What Happened to Two-Man Striker Teams?

What happened to two-man striker teams?
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There have been a number of interesting tactical trends at this World Cup, and one of them is the general absence of two man striking teams. Edinson Cavani and Luiz Suarez of Uruguay constitute probably the only pure team of two strikers in the tournament. While 4-4-2 has made something of a comeback from its heyday at the standard tactic in football well in to the 2000s, this is largely as a defensive measure. The 4-4-2 allows two compact banks of four for defence, as shown by Iceland, Burnley, or Athletico Madrid, and gives good coverage of the whole pitch.
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#russia2018 #uruguay #luissuarez

[@mrpereza4518]

You can also have the w-t-f formation, used by sampaoli in Argentina

[@mynameis6575]

lmao

[@arunraju8205]

Savage 😂😂

[@treehugger3615]

With Messi as the head coach.

[@ripdajacker23]

LOL nicely done

[@enzorossi800]

Jajajaja genio

[@davidkerr7065]

I did not expect you to mention Atleti, Burnley and Iceland in the same sentence

[@danluke001]

David Kerr the amount of times Burnley have been mentioned in this World Cup is pretty ridiculous

[@earl.c]

Add Cardiff to the list and the connections make sense

[@lordbendtner6404]

David Kerr sweden also 442

[@nate8431]

and to think my local team Lincoln City Beat them in the FA cup :')

[@SaidSake98]

Valencia and RB Leipzig as well.

[@Finlan_32]

4-4-2 disappeared because: 1. 3 man midfields 2. The rise of the CAM 3. Wingers becoming scorers instead of assisters 4. Full backs becoming wingers

[@voiture4588]

Basically that's it bro..simple as that.. Spot on

[@andrecassanelli183]

You can have two strikers in the side, with 3 mids, a CAM and wingers instead of fullbacks (only without wingers though). You just need to play a 4-4-2 diamond formation with a tetraquartista playing behind two strikers. (In: Milan in the 2007's)

[@rockmorales]

Number 2 does not affect it at all. CAM midfielders have existed for over 50 years. Everything else was spot on.

[@mayrln]

3 man midfielders with CAM huh. what bout the 4-3-1-2

[@iMadrid11]

kaan I can imagine Zidane implementing 4-3-1-2 this upcoming season.

[@zaubnino77]

The most logic-based and completely unbiased football channel.

[@alkanchannel5630]

yeah I hope they continue it

[@Tifo]

:)

[@rhodigian]

Exactly what I think.

[@got2bharmony]

I agree, very rarely do the words logic and football go together.

[@aang7505]

zaubnino77 it’s called soccer m8

[@Prederick]

This really is the best football channel out there.

[@nopethnks3649]

Prederick Please Watch my video also and comment

[@insertname8506]

And HITC

[@JuanMartinez-kq3gy]

Not the best, but one of my favourite english talking football channels

[@aldjix]

I like Piotr football too

[@deldia]

Juan Martinez what’s the best?

[@ghgyuyu2962]

Who remembers that one season where there was: Sturridge and Suarez Rooney and Van Persie Aguero and Negredo

[@szefpantomaszhajto5056]

Lewandowski Milik

[@highereb9201]

Dude if you go back, there was also Inzaghi+Shevchenko, Ronaldo+Raúl, Trezeguet+Del Piero, Bergkamp+Henry and so on

[@millenium2003]

Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke

[@whossaini4327]

Yes

[@Davide-xk4bg]

Cassano-Pazzini or Flachi-Bazzani

[@tamoghnamukherjee7871]

Monaco in 16/17 played in the classic 4-4-2 though. Falcao held the ball high up the pitch and Mbappe ran in behind as Falcao released the ball to Fabinho who spread it out to either flank as the overlapping full back ( Mendy/Sidibe) put in a grounded cross rather than an aerial ball. However, all of this depended on a stable 2 man midfield and Fabinho-Bakayoko where a monstrous pair.

[@deveshpandey7489]

The Monaco of 2016/17 was such a joy to watch

[@izzojunior]

Tamoghna Mukherjee good example.

[@thesidewaysfreak7848]

The only problem with playing such an attacking style with the 4-4-2 is that when you lose the ball you’ve got little to no cover defensively, Bakayoko was that teams big DM that intercepted most passes or threaded balls from teams trying to counter; but the ones that got through him usually resulted in a goal or atleast a very good chance for the opposition but if you have two forwards of Mbappe and Falcoas class, you can get away with it.

[@jonathandiosa5739]

Colombia using Falcao alone in the 1 formation has not worked these past few years.

[@fifalafida]

How are you guys so good in analyzing strategies and formations of the different teams? Watching your channel made me realize how my high school soccer team was so bad and tactically inept. I've learnt so much more watching your videos and listening to your podcasts.

