Striker/Winger Situation

[nasser95]

Love that. No-one understood tactics before 2001.

Mate, tactics were very limited in their diversity in the UK at the time. You can't deny that, in fact, we pretty much know that almost every british team played a 442, so much so that Hoddle changing things up with England was considered incredibly unique. Look now, you'll see some incredible diversity compared to how it used to be, thanks to the influx of knowledge from mainland Europe.

[cross it Dave]

He doesn't but he'll make a point of it anyways. Anyways, I've gone through the relevant years where the information is readily available and valid to modern football. Lets take a look at what formation they actually played, either coming from the club itself or transfermarkt.co.uk

2001–02 Arsenal 4-4-2
2002–03 Manchester United 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 (13 times and 24 times) 1 time 5-3-2
2003–04 Arsenal 4-4-2
2004–05 Chelsea 4-3-3
2005–06 Chelsea 4-3-3
2006-07 Manchester United 4-3-3
2007–08 Manchester United 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 (18 times and 20 times)
2008–09 Manchester United 4-4-2
2009–10 Chelsea 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 diamond (24 times and 16 times)
2010–11 Manchester United 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 (21 times and 17 times)
2011–12 Manchester City 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 if you actually look at how they played, you'll see it's a 4231 but if you look at the players its a 442
2012–13 Manchester United 4-2-3-1
2013–14 Manchester City 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 (17 times and 21 times)
2014–15 Chelsea 4-2-3-1
2015–16 Leicester City 4-4-2

What you might notice is that against weaker teams, the winner will tend to play 442 since they don't need to work to get control of the game. From what I saw in the research, when teams split their formations throughout the season (a very common occurrence and I'll get to that below), they play a 4-3-3 against the bigger teams and a 442 against the weaker teams, which makes sense.

You'll also see the trend is heading in the direction of a 4231 in the long run, I did a bit more research and looked at the teams around the champions (Ie second and third) and they generally prefer to use a 4231 but have 442 available. What's clear is that tactical fluidity and versatility are key, having players who can play as attacking midfielders and strikers will definitely help in a match, but having the squad depth of speciality players will help throughout the season.

442 is still used, there's no doubt about that, but to use it, you can only use certain players and expect success. Why? Because of the 433 which is designed to totally take control of the midfield of two which in the past may have worked since everyone else used a 442 as well and the control was purely based on the quality of players and not the quantity. But now with the 433 there, the midfielders in a 442 are at an immediate disadvantage due to the numbers. That's why you need your Kante's, Yaya's of old, etc. I even looked at the Utd side that won the league of 10-11 to see who their specialist was whenever they played a 442 and it was unsurprisingly Darren Fletcher, another player who's running and workrate made him the asset to play a 442.

The Chelsea team that under ancelotti won in 09/10 played a 433 or a 442 diamond, but this isn't really a 442 in the traditional sense at all. Their midfield 4 was Deco, Ballack, Lampard, Joe Cole. These are 4 central players, playing in a very narrow diamond with the full backs (Cole and Ivanovic) overlapping. This is definitely not a standard 442, this is a formation designed to guarantee consistent control of the midfield and it worked because of the quality they had in those positions. You can't pull that off as a mid table side.

In any case, my takeaway from this is that football is leaning towards the 4231, the 442 is used to create a tactical diversity so the game doesn't get stale or easily readable. 442 in it's standard form is hard to pull of any more without the right players and as a club, it's much easier to build a long term squad with a 4231 in mind because of the fluidity brought about by the players taking each role. The 442 works against two types of teams 1) other 442s 2) 4231's with poor deep midfielders.

You really should take up train spotting, you'd be a natural.

[West London is Rss]

Nasser has a full EURO 2016 Panini sticker book.

[Ginger Ninja]

You remember though don't you?

I remember strike partnerships at each team that's won the league. I also remember when teams do something different, like when Chelsea won it 2 years running with Robben on 1 wing, Duff on the other and Drogba through the middle.

Now I may have got 1 or 2 on that list wrong but I bet there ain't many teams in that list that weren't set up pretty close to a conventional 4-4-2.

I actually don't, I didn't pay that much attention to be honest mate
I remember snippets but not formations or anything like that. Actually a little impressed!

[nasser95]

Nasser has a full EURO 2016 Panini sticker book.

If only mate, never did get into collecting them in the last 8 or 9 years.

[nasser95]

You really should take up train spotting, you'd be a natural.

I'd much rather take up coaching and management or sports analysis. Actually I'd much rather take up the work I'd get from my coming degree in Engineering to be honest.

[knocker]

You really should take up train spotting, you'd be a natural.

Someone ask nasser the other day if he's ever kissed a girl. Don't think he got an answer.

[Ramsey is god]

Someone ask nasser the other day if he's ever kissed a girl. Don't think he got an answer.

[nasser95]

Someone ask nasser the other day if he's ever kissed a girl. Don't think he got an answer.

Don't need to dignify sh it like that with an answer. This stuff is very much high school bullying-esque attempts lol.

"Oh you like numbers, I bet you've never talked to a girl haha". Some people just wanna make themselves feel better by making jokes about others. I don't take their opinions seriously.

[brightonr]

Don't need to dignify sh it like that with an answer. This stuff is very much high school bullying-esque attempts lol.

"Oh you like numbers, I bet you've never talked to a girl haha". Some people just wanna make themselves feel better by making jokes about others. I don't take their opinions seriously.

You're right Nasser, it's ridiculous.

What we'd really like to know is how many you've kissed, how long on average did they last, what ratings did you give the recipients and did any of them lead to further success.

[West London is Rss]

[cross it Dave]

You're right Nasser, it's ridiculous.

What we'd really like to know is how many you've kissed, how long on average did they last, what ratings did you give the recipients and did any of them lead to further success.

I bet he never gave them one

[Ramsey is god]

You're right Nasser, it's ridiculous.

What we'd really like to know is how many you've kissed, how long on average did they last, what ratings did you give the recipients and did any of them lead to further success.

100% Had a notebook with stats on each girl.

Only jesting Nas.

[Shepherds Mush]

Mate, tactics were very limited in their diversity in the UK at the time. You can't deny that, in fact, we pretty much know that almost every british team played a 442, so much so that Hoddle changing things up with England was considered incredibly unique. Look now, you'll see some incredible diversity compared to how it used to be, thanks to the influx of knowledge from mainland Europe.

Hoddle was so unique for England that everyone forgot about Venables' Christmas Tree formation before him.

I won't even begin to go on about the innovative W-M formation from Herbert Chapman a full 76 years before the Premier League took over football.

[Fordy]

Mate I aint got a f*****g clue. I just post what I hear from the few mates I know in the game and the rest is what I see on twitter lol

Fair enough mate I love a rumour anyway keep em coming