Saturday, April 23, 2005
There was this article on Goal.com about England's problems with left side of midfield
Personally I feel that there's nothing wrong with a 4-4-2 formation, even in today's footballing context, provided that there's a proper game plan, the players to make it work and whether other tactical considerations are accounted for.
If I remember correctly, the last time teams had any success playing predominantly the wingers 4-4-2 was Man U in their treble season, and Blackburn during their championship winning season. Why the system worked then was that the players played to their strengths, Man U had Dwight Yorke who was awesome in the air despite his stature, and Paul Scholes who always seem to be able to predict exactly where the ball would be. Blackburn had Alan Shearer, and we all knows how good he is with his headers. England simply do not have such strikers in their arsenal anymore, despite being famed for producing the traditional big centre forward. Emile Heskey as we all know simply isn't prolific enough, although his all round play do contribute to the team.
Milan if you like was actually playing a 4-2-2-2 formation instead of the traditional. Which is in fact I would feel what modern football is evolving to be the most dominant formation. As correctly pointed out, in today's game, its the fullbacks that gives the team wide when attacking, played to devastating effect by Cafu, Kaladze and Zambrotta. It also hasten the emergence of the modern centre midfielder, players who can shoot, defend, tackle, pass and sometimes take on players. These breed of players no longer conform to the ideals of defensive midfielders, ie Deschamp, Roy keane or even Viera, or attacking midfielders like Zidane, Luis Garcia, Ronaldino or my personal favourite Matt LeTissier. Today's game at the highest level needs attacking options from all over, and its what these players provide. Players like Xabi Alonso, Lampard, Steven Gerard, Micheal Ballack, Pirlo, De Rossi, even Fabregas will be what future midfielders need to emulate. Players who can seek out their team-mates with a 40 yards pass, or a slide-rule defence splitting pass, taking a shot that doesn't in all probability end up in the grandstand, yet able to cover the defence either when being counter-attacked or under pressure. In fact, Benitez have grasped this and if injuries do not hamper his selection, Liverpool do look extremely potent in attacking, overlapping fullbacks in Riise and Finnan provide width where Xabi can find them with ease. Big man Morientes to score with his head, and Baros to latch on to fast breaks, Luis Garcia to play in the hole. There would not be only one avenue for attack.
England do in fact look well poised to evolve into such a team, with Ashley Cole, Gerard, Lampard, Joe Cole, Owen, if only Sven would get past blind loyalty to players like Beckham and Gary Neville.
It would however be a waste if wingers do become obsolete, how can one forgets the artistry of wing plays of these true wingers like Garrincha, Roberto Donadoni, Guiseppe Lentini and Ryan Giggs.
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Personally I feel that there's nothing wrong with a 4-4-2 formation, even in today's footballing context, provided that there's a proper game plan, the players to make it work and whether other tactical considerations are accounted for.
If I remember correctly, the last time teams had any success playing predominantly the wingers 4-4-2 was Man U in their treble season, and Blackburn during their championship winning season. Why the system worked then was that the players played to their strengths, Man U had Dwight Yorke who was awesome in the air despite his stature, and Paul Scholes who always seem to be able to predict exactly where the ball would be. Blackburn had Alan Shearer, and we all knows how good he is with his headers. England simply do not have such strikers in their arsenal anymore, despite being famed for producing the traditional big centre forward. Emile Heskey as we all know simply isn't prolific enough, although his all round play do contribute to the team.
Milan if you like was actually playing a 4-2-2-2 formation instead of the traditional. Which is in fact I would feel what modern football is evolving to be the most dominant formation. As correctly pointed out, in today's game, its the fullbacks that gives the team wide when attacking, played to devastating effect by Cafu, Kaladze and Zambrotta. It also hasten the emergence of the modern centre midfielder, players who can shoot, defend, tackle, pass and sometimes take on players. These breed of players no longer conform to the ideals of defensive midfielders, ie Deschamp, Roy keane or even Viera, or attacking midfielders like Zidane, Luis Garcia, Ronaldino or my personal favourite Matt LeTissier. Today's game at the highest level needs attacking options from all over, and its what these players provide. Players like Xabi Alonso, Lampard, Steven Gerard, Micheal Ballack, Pirlo, De Rossi, even Fabregas will be what future midfielders need to emulate. Players who can seek out their team-mates with a 40 yards pass, or a slide-rule defence splitting pass, taking a shot that doesn't in all probability end up in the grandstand, yet able to cover the defence either when being counter-attacked or under pressure. In fact, Benitez have grasped this and if injuries do not hamper his selection, Liverpool do look extremely potent in attacking, overlapping fullbacks in Riise and Finnan provide width where Xabi can find them with ease. Big man Morientes to score with his head, and Baros to latch on to fast breaks, Luis Garcia to play in the hole. There would not be only one avenue for attack.
England do in fact look well poised to evolve into such a team, with Ashley Cole, Gerard, Lampard, Joe Cole, Owen, if only Sven would get past blind loyalty to players like Beckham and Gary Neville.
It would however be a waste if wingers do become obsolete, how can one forgets the artistry of wing plays of these true wingers like Garrincha, Roberto Donadoni, Guiseppe Lentini and Ryan Giggs.