[@WWE2KUNIVERSEELITE]

In highschool you have to be basic not everyone can play the formations that european teams do

[@DrBGMI77]

Watch matches more carefully lad. You'll get the idea.

[@AFHStewart]

Thanks mate! Basically, I just watch lots of football, concentrate on trying to see patterns - but also I think it's important to try not to overcomplicate stuff. We want people to come away having understood stuff, after all

[@DayzAhat]

Alex Stewart good job as always.

[@fifalafida]

Oh it's not about not having a sophisticated tactical system. But it's just the fact that back when I played in highschool, you only were told what position you play in, but were not really instructed anything (not even pressuring or how we build up). I still remember it ended up being the offense depending on literally this one player on the team. I played as both fullback and center back my whole life, but I was never taught anything about even basic positional awareness and marking. How I learnt was by watching professionals play and only paying attention to the defenders when they play. It's just frustrating looking back that I learnt more from that and now learn even more from watching this channel. I get that formations and tactics for high school should be more basic with less tactical depth, but all we were told is "we're gonna play 4-5-1, ... plays here, ... plays here, etc." and that's it.

[@izzojunior]

Goodness, Tifo’s analysis is superb, the shadow striker has been long forgotten best example at the moment is Griezmann and Diego Costa at Atletico. The early 2000s were abundant with them, the Bergkamp and Henry partnership at Arsenal, Zola and Tore Andre Flo at Chelsea were pretty effective, kudos Tifo crew, gosh I love this channel.

[@dzikripratama3776]

Also the era Shevchenko and Inzaghi

[@Schweini8]

You don't need to go so far back, Pep used a 4-4-2 at Bayern with Muller and Lewandowski as strikers

[@Soldierofgod96]

L. Suarez and Messi

[@colemiller1591]

Don't Giroud and Griezmann basically play that for the France national team as well? Griezmann plays off of Giroud whenever they're both capped

[@tyrkun1624]

Also Kramaric and Callum Wilson. EDIT: Nevermind that just my front 2 in FIFA career mode.

[@debrajswami]

I remember Claudio Ranieri successfully implementing the 4-4-2 during Leicester's remarkable 15/16 PL season with Vardy being paired with either Ulloa or Okazaki

[@enesssidaty3390]

im a tactic guy i see tifo i click

[@Smhhhhh19]

Ironicly has 442 likes

[@The1Floyd]

I personally think that the new model is making the game a tad more boring. I loved the classic striker partnership. Counter to that though, the new defensive minded set ups are party why so many weaker sides have progressed though this tournament over traditionally stronger sides Swings and roundabouts.

[@nopethnks3649]

The1Floyd Please Watch my video also and comment

[@laserhawk221]

This is so true. Weaker sides just play defense and hope to get 1 or 1 counter goals here and there so very good teams which have great attacks and play high up the pitch can easily lose if the weaker side counters well

[@Biskawow]

Guys complaining about defensive football, have you ever seen Italy play?

[@tnix80]

I thought the best teams generally won at this world cup more often than any other tournament ive seen. Maybe the classic powers aren't necessarily the best anymore. I predicted a Croatia Belgium final. Not bad id say.

[@tonyneculai4576]

I wouldn't say many weaker sides progressed over traditionally stronger sides at this world cup. There were very few surprises if you think deeper -Germany being one of them and maybe Spain which lost their coach and this created obviously a big issue. The ones that got in semifinals for example: Looking at their squads, France was one of the favorites, Belgium the same, and these 2 were on the same side of the panel with Brazil, Argentina, Portugal and Uruguay, so basically the strong teams eliminated each other. On the other side of panel, the easy side of the panel, semifinalists England and Croatia, England hardly had a stronger opponent during the tournament. The only team u could say was really strong opponent was when they played twice with Belgium and got dominated and beaten each time. Croatia had also easier opponents on their way to the final, the only opponent traditionally strong that stood out was Argentina (with an awful selection from the coach, that messi had to make the first 11 in the last match=)) ) - the 3-0 from groups, Otherwise they reached the final after winning twice at penalties and once with a goal in minute 112 or so...

[@ratnadipdas8219]

This channel has really helped me to understand tactics a bit more and ignited a genuine interest in seeing the forest for the trees, so to speak when it comes to watching games. So thank you.

[@John-vv7ok]

Leicester 2015/2016: am I a joke to you?

[@anggungunara]

Yeah, it's so strange that the video deliberately overlooked them, when they won a very big thing with arguably old-fashioned 4-4-2.

[@TheCakenukeism]

No one talks about how surprising it is that Uruguay are a constant threat with a population of 3.3 million facing nations 10 or more times bigger.

[@pseudoproak]

TheCakenukeism iceland has 300k inhabitants

[@erik6473]

PseudoproAK Iceland didn't win a single match in this WC. Besides, they aren't the country with the most Euro cups unlike Uruguay who has 15 copas America, while Argentina has 14 and Brazil has 8.

