The Dying Formation

4-4-2. Only football fanatics understand what it means, the simplest, most common formation around in the sport. This formation has been used for decades, especially when new managers want to know the team better, they would use this formation. Despite its popularity, however, it is very rarely used nowadays.

In Spain, the preferred formations are 4-3-3, used entirely by Barcelona, or the new 4-2-3-1 tactic we see deployed by Mourinho among others. The only team that uses the 4-4-2 formation in La Liga is Atletico Madrid, but even their 4-4-2 is not the same as the original, as it has one deep lying forward in Diego Forlan, changing the shape to a 4-4-1-1.

In Italy, we tend to see teams playing with a Trequartista, an attacking play-maker, like Javier Pastore and Marek Hamsik. A Trequartista plays in between the midfield and attackers, thus eliminating any chance of the formation being a 4-4-2. The Italian League has absolutely no team playing 4-4-2.

Finally, we come to England, the only country keeping the 4-4-2 formation alive. 11 out of the 20 Barclays Premier League teams deploy the aforementioned formation, and it comes as no surprise that the managers of those 11 are British ! Only two of those eleven play in the Champions League, and when they do, they scrap the 4-4-2 and play a 'continental' 4-5-1. Sir Alex Ferguson commented on the importance of the possession game in Europe, and it is his main reason why he adds an extra man in midfield, and the same goes for Harry Redknapp.

With each passing year, less and less teams play 4-4-2, and it is only a matter of time before it disappears entirely, and if it does, brace yourselves for the new common formation, the 4-3-3.

Jassim