Tinkering with Formations – Exciting times in Europe

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November 8, 2012 by Archy

A classic European night is the best description of what we witnessed at Stamford Bridge the other night. Talent, Tactics, mistakes and a brilliant refereeing display (except for the penalty decision against Chelsea which has been forgotten as Chelsea won) all but added up to a brilliant spectacle for the neutrals.

Chelsea lined up at home with their new offensive 4-2-3-1 which in its own right is a formation that does not exist in any textbook thus far. With free roles given to the attacking triplet of Hazard, Mata & Oscar, Chelsea have moved on from parking the bus to playing not one playmaker but three. Though it is still a work in progress as the blues are leaking goals at the back especially from wide areas, how the triplet bring balance to this entertaining system remains to be seen.

Their opponents on the night- Shakhtar lined up on paper in an orthodox 4-2-3-1 but went back to the Danubian (Search danubian football in wiki for more details) roots while attacking with a pyramid formation the 2-3-5 (2-1-2-5) , Hubschman the CDM dropping in between the Centre backs. The wing backs bombed forward on every opportunity and put on a blistering display especially due to the amount of space that region of the field possessed. With Ramires and Mikel having to deal with the industrious Fernandinho and Mkhatariyan (Who had a poor game by his standards) in the centre of the pitch and Chelsea’s wide backs kept busy with the flamboyant Willian and Alex Teixeira, Srna and Rat had acres of space in wide areas of the pitch. With Shankhtar producing a wonderful display of quick one touch football and Chelsea’s attacking mentality; it was of no surprise both the goals originated from wide areas of the pitch.

We live in an age where every three out of four teams play with an attacking variant of a 4-3-3 with un-orthodox wide players and in such a small world with video footage and media available of all the teams around the world especially in Europe, it is surprising to say the least that a team can line up attackingly with a 2-1-2-5 taking the opposition manager by surprise. A defensive 4-5-1 would suffice against such an attacking formation but that is exactly what Chelsea were/are lacking because they do have the personnel. Against an orthodox 4-4-2 of Manchester United; Chelsea could not cope with the wide players on the right (Valencia & Rafael with the first two goals coming from the right, coincidence!). If it was not for Pyatov, the worst player on the field by a mile, The defending champions would be on the brink of elimination after last night. Chelsea need to find a balance between their attacking triplet and their entire system while Shakhtar (especially Pyatov) have to keep their concentration levels high In defence if they are progress to the latter stages this season.

The Hirnyky (miners) from Ukraine would have won the hearts of many with their footballing display last night, especially in Eastern Europe where times have been tough after the legendary Hungarian team of the 50’s. Exciting times awaits us in Europe if the likes of Shakhtar and BVB (Who have their own variant of the 4-5-1) qualify for the latter stages of this year’s competition.

Aamer Aslam