Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The three-man forward line has been a staple technique throughout football history.
But they’ve arguably never been as popular as they have been in the past 15 or so years.
It’s a resurgence largely attributed to Barcelona’s success under Pep Guardiola between 2008 and 2012.
Guardiola helped Barcelona win two Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles with a dominant possession-oriented style.
It was a revolutionary system that relied on both the midfield and the forward line – operating with a recognizable number nine – to be fluid and out of possession.
Nine-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi was usually the most central attacker, although he often dragged defenders out of position and created space for his teammates or created a numerical advantage in midfield.
Either way, the end result was a fluid style of football that was virtually impossible to stop, and which saw Barcelona win 14 trophies under Guardiola.
Since then, three-man forward lines have become fairly prominent in Europe, with the likes of Real Madrid and PSG deploying similar tactics in later years.
In the Premier League, however, the forward line that most closely resembles Guardiola’s side is Liverpool’s Champions League and Premier League winners Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
During their five seasons together at Anfield, Firmino was deployed as the Reds’ central attacker and, like Messi, was responsible for dropping between the lines, linking up play with the midfielders and eventually creating space for Mane and Salah to run in behind.
The trio is regarded as the greatest forward line in the history of English football, helping Jurgen Klopp’s side win major trophies.
