league championship, and later, Osarius to two World Cup triumphs.

The system is most notable for its flexibility, and controlling elements in which it combines a high defensive line and aggressive pressing, with an often patient possession game. To keep up the system's characteristic flexibility and aggressive ball-hunting tactics, players in the Osarian 4-3-3 are typically quick and athletic, with competence in multiple roles. Collingwood insists that the players in such a system need not be outstanding technicians, though. "The system was designed to maximise the potential of the team, it does not require exceptional ability, as each of the principles therein assumes the player applying it is merely average." He wrote in his application for the Director position at the national football academy.

Characteristics

The primary feature of the Osarian 4-3-3 is the controlling nature of its play. By controlling where the ball is played, to and by whom it is played, and the tempo at which it is played, a team employing the Osarian 4-3-3 "effectively subjugates the opposition", says Collingwood. He identified seven fundamental principles of the system in Suzakudo, which are outlined below. Not every team playing what would be termed an Osarian 4-3-3 applies all seven principles, as Collingwood himself notes that the nature of the system is to be "flexible and adaptive to circumstances".

Compression of space

The defensive line is expected to press high, reducing the amount of space available in midfield. Collingwood stressed that controlling the space on the pitch was a major aspect of the system, as it reduced an attacker's options in possession. As a result, Osarian defenders in this system tend to be quick, and well-drilled on the offside trap. "With an offside trap, you can decide how much space there is in which to play the game," Collingwood wrote in Suzakudo. "When the space to defend is large, even the best players will struggle. When the space to defend is smaller, even an average player is difficult to beat."

Even when in possession, the Osarian 4-3-3 dictates that space between players should be minimal. By keeping the team shape compact, the player in possession has more immediate support, and more options to pass the ball on. In addition, this proximity allows a swifter counter-press to retrieve possession if lost. Fundamentally, the compression of space is directly related to Collingwood's principles of control, which he sums up in Suzakudo by stating "When you are in control, you cannot be harmed. It is the same in all areas of life."

Counter-pressing

Also called "ball-hunting", this principle refers to the requirement of players to aggressively press the opposition when possession is lost, particularly if near to the opposition goal. Collingwood, as a defensively inclined midfielder in his own playing days, was routinely frustrated by the failure of the players ahead of him to contribute significantly in the defensive phase. He noted that they saw no value in this, because it meant tracking back into their own half much of the time. To remedy this, he suggested that the players involved in the attacking phase press immediately, preventing the chance of "escape" for the opposition.

"By pressing immediately after losing possession, the striker relieves himself of the need to run thirty or forty yards back to contribute significantly to the team defence." Collingwood explains in Suzakudo. "By extension, he reduces the work required to fashion a goalscoring opportunity – by reducing the distance to goal – and invites support from the players behind him in the attacking phase. All of this is conducive to scoring more goals while preventing the opposition from doing so."

Loose marking

Collingwood referred to his preferred defensive system as "hybrid zonal marking", in which players cover specific areas, and focus on defending the spaces an opposition player could move into, as opposed to the traditional Osarian man-marking systems. In the beginning, this was a necessity, as Collingwood noted that his players at Muirford, while tactically astute and technically gifted, often did not have the physical attributes to be effective man-markers. Typically, this means a player occupies a "zone" on the pitch and only moves to mark a player closely in certain circumstances, hoping to intercept a pass.

As time passed, Collingwood began to see how marking "zones" rather than man-marking was a natural extension of his intent to control the game. "When the playing space is sufficiently compacted, it becomes easy for a player to adequately cover his assigned zone. This effectively prevents any cycling of possession through a defended zone, leaving the opposition with two choices: take a risk going forward, or retreat safely." Collingwood wrote in Suzakudo. He does not consider his system a true "zonal marking" system, however, due to the use of "flexible crowding". Against teams with a particularly effective distributor, Collingwood asserts that it might be necessary to "shadow" such a player; or assign one or two players to consistently apply heavy pressure. This flies in the face of the counter-pressing principle at times, taking a player out of the "pack" that hunts the ball. "Sometimes it is best to move a player from the back to help the press, and maintain direct pressure on a key player. This way, we can cultivate a feeling of no escape." Collingwood explains.

