4-4-2 Box Midfield

-Introduction

Brazil is known throughout the footballing world for producing players of incredible skill and flair. Pele, Zico, Ronaldinho, all world famous for their dazzling abilities with the ball at their feet. Many do not know, however, about the tactical innovations that the five-time world champions have introduced over the years. This project will focus on the 4-4-2 formation used at the club level in Brazil and by the Brazilian National Team when they won the FIFA World Cup at USA 1994, as well as training for this style of play.

-The 4-4-2 Box Midfield-

The Brazilian 4-4-2 consists of 4 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 2 attacking midfielders, and 2 forwards. Many describe the tactic as a 4-2-2-2. Indeed, even FM categorizes the tactic as a 4-2-2-2. In the real world, however, because of the way it moves it is NOT a 4-2-2-2, and we will see why as dissect this formation and the way it is utilized by clubs in real life, and how we can implement it into Football Manager 2007.

The basic function of this system is to have the midfield players begin in a central location. This accomplishes two things. First, it allows space on the flanks for players to move into. Wingbacks, attacking midfielders, and forwards can all move into this space to shake their markers. Secondly, it allows you to have numbers up in the center part of the midfield against most formations you will come up against. Versus a 4-3-3, even if all 3 mids are centrally located, you have a 4v3 advantage. Against a strait up 4-4-2 you will outnumber the opponent 4v2 in the central midfield. Typically, a teams playmaker is in the middle of the park. With so many defenders around him, it will become more difficult for him to create chances.

-1. Attacking Patterns

To begin we will analyze how the system works in real life. The box midfield is so effective at the club level because of the free flowing movements by the players. Here we see an example of the players' movement pattern in a build-up to the right:

If you notice the movements here, the shape becomes a 4-3-3 as it enters the opponents half. The strong side attacking midfielder moves into the advanced flank area, as the forward pair make slight movements toward the weak side. The holding midfielder on the strong side moves up and takes up an attacking midfield role that has been vacated by the attacking midfield's movement to the flank. Obviously designed pattern such as this one can be difficult to replicate in Football Manager given the instructions that we the gamers have. However, we can setup our 4-4-2 Box Midfield tactic in such a way that these movements are at least possible. Here you can see the above pattern loosely executed in a match I played in the following 2 examples:
First, the right side:

In that example we see the right fullback has already made a cross to the opposite forward who has began a run to goal. Now, we see an example to the left side:

Here we the left fullback has attempted a through ball to the strong side forward. In both cases, if you look closely, you can see the 4-3-3 shape the squad has made in both examples.

Another similar attack pattern has the two forwards moving wide, allowing the attacking midfielders to fill in the space. Here is a diagram of how the pattern is executed in real life:

Again we see the free flowing movement into the 4-3-3 shape. This pattern is a little more tricky to consistently accomplish in FM, but we will discuss possible variations to the tactic that make it possible later on in the discussion.

-2. Defensive Movements

The first reaction most players have to the look of the 4-4-2 Box Midfield is, "but doesn't it get killed on the flanks?"

While it is true that the space in front of the fullbacks is initially left open, a pass to a player in that space will be closed down. All players on the strong side of the field will move over to pressure, while the weak side players will step back to cover and support, creating a "see-saw" motion:

The opposing player with the ball is now left with limited passing options because all of the central location of the supporting midfield defenders. He is either forced to whip a hopeful ball into the area, make a long switch across the field, or try to force a pass into the tightly packed midfield.

-3. The Defensive Diamond

The defensive diamond in the back is another characteristic of this system. As we have already seen, the formation moves as a see-saw when defending. This means the last player should always be the weakside center back. This diamond shape, illustrated below, allows for covering and support in the back:

-4. The 4-4-2 Box Midfield in Football Manager 2007 ©

You’ve seen enough of the theories and the real life execution, now you want to know how the tactic itself is recreated in Football Manager 2007©. Well, as I stated earlier due to the limitations we have, an identical replication isn't possible. However, we can transfer a few of the principles of the strategy into the game. First, the formation. There are a few possible setups, but for the purposes of this project we will work from the shape used by AI managers in the game when playing a 4-4-2 Box Midfield. This formation is made up of a flat back four, 2 defensive midfielders, and center midfielders. Instead of side arrows on the attack minded midfielders, we have given them forward arrows as well as forward arrows on the fullbacks as well. Here is a shot of the tactic in-game:

What made the 4-4-2 Box so effective for the Brazilian National Team was it's defensive organization. That has been the primary focus of this project; to create a tactic that is solid defensively and allows your attackers to create and finish chances. There are a few important things to keep in mind when using this tactic. First of all, the right forward is meant to be the big targetman type striker. The left forward is meant to be the quicker of the two. He will also drop back into the midfield more to try and win balls. A high work rate is important in this tactic, particularly in the midfield. This is because they are going to have so much ground to cover, both defensively and offensively.

The tactic utilizes a short passing, slow build up style of play. The formation is narrow to help with passing options as well to keep a tight, compact defensive shape.

Included in the download are two tactics: the normal tactic and a counter attacking version. The counter version has a quicker tempo and a bit longer passing. I use it when playing away from home.

[ 本帖最后由 calvinzhang 于 2007-2-14 12:20 AM 编辑 ]

美国fm知名玩家山姆大叔的Tactics构想