[@TheCakenukeism]

Uruguay are in almost every world cup and very successful internationally, Iceland just had their best ever couple of years and comparatively weren't that great

[@TheCakenukeism]

Yes it is, however, Uruguay has been in most world cups and has 4 world titles. also my statement doesn't say that Iceland aren't surprising

[@m.c.martin]

TheCakenukeism 2 World Titles* The other 2 stars are for the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Gold Medals. Those were the only times Pro Athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics for Soccer before becoming youth. So FIFA allows Uruguay to wear 4 stars for for that reason

[@ShivavihS]

In a recent Barça game against Villarreal they lined up with a 4-3-1-2 formation with Suarez and Griezmann as two strikers and it worked very well

[@cummerchant542]

Cause greizman isn’t a left wing Surprise surprise

[@oilslick7010]

Great channel! I never really understood why 4-2-3-1 became the 'meta' in football, but I do now. Having said that, I still think it is being copied all too easily by teams not at the top level. The fact that the top teams need this to break down opponents or defend against them, doesn't mean it's always as useful and effective on lower levels. This goes for more of the tactical standards of modern football (e.g. tiki-taka). Nothing is more painful/boring/frustrating to watch than teams trying to emulate Barcelona when they don't have the quality to execute the required tactics. Yet (almost) all coaches on all levels seem to blindly follow the international trends instead, of letting their teams playing to their strengths which *might* result in using a simpler or 'outdated' style...

[@kristophergap17]

100% agree. But i think 50% of the time it is due to that trend and the other 50% of the time its young fresh inexperienced managers who want to stick to their guns and implement their preferred style to a team that is never going to succeed like that. A good example is rodgers at reading and watford. It wasnt till he went to swansea where they had a much better ball playing technically gifted side that he was able to get results out of his preferred system. However along your point it is obvious now in modern football where a high press game has been popularised by Pep and Klopp that alot of teams are trying to emulate it. Thats why i like managers like simeone and allegri because they are just as good to be talked in those upper echelon brackets but with their own unique style. The likes of cruyff, pep and klopp and others who have set football trends over the years should just take it as a compliment and continue to evolve the game as they are doing now.

[@HonestFarmerLigue1Fan]

4-2-3-1 almost won Liverpool EPL trophy in 2009. Then Alonso left and the formation was screwed. Until this day Liverpool is still unable to find Alonso's replacement. Klopp used Fabinho instead, he is essentially Gatusso with better passing accuracy and better anger management 😂

[@deveshpandey7489]

This channel deserves at least a million subscribers!

[@JaleelBeig]

So much work put into this. Love it i tell you, LOVE IT.

[@Starcutieexplotion]

Can you please explain Sweden's 4-4-2 World Cup tactics, which has got them to the quarter finals of the World Cup so far?

[@monster_diggare]

Sulaiman 17 yeah it feels weird not mentioning Sweden considering they play 4-4-2 with two strikers and have gone far.

[@eliad6543]

If anything, they're playing the large striker + target striker trick, with Toivonen and Berg.

[@Starcutieexplotion]

Eliad654 Very true, and neither Berg nor Toivonen are prolific in terms of goal scoring. I think Sweden play a game based on defensive organisation and solidity and are really difficult to break down. I think they got this far based on luck as they have no proven goalscorer, like Kane or Lukaku . They got 3 penalties in the group stage at crucial moments which has helped them extraordinarily. But defensively, they have been world class.

[@jtte1234567891011]

In my analysis, the reason this works is that both of them drops back to defend almost always sitting in front of the offensive midfielders. Position-wise, Sweden is so hard to break down just as you've already mentioned. Janne has adapted a strict system where everybody has their part of the pitch to cover. The ones creating the space and starting the counter-attacks is in our case Forsberg and Claesson, two offensive-midfielders playing as wingers. Both of them are prone to cut inside because of their habit to play more central in the pitch. Defensively, our two centre-backs complements each other so nice as well. Lindelöf is a great passer and ball-holder, being really confident holding up the play. Grankvist is the big brother of the team and fights in for the sake of the whole team in every challange. Also he provides length in cross-situations. And yes, our top goal scorer may be our leader and centre-back Grankvist because he's our penalty-kick taker, but I really think our success goes to show the importance of acting as a team and feeling as a team. All players stand up for each other, in real life and on the pitch. Just as shown in the Durmaz-incident. The mentality and the ambiance in the team is sooo good, I think Janne has really focused on building mental stability rather than focus on tactics and what-not. This team's ruthlessness is something special and I hope this will lead on and inspire future Swedish generations and national teams.

[@jtte1234567891011]

Something worth mentioning is also the U21-team which won the euros on pens against Portugal and France in the semis, strong mentality was the main thing in this team too and the penalties in the final were reckless. Many of these players are in this team, trying to provide the same feeling as the U21-team had ans accomplished.

