The most crucial role of a football coach is to choose a formation; and this short article will look at three choices.
One the most difficult decisions for a football coach, is choosing which formation to play against the opposition. An important factor in this choice is the style of play of the opposition. A football formation list is not offered out by managers, unlike in other sports, therefore managers don’t know what the opposition side will be like until they get onto the pitch. This lack of openness means coaches must do lots of research on the competitors to figure out how they will play. One solution however, is to disregard the opposition and play a formation that complements you and adhere to it. This option is what the new Italian coach opts for, who was selected by the Chelsea owner at the start of this year. The Italian manager stays to a 4-3-3 formation religiously; it has been among the most successful football formations, with many managers settling on it. It is a flexible formation that enables you to play three forwards, but the wide players in roles where they can drop back and aid in defence when needed.
A formation that is frequently used by clubs that lack the high quality of their opponent is the 5-4-1 formation. By playing this way, a team can overload the midfield and have a firm back line that can remain in front of their own box. While so many view this formation as defeatist, or drab, it is an successful way of closing out a better team for long periods of the match. If you play this formation you can anticipate to have very little possession, with virtually no real out ball considering you just have a single attacking person. Teams may play this formation for the first 70 minutes and then change their football tactics in the final period to attempt and snatch success. The Cardiff City owner has quite regularly favoured managers that can field this formation efficiently, as they do not have the same calibre players as some other teams.
The most well-known formation is possibly the 4-4-2 formation that was hugely renowned in English football during the 2000’s. The formation was made popular by just about the most skilled teams in Italian history; the new AC Milan owner may well look for their manager to resort back to this formation as it has seen significant success over the years. Many clubs today go for just a single striker, as it gives the midfield a lot more cover and freedom. The benefit of the formation the Italian team applied, is that it offers loads of width and then two forwards who make great options for crosses from those wide places. Even so, the formation needs top quality wingers, therefore if a group does not have options in this position, it works better to play a formation that goes down the middle.