Moving right along to the next episode within this series, the 4-4-2C formation is considered the ‘diamond formation’ that many in the soccersphere tend to talk about. This formation is all about getting an advantage within the middle of the park via the use of 4 M(C)’s that maintain their central position as much as possible. It is arguably the second most popular 4-4-2 variant, with many managers at the highest level tending to use it on a regular basis with the likes of Pochettino, Ten Hag and Carlo Ancelotti all aspiring to keep this formation alive.
DEFENCE
We start off within the back as always where we have the very experienced Costa Rican International Keylor Navas, who, although standing at 185cm, is a very good shot stopper who possesses the ability to start play from early on which which allow the rest of the team to be a bit higher up the pitch than usual (In addition to his leadership qualifications).
The main man within the back 4 is the one and only Rubin Dias, who is currently considered one of the 3 best D(C)’s within the entirety of soccer, and his main priority will be to simply defend and allow the players in front of him to do the progressive work. Next to him, we have the French International Presnel Kimpembe who is a left sided ‘B.P.D’ who is quite similar to his native compartirot Dayot Upamecano, in terms of having a high level of progressive dribbling ability, in addition to being a good short to mid range passer. He’ll be responsible for aiming to assist Navas in progressing the ball up the pitch and although he doesn’t normally start for PSG these days due to the arrival of Milan Skriniar, Presnel is still a very good player who will do a very good job for this team
In the wider regions, we have another set of two players who are rated at 90 but cannot be underestimated in terms of their impact and influence within this XI. Nahuel Molina is a defence first type ‘Wingback’ who is similar to Aaron Wan Bisaaka but blossoms a bit more on the ball when in the attacking third. He will provide the width well and do a hard working job which should see him obtain a 6 or 7 out of 10 for majority of the matches. On the left flank, we have a man who I don’t even think should be a ‘Wingback’ due to how offensive he is, but when it comes to making an impact on the ball there isn’t many that come as good as the Portugese Nuno Mendes who will aim to play as high as he possibly can and will have a bit more license since Nahuel on the other side will understand his limits and will be slightly deeper to allow Nuno to do his thing.
MIDFIELD
The 4 within the midfield are extremely integral in terms of allowing this diamond formation to be at its most structural without causing any leaks from a positional perspective. Just like the 4-4-2B, it also consists of a certified ‘B.W.M’ whose only responsibility will be to allow the rest of his attack minded players to do their thing in the pursuit of goals. Sofyan Amrabat fits this criteria very well, as he will use all of that defensive prowess to protect his back line as efficiently as he possibly can. The trio in front of Sofyan have the weight of their team’s creativity in their palms (or feet…). We start off with both B2B’s, who need to provide their own specific attributes which will aid the squad and we have Fabian, who specializes in progressive passing, while Mateo is the best explosive dribbling M(C) in world football, but they both have to bow at the throne of their AM(C), since he’s the one who’s got your opps sh**ting themselves. KDB needs no introduction, but just know that he has the freedom of your stadium since in this position, he has zero structural responsibilities other than “win us the game, lad!”. He will be floating around using his untouchable creativity to provide that key pass or score that key goal. It’s very important that we differentiate both AM(C)’s from this formation and the 4-4-2B since they do not have the same role. KDB (or anyone who plays this role in the 4-4-2C) needs complete freedom, while Eriksen in the 4-4-2B is the sole creative spark and must be in positions that allow him to get on the ball to spray those passes.
FORWARDS
Up front, we have the best types of F(C)’s who are needed for this formation since the central bias will require a lot of mobility between the front two. Julian Alvarez is simply an amazing football player! His intelligence will grant him the awareness of getting into the right spaces to create chances for himself and the rest of his teammates. Marcus will be doing the same thing, but is more of the focal point of the team, aiming to always make the box while still using his mobility to move around for his own freedom (sparingly though)
DEFENSIVE TRANSITION
Although this formation does indeed have more attack minded players, this is a 4-4-2 variant, so defensively it will not be easily defeated. The most important players within the system will be your M(RC), M(LC) and both D(RL)’s since the weakness of the 4-4-2C is width. This is why Kovaçić Ruiz, with all their attacking intuitions, are playing here due to that engine and mobility that they both have (compared to a Modrić or a Kroos, for exmaple). Both F(C)’s are also integral since they will allow for a high press as well as dropping into wider positions to assist in long spells without the ball).
What a way to start off week 3 of our beloved SMB, am I right? Once you’ve obtained a balance similar to the one within today’s episode you’ll surely start experiencing more success using what is arguably the best set of formations in the entirety of Soccermanager Worlds.
Coming up tomorrow, we have yet another 4-4-2 variant that was a bit upset due to a statement I made in a previous epiosde…. Stay tuned to find out what we’re talking about! 😉
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