Historically England is a nation who favour the 4-4-2, a formation which has been around since the introduction of the eleven player rule. The 4-4-2 is a very British formation; not too edgy, nice and reliable, solid defensively and efficient on the attact - but it also lacks style and flair, there is little room for fluidity. Yes, the 4-4-2 is very British, formal and rigid.
In Academy Football there is a different story altogether, players are being developed to produce a new breed of English player. Creativity, technicality, confidence and composure are becoming customary; guile is a more desireable trait than grit, determination, and brute force. Many Academies are no longer looking to produce players for the 4-4-2, the mission is create individuals who can master the 4-3-3.
The 4-3-3 rose to prominence with Ajax and has since been perfected by Barcelona, with a little assistance from one Johan Cruyff. The 4-3-3 is everything that the 4-4-2 is not, it encourages flair, fluidity, attacking through the middle, short and sharp intricate passes - it favours the technicians over the giants, all whilst maitaining the security of a back four. More over, the 4-3-3 is flexible and can be quickly adjusted to change tactically:
In Figure 1 you have a traditional 4-3-3 with a solid bank of four defenders, three midfielders and three central attackers. With a simple adjustment this can be converted to Figure 2, where you keep the security of four defenders but have a defensive midfielder for additional protection and play two attack minded central midfielders to encourage creativity. The shape of the forwards change so you have one focal point central attacker and two players pulling out high and wide - very useful for stretching the pitch and pulling opponents out of position. This variation of the 4-4-3 was favoured by Pep Guardiola during his extremely successful tenure at Barcelona. With some slight tinkering you can create a much more defensive formation, Figure 3, with one of the attacking midfielders being sacrificied for another holding/defensive midfielder, this type of 4-3-3 is favoured by Jose Mourinho and is effective at counteracting the formation used in Figure 2. And for those games in which your team is dominating play, the compact central midfield leaves space for the fullbacks to assist with the attack whilst keeping the insurance of two central defenders and at least one holding/defensive midfielder providing cover - Figure 4. The beauty of the 4-3-3 is that it is possible to make changes to your tactics without substitutions, but simply in the transition from defence to attack, for example when defending you could set up as Figure 3 and when you regain possession your team shape can adjust to Figure 2 and eventually Figure 4.With the prevalence of 4-3-3 in Academy football it seems strange that so few Premier League teams use this formation.It is logical that the system played by a First Team should be the mould of an entire Academy set-up as the role of an Academy is to produce First Team players, so why do so few clubs enforce this ideal?
As time goes by more and more emphasis will be put on producing technically superior players, add that to the never-say-die mentality that is engrained on the English psyche and it is only a matter of time before there is a vast improvement on the standard of player we produce. To increase the speed of which this process happens there needs to be a philosophy in place that provides a natural progression from Academy football up through to International football and as Academies are focusing on the 4-3-3 it can only be a matter of time before more clubs and eventually the National team follow suit.
Evolution is a slow process and has it's victims and well as its victors; there is a slow and sure change manifesting in the way the game is being approached in England, let us hope that it is not so slow that it creates a gulf between us and other leading nations that is simply too large to close.
No comments:
Post a Comment