The formation of a football team determines how the clubs play; and this short article analyses three instances.
One the toughest decisions for a soccer manager, is selecting which formation to play against the opposition. An important factor in this choice is the style of play of the opposition. A football formation list is not offered out by coaches, unlike in other sports, so coaches don’t know what the opposition side will be like until they get onto the pitch. This lack of openness means managers must do plenty of researching on the opponents to find out how they will play. One option nevertheless, is to ignore the opponent and play a formation that suits you and adhere to it. This option is what the new Italian coach opts for, who was selected by the Chelsea owner at the start of this year. The Italian manager stays to a 4-3-3 formation religiously; it has been among the most successful football formations, with many managers settling on it. It is a flexible formation that enables you to play three forwards, but the wide players in roles where they can drop back and aid in defence when required.
A formation that is sometimes employed by clubs that lack the high quality of their opposition is the 5-4-1 formation. By playing this way, a group can overload the midfield and have a sturdy back line that can remain in front of their own box. While many recognise this formation as defeatist, or boring, it is an efficient way of closing out a better club for long stretches of the game. If you play this formation you can anticipate to have very little control, with no real out ball considering you just have one attacking person. Teams may play this formation for the initial 70 minutes and then adjust their football tactics in the last period to attempt and snatch victory. The Cardiff City owner has quite regularly favoured managers that can field this formation properly, as they do not have the same calibre players as some other clubs.
The most famous formation is perhaps the 4-4-2 formation that was massively prominent in English football throughout the 2000’s. The formation was made popular by about the most successful teams in Italian history; the new AC Milan owner may well look for their coach to resort back to this formation as it has experienced huge success over the years. Many clubs presently go for just a single striker, as it gives the midfield much more cover and versatility. The benefit of the formation the Italian side applied, is that it offers lots of width and then two forwards who make great opportunities for crosses from those wide openings. Nevertheless, the formation calls for quality wingers, therefore if a team does not have options in this position, it works much better to play a formation that goes down the middle.