Formations - 4411 v 442 v 4231 v 451

[El Jefecito]

There has been a lot of discussion about team selection, some of it good, some bad. I think a lot of people are missing the point though, that a lot of the selections are down to the formation that Rafa is playing.

At Valencia Rafa was definitely a 4231 man. In the EPL though he seems to favor 4411 using either Kuyt or Voronin as the hard working link man. It's a different 4411 though as usually the player in the hole is a playmaker, like, for example Riqueleme.

I was just wondering, what you all thought, would be the best formation going forward?

[Jayesh87]

4231 works for me in football manager

[El Jefecito]

4231 works for me in football manager

442 all the way in FM. I'm still on 2005 though

Mind you I did manage Chelsea as well and bought Biscan for 109m. Bought Ronaldo (the real one) etc

[Jayesh87]

442 all the way in FM. I'm still on 2005 though

Mind you I did manage Chelsea as well and bought Biscan for 109m. Bought Ronaldo (the real one) etc

Anywhoo i think we have shown this season that we play our best football when we play 442 aslong as Kuyt and Voronin arn't the front 2.

[rage]

can't see how it can be anything other than 4231 when alonso's fit again. i can see a 442 with gerrard on the right sometimes too or reverting to it when we're chasing a game.

don't think we have a good enough playmaker for a 4411

[AFII]

can't see how it can be anything other than 4231 when alonso's fit again. i can see a 442 with gerrard on the right sometimes too or reverting to it when we're chasing a game.

don't think we have a good enough playmaker for a 4411

We only have one good enough out and out striker but we have a lot of players that can play as one of the three behind the striker.

Gerrard, Kewell, Babel, Benayoun, Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin and Lucas.

[BobTheCharmer]

old fashioned it may be but 4-4-2 every day for me.

couple of full backs who get to the by line, which also means we don't have to be transfixed with the idea of two world class wingers. My most enjoyable team was the aldo, beardo, mcmahon, barnes & houghton. Houghton wasn't a winger in the Barnes mold yet it didn't matter. I think Benni is very similar to old Ray.

We lack a Steve Nicol. But saying that Ablett often played left back but because he had Barnes in front it didn't matter. So what am I saying? I honestly don't know, I've confused myself.

[keniget]

We've played a variety of formations under Rafa, but I feel the one most suited to our current personnel is 4-3-3. Our primary strength is in the CM department, so we need to make sure we maximize their effectiveness.

---------- Torres
LF ----------------- RF
--- Alonso -- Gerrard
---------- Masher

Masher does what he does best in the holding role, having two midfielders (or more) ahead him providing short passing options, just like his setup in the Argentina team.

Alonso is wasted playing off the CB's and putting Masher behind him would free him up to spend a bit more time in the opponents half and link up with Gerrard to ensure he's not too isolated further up the field when making his runs and linking up with the forwards.

Gerrard, well, he gets to be in the thick of things in the middle, but will also have the freedom to get forwards as he wishes without worrying *too* much about covering the defence.

The problem positions are in the wide forward areas, but in reality, Babel and Benayoun are far better suited to those roles than traditional wingers in a 4-4-2.

[tommyg]

4-1-2-1-2

-------------Reina--------------
--Finnan---Carra---Agger---Aurelio
------------Masch----------
------Yossi--------Babel-----
------------Gerrard----------
------Torres-------Crouch-----

[Frank Leroux]

old fashioned it may be but 4-4-2 every day for me.

couple of full backs who get to the by line, which also means we don't have to be transfixed with the idea of two world class wingers. My most enjoyable team was the aldo, beardo, mcmahon, barnes & houghton. Houghton wasn't a winger in the Barnes mold yet it didn't matter. I think Benni is very similar to old Ray.

We lack a Steve Nicol. But saying that Ablett often played left back but because he had Barnes in front it didn't matter. So what am I saying? I honestly don't know, I've confused myself.

Dammit, Bob, I was going to give you a until your line of thought peetered out at the end....

I'd love to see something like this (used for an extended period of time, of course..):

---------------Reina

Lahm----Carragher--Agger-----Arbeloa

Kewell----Alonso---Mascherano--Gerrard

---------Torres-----Babel

...forget about getting 'wingers', per se, down the line. Let them come in (onto their respective strong sides) and get the fullbacks down there.

[akjs123]

Dammit, Bob, I was going to give you a until your line of thought peetered out at the end....

I'd love to see something like this (used for an extended period of time, of course..):

---------------Reina

Lahm----Carragher--Agger-----Arbeloa

Kewell----Alonso---Mascherano--Gerrard

---------Torres-----Babel

...forget about getting 'wingers', per se, down the line. Let them come in (onto their respective strong sides) and get the fullbacks down there.

You got the sides inverted.

[Frank Leroux]

You got the sides inverted.

That's intended. Gerrard cuts in from the left onto his right side, vica/versa for Kewell. Allows them to get into more central positions where they're more dangerous. Also frees space for the full backs to 'bomb on' I think the term is...

[Michael]

4-5-1

Do we have the players to make 4-5-1 work?

Because I dont feel like we have the players to make anything ending in a 2 work.

[vantage]

Do we have the players to make 4-5-1 work?

Because I dont feel like we have the players to make anything ending in a 2 work.

But what about a '3'?

[Resu]

Kind of agree with you. I think we could play 4-4-1-1. Players like Kewell, Benayoun and Babel could probably do a good job behind Torres.
When it comes to having two strikers I though Torres and Voronin looked promising at the star of the season. Voronin looks a more intelligent player than Crouch and Kuyt and could link up well with Torres.