The vulnerability was bound to show, once the tempo dropped. The 433 is a lot more aggressive than the 352 as far as our style is concerned as the latter gives us a little more control in the middle without relying on our speed and attrition. In the course of a longer season, it may just be the more sustainable formation but I'd definitely not discard the 433 in its entirety coz I can see us using it in a big way come the European evenings.
I preferred watching us last season playing our 4-3-3. The 3-5-2 seems organised and patient build up play but I prefer the attacking and aggressive 4-3-3 we played earlier on last season that saw us dominate and pinning back the opponents. But I agree that 3-5-2 in the CL could be interesting to watch.
The 4-3-3 is the way to go IMHO, we played our best football playing that formation. We dominated Milan from start to end in the first game and look at our performance in the SanSiro against Inter.
4-3-3 with Bonucci at CB and Chiellini at LB is a downgrade in both positions.
Bonucci is only good as a 3-5-2 sweeper and Chiellini is better as a CB, man marking strikers. And our team becomes unbalanced because he has no offense as a LB. And we have to put Asamoah on the bench.
The ones talking about Asamoah being benched in 4-3-3 need to get their brains checked... As if Pirlo, Vidal and Marchisio are going to play every game in 3 competitions. He will return to midfield, sooner or later anyway...
That would mean wingers in essence wouldn't it? I can see a genuine interest in Nani if that's the case. Though Nani, Pepe and Isla would have overlapping roles int that case.
3-3-4? wait till mazzarri claims this as one of his formations as well.
On a serious note, this sounds very intriguing and now it makes more sense why more links with Walcott came out today. But again i really do like Conte's willingness to experiment systems.