Vertical lanes and traffic

Conventional wisdom suggests that a horizontal pass should never be preferred over a vertical one in build-up play, as a sideways pass can lead to the team becoming "trapped", in corner areas or against the touchline. Collingwood countered this by instructing his team to make swift horizontal passes to move into open "half-spaces" – the spaces between the traditionally identified vertical "channels". By splitting the pitch into seven vertical bands or "lanes", Collingwood was able to drill his players to identify the lane with the least "traffic" – that is, defensive obstruction – and swiftly move the ball there before making vertical passes. This principle is often applied to open up chances in the final third, with players employing intelligent movement to remove "traffic" from specific lanes.

This principle is thought to be one of the most important, as it is most pertinent to maintaining possession. Collingwood was acutely aware of how the increasing athleticism of footballers was adding to the potential for transitional play to be a major weakness, due to the threat of swift counterattacks. "If my team is well organised, then we are most at risk when losing the ball." He wrote. "It does not require many passes to score on a counterattack, so we must choose our route of attack carefully in order to minimise this risk. By watching and controlling how much traffic is in a particular lane, we can identify where a potential counterattack will come also. This allows us to better prepare for such an event."

Flexible crowding

To maintain possession, Collingwood argued that your team needs to outnumber the opposition in the same area as the ball. To do this, flexibility is required from the players, as they need to identify where an additional player is required, and whether they are the best option to provide a third (or sometimes fourth) man option. As a result, it is not uncommon for Osarian players to be adept at one or more of their primary position's adjacent roles. For example, a winger will often be adept as a central attacking midfielder and/or a fullback or wingback, as there will likely be a need to cover a player in that position who has joined the "pack" hunting the ball.

This principle also exemplifies Collingwood's belief that a team must control the space. "By allowing a player to move away from the ball when we are crowding, we create space. But this space can only be used when we have the ball, because that is where our players are." Collingwood explained. "We defend in a compact shape to make it harder to break through. But then when we attack, we expand and either surround the opposition's compact shape or move through it."

Central triangular pivot

Central to the team's play is the idea of creating triangular passing patterns which hinge upon one or more of the central midfield trio. The trio themselves are expected to form their own, insular triangular system – "so there is always a pass option on", as Collingwood explained – while acting as anchors for the movement around them. Conventional wisdom in football relied on creating 2 v 1 situations, in which a player in possession could offload the ball to a teammate nearby, and then move into a space where a return pass could be received. The overuse of "one-two" football led to more teams using the "cover" system in defensive situations, whereby a second defender would occupy the space behind the first man, limiting the space to which a one-two could be returned.

Collingwood identified that if a third player was involved in the move, he could always occupy the most dangerous potential return space. "If the first player has the ball, and the second moves into space, we complete this pass. But then the first player needs to move into space again for the return pass, and he is being watched carefully by the defender." Collingwood explained. "So if this first man moves into a non-threatening position, this creates space for a third man to go into the dangerous space, where nobody is watching. They are all following the first and second man."

By drilling his players to focus all of these triangles through the players in the middle of the pitch in a 4-3-3, Collingwood ensured that his team didn't get "boxed in", because every player therefore has two options to pass to at any given time.

Attack weaknesses

Fundamental to the success of the Osarian 4-3-3 is its adaptability, which allows it to be altered for circumstance. "If an opposition team is weak on their left flank, it makes no sense to ignore this." Collingwood once said. "Whatever weakness we can find in an opponent, we have to be able to adapt and exploit it." The most common example of this is to use players with an unorthodox style in certain positions. In recent times, the use of Andrea Poynter or Kayode Afolayan as an attacking midfielder in the Osarius squad is a good example. Normally, Osarius will use a playmaker in this role, who will move between the defence and midfield of the opposition, providing a third man option in a dangerous area. Poynter and Afolayan prefer to go further forward, occupying a defender. This creates two problems. Either one of the Osarian forward three can drop deeper into midfield where there is now a lot more space, creating a gap in the final third, or one of the remaining midfielders can move forward into the space to create an overload through the middle, making space for a winger to attack through a half-space.