[@samsaunders6738]

Leicester City- Title winners- 4-4-2

[@faramund9865]

Sweden plays 4-4-2 as well. And like you said they’re extremely defensive.

[@talibhassan652]

Man I miss classic 442 teams. Del piero and trezeguet, cole and yorke, and so many. It was fun to watch.

[@goranmilic442]

With 4-4-2, if you're a third striker by quality in your team, you still get to play, if the team is losing, you are probably first substitute to enter. Today, with 4-2-3-1, if you are third striker, you probably won't play. Strikers are now like goalkeepers, other striker in team is competition, not partner. One striker is just a stupid modern trend coaches picked up from best teams in Europe (just like there is no more players at posts when defending corner kick), but this tactic is bad when you coach average second-tier club from average country. If your players don't run too much, your only striker is usually lonely. Goals in today's average leagues are usually made accidentally, especially if your only striker is also average. I support a team from Croatian Second League (currently leading), we usually have one striker and he is usually bad or average, so goals are made accidentally, usually from corner kicks and free kicks.

[@digvijaykole6746]

Bergkamp and Henry Rooney and Tevez

[@gambone]

Salas-Zamorano Kluivert-Bergkamp

[@thedoc225ify]

Inter in the 90's Ronaldo, zamorano, vieri, any variation. Add to that players like Baggio or recoba if you class them as striker's which I don't

[@frecherfankfurter8203]

bro welcome to inter lukaku lautaro is the best duo you‘ll get trust me

[@MarceloHenkin]

Lautaro and Lukaku are one of these rare examples like Suarez and Cavani, in my opinion. This system with two strikers is my favorite, but I think it now depends heavily on their quality to create combinations around the area, when there is little space nowadays. They need to have mobility and technique (passing, first touch). Lautaro and Lukaku do this perfectly. Otherwise, if they are not good enough (and therefore do not compensate), the "cons" of not having wingers will be considerable.

[@kingplatform2255]

Lukaku has lost it for now. But, he will come back stronger. 💪

[@tkzsfen]

this is why Uruguay is the most exciting team in this world cup

[@RaZeyLWindBladE]

A 4-4-2 two man strike team is really best done with a diamond in the middle while the fullbacks run the channels. This will allow the formation to seamlessly form into a 4-3-1-2.

[@nopethnks3649]

RaZeyLWindBladE Please Watch my video also and comment

[@alkanchannel5630]

yes thats right . 4-4-2 Diamond or 4-3-1-2 are very suitable for 2 strikers to show their skill in the team . One Target Man (genuine striker) & one poacher who can drop and create chances for fullback & Target Man .

[@dannyd96]

RaZeyLWindBladE A good example of what you stated being Liverpool in the 13/14 season under Brendan Rodgers. A diamond shape involving Gerrard (DM), Henderson (RCM), Coutinho (LCM) and Raheem Sterling at the tip of the diamond bursting through the defensive lines after Sturridge drags defenders wide. Suarez and Sturridge forming the most lethal partnership in recent PL history.

[@james-ch]

Alkan Qhayzuran poachers only play in the 6 yard box, they won't drop

[@alkanchannel5630]

James Ch Oh seems like I confuse it with the false 9 . Sorry

[@giannb5145]

Actually there still quite a few top managers and clubs playing with 2 classic strikers upfront: - Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid (4-4-2) - Antonio Conte and Inter Milan (3-5-2) - Julian Nagelsmann and Leipzig (4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2) - Simone Inzaghi and Lazio (3-5-2)

[@Tifo]

Actually two of these got their jobs after the World Cup when this was published. And only Simeone was using it at the time.

[@giannb5145]

@@Tifo Yes, of course, I didn't mean it as criticism to you guys (love your work, as I have said repeatedly). It's just that I am fan of classic 9s (prefer them a hundred times over false 9s) and wanted to mention this so that others who also like real 9s and striker partnerships take heart!

[@hellohello-in8ik]

4-4-2 formation that was amazing , attackers scoring 2 , 3 goals per game , loads of assists attacking style , playing fast football crossings 😞

[@johnny5805]

I remember at school, we played 2-3-5. Those were the days.

[@lev231]

Great video yet again. Can you guys do one on why Orthodox wingers who go wide and put in crosses are no longer used?

[@thesidewaysfreak7848]

I can give you a short description, you don’t see teams employing this method anymore becuase nowadays footbal has strayed away from having that big target man or even two up top to head crosses in and hold up the ball, now most teams favor a type of striker that is quick, adept at holding up the ball and create chances for his other teammates. This is why you see more and more inverted wingers in footbal, you have a better chance of cutting inside and creating a chance from attacking midfield then you do blindly sending in a cross that’ll probably be headed away by the first or second defender. This is why you saw Bayern dominate footbal for a bit. They were the pioneers of inverted wingers and really used Robben and Ribery to their advantage. Many examples of this are Bailey, Dembele, Dealafeu, etc.

