Curaçao

Curaçao under 78(!) year-old manager Dick Advocaat - who stepped down to attend to his daughter's health, but has since returned - typically use a back four in possession, but more recently have also toyed with back three/five concepts to accommodate a surplus of talent in the defensive group. The particular variant at any given time will leverage the versatility of the midfield: Livano Comenencia and Leandro Bacuna tend to play deeper, and Juninho Bacuna more advanced as an on-the-ball playmaker or box-to-box midfielder. Out of possession, Leandro Bacuna will often drop into the defense to form a back line of three or five, especially against more ball-retentive opponents.

Integrating the new-ish recruits will likely be Advocaat's greatest personnel challenge. In central defense, Armando Obispo and Riechedly Bazoer joined the team in September after switching allegiances from the Netherlands; Obispo in particular threatens to displace one of the incumbent pairing of Juriën Gaari and Roshon van Eijma. Deveron Fonville, who joined the team in November, may also benefit from the back five experiment as a hybrid LCB / LWB. Other decisions are more straightforward, such as Sheffield United's Tahith Chong, who also joined the team in September but seems to have earned a starting place as a winger or no. 10 after gradually ramping up his involvement since his debut.