The 5-3-2, and the sweeper behind it
Field hockey · Formation · 11 of your players
A back five with the sweeper deepest, three midfielders on the 23 m line and two forwards. Built to hold a lead, and better going forward than its reputation suggests.
Opens on a field hockey pitch with the shape already drawn. Free, no signup.
Reading the back five
Five defenders, but not five in a line. The sweeper sits deepest, a couple of metres behind the two centre backs, so there is always a covering player when one of them steps to the ball. The two outside backs start higher and much wider — right out towards the sidelines — which is what makes this a shape you can attack from rather than a wall. Ahead of them three midfielders sit on the 23 m line, and two forwards start near halfway, close enough together to press the same defender.
The spare player is the entire argument for it. Against a single striker one centre back marks and the sweeper covers; against two forwards the sweeper takes the second ball. Nobody in the back five is ever asked to defend a one-on-one without help, which is why it survives against sides that are quicker than you.
When you want it
Play it when you are protecting something: a lead, a first leg, a squad missing two midfielders, or a fixture against a side with a genuinely dangerous forward line. It is also the honest choice on a wet pitch, where the ball holds up and defending deep costs you less.
The failure mode is passivity. Five backs, three midfielders and two forwards can very quickly become eleven players inside your own 23, conceding the penalty corner you were trying to avoid. The fix is written into the shape: one outside back goes at a time, and the sweeper slides across to make it a four while they are gone.
Where the session goes
- One back at a time. Draw both outside backs going forward on the same beat and animate it. It looks like an overload and defends like nothing.
- The sweeper's slide. Mark the sweeper and drag them left as the left outside back goes up. That single movement is the shape's insurance policy.
- Two forwards, one target. Draw both forwards pressing the same defender and force the reverse pass. Two forwards can win the ball back; two forwards taking one each cannot.
Open this one in the designer, drop your outside backs where your pair actually start, then draw the counter you want when the ball is won and press play.
Also known as
- formation
- back five
- defensive
- field hockey
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Put the 5-3-2 on a pitch
It opens with the shape already drawn. Move the players your team does differently, drag the runs, and send your squad a link that animates.
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