[@EmersonWW]

It's making a comeback actually. One reason is that we realised how terrible crossing was, after the influence of Guardiola's first Barca team, in the Premiership, the average cross was more likely to yield a goal for the opposition on the break, than it was for the team with possession to score from the cross, it was close to breakeven. This isn't because crossing is inherently bad, it's because teams had gotten smaller (and harder working) but still crossed like they used to, and also teams had better counter attacking schemes. Schemes like Leicester's the other year and the increasing pace of top tier football will lead to a resurgence of crossing, 442s, strength/stamina/mileage and bigger forwards, it's all cyclical. What definitely will happen is football becoming less technical, in fact apart from a few outliers this is already apparent since the 90s, simply because you have less kids playing in the street 10 hours a day. Look at the top 25 pure playmakers today and compare them to 20 years ago, the pace is faster sure and they're quicker/better in other areas but they have nowhere near the touch.

[@rcarl1473]

They actually did a video on this. Can't remember exact title but its there

[@EmersonWW]

Interesting, only discovered this show today, will have to find that video. Something I spent a lot of time thinking about ten years ago when I had to watch Bacary Sagna throw 20 crosses a game to nobody and see us loop the ball to the back post from corners/free-kicks against Stoke and Bolton and Blackburn.

[@nitpicker9406]

Those are called wing-backs now.

[@ROCKSTAR3291]

That's why I miss the 90's and early 2000's, so many great pairs of strikers. I think the success of Mourinho's counter attacking football and Pep Guardiola's possession football in the last 10 - 15 years really changed the game.

[@AlessandroBaroni]

Wonderful analysis. Ventura's Italia was a 442 with two similar strikers (Immobile and Belotti) and it failed badly

[@nomoreserfs]

Personally I like having only 3 in the back, so a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2 are my favorite formations.

[@thelinedrive]

If you have the personnel on the back line to do it, yeah

[@nomoreserfs]

@@thelinedrive When I played as a youth we did a 3-3-4. It was surprisingly successful since we had 4 forwards and scored a lot putting teams on their heals early. We didn't do it all the time, but we did it to get early goals and start fast.

[@thelegendarygenius9375]

Please do Mourinho's CL winning Porto of 2004.

[@digvijaykole6746]

Park the bus and attack on the counter that's it nothing else

[@GeraldoSebastianAL]

If SAF still manage MU, 442 must've been still popular now

[@ipannzzvideos9024]

Maybe no, because the last year he managed united, 4-2-3-1 became his main form....i think he tried to adapt nowdays football

[@helenioherera3614]

And now we have a lautaro and lukaku

[@kidkaka1787]

I think England would have benefited massively if southgate played 442 with Kane alongside Vardy keeping vardy high and drift wide while Kane likes to drop deep to collect and create. Kane as the lone striker was very isolated and frustrated.

[@Augastine1]

Scarcity of prolific strikers ...that’s y ..

[@pc8679]

Nice video, I enjoyed it but it’s important to know that in the classic 442 one striker would be a playmaker (10) and the other would be a goal poacher (9). In your video you made it appear as though both strikers had to be goal poachers inorder for it to be considered a 442.

[@guardianuruguayoguardian1761]

Uruguay was the most complete team at this World Cup. All-around solid and fluid formations along with amazing chemistry and understanding of each other's roles and positioning made them the most dangerous team. Copa América will be their redemption after being unable to take the WC this year. Suarez-Cavani left me breathless against Portugal.

[@ericaugusto758]

What i missed about 4 4 2 is the "crosser" winger and those huge towering target man The game changes a lot in just a decade I still remember those "assister winger"

[@jtte1234567891011]

Not to be butthurt or anything but it would have been intresting if you would've brought up Sweden! We use two genuine strikers, where Toivonen may be slightly better in the air and Berg slightly better with the feet, but generally speaking I would call them quite similar strikers. In my analysis, the reason this works is that both of them drops back to defend almost always sitting in front of the offensive midfielders. Position-wise, Sweden is so hard to break down. Janne has adapted a strict system where everybody has their part of the pitch to cover. The ones creating the space and starting the counter-attacks is in our case Forsberg and Claesson, two offensive-midfielders playing as wingers. Both of them are prone to cut inside because of their habit to play more central in the pitch. Anyways, thanks for yet another intresting video!

