Old School Formation – The Classic 4-4-2

[BrendanGOT]

@Debaser, I'm no pro coach but I don't think we have the players to play in that system and as Goat pointed out with the Mourinho quote 442 won't work well agaisnt other formations.

DCL, Rooney, Sandro & Niasse aren't target men and we don't have natural wingers bar Lennon & Bolasie and one is injured. Baines isn't pacey, Coleman is however he's another long term injury. So for what you described I don't think we'd have the players BUT doesn't mean we cant play 442 with the players in different roles perhaps.

Maybe Rooney and DCL up front as Rooney likes to drop deep and DCL likes to make runs forward, Baines would maybe need someone with a bit of pace and who likes to run wide in front of him, maybe Sandro or Lookman could operate in this role, (I think Sandro has in the past for other clubs but could be wrong), that way Baines can cross from deep, come inside more and not have to worry about getting as far forward and back again as he does with a player who cuts inside more in front of him.

If Kenny has the skill put him at RB with someone who can cover him in front, maybe Lennon, but would rather someone with more to their game in the attacking 3rd, possibly even Holgate at RB and Kenny at RM til he gets more used to first team togger (like Coleman under Moyes) if his crossing ability and going forward is as good as people have been saying then it might just work, but I'd rather see Holgate and Keane at CB.

Interesting post mate and there's a lot of possibilities but tbh it's up to Koeman and my guess is we'll be seeing alot more of 5 at the back or 4231 and very narrow compact footie.

 

[Gladystweet]

I'd like to see different things tried but I can't see this manager going to 442

We haven't got the '2'....

 

[MACCA75]

We genuinely don't have the players to play ANY formation with any conviction.

We can put square pegs in round holes and hope that simply by being decent players it works. Or we can play the likes of Lennon, Lookman and DCL (even Niasse) and sacrifice quality for balance.

That's the stark choice.

 

[Debaser]

We haven't got the '2'....

We haven't got the 10 mate!

 

[gonetomorrow]

They're professionals aren't they? They should be able to adapt to 4-4-2. It's worth a try.

 

[Brisan123]

They're professionals aren't they? They should be able to adapt to 4-4-2. It's worth a try.

Well the performances against Spurs and Atlanta weren't exactly professional.

 

[BlueLlama]

We do have a few, and I do feel that all of our current forwards work well when in a 2 and not on their own. DCL, Niasse, Rooney, Mirallas, Sandro all great but not target men or people to have up top on their todd.

Mate ... I'm looking for white text here but ...

DCL is nowhere near the finished article
Niasse is pure muck
Rooney has no pace
Mirallas has 1 good game in 10
Sandro is still settling in.

None of them are anything like great in any formation

 

[BrendanGOT]

We genuinely don't have the players to play ANY formation with any conviction.

We can put square pegs in round holes and hope that simply by being decent players it works. Or we can play the likes of Lennon, Lookman and DCL (even Niasse) and sacrifice quality for balance.

That's the stark choice.

I'd go for balance personally.

 

[COYBL25]

As someone said the other day, write al their names on bits of paper, write number 10 on the back of each one, mix them up, chuck them on the floor .

There's fat head Rons team and team formation.

A bit like the Witch Doctor in Live and Let Die, when he's doing that Vodoo stuff with the chicken bones.

* his properly makes more sense.

 

[Nymzee]

Mourinho explains it here.

‘Look, if I have a triangle in midfield – Claude Makelele behind and two others just in front – I will always have an advantage against a pure 4-4-2 where the central midfielders are side by side. That’s because I will always have an extra man. It starts with Makelele, who is between the lines. If nobody comes to him he can see the whole pitch and has time. If he gets closed down it means one of the two other central midfielders is open. If they are closed down and the other team’s wingers come inside to help, it means there is space now for us on the flank, either for our own wingers or for our full-backs. There is nothing a pure 4-4-2 can do to stop things’.

Ah but in that instance when he was playing 4-3-3 with 2 strikers occupying both forwards, his spare midfielder would have to constantly be covering the full-back if he was being targeted.

All swings and roundabouts.

 

[toffeemax]

Played the 4-4-2 today, albeit with a very disjointed set-up, Davies playing right wing for instance! But we scored a couple and got the win, definitely worth a shot in games to come...

 

[AsiaAsia82]

Part of our current problem is no consistency in formation and players, so it seems no one really knows who's doing what,
although the opposition manager always seems to able out manoeuvre RK, who tries to shoe horn his faves into the team each week.

 

[Nealroy]

If 4-5-1/4-3-3 with 3 CM's was kryptonite to the 4-4-2 of the 80s and 90s, the question really should be - what will do the same thing to 4-5-1/4-3-3?

I think the emergence of formations with 3 centre halves over the last year is most coaches answer to this. I think though what most fans would like to see, regardless of how we set up behind that, is 2 strikers up top. With so few defences having to deal with this in recent years the bodies I think it can have an effect even without top quality personel. 5-3-2/3-5-2 is probably best of all worlds.

 

[Howards tipple]

Quality post.

Sometimes I watch the game today and the tactics and think it so over complicated.

Get great players who want to win in a basic formation and smash the opposition all over the park.

I know the game has developed but there was nothing better than watching as a 10 year old as Gary Stevens over laped Trevor - he would cover back and the ball would fly in and Gray, Sharp, Heath would do anything to get it in the back of the net!

 

[ClausThomsen]

that is quite a naive statement from him, you can have a fairly fluid 4-4-2 where one of your strikers will drop in to cover as another midfielder or likewise when ball in possession, a centre back stepping up. I mean Leicester won the title with a classic 4-4-2 formation.

Semantics then. It's not a 442. It's a 451 if a forward is dropping back when not in possession. Fluidity and leaving your designated position within in a formation is something done in attack, not in defence.