kel varnsen
Established Member
outlaw_member said:kel varnsen said:4-4-2 will work against your group a teams, if the lines are close to each other. meaning, that the team operates as one unit. so that there always are 2-3 players near the ball, both when defending and going forward. in doing so, the extra man in midfield is rendered ineffective. the numerical superiority is nullified.
I think you are asking for far too much. A team cannot possibly play possession football, whilst hard court pressing off the ball, akin to Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan Dream Team. It's completely unfeasible, in my opinion.
it's not so much about all out pressing, but rather staying defensively compact. meaning, there is little room in between the lines(back four, midfield, attackers). exactly where you begin chasing the ball, varies. sometimes you sit back and wait and sometimes you push up and chase the ball pretty much all the time.
as for possession, it's a matter of degrees. it might be related to 3 vs. 2 man central midfield, but it is not determined by it. it all depends on how you execute it.
what i do like about 4-4-2, is that the wide midfielders can drift inwards and open up space for the full backs. that is one issue that seems problematic with a five man midfield. gets "congested" fairly quickly.