[@tortoisetamer486]

A part of football is slowly dying without a forward pairing Klinnsmann . Voller Romario .Bebeto Yorke.Cole Sutton.Shearer McCoist. Hately Shearer.Sheringham 😢

[@nopethnks3649]

Peek aboo Please Watch my video also and comment

[@eashan7297]

NEXRIO NETWORK no

[@donaldrussell8920]

Peek aboo Klinnsman & Sheringham 🤔

[@tortoisetamer486]

Donald Russell yip mate Sheringham & Klinnsmann 😉 how could i forget 👍

[@yourdadhasadogfilter2505]

The backpass was once a staple of football. Things change and evolve

[@Andiiyo49]

At the beginning of the 1 man striker or false nine era, it was very intersting to watch, how the system worked. But now, it is getting boring, because most teams want posession, that they forget to attack the goal. I still like the idea of two strikers.

[@kingplatform2255]

Japan is completely the opposite. They don't care about dominating possession. They just score goals with the very little possession they have

[@orueom7720]

Informative video guys! Really did make me view them from a tactical mindset, I honestly just thought they selected the two best strikers and left them to figure themselves out attacking wise but mandated them to perform their defensive roles

[@elmaravilla3693]

Wenger's 4-4-2 was the most dominant.

[@lasonrisadeacero]

Salas & Zamorano in Chile in the 90s were a superb pair of attackers... I miss them 🙄🇨🇱

[@viniciusalmeida9754]

Loved Ibrahimovic / Trezeguet at Juventus.

[@msdm83]

Correct, the system is too static. Wingers are pushed too wide and often recieve the ball too deep, with the current level of fitness defenders they can track back to cover. Two CMs are difficult to balance the centre mid and leaves it vulnerable to the counter and bring over run. Attacking 4-4-2 can leave too much of a gap between mid and attack and easier to counter with a nature defence. 442 is also more difficult to run overlaps and isolating the defensive full banks.

[@Darwinek]

The question should be "what happened to 4-2-4?" Ah those were the days...

[@JG-ib7xk]

Darwinek Japan played it against Belgium.

[@tomaszantochow8391]

Or the 3-4-4 :D

[@muhammadtarunaaldiramadan248]

@David Clinging dont forget the 0-1-9 attacking formation that barcelona used againts chelsea in champions semifinal 2012

[@msgna421]

I am glad I found this channel:)

[@stormysamreen7062]

Another *GREAT* video on my favourite 442 subject, allowed me to switch to 433. You can make your videos better by providing actual match replays. They tend to explain themselves.

[@mlb5890]

Mujahid Syed problem with replays is copyright

[@BlazinBlz]

If I were a manager, I would try to bring back 2 strikers, all of the formations I like have 2, 4-4-2 (classic) 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow (gives good solidify in midfield and if the midfield 4 move as a block can be hard to break down, and the 4-3-1-2 (gives both good defensive and offensive cover)

[@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506]

Uruguay are the best team at the world cup as of now.

[@yungstevie9]

Aspiring manager here, You guys really help. Keep it up!

[@ericshan6041]

Inter is now a 2 striker team with 2 classic strikers in the 3-5-2 formation

[@mahessara]

4-4-2 is an old tactic and favorite during 2000s, but everything change at 2009 when pep guardiola introduce false 9 and triangle form pass (tiki taka), the peak was 2011 final Man United against Barcelona, then after that the football changes become more modern and different apporach, now the basic tactic is 4-3-3 which is same like 4-4-2 at that time.

[@xanatgarcia9241]

Wolves also have adapted this system with jota and Jimenez at front

[@footystudio4696]

4-4-2 is the best tactic when you have the players for it. It gives balance and makes the team more stable. The block is always compact whether in attack or defense.

[@Villainous98]

Great insight boys. I saw what u r talkin about in the pressure system by Uruguay. Suarez and cavani have a strong work rate.

[@dilink23]

I use a 442 with a diamond in the middle , A CDM in front of the back four , 2 wingers with a CAM up the middle and two strikers up top . A pacey striker and a Target man up top

[@WizardofChrist]

Thats Atletico

[@flatearthfatboy9589]

Salas and zamarano Romario and bebeto

[@comic_food_guy]

I am no guru, but I play FIFA 20 on PS4 (21 is expensive). I began a managerial career with Arsenal with Arteta, (found a creation tutorial on KZbin because I am terrible at those things). I used a two man front with Auba and Pepe and it has worked well, and fun to play. However I lined Pepe behind Auba and use four mids and four backs due to a lack of depth. I also have alternate formations that move Pepe’s position to a staggered spot and level with Auba which has helped my simulation become more successful. Also, another exceptional video with quality analysis. ❤️🙏🏽

[@morganelmi]

Another banger

[@maximreality7002]

Morgan hawk but very stupid . Wasnt yo daddy a famous clown in Nevada though? He used to be so damn funny after he drinks couple of beers. We used to call him Dickhead Morgan . Wasnt dat him?

[@docharry999]

Fernando torres and david villa used to be the two strikers spain used so successfully but things change with time and so did spain’s formation.

