4-4-2 And Its Closest Variations. Why Are They So Strong? -- Some Quick Thoughts

[kebess]

Hi Sephiroth,

Glad this thread helped.

Concerning a counter formation for 4-3-1-2, I'd recommend either a simple 4-1-4-1 (you have all the necessary tools in it), or if you want a more offensive approach, a 4-5-1V. He has no midfield wingers so you definitely should use that in your advantage.

Put red arrows on the following : DL/DR, and ML/MR or AML/AMR, and if he's getting a bit too much opportunities a blue arrow on your DMC.
Then set your passing on both flanks -- you should be able to hurt him nicely from there. Normal mentality, hard tackles (if possession is an issue), mixed passes, no trap, no CA.

So basically, your defense was good, but your attack needed to be more on the flacks, since he's weaker there. Good luck !


PS: Love your name by the way, go figure...

[Sephiroth]

Thank you for the advice. He changed his formation this morning to a much more defensive one but I noticed he still doesn't have any midfield wingers so I will stick with the advice you gave before and see if it's enough to get through his defence.

.......v.......

[kebess]

If he sticks with this, you'll have 80% possession. It should ease things. If he gets too many counter attacks, put a blue arrow on your DMC.

[Sephiroth]

He did indeed stick with that formation for most of the game so I stuck with it and won 5-1.

He changed his formation a bit 3/4 way though and took away his AMC for some reason so I took away my DMC and went with straight 4-4-2 and it seemed to match up well.

Shame he got so many shots off at me with 20% possession for most of the game but I guess it happens.

My team is much better than the one he seemed to be able to field though.

[kebess]

Stats are so "ridiculously ridiculous" sometimes, : ) How on earth did he get more passes/corners than you with only 26% possession and a defensive formation ? Quite unrealistic if you ask me. In any case, good job !

[Sephiroth]

Maybe it's worth noting that I have reached the quarter finals of both cups and 9 out of the 16 teams that have got here are playing one of the formations in your sig, 10 if you include 4-5-1V.

[kebess]

No, it DOES mean something. These formations are good/great counters most of the time. I very, very rarely use anything else. And when I do, it's mostly for experimental purpose only.