Death of 4-4-2?

ElGato · February 24, 2015

Something that really became apparent during the good ol' Coppa Del Mundo last summer.

Quite frankly- where are all the strikers? Of the 8 quarter finalists at the World Cup only one team- Columbia- took to the field with 2 out-and-out goalscorers, one of whom- James ‘is it James, is it Hamez, is it Jammez’ Rodriguez- ended as the tournament’s top marksman. Seems to me that this developing trend is now comfortably the status quo. Almost all the 'top' teams (and not-so-top teams) in Europe fancy a 4-5-1, or 4-3-2-1, or 3-2-4-1 or some such nonsense.

Been a particular irk of mine with Bobby (why not Eto'o and Rom for kaks sake)- but can hardly blame him for doing what every other top-flight manager does as standard. C.F. Chelsea and Costa, Manu and RVP, Arsenal and Giroud/Welbeck, The [Poor language removed] and, errrr.... Sturridge I think he's called. City have umpteen world-class strikers and still prefer to let Dzeko and the gang make an impact off the bench than sacrifice one of those god awful insomnia-curing holding midfielders.

Is 4-4-2 dead? And if it is, is it necessarily a bad thing? Why is no-one that effing adventurous anymore.

Peace out

FTY · February 24, 2015

City always play 2 strikers

wandyr79 · February 24, 2015

Even if teams play with 2 strikers, one will more than likely be played in a deeper role so is that really 4-4-2 as we know it.

The game has developed where the front 2/3/4/5 are more flexible.

I always found it funny when fans had a go at Moyes not playing 2 up top in the Cahill years but you would often find Cahill further forward than the lone striker, similar to Naismith now.

The 4-3-3 for example, is that not 3 up top and more adventurous than playing two static strikers in a more rigid 4-4-2.

In conclusion, you can pigeon hole some players but generally static formations have gone out the window.

Tramps_mate · February 24, 2015

Looks like city are proving 4-4-2 is dead...

Prevenger17 · February 25, 2015

Has anyone mentioned Manchester City yet?

BlueLlama · February 25, 2015

Man City though eh lads?

Tactics come and go. 3 at the back was dodo like a few years ago.

Dithering Dougie · February 25, 2015

City could have played 4-4-4 and still got spanked tonight their inferior complex is so big.

Run You Phuels · February 25, 2015

Unless you have two really good strikers that can pin the other team down and produce a lot of goals and two strong cm's then yes, probably. It'll come back at some point though when someone figures out a good way to outmanouvre the three man midfields. The diamond formation is obviously one way to do it but that's not really 4-4-2 imo.

Ferguson did it to good effect obviously, using the flanks, but there are so few real wingers around anymore

Titus Bramble · February 25, 2015

Formations can be very fluid. A 4-5-1 can quickly become 4-3-3 or even 4-2-4 depending on the pattern of the game. gaving 2 strikers on the pitch might make it more difficult to get this fluidity.

Pat's Van · February 25, 2015

it's Colombia

polish · February 25, 2015

Atletico use a narrow 442 so I would say it's pretty far from being dead

In these days it's a formation that can be easily overrun in central midfield (as a lot of teams playing with 3 mids). You can still use it when your team is extremely disciplined, narrow and have a great teamwork - look at WBA under Pulis, they're playing almost classic version of 442.

City was beaten by Messi dropping deep - they didn't have a defensive mid so Milner or Fernandinho needed to make decisions - to drop deeper or to press Barca's central mids. Either way they left someones open. It's always a bad situation when you have those decisions to make.

So in summary - it can be used of course, but it's quite easy to exploit.

ElGato · February 25, 2015

Trust City to play with two up top last night. Think Pellegrini's keeping his eye on me... first time in ages that they've done that though.

I still think most teams are quite conservative... One of Sir AlFergs greatest strategies was pile everyone forward when you're losing- play with 4 wingers and three strikers. It's as much a psychological message to the players innit- shows that the dugout want to win and believe it's possible. How many games did Manu turn around in the last 5 under Fergie? Bleedin' loads.

Would like to see manager's follow suit but the 'one up top' seems a dead cert. Proven in a way by the lack of any certified strike partnerships in World footy today.

Favourite striking partnerships? Got to be Henry and Bergkamp for me

degsy · February 25, 2015

ElGato said:
Something that really became apparent during the good ol' Coppa Del Mundo last summer.

Quite frankly- where are all the strikers? Of the 8 quarter finalists at the World Cup only one team- Columbia- took to the field with 2 out-and-out goalscorers, one of whom- James ‘is it James, is it Hamez, is it Jammez’ Rodriguez- ended as the tournament’s top marksman. Seems to me that this developing trend is now comfortably the status quo. Almost all the 'top' teams (and not-so-top teams) in Europe fancy a 4-5-1, or 4-3-2-1, or 3-2-4-1 or some such nonsense.

Been a particular irk of mine with Bobby (why not Eto'o and Rom for kaks sake)- but can hardly blame him for doing what every other top-flight manager does as standard. C.F. Chelsea and Costa, Manu and RVP, Arsenal and Giroud/Welbeck, The [Poor language removed] and, errrr.... Sturridge I think he's called. City have umpteen world-class strikers and still prefer to let Dzeko and the gang make an impact off the bench than sacrifice one of those god awful insomnia-curing holding midfielders.

Is 4-4-2 dead? And if it is, is it necessarily a bad thing? Why is no-one that effing adventurous anymore.

Peace out

don't worry,
It's only a handy label, just numbers
or
It's only numbers, just a handy label

Just like a stopped clock, 4 4 2 is only accurate twice a day, when they line up at the start and when they line up for the 2nd half
The rest of the time it's fluid - ever changing
What matters is you win and if possible win playing playing well if you can.

The Hibbert Agenda · February 25, 2015

Atletico won the season last year with 4-4-2
City love a 4-4-2
Liverpool came close last year with 4-4-2

It isn't dead. But you need the personnel to play the system.
Just like we need the personnel to play our desired system. We don't have em. Should we try 4-4-2 and see how that goes?

ElGato · February 25, 2015

The Hibbert Agenda said:
Atletico won the season last year with 4-4-2
City love a 4-4-2
Liverpool came close last year with 4-4-2

It isn't dead. But you need the personnel to play the system.
Just like we need the personnel to play our desired system. We don't have em. Should we try 4-4-2 and see how that goes?

Yeah go on then