Square pegs in round holes for now, but in the future...?
Another The Swansea Way debut today, with our new resident stats guru looking at whether our new formation is being used with a view to next season, and getting the most out of both Michu AND Bony
To date, the four four two diamond has only worked in stops and starts. At times Routledge up front is just weird, and even the players in their natural positions (Rangel for example) are being asked to do a very different job. Are we up to another formation change?
When defending in a diamond, the space will always be to the side of the diamond and in front of the full backs, and at times we haven't looked like we know whose responsibility it is to pick up these areas. In my opinion there are two ways to deal with this - firstly, you can use your full backs to push up and meet the opposing full backs, leaving the opposition wide player to go into the space behind them where they are then picked up by the centre-backs, with Leon dropping in between the two centre-backs to form a 3-5-2. It's not something we've done yet, but it could start happening soon.
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| 4-4-2 Diamond to 3-5-2. Think of the black arrow heads as the new finishing positions. |
The other option is the strikers drop in to wide areas to make a six in midfield, with the attacking midfielder pressing the opposition centre-backs if needed.
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| The strikers could split, covering the spaces that are exposed when the wide players in the diamond tuck inside, making a six in midfield. |
There is another option - having four midfielders who are hard working, fit, creative, defensively minded and have the ability to play long passes accurately. We would need to sign Arturo Vidal four times over...
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| For this system, look at how Atletico Madrid have played under Diego Simeone. Although not always a diamond, the entire team presses the ball (red triangle) leaving the opponent with nowhere to go - if done correctly. |
Our wide players seemed to have the same defensive responsibility as our wingers would do in a 4-3-3/4-5-1, which meant that the centre of midfield was regularly left exposed. For example, when either Jonjo or Jono were caught out positionally, Leon was dragged in to helping the full backs as they were doubled up on, but there was nobody instinctively covering the DM hole.
This caused all sorts of problems, and not just when defending. When we did win the ball back in those situations, we had no ‘out ball’ and no solid shape to soak up the inevitable returning attack. That rotation of the diamond midfield is essential to its success and I would argue that you need players who can fulfil every role in the midfield area, as well as read the game both defensively and offensively. Again, we don’t have those Arturo Vidal's.
If Monk is using this system with a view to using Michu and Bony together next season, kudos to him for not only having the balls to change the system, but to also be thinking long term, knowing full well that he may not have been involved in the direction of the club. However, if he thinks this system is the answer to our problems with the currently available players, I’m a little concerned. I think the only player really comfortable in this midfield system is Leon; Pablo is a makeshift ten and although De Guzman and Jonjo are both CM’s, their roles are very different to a traditional central midfielder's.
Personally, I think there have been many improvements under Monk, but this system is going to need a lot of work on the training ground to have a chance of becoming effective long term, or we need to replace some of our first team midfield with players who have a deeper understanding of this system than the current group. Unless the solution really is to ask the two strikers to drop in to wide positions when defending to occupy the full backs, while the attacking midfielder pushes on to the centre-backs. As I write, I realise that would mean asking Michu to do a shift at left wing for long periods of games……
Ultimately, our aim for next season is to win 10-15 games, so with regards to defensive liabilities (mentioning no names), maybe it is less important than I am suggesting. This may be incredibly obvious, but if we find a way of scoring in every game, our chances of winning games is greatly increased. If our opposition is thinking, ’how do we stop ‘x’ scoring’, maybe that relieves us of a lot of defensive responsibility, as they are focusing on stopping us, rather than breaking us down.
Michu and Bony both playing as strikers could end up being the key to the 4-4-2 diamond working successfully. If the central midfield works to a degree which allows both to score goals, we could be on to a winner.
As long as we can finally persuade Michu to play up front, that is.