What do you think of 4-3-3 ?

[HeavensAAA]

I just won 10-2 against a team 14% weaker than me with the above formation. Yesterday I beat the 2nd place in the league 3-0, they were 4% weaker than me, day before I won 8-0 against 6th place team etc etc
Years ago that team above would have absolutely tanked due to the formation, nowadays the graphics may show it as odd but the gameplay ignores it

It matters. For example ml/mr have 3 different placements which affects his movments

On this, both of you could be correct, depending on the quality of opponents our team is facing.

When facing weak opponents of some 10%+ worse where we have a significant advantage, ‘irregular’ positions may not affect the win/draw/lose outcome.

However, when facing same-quality or superior opponents, placing our defenders at ‘irregular’ positions definitely would negatively impact team performance. When facing superior opponents of 20%+, such position placement can guarantee a heavy loss. A 20%- inferior team with a combination of perfect counter + right orders + main scorers on-form could still get an upset win in 1 of 4-5 matches, or even more frequent when the inferior team has some well-trained attackers.

Wide ML & MR are so flexible. Could at least be down-arrow & pulled back to act as DL when playing 3 DCs, up-arrow & pushed up to act as AML when opposition has no fullbacks and ML+MR placed close to MC region as 3Ms to win MC area possession against 2 MCs formation too. Positioning & arrows of wide midfielders do make a difference.

[gogs67]

On this, both of you could be correct, depending on the quality of opponents our team is facing.

When facing weak opponents of some 10%+ worse where we have a significant advantage, ‘irregular’ positions may not affect the win/draw/lose outcome.

However, when facing same-quality or superior opponents, placing our defenders at ‘irregular’ positions definitely would negatively impact team performance. When facing superior opponents of 20%+, such position placement can guarantee a heavy loss. A 20%- inferior team with a combination of perfect counter + right orders + main scorers on-form could still get an upset win in 1 of 4-5 matches, or even more frequent when the inferior team has some well-trained attackers.

Wide ML & MR are so flexible. Could at least be down-arrow & pulled back to act as DL when playing 3 DCs, up-arrow & pushed up to act as AML when opposition has no fullbacks and ML+MR placed close to MC region as 3Ms to win MC area possession against 2 MCs formation too. Positioning & arrows of wide midfielders do make a difference.

Of course the arrows make a difference, that's why they're there, albeit subtle, although I never really use them.
But if the actual positioning in the designated box made a difference then, because my players are so far out, I shouldn't be winning, whether my % is around the same or I've got a 15% advantage. You've seen the screenshot I posted, that's a ridiculous formation lol!
I just wonder what my opponents think losing to that!!