This video of a 5-1 win against Bolton shows the shape of the Villa attack, balls flying in from the wings towards John Carew, supported by Gabby Abgonlahor. The key central midfielders of his tenure were Gareth Barry and Stiliyan Petrov, with Milner also sometimes playing in the middle. O'Neill also used powerful aerial centre-backs, either the outstanding Martin Laursen and Olof Mellberg or James Collins and Richard Dunne. Width was provided by the team's standout performer Ashley Young and James Milner or Stewart Downing. Up front, Gabby Abgonlahor was paired with a big target man in the form of either John Carew or Emile Heskey. The key components of his 4-4-2 were the strikers and the wingers. The example that most Villa fans will remember is under Martin O'Neill from 2007-2010. A well-disciplined team will compress the space between defence and midfield so as to avoid this, but a poorly organized 4-4-2 can leave huge amounts of space in front of the defence and if the midfield cannot close down the passing lanes, teams can be ripped apart by opposition players lurking in those spaces.
That rigidity is caused by the 4-4-2's three lines of players which can allow opposition players to find pockets of space ‘between the lines', especially defence and midfield. If the wingers also prefer playing out by the sidelines of the pitch, the central midfielders can quickly be isolated against teams playing three or even four central midfielders. While one striker may be tasked with dropping back to help out, many strikers are not disciplined enough to do so effectively. The obvious potential weakness is that by playing with two strikers you can be outnumbered in midfield. The downside of the 4-4-2 is that its rigid positions can lead to a side being swamped by more flexible opponents. The best example in recent years was under Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in Andy Cole and the former Villa man Dwight Yorke - two good strikers who became terrifying when put together and drove United to their 1998-99 Treble. But such combinations can exist between many different types of strikers. Christian Benteke and Gabby Abgonlahor have played this way for Aston Villa this season. The common example is a ‘big man-little man' combo, where a big striker is the target man for long balls and crosses, ready to knock the ball behind the defence or down into the box for his partner to latch onto. The real danger of the 4-4-2 is a pair of strikers who understand each other's game. With the ball, there are always options out wide and a strong presence up front to provide attacking options via long balls or crosses. If the defence pushes up high with the midfield, the opposition can be strangled in their own half by a wall of players. Without the ball, the four defenders and four midfielders can put eight men in front of the opposition, covering the entire width of the field. Many English players have grown up playing this formation their entire lives and define their position as a defender, midfielder or striker due to its influence.
It provides a solid basic structure with defensive depth and attacking numbers, with clearly marked roles. The chief benefit of the 4-4-2 is its simplicity. This is the ‘open' or ‘flat' 4-4-2 in which the midfielders are not placed in a narrow diamond shape but spread out in a line. It's characterised by four defenders (two centre-backs in the middle, full-backs on the left and right sides), four midfielders (two central midfielders, two wingers on the left and right sides) and two strikers.
This week we're starting with a guide to a formation, that English classic, the 4-4-2.
#TACTICAL SOCCER SERIAL NUMBER SERIES#
So this is the first of a series of tactical guides I'll be writing to explain some of those fundamentals. 7500 to Holte tactical guide: The 4-4-2 formationĪs 7500 to Holte's resident tactics obsessive, a guide to some of the formations and tactical concepts that I talk about each week may help.
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