Manual FIFA - 3-5-2

3-5-2 
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Strengths
This formation utilizes a true sweeper CB (the clean up man) and two wing defenders (LCB & RCB) who usually man mark. The true strength of this formation comes from the stacked midfield which usually gives them numerical superiority in the middle of the field. The LDM & RDM alternate, acting as a stopper (or holding mid). At the same time, when being attacked the LM & RM can drop back to cover the defensive wings, shifting from a 3-5-2 to a 5-3-2 easily. The sweeper will determine how high the defensive line is kept to force the offside trap.
The main difference between a “3 back” system as opposed to a “4 back” system is the 3 backs need to stay more compact and work as a unit, not trying to cover the entire width of the field. If one of the wing backs does push wide to cover, then one of the defensive mids must slide back to fill the gap.
This formation works really well if your opponent is running a line up with a 1 or 2 man striker system. This system also has great strength when attacking to trigger numerical superiority by using 3 midfielders and 2 strikers (usually against 4 defenders).

Weaknesses
Take great care in noticing your opponent’s line up when using this system, as it can be weak against a team running 3 forwards of any type. Also, the midfield must be able to support the attack and return to support the defence. As mentioned above, the most vulnerable aspect of this line up is if your opponent can force the 3 backs to have to cover the width of the field without midfield support (say, from a quick counter attack), which creates holes for strikers to get clean looks at your goal or make threatening through runs.

Tips
Be very aware of the positioning of your defensive midfielders to act as a stopper, almost making a diamond defence, and act as that first line of attack to disrupt your opponent’s flow. Also, use your midfield strength to your advantage in both attack and defence. Look at your LDM, RDM, and CAM as a triangle in the middle of the field. If the LDM and RDM are next to each other with the CAM in front, this has the midfield triangle in a “defensive posture” used against a threatening attacking team and in essence gives you two stoppers. Likewise, if one defensive mid acts as a holding back (or stopper) and the other defensive mid pushes up next to the CAM, then this deploys an “attacking posture” used to pressure the opponent’s defence or capitalize with numerical superiority.

Best Formations to Counter the 3-5-2
Any formation deploying 3 regular attackers keeps the constant threat of a counter attack from allowing the defensive mids from moving up in the attack too far. Also, a 3-5-2 can be very effective
for all the reasons mentioned above.