An obviously they didn't go over backwards. Consider the P-38 for example, the fuel tanks were located directly over the main gear (as far as front to back) and the armament and engines were forward. But the greatest advantage was the wonderful visibility allowed for take-off and landing.
It did look funny and did require some neat engineering work to get everything in place but it did offer considerable advantages. On an interesting note, the Germans were planning to use tricycle gear on many of their new fighters like the Me-309.