Soundoff: What Formation Would You Like To See Return?

By: chris | February 4th, 2009

No secret that formations and tactics often run in fads. One day it’s the 4-4-2, the next day it’s the 4-3-3 and thereafter the 4-3-2-1. Watching the Merseyside derby today both Daryl and I noticed the 4-2-3-1 is being implemented by an awful lot of teams – and many big ones, as Rafa has been using it frequently since roundabout the beginning of December, with theories that it played a role in the sale of Robbie Keane (that whole “1″ thing).

And this begs a question: which formation would you like to see become the tactic du jour?

Daryl wants to see the return of marauding wingbacks and the 3-5-2 – though presumably not under the command of Steve McClaren. And I doubly suspect he’d fancy any formation which tickles the soul of Fabio Capello on any given day.

I, on the other hand, love the true 4-5-1. Defending is an art, remember. (Going to eat my pasta now.)

So what would you like to see take over federation footy for its moment in the sun? The Christmas Tree? The 4-1-2-1-2 diamond? The return of the libero and the 1-4-3-2?

And no, you can’t vote for the 1-1-8….unless your name is Pep Guardiola. Then, by all means…

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B.A.

4-2-4-0... What?
Marco P.

3-4-1-2 all the way.

As long as you have 3 very solid center-backs, full power to creating goalscoring chances.
tmc

Musab - since the winter break Fiorentina have been using a 4-3-1-2 as well. Now that their trequartista, Mario Santana has broken his leg and will be out for the season, I'm not sure whether Prandelli will stick to that setup or make an adjustment. I like the setup as it gives the outside defenders space to get forward, and Fiorentina have a couple of guys who play left back who can do a decent job of that (Vargas and Pasqual).
dp

I'm partial to an old-school 3-4-3 myself, as played by Cruijff's teams at Barca, which was really a 3-1-3-3 (with Pep as the 1 in front of the back line). I watched Cruijff on YouTube recently give an explanation of why he decided to go with this, which was actually quite compelling. Of course, if someone decides to counterattack from a 4-4-2, you're toast unless you have the greatest defense on Earth, but it's so much fun to watch.
Telum

4-2-4 Forever!
George Toland

4-4-2

Two pacy wingers, left winger should be left-footed and the right winger should be right-footed. Pacy L and R backs e.g Clichy bombing up the wings and overlapping the wingers. L and R backs must be better at defending than Clichy though, like Sagna. L and R backs should be a mix between Clichy's attacking attributes and Sagna's defensive ones. Two solid centre halves, not Silvestre and Senderos! Ha Ha. One Centre Midfield acts as playmaker, playing through balls etc to the strikers and the other CM, more defensive. One big tall, powerful Striker willing to hold the ball like Adebayor, only better! And one with quicker striker with nimbler feet, RVP! Van Persie!
Sam

6-6-6
bjeremey

1-1-8
Andrew

I want to see the return of the Libero. love the 1-4-3-2. formation from heaven
Laurie

Oh, Daryl, I thought I was the only one who missed the good ol' 4-4-2. I just really, really like two strikers on the pitch at the same time.

I could also go for your 3-5-2. Except that I find myself imagining all of these formations for France, and France's defense sucks, so cutting it down by one player wouldn't be so great. But in theory...
mele419

Musab, I like that tactic as well, as it's pretty similar to my prefered 4-1-2-1-2. Being Italian and watching Calcio, I guess I lean a little further towards the more defensive version of this.
Musab

Daryl: The 4-3-1-2 also utilizes a playmaker No.10 and two forwards. This is known as the Derwall Formation after Jupp Derwall who used it with the German national team.

Galatasaray is the only team currently using this tactic, doing so for the past 20 years with an emphasis on attack and a very solid defence. The wingers aren't expected to get into the area too often but to instead crossing the ball into the penalty box where two forwards, one of them preferably very tall, to head the ball into goal while the number 10 is expected to give that killer pass. I can't remember the number of time Hagi gave that beautiful pass to Hakan Sukur.
ish

4-2-2-2 would be fun, i wouldnt mind seeing the the brazilian 433 back.
Daryl

I also love a good old fashioned 4-4-2, but with pacy wingers on both flanks. If two teams playing that way come up against each other... it doesn't get better than that.
Evan

the 4-1-3-2 was always a particular favorite of mine :)
ar126

Agree with Mike here, the 4-1-2-1-2 is my fave as well.
Flippy

3-2-4-1
Although I don't think this has ever been used before...I tend to think that van Basten would have played this in Euro 08 had Babel not gotten injured.
Brian

How about the Brazilian box midfield---4-2-2-2?
Mike

I like the 4-1-2-1-2 diamond. Provides good defensive abilities and attacking abilities as well. Allows for a nice spread over the centre of the pitch. Could work well at Milan with a little tinkering, or any team with a DM and CAM...
Pep Guardiola

1-1-8
Frank

Chris, you failed to note that Roma perfected the 4-2-3-1!! (:
Tommy Wong

2-3-5 PYRAMID.

Actually I can back this up to. I was playing around with Football Manager 08, and I noticed I was having an incredibly hard time scoring goals. So I decided to change my formation to the old style 2-3-5. I started to get a good string of results actually, given my two centerbacks were fast as hell.

Umm... it would throw a few teams off guard methinks?
Daryl

I think the reason I - theoretically - love 3-5-2 so much isn't just the wingbacks, it's the way it accommodates an attacking midfielder and two strikers at the same time.