[@Timliu92]

I miss the 2 striker system sometimes - a lot of great teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s use it to wonderful effect. United's Yorke-Cole, Arsenal's Bergkamp-Henry, Real Madrid's Raul-R9, Milan's Sheva-Inzaghi, and Juve's Alex Del Piero-Trezegol are some of my favorite striking duos from that era.

[@siu281]

Real Madrid quite much followed a two man striker system towards the end of the 2016-17 season. Bale was injured and Benzema and Ronaldo would start up front. It wasnt a traditional two man striker set up though.. Benzema would drop deeper and help in the build up play more often than Ronaldo who was tasked with finishing..

[@henryde771]

I believe City should try to play with both Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland

[@alibabi7648]

really well made video, the content is just amazing, the narration is also good, however im just here wondering two things, how long does it take you to make this videos and what software do you use to make them.

[@ilikesports9600]

Sweden uses a 4-4-2

[@nopethnks3649]

I Love Sports Please Watch my video also and comment

[@evantansimore7634]

isn't one a shadow striker? A pure 4-4-2 like Uruguay who have 2 legitimate, equal opportunity strikers up front are the only team left in the tournament that attack like this. I think Sweden uses a main forward and a shadow forward.

[@nocternalD]

Evan Tansimore Toivonen can play shadow striker but hes so shit now hes better at holding uo for Berg to run onto.

[@y0Xandoo]

In defence, yes. In attack and build-up, though, Toivonen acts more like a shadow forward, often dropping a bit deeper than Berg to collect the ball.

[@eliad6543]

I'd love to see a video about the various many types of 4-3-3's and their various purposes. Cheers guys!

[@joeyladd8841]

Lol a Two-man striker team just won the WC! Good video tho watched it ages ago just scrolled past it again and thought I would leave this comment.

[@PoucoHabilidoso]

Flamengo and River played with 2 strikers last libertadores and both reached the final. In the brazilian league 18 out of 20 teams use 4231, which I think is a shame

[@foolhardymcpain]

Video suggestion: Russia 2018 - Why Football is Coming Home

[@tyrkun1624]

Good One.

[@MrLeventepeter1]

Great video as usual... thank you!

[@BENS19777]

How about a ‘how england can beat Sweden/get beaten by Sweden.

[@pabloparada9957]

BENS19777 nice try Mr. Southgate

[@BENS19777]

Pablo Parada worth a try

[@EmersonWW]

Agree with all of this, Uruguay works because the strikers are so complete, Cavani up front for Palermo or wide-right for Napoli was perhaps the hardest working forward at the time and Suarez is of course up there in terms of movement and effort on both ends. You can overcome a lot of creative deficiencies with pure mileage. I've actually wanted to see M'Baye Niang up front in a 4-4-2 for some time and was excited when Arsenal were linked after his loan at Watford as it may have allowed us to change up the shape but it didn't materialize. Torino need to utilise this with Niang-Belotti up front and more defensive options on the wings. In theory he's more effective than Zaha was for palace there because he's built better for holdup, even if he's not as traditionally strong, dangerous drifting to receive the ball wide-left but also quick enough to run beyond on the break. Doesn't hurt that he'd have Belotti beside him who is as complete as any striker. Son-Kane is another one that would work very well in a vacuum, Spurs can't employ it though they don't have the personnel elsewhere.

[@gogorecords89]

Best teams with 442 1987- 90 AC Milan (Saghi) 1991- 94 AC Milan (Capelo) 1997 - 00 Man United ( Fergunson) 2000 - 2003 Arsenal (Wenger) 2002- 07 AC Milan (Ancelotti) 2008 - 12 Spain National Team

[@ins0mniac756]

Ancelotti's Milan neither

[@vuki11]

well, it seems that someone from clubs are listening and watching this channel. There are so many teams now who play with two strikers, mostly from Bundesliga - TSG Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig, Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Eintracht. Maybe you can make a video about formation with 3 defenders, and why is now maybe the most common and popular. 5-3-2 by RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim, or 5-2-1-2 by Eintracht. This formations also have BIG downgrades - no classical wingers or inside forwards, only wide wing backs. There is too much work for wing backs, maybe you can explain how important is that role in modern football. I know a little bit about football, right now im working as a sport journalist, and in the past i play for few clubs in Serbia. Keep up the good work Tifo Football, or as I like to call you - Tacticpedia

[@Czech_Chaser]

Easy Answer: Pep Guardiola The man literally changed the game with his 2009 squad with the likes of holding possession with quick and fast passes. So many other teams have tried replicating the tactics and most failed but some like Liverpool (2019) and Man City (2018-2020) are really going great.

[@testtiger0034]

Lmao, nonsense

[@pashapasovski5860]

It really depends on what kind of player's are in the team! Neymar, Messi and Suarez were 3,now with Coutinho, it's back to 10- 9!

