Formations

O.k., as this is my first official football analysis, I will be focussing on one of the foundational aspects of professional football: formation.  Surprisingly, many people overlook formation these days, as modern footballers are so adept at switching positions that eventually the concept of a player in a set position is rendered somewhat pointless.  However, every team that employs this system of "total football" needs to employ a base formation, on which they can improvise.  

For those footballing novices out there, the most common formation used in professional football is 4-4-2.  (For obvious reasons, the goalkeeper is not included) This system relies on a solid back four (two centre-backs and a right & left back), a four-man midfield (2 central midfielders and 2 wingers) and 2 strikers.

This system is also one of the most improvised in football.  For one, the strikers do not usually play side-by-side (a notable exception was Manchester United's Rooney-Tevez partnership, which involved two players of similar style), but generally have one playing ahead of the other, with the secondary striker "playing off" the front man.  This involves a lot of running into areas such as the wings and dropping into the midfield to get the ball.  The front man, meanwhile, usually has the task of holding up the ball long enough for the midfielders and the support striker to get into advanced positions.  

The midfield, meanwhile, does the majority of the running.  Two central midfielders of attacking intent are usually incompatible, meaning that a "diamond" formation is employed most of the time.  This formation involves one midfielder playing the defensive role just in front of the defence, protecting the back four and not venturing forward as much as his partner, who is given the license to play behind the strikers and offer that extra man in attack. Of course, both midfielders need to possess stamina to run back and forth in the centre of the park.  If you picture this midfield in your head, you will get the image of a diamond, with the 4 men being the points of the diamond.  The wingers, meanwhile, are a tricky bunch.  They are almost always (when available) fast, agile players, who have to be able to run up and down their respective touchlines, providing crosses for the attackers to get on the end of and assist the defense in dealing with the wide threats of the other team.  As such, they are quite often the fittest members of the team.  

The defense is the most stable part of the formation.  The 2 centre-backs are usually tall, physical players who are not afraid to put their bodies on the line. The 2 full-backs deal with the wingers of the other team, preventing them from getting crosses into the box.  However, the modern game has developed so much so that the full-backs now act as wingers as much as anything else.  They provide width on the overlap, giving the wingers the opportunity to get into the box and add the extra man to the attack when the cross comes in. Of course, this means that the full-backs have to be pacy and have to be able to get back into position quickly. Prime examples of this type of fullback are Patrice Evra of Manchester United and Jose Bosingwa of Chelsea.  

O.K., now that you have a basic idea of the most common formation in football, let's look at a case study, shall we? In my next post, I will analyse the lineup of Tottenham Hotspur in detail. Stay tuned.