Season 12: Secret Code Episode 5: Mixed and Short

Soccerblog 4 Minutes

From the Spanish national team to Manchester City, it is safe to say that majority of world football are now aiming to implement a style of play that is all about keeping the ball on the deck for as long as possible. It’s the latest trend for many a manager who aims to tire out their opposition into making mistakes and thus suffering the consequence of conceding that all too precious goal. For all of its perks, we can safely say that there are more formations and players who won’t be able to play this style of play than there are ones that can, but as long as you’ve got your tactics spot on, there isn’t a better feeling than watching a complete domination while using the most popular style of play in world football at the moment.

We’ve picked the illustrious 4-2-2-2 (or the often called “4 triple 2”) for this style of play and it is one of the few formations that will thrive whilst operating in a “short manner”… 🥁

DEFENCE

The main emphases are to get as much ball comfortable players within the XI as well as utilizing this formations’ competetive advantage (more on that later), and we start things off in the right manner with the Italian and Tottenham Hotspur number 1 Guglielmo Vicario who ain’t no slouch on the ball and has showcased his ball playing skills throughout the 23/24 campaign. He is also one of the stars of this team, so expect some top performances coming from him.

We have similar ‘Wingback’ profiles for the first time in season 12 in the Brazilian and Dutch pair of Santos Dodô and Tyrell Malacia who are both attack minded ‘Wingbacks’ who love to motor forward and get as high up the pitch as they possibly can. Both are also quite tactically sound but will primarily be in the team for providing the width.

Our D(C) pair also possesses two players who have a lot in common when it comes to their preferred playing style… Both Fabian Schär and Levi Colwill are traditional ‘B.P.D’s’ who stand out in just about every department of on the ball ‘B.P.D’ work with things such as progressive passing and progressive dribbling coming quite easily to them. Expect both to play a big role in setting possession off in the best way possible (Oh, did we mention that they’re also both stars of this team?)

MIDFIELD

Football’s love affair for double pivots within the build up play gets highlighted in the ‘4 triple 2’, and we have two capable players who are both comfortable in their skin when it comes to taking the ball and making things happen. Leandro Paredes may not be the most easy on the eye as a ‘Deep-lying Playmaker’, but boy is he effective! He has a knack of making “thread the needle” type of passes and is also quite good at keeping the ball recycling due to his exceptional Positioning. Paredes is also underrated physically and possesses the tenacity to make any player he comes up against quite uncomfortable. Alongside him is the “Dutch Paul Pogba”, Ryan Gravenberch who is a technically gifted player that likes to operate in between a DM(C) and an AM(C) with license to progress the ball via his impactful passing. We can expect him to constantly seek to find space around the centre circle and immediately play a decisive ball into the feet of the players who make this formation a “competitve advantage”.

Now then, what’s this competitive advantage that we’re babbling on about? Well, the 4-2-2-2 is one of a few formations that allow its user to utilize the now infamous ‘box midfeld’ into their set up. The Box midfield is simply a midfield that has 4 players positioned on the pitch to form a box like figure whilst in possession. This allows the user to always have an extra man in the middle region of the pitch since almost every formation only allows for 3 men in midfield during defensive phases. If your opposition tries to play smart and somehow adds an extra midfielder to try to make it a 4v4 or 5v4 then this will open up space in other areas on the pitch for your team to exploit. In this XI in particular, we have two players who are quite comfortable operating in this box midfield set up with Harvey Elliott (who might be the lowest rated player in season 12 at ’87’. Update: he isn’t ), and the superstar of this team Pablo Gavi, who many have already forgotten about due to his season long injury. The Spaniard in particular will reak absolute havoc between the lines with his movement, technical prowess, creativity, and surprising physique for the profile of player that he is

FORWARDS

To top off our short passing style of play we’ll need two F(C)’s who are comfortable with the ball at their feet as well as comfortable drifting out wide due to the central congestion that the ‘4 triple 2’ causes. We personally believe we have the right players for this job, with Alexis Sánchez and Giacomo Raspadori being tasked with doing this job. Sanchez is as technical as they come and will display his football intelligence whilst floating around the attacking third, while Raspadori will be seeking to do the same but with more of an emphasis on being the one who will lead the line and get into the box more frequently

PLAYER INSTRUCTIONS

There are quite a few nominees for the captain’s armband in this team with the entire spine (Vicario, Schär, Paredes and Sánchez) all being astute leaders, but we’ve chosen to give it to Alexis Sánchez as the oldest lad on the pitch, with Schär operating as his second in command.

Sánchez will also be on set peice duty alongside side young starlet Harvey Elliott. Paredes will aim to recycle possession as best as he could as the playmaker. Alexis is on call again as the designated penalty taker, and Raspadori will be the ‘General Forward’ tasked with doing less of the floating between the two in order to lead the line.

If you’re someone who’s all about polar opposites then you’ll ABSOLUTELY enjoy our next episode! 🙌

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