Why Daniel Farke sees three as Leeds United's magic number – but only for now
Daniel Farke's Premier League success at Leeds United has been built around three at the back but he says you will know when they have reached the next level because they will switch to a four-man line.
The Whites made a reasonable start to life back in the top division last season, but it accelerated greatly when they switched to three central defenders at half-time at Manchester City at the end of November.
Had the table started after that game, Leeds would be seventh, three points outside the Champions League places, showing their position in the current standings is no fluke.
Although there can occasionally be variations, Farke's 3-4-2-1 formation looks firmly embedded now, but at Norwich City, with Borussia Monchengladbach and in the Championship with Leeds, he seemed wedded 4-2-3-1.
He insists four at the back is the way to win football's big prizes, but his current approach is a means to an end until Leeds are in a position to challenge for them.
"Who won the title in Germany, a Bayern Munich back four?" he asked, rhetorically. "When you have a look who wins the title in England? Arsenal and Man City – back four. Real Madrid in Spain.
"Who won the World Cup (Spain)? Back four. Who won the European Championship (also Spain)? Back four. Who won the Champions League (Paris Saint-Germain)? Back four.
"Because you have automatically normally one more offensive-thinking player on the pitch.
"But we're not in the race to win the Premier League time – well, never say never.
"It's a bit easier sometimes to mirror the opponent in this set-up and you have naturally normally one more offensive-thinking player on the pitch if you play with two wingers, No 10, and the striker.
"If we are one day in the situation that we can dominate games even more, that we can fight for titles at Premier League level, in Europe or in the cup competitions, then I would prefer to have perhaps one or two more offensive-thinking players on the pitch, and not have to pay too much attention to taking the strength of the opponent away.
"If you have a look on how the teams who win titles are playing, they don't have to mirror the opponent. The opponent has to mirror them to take their strength away."
Antonio Conte's Chelsea in 2016-17 were the last team to win the Premier League regularly playing with three centre-backs.
Leeds' formation, though, works well for them. Having a player able to step out of the back three is important, and James Justin is a good overlapping central defender, something Joe Rodon was improving at before injury.
That in turn allows right wing-back Jayden Bogle to come inside and join inside-forwards Noah Okafor and Anton Stach, a natural midfielder who can help out deeper. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is very comfortable leading the line alone and taking the ball when it is hit long.
Only Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion have conceded fewer goals this season, and Leeds have only lost once. They need to score more goals, but it is a good base to work from.
"It would be craziness if I would play like a team who has to win the title," argued Farke.
"In the Championship we played with a back four because we wanted to win the title. We'd always stick to our base formation because we were the dominant team.
“We do not (now) have this individual quality, like for example Arsenal or some other teams.
"So at this stage of our development, we have to be more flexible and have to mirror the opponent a bit more and change a bit more during the game and from game to game.
"This is what you have to do if you fight against relegation or want to want to finish in a solid mid-table position.
"But we still don't want to lose our DNA. We still want to have the ball, we want to press high, we want to have also lots of possession if we are capable.
"But the further we are in our development, the more likely it is perhaps to do it in a different way, or in a different system or base formation.
"But even there, football is fluid.
"Perhaps all the title winners in ten years will be playing three-man formations, you never know.
"At the moment, I would say we are a bit like a hybrid team who can play both formations and changes a lot against the ball and with the ball.
"Sometimes in periods of the game, it's important to be flexible.
"We need this flexibility at the moment because we don't have the individual quality to dominate every other opponent in this league. This is why we play like how we play."
So if Leeds change back to the sort of formation Farke built his reputation on, you can be confident they feel ready to make the next step.
As it is, they are making good strides the way they are.