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It's the classic English football formation – unless you happen to be Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea battling for the Premier League title.
Last weekend demonstrated a remarkable shift in the tactics of football. The 'Big Four' teams all elected to play a system which wasn't the classic English 4-4-2.
Sir Alex Ferguson kept with his flourishing, fluid 4-2-3-1 system which again demonstrated that, not only does it work, it gets the best out of Messrs Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo.
Avram Grant kept with Jose Mourinho's 4-3-3 stroke 4-5-1 formation to destroy a Manchester City team in good form. The crunch match at Anfield saw Rafa Benitez opt for a 4-3-3 to accommodate a three-pronged attack whilst his opposite number, Arsene Wenger, elected to start with a more conservative 4-1-4-1 system.
Early forms of the game when a pig’s bladder sufficed as a ball and teams were made up of villages in search of a legitimate brawl, there were no tactics as such as everyone focused on just attacking. Arguably, the same could be said of early formations – the emphasis was on attack, attack, attack.
The first international between England and Scotland in 1872, employed 15 out of the 22 players as forwards. By 1884 there was a greater emphasis on defence with the Preston North End team employing a 2-3-5 reverse pyramid strategy that was still in use up until 1940. However, the development of the offside law meant that tactics had to evolve.
Herbert Chapman, Wenger's only peer as Arsenal manager, was the first to adapt successfully by creating the WM system – three consecutive league titles are proof of his managerial acumen. In 1961 the double-winning Tottenham side used a 3-3-4 but this is one of the last formations to successfully employ such a number of genuine forwards. In recent years it has been 4-4-2 which has been the cornerstone of the British game. Manchester United used it continually throughout the 1990s, operating successfully with genuine wide players in David Beckham and Ryan Giggs. Arsenal, during their season of invincibility, also used this system. However, in the 21st century coaches are trying more and more systems.
Recently there has been a move away from the system used so vastly in English football. Big Sam Allardyce somewhat misguidedly declared that it was he who invented 4-5-1, which worked so effectively for him at Bolton. Jose Mourinho's 4-3-3 was a relatively fresh idea in the Premiership (although coaches such as Zdenek Zeman have used it in Italy for years). The Spanish national team used three genuine strikers in the 2006 World Cup with varying degrees of success, and now Spaniard Rafael Benitez is playing with the idea of using it at Liverpool.
He obviously has the firepower to do so and with the plethora of high-class central midfielders at his disposal it is an option he may well use throughout the season. Alex Ferguson, the man who has achieved everything in domestic football, belies the adage, “You can't teach an old dog new tricks.” His development of the 4-2-3-1 formation was much maligned in the press earlier in the season. His absence of a target man and claims that Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez could not operate together have all but been proved completely wrong – four goals in each of the last four matches tells its own story.
Credit has to be given to Ferguson, who dallied with formation change previously when Juan Sebastian Veron was brought to Old Trafford. It was not a success, so to try it again demonstrates great self belief. If United were to win the title this season then it could possibly be Fergie's greatest triumph.
The question is,what has prompted such a shift in tactics? I would argue that it is the development of the central midfielder. The two classic types of central midfielder are the hard-tackling, hard-working ones such as Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, and the forward-pushing, goalscoring individuals such as Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard. However, the emergence of players such as Steven Gerrard, who can attack and defend ably, has led to a certain degree of confusion.
With Gerrard, his versatility has proved a headache for both his managers. At international level it is well documented that playing alongside Frank Lampard limits his attacking verve. However, at Liverpool not even Benitez is sure how to utilise Gerrard whilst keeping Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko happy at the same time.
If Gerrard could adapt to the three-man midfield it could well benefit club and country. The other development has been the emergence of the deep-lying playmaker. Most prominent of these is AC Milan’s Andrea Pirlo but Michael Carrick and Alonso also fit into this category. However, due to their defensive weaknesses they are hard to accommodate in the standard 4-4-2.
Naturally, it would be blasé to claim that 4-4-2 is a thing of the past, as most clubs still employ the system, but with the development of individual players more exuberant formations may emerge, even if they are only slight variations of standard tactics.
