Roy Hodgson hasn’t had much of his work applauded in his time as Liverpool boss, not least with his decision to use a two-man attack in front of two banks of four. But, less the specifics tactics, is this potentially the best formation for Liverpool?
If not for the recent snow fall, Liverpool – Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool – would be half way through the domestic season. There’s no surprise, then, that some of the dabbling the former Inter manager has done to his new team’s formation hasn’t paid off. A 4-2-3-1 (or 4-4-1-1 depending on individual perception) like the former boss, Rafa Benitez’s was used early on in the season. To disastrous effects, a 4-4-2 was completely outplayed by Manchester City in the second game of the season (the match ended a comfortable 3-0 to City), yet it was against champions Chelsea when 4-4-2 was first played to any success. Since Liverpool have enjoyed mixed results, which most notably fluctuates according to whether they are playing home or away.
The Manchester City game was largely because of the midfield being completely outnumbered. Kuyt and Jovanovic, the wingers on that day, were forced to come in narrow and help Lucas and Gerrard. This was not planned and Liverpool looked clueless; there was a defined split between midfield and attack, but there was no plan on how to join the two.
Against Chelsea, Liverpool once again fielded a narrow midfield. Meireles, a central midfielder, played on the right while Maxi, a right-footer, played on the left. It worked, though, as defensive surety against the champions is of more importance than against the likes of Blackpool (who had beaten Liverpool 2-1). Liverpool didn’t concede because of this, but they won because Hodgson played Kuyt just off Torres. The two linked together well in what transformed into a 4-4-1-1 a lot of the time. Torres scored two, the first being created by strike-partner Kuyt.
The best performance of the season, however, was a game in which none of Torres, Gerrard or Carragher played in – against Aston Villa. This is where my proposed formation was played. Meireles and Lucas played like they’ve been a partnership for years, the former acting as the primary creative force, and the latter as the anchoring midfielder. Kuyt and Maxi played very narrowly; without the ball they forced Villa into mistakes, but when the team was with the ball they came up between the central midfielders and the two attackers. Space on the width was found by either one of the strikers. Like Villarreal’s Nilmar and Rossi under Juan Carlos Garrido, Babel and Ngog drifted to the wings to find space. To make another comparison, the strikers were playing like Robinho in Brazil’s 4-4-2 diamond/4-2-3-1.
This is just a bare look at the formation Hodgson should use. The passing style, pressing and so on is another matter (Liverpool used a noteworthy short-passing game in the win against Villa). But any qualms with a continuation of 4-4-2 like above would not be found with me.
