Dallas, TX
The basics of the FC Dallas 3-4-3 – 3rd Degree
Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dante Sealy.
With FC Dallas continuing to use the 3-4-3 at such a high rate this spring – about 90% of the time – I figure it’s time to talk about how it works. It’s not a widely used shape and many people may not be familiar with it.
This isn’t going to be a nuanced breakdown, there are small tweaks and subtleties to how FCD plays that might change from game to game and/or player to player. Coach Nico Estevez will even use hybrid positions with flex roles.
But for the portion of our audience that’s not familiar with it, it’s worth taking a macro gander at the basics of the 3-4-3…
Or as FC Dallas calls the shape on socials, presumably cause the Coach identified it this way, the 5-2-2-1.
So Is It 3-4-3 or 5-2-2-1?
They are the same thing. We use 3-4-3 for simplicity.
Here, let me show you. First, the base 3-4-3. Three center backs, two wingbacks, a double pivot in front (two six/eight types), and a front three.
Here is the shape (left) with the 3-4-3 groupings circled and (right) with the 5-2-2-1 circled.
See? Same thing.
Tactics are fluid.
The Basic Shifts
As always these days, FC Dallas is about transition and a fluid shape that changes as they get forward or back.
First, let’s talk wingbacks. They are the ones who drive this shape. They are given the entire wide space, end line to end line, to operate. They have complete responsibility for these wide areas. It’s in the name, “wing” and “back.”
Yes, it’s physically demanding.
You can easily see why the wingbacks need to be quite vertical with an engine to run and will to work. They are responsible for getting forward into the attack and getting back on defense.
The Attack
When the wingbacks get forward…
By using this system you get the same front-5 shape as last year in the attacking phase but without making your 8s overwork themselves (the wingbacks do the work).
Instead, the double pivot is more stable with less demand getting forward and you outnumber the opposition 4v3 in midfield. Something that should benefit Asier Illarramendi, for example, as well as Paxton Pomykal.
The Low Block
Then on defense, the wingbacks compress back into a low block just like Coach Estevez likes.
A.k.a, the 5-4-1.
While the wingbacks are the engine of this formation, there is another key to making it all work: the 10s.
The 10 Key
The front three – more specifically the position of the 10s – is the key and that’s why Coach and FCD specifically say “2-1” up top and not the simplified “3” we say.
These two players – who in a 4-3-3 were wingers – are in this 3-4-3 underneath the 9 playing as double 10 attacking mids. In the attacking phase, the wingbacks occupy the wide spaces leaving the 10s underneath in the half spaces.
This halfspace underneath role for Jesus Ferreira is, perhaps, the most important reason to choose this formation. Paul Arriola, Alan Velasco, Enes Sali, and Sebastian Lletget should also like it.
When FCD’s 3-4-3 Goes Wrong
Yet, as we saw last year, when the 3-4-3 is misplayed, it can be a disaster.
So what makes this disaster happen?
When the other two front players get it wrong and occupy the wide spaces… like they did last year. Like this.
That width wrecks the tactics.
Why? Allow me to show you.
By taking up the wide wing spaces, the “wings” block the wingbacks, making said wingbacks one-dimensional and static. It turns the wingbacks into normal outside backs and disarms their attacking danger, defeating the tactical purpose of the 3-4-3.
And on top of that, by taking up the wide space, the “wings” abandon the midfield – notably the massively important “zone 14” under the striker atop the opposition box – and leave the double pivot isolated in the middle and outnumbered 3 versus 2 for the bulk of the game.
Your team will end up with very little possession, dominated in midfield, facing a team that can carve you apart, right up the gut.
That’s not good.
A Depth Chart
Now that we understand how it works, let’s look at how will it deploy with players in it. Let’s plug in some names.
Don’t take the above as set in stone and it’s not complete with 30 names. There are still two weeks left before the season starts, several injuries, positions are up for challenges, and the tactics and personnel are quite obviously going to change as the season wears on.
Who knows how much we will even see this formation once the battle lines are crossed.
Heck, Ferreira isn’t even healthy yet. Let’s see what the club does against DC United in the final tune-up game next weekend.
But hopefully, you now know what to look for when FCD does roll out the 3-4-3.
P.S.
Yes, FCD needs another center back if they are going to play this way. See center back, left.
At least four people were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd of people in Dallas on Thursday evening.
Dallas police responded to an “Assist Officer call with an Ambulance” at approximately 7 p.m. in the 300 block of West Davis Street.
Authorities learned that a vehicle drove into a crowd, injuring multiple people. At least four have been taken to a local hospital for treatment. Police said no one was in critical condition.
The driver of the vehicle was arrested at the scene, police said. Authorities are still working to determine if this driver could have been drunk or if this could have been a medical episode.
According to police, there is no indication that the crash was terrorism related.
The investigation is ongoing.
This story will be updated as we learn more.
Dallas, TX
FOX’s Kasper Schmeichel compares England to Dallas Cowboys, so who are their other sports analogs?
Scottish World Cup fans reportedly drink Boston dry
Dana Perino announces that Scottish World Cup fans have caused an unprecedented beer shortage in Boston, emptying bars and liquor stores. Jesse Watters playfully observes that Europeans visiting America seem to “love it,” despite negative media portrayals, while Greg Gutfeld adds a satirical comment about “liberal mayors” and local resource management, contrasting Boston’s beer woes with LA’s water and Chicago’s Bears.
