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Bear in mind that up until the mid 1920s, soccer formations had normally been in the classic 2-3-5 set up. When the offside rule was altered in 1925 there were many many goals being scored (and having just two defenders couldn’t have helped either!)

So Herbert Chapman (manager) and Charlie Buchan (player) of Arsenal developed the 3-2-2-3 to have an extra defender to help prevent conceeding all these goals.

They way in which the players could support the attack meant that there was still the opportunity to score plenty of goals as well as to defend. Perfect all round!

And that’s why this formation was used very successfully by Arsenal in the 1930s and why it became popular all over the world.

BUT. Today, even having three defenders leaves you a bit vulnerable at the back. So the game was indeed forced to adapt!

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