Last weekend demonstrated a remarkable shift in the tactics of football. The 'Big Four' teams all elected to play a system which wasn't the classic English 4-4-2.
Sir Alex Ferguson kept with his flourishing, fluid 4-2-3-1 system which again demonstrated that, not only does it work, it gets the best out of Messrs Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo.
Avram Grant kept with Jose Mourinho's 4-3-3 stroke 4-5-1 formation to destroy a Manchester City team in good form. The crunch match at Anfield saw Rafa Benitez opt for a 4-3-3 to accommodate a three-pronged attack whilst his opposite number, Arsene Wenger, elected to start with a more conservative 4-1-4-1 system.
Early forms of the game when a pig’s bladder sufficed as a ball and teams were made up of villages in search of a legitimate brawl, there were no tactics as such as everyone focused on just attacking. Arguably, the same could be said of early formations – the emphasis was on attack, attack, attack.
The first international between England and Scotland in 1872, employed 15 out of the 22 players as forwards. By 1884 there was a greater emphasis on defence with the Preston North End team employing a 2-3-5 reverse pyramid strategy that was still in use up until 1940. However, the development of the offside law meant that tactics had to evolve.
Herbert Chapman, Wenger's only peer as Arsenal manager, was the first to adapt successfully by creating the WM system – three consecutive league titles are proof of his managerial acumen. In 1961 the double-winning Tottenham side used a 3-3-4 but this is one of the last formations to successfully employ such a number of genuine forwards. In recent years it has been 4-4-2 which has been the cornerstone of the British game. Manchester United used it continually throughout the 1990s, operating successfully with genuine wide players in David Beckham and Ryan Giggs. Arsenal, during their season of invincibility, also used this system. However, in the 21st century coaches are trying more and more systems.
Recently there has been a move away from the system used so vastly in English football. Big Sam Allardyce somewhat misguidedly declared that it was he who invented 4-5-1, which worked so effectively for him at Bolton. Jose Mourinho's 4-3-3 was a relatively fresh idea in the Premiership (although coaches such as Zdenek Zeman have used it in Italy for years). The Spanish national team used three genuine strikers in the 2006 World Cup with varying degrees of success, and now Spaniard Rafael Benitez is playing with the idea of using it at Liverpool.
He obviously has the firepower to do so and with the plethora of high-class central midfielders at his disposal it is an option he may well use throughout the season. Alex Ferguson, the man who has achieved everything in domestic football, belies the adage, “You can't teach an old dog new tricks.” His development of the 4-2-3-1 formation was much maligned in the press earlier in the season. His absence of a target man and claims that Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez could not operate together have all but been proved completely wrong – four goals in each of the last four matches tells its own story.
Credit has to be given to Ferguson, who dallied with formation change previously when Juan Sebastian Veron was brought to Old Trafford. It was not a success, so to try it again demonstrates great self belief. If United were to win the title this season then it could possibly be Fergie's greatest triumph.
The question is,what has prompted such a shift in tactics? I would argue that it is the development of the central midfielder. The two classic types of central midfielder are the hard-tackling, hard-working ones such as Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, and the forward-pushing, goalscoring individuals such as Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard. However, the emergence of players such as Steven Gerrard, who can attack and defend ably, has led to a certain degree of confusion.
With Gerrard, his versatility has proved a headache for both his managers. At international level it is well documented that playing alongside Frank Lampard limits his attacking verve. However, at Liverpool not even Benitez is sure how to utilise Gerrard whilst keeping Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko happy at the same time.
If Gerrard could adapt to the three-man midfield it could well benefit club and country. The other development has been the emergence of the deep-lying playmaker. Most prominent of these is AC Milan’s Andrea Pirlo but Michael Carrick and Alonso also fit into this category. However, due to their defensive weaknesses they are hard to accommodate in the standard 4-4-2.
Naturally, it would be blasé to claim that 4-4-2 is a thing of the past, as most clubs still employ the system, but with the development of individual players more exuberant formations may emerge, even if they are only slight variations of standard tactics.
- T.K.
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