FOX Soccer analyst Kasper Schmeichel came prepared for this year’s World Cup on American soil.
The former Danish goalkeeper may not be from around these parts, but that didn’t stop him from dropping an eerily accurate comparison between two overconfident but long-suffering sports programs.
With England and Croatia warming up inside AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Schmeichel decided he would roast two fanbases with one stone, comparing the Cowboys to the Three Lions with a hilarious one-liner.
Funny, but also painfully true if you’re a supporter of either team.
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I made a comparison last week between the English national team and Notre Dame, but Schmeichel got me thinking, who are the sports analogs to England from the four major North American leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA)?
Today, I will be doing exactly that, including giving a slightly better NFL comp than the Cowboys (shocking, I know).
Without further ado, let’s piss off our neighbors from across the pond.
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NFL – Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears helmets are displayed before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nev., on Sept. 28, 2025. (Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images)
While the Dallas Cowboys are a fine comparison for the English national soccer team, I think I can do one better.
Schmeichel mentioned that England “won it once and have never stopped talking about it,” and although the second part of that statement applies to both, the Cowboys are five-time Super Bowl champions, having won it most recently in January 1996, a good three decades after England.
If you really want a team that more accurately mirrors the hard luck of the English, it would have to be the Chicago Bears.
3 HISTORIC NFL FRANCHISES FIND THEMSELVES IN SAME BOAT SINCE TURN OF THE CENTURY
They have one Super Bowl win to their name, which came 40 years ago, and really don’t have much else to show for it.
Also, having lived in the DFW area for the better part of a decade, I can confidently say Cowboys fans are a little too arrogant and cocky to be compared to the English.
Sure, England will say things like “it’s coming home,” but they are far more self-deprecating and aware of their faults, even nihilistic in some cases.
The Bears hang onto their history because they know things will inevitably go bad for them on the biggest stage.
Speaking of which…
NHL – Toronto Maple Leafs
Spencer Carbery, assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, looks on from the bench during the third period against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ont., on April 14, 2022. (Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Toronto Maple Leafs actually line up with England more closely than either fanbase would like to admit.
While the Leafs have a litany of Stanley Cups to their name, their most recent win was back in 1967, less than a full year after England won their first and only World Cup.
As far as expectations go, both constantly go into their respective tournaments with the weight of the world on their shoulders, only to come crashing down in the most horrific ways imaginable.
For the Leafs, it comes in the form of blowing big leads in the playoffs, while English fans and players alike can’t even hear the words “penalty kicks” without having a mental breakdown.
England and Toronto are both long-suffering cities, but their fans keep showing up expecting a different outcome.
Insanity? No, just sports fandom.
NBA – New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks celebrates a three-point basket with Karl-Anthony Towns during Game Two of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on June 5, 2026. (Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
This one would have been an even better comparison if the New York Knicks hadn’t gone and won the whole damn thing this year, but these two sports teams are still eerily similar.
WHY THE KNICKS, DISRESPECTED BUT CLAWING BACK, TOUCHED A RAW NERVE IN NEW YORK CITY AND ULTIMATELY THE COUNTRY
Think of the Knicks’ 2026 NBA Championship run as a window into what it would look like if England captured a World Cup (on American soil, no less).
Before this year, the Knicks famously had not won a Larry O’Brien trophy in over 50 years, yet they were still considered one of the “blue bloods” of the NBA.
Decades of heartache didn’t change that; it only made their fans more insufferable, but their triumph earlier this month in the NBA Finals exorcised all those demons.
THE ATHLETIC BEWILDERINGLY CELEBRATES ‘ZOHRAN MAMDANI SPORTS SUMMER’ AFTER NEW YORK KNICKS WIN NBA FINALS
A win in the World Cup Finals would probably do the same for England fans, as you could probably feel that sigh of relief from the other side of the Atlantic.
MLB – New York Mets
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto reacts after scoring a run on an RBI double by infielder Bo Bichette against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on April 2, 2026. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)
Hello again, New York.
The Big Apple certainly has its fair share of winners, but it also has plenty of franchises that are aching to make a trip back down the Canyon of Heroes, none more so than the Mets.
Year after year, the Mets are near the top of MLB in terms of spending, with little to show for their efforts.
WATCH THE WORLD CUP FINAL ON FOX ONE
They won a World Series back in 1986 and have been chasing that high ever since.
The common thread between England and the Mets (along with all the other teams on this list) is expectations relative to results, and it seems like the Mets are sort of a Schrödinger’s baseball franchise in that regard, expected to both compete for a World Series with their high-priced talent and flame out in spectacular fashion all the same.
FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP VIEWING EXPERIENCE
England always has flashy players heading into World Cup play, but the results haven’t been there, and they’ve often been sent home in brutal fashion, offering a great parallel to the Mets’ clockwork-like midsummer swoons and late-season meltdowns.
Guerrocastillo was taken into custody without incident and charged with Prohibited Weapon, a third-degree felony; Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon, a class A misdemeanor; Possession of Marijuana under two ounces, a class B misdemeanor; and Public Intoxication, a class C misdemeanor.
“Foot patrols are a foundational part of policing, and our Deep Ellum Task Force officers are making great arrests and providing increased security by walking a beat,” said Deputy Chief Devon Palk, who is commander of the Central Patrol Group. “Having our officers on foot, on horseback, and in our new Polaris utility vehicle puts officers exactly where we need them during peak hours in the area.”
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