[@njclondon2009]

your nationality always puzzles me when I watch your (excellent) videos. you speak perfect english, you sound english, but you pronounce some words in a very non-english way. case in point for this video is, 'hodg-e-son'. we say 'hodg-son'. there are many other examples in other videos, but none spring to mind as i write this. never mind, i still love your videos. i just find it curious.

[@njclondon2009]

got another...irish midfielder ray houghton. you pronounce it 'ray hew-ton', not 'ray how-ton'?

[@godfreemorals]

Maybe they're an android, or other form of artificial intelligence from the future?

[@BadgerOff32]

I think its just a regional English accent. Some words are pronounced slightly differently depending on where you live. For example, in the south of England where I'm from, most people pronounce "bath" as bar-th, whereas up north they would pronunce it as ba-th. Very similar, but slightly different inflections to the word give them a different sound.

[@ukbanterclips1465]

Peter Badger no one says hodgerson instead of hodgson regardless of regional accent in the uk😂😂

[@christianjacks0n]

Great video! Would love to see more analysis of tactical formations.

[@christiansimanjorang5224]

Curious Case of Milan's Ancelotti, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf; Kaka; Inzaghi and Shevchenko You cant say that Gattuso and Seedorf are Wingers 😎 Also Roma' Capello with Cafu, Tomassi, Emerson, Candela; Totti; Batistuta, Delvechio 👍

[@euro20049]

Love your videos, could plz make Empoli tactics? They absolutely crushed the Serie B

[@nopethnks3649]

Shono Please Watch my video also and comment

[@pontuspanflojt]

Have you watched Sweden this World Cup?

[@nopethnks3649]

Pontus Andersson Please Watch my video also and comment

[@Spooksy_]

NEXRIO NETWORK Your videos are shit no one cares about you and your garbage channel...

[@deveshpandey7489]

Spookyz H he said please, if you don't wanna watch it, then don't.

[@kaneharris7167]

1:12 Roy 'Hodgerson' lol

[@kaneharris7167]

HODGSON FOR GODSAKE

[@cd889]

Real Madrid also used a classic 442 formation in a lot of games this season

[@iknowitscheezy]

Carlo Deledda they did but Cristiano would drift wide sometimes.

[@cd889]

Alejandro Chavez yeah the attack duo's position was very fluid. Cristiano often drifted wide during the build up of the attacks and Benzema often dropped very deep or provided dummy runs in order to create space for Cris to score. But it was particularly efficient because they mostly attacked wide with very pacy wide mfs (Asensio, Vazquez, Bale when put in his natural position) and fullbacks who can pinpoint crosses into the box

[@iknowitscheezy]

Carlo Deledda yeah I really liked how Benzema would drop deep to create space for the team. Yet he was criticized heavily for not scoring lots of goals.

[@cd889]

Alejandro Chavez I think that's mainly because before he could. He used to score a lot but he missed a lot of ridicolously easy chances this year, often costing heavy losses in La Liga. He retained his technical abilities with the ball but he isn't lethal anymore when it comes to score goals.

[@mrmkrocker]

not a classic 442, but they've been using some variation of the 442 including the 442 diamond for a while now.

[@1908d2]

I loved this video. You give great info. I increase my football knowledge with you. Thanks for all that you do.

[@avengerex]

Brilliant.

[@rhodigian]

Not a huge News: Italy's most famous 442s (Sacchi's Milan, and Italy's National team in usa 94) used respectively Van Basten + Gullit, and Casirachi + Roberto Baggio, one orward, and one "half forward".

[@JG-ib7xk]

Why do you keep pronouncing it "Hodg-er-son"? It's Hodgson, so pronounce it Hodgson.

[@orveus6267]

Quality commentary and analysis! Amazing video!

[@footballophileinaeternum5344]

*The deadliest duo would be Heskey and Bendtner*

[@kieran9882]

Sturridge and suarez was a great partnership in Liverpools diamond, but Along with sterling it was probably 3 shadow strikers with no pure striker

[@hb3393]

Hodgerson..?

[@mmmike3426]

This is the best football video I've ever watched. Thanks so much!

[@dmonleon24]

uruguay

[@craigseddon4884]

I think fans get too caught up in formations because of games like Football Manager or FIFA, 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 4-4-1-1, 4-2-3-1, 4-2-2-2 and 4-3-3 are all slightly different way of explaining the same tactic, it depends more on the personnel teams have rather than a desired formation, and also depends on how the manager wants to defend. If you have a high press then teams tend to have the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 with two wingers and the striker pressing with the attacking midfielder cutting passing lanes, Burnley's tactic could be 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 depending on how you personally view each players role. And the formation is fluid between transitions in play, you could defend with a 4-5-1 break out of defence into a 4-2-3-1 and finish the attack with a 4-3-3, so little is the difference between these systems.

[@car7000]

I want Uruguay to win it

[@miz5138]

Hey Tifo! How bout a video on the decline of the “traditional playmaker “ or the “classic No.10 role”