I mentioned back in episode 11 that the 4-4-2C was the second most popular 4-4-2 variant and I would want to believe that today’s formation took high offense to that statement… The 4-4-1-1 is a very iconic formation that causes a lot of users (in real life) to think that they basically hit a formation goldmine with its utilization since it was first introduced to football back when almost every team on the planet was using a 4-4-2A formation. What it allowed for was an extra player within the middle of the park which was then called a ‘Withdrawn Forward’ that utilized the pocket between the midfield and the attack. This pocket was then known as ‘between the lines’ ever since. With this effect, it caused the two M(C)’s and both D(C)’s for the opposition to be confused about the best approach for this Withdrawn Forward since any movement from them would cause a disruption of their defensive shape. In today’s game, I have to say that the kings of this formation is without a shadow of doubt, Atletico Madrid, managed by ‘El Cholo’ himself, Diego Simeone.
DEFENCE
In order for me to represent El Cholo with pride, we’ve decided to create the best balanced side that we can find that Diego himself would be proud of. In goal, we have Manuel Neuer who’s longevity bares no comparison as he’s been a top TOP Keeper for well over a decade now and possesses everything you’d want from a ‘Modern Keeper’ both on and off the ball. Our back 4’s sole priority is to position themselves to deal with any danger that our oppostion may possess whenever they win the ball back which is why we’ve gone a bit more conservative with 3 of our picks. In Giovanni Di Lorenzo, we have a steady player who has high levels of workrate and will do everything within his whims to add support to the player infront of him in the attack but is primarily in this team for his defensive capabilities, so won’t stray too far from what he has to do off the ball. Tomori and Maguire are both ‘defence first’ types of D(C)’s who will keep things simple on the ball via giving it to the more technical and creative players in front of them as they prep to be in the right place to stop any opposition pressure (which is what ‘Stoppers’ excel at). José Gayà is the only real attacking threat coming from the back line and with the protection he has from his teammates, we can expect Gayà to be ultra aggressive when in the attacking phase.
MIDFIELD
I don’t know about you, but I really love the look of this midfield 4… Starting from left to right, it is quite fitting that we have an Atletico player within our team, since this an Atletico inspired episode. Yannick Carrasco will provide the width for the entirety of the match, getting on the ball and using his explosive dribbling abilties to isolate his Fullback 1v1 while trying to get crosses into the box from various different angles. In the middle, we have the man that will take all of the responsibility in terms of chance creation, and what a player it is in the form of the German ‘Playmaker’ Toni Kroos, who will be staying in central positions and spraying passes around the gaf till kingdom come. The man next to him is one of the closest rivals to an N’golo Kante in terms of distance covered within a match and is someone who is the perfect partner for Kroos due to the German lacking in the mobility compartment. Not only is he extremeley mobile, Camavinga is also quite brilliant at ghosting past players for fun and has a decent shot in him as well. Off the left, we have another dynamic player in the Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli, who also enjoys running at his opposition, and with Gayà expressing no interest in defending, you can expect Martinelli to drift unto his stronger foot to be even more of a problem in more dangerous areas.
FORWARDS
Upfront, we have whom I believe is best player within this ‘withdrawn role’ in today’s game…. He’s so good that Antoinne is the first player from Season 9 to be given the opportunity to play multiple roles in the same position! Playing as your D.L.F, Antoinne will drift around the pitch seeking to link up with the players around the midfield 4 while providing for his strike partner; As a ‘Support Striker’ Antione will operate like a ghost, seeking to use his intelligent movement to get into spaces where it is hard to track him and without necessarily having an interest of getting on the ball that much until it is around the 18 yard box. To get the best out of Griezmann (who, alongside Kroos, are the main men for this team), we will need to have a F(C) who excels with his back to goal and it’s safe to say that we’ve definitely got a good one here in the Englishman Tammy Abraham. Not only does Tammy have the strength to hold up the ball, he also has good pace which means that he won’t shy away from running in behind whenever he gets the chance.
DEFENSIVE TRANSITION
There isn’t much that needs to be said about this formation in the defensive phase since we’ve already discussed the brilliance of 4-4-2 variants without the ball in previous episodes. The one thing I’d like to add though is that this formation can be converted into a 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 out of possession which potentially adds an extra layer in defence and makes your team a bit more difficult to break down.
Coming up next, we take a quick break from ‘4-4-2 variants’ and check out a formation has a 4-4-2 relative that you probably weren’t aware of…
The Soccermanager Experience 