Formations in 90s/00s to now

GibbosEmpire

GibbosEmpire

Well-known member
In the 90s and 00s I feel most teams played 4-4-2 in a diamond with a number 10 or a straigt 4 in midfield, sometimes 4-2-3-1 but with the dying of the number 10 position that's almost gone. Now teams tend to play 4-3-3 and play out from the back, that was mainly down to Pep Guardiolas style of play. Is football more entertaining now, considering alot of teams play similarly? Are teams being found out more easily?
 
I’d say more teams played 433 than 4231 in the 00s due to Mourinho and the Makelele role. 4231 came along a bit later, again I think Mourinho was the inspiration.
 
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I think of the sweeper system as an 80s/90s thing. I don't think anyone plays that anymore.

I feel the game has become homogenised, with so much international movement. One of the joys of the WC was seeing how different styles matched up.

I think a variety of style is more interesting. Id like to think there will always be a long ball rough house team in the PL because very often it's been Bolton or Stoke who sorted the men from the boys in the title race. That said. I wouldn't want that team yo be us.

I don't think PG's style is particularly entertaining in itself. He knows this, but it depends on individual brilliance to make it work. Without that, you end up with Swansea, or some of the more mediocre Spain teams in recent memory.
 
We played with five at the back, more often than not, under Robson.

5 2 1 2, when TLF arrived. Probably before, with Higgy and Barmby up top.

Edit not 5 3 1 2 🤣
 
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Formations aren't really a thing anymore. Not as rigidly as they used to be anyway. A 4231 is not always the same as another 4231 for example. Player roles and team approach makes way more difference than the position players are stood when they kick off. For example we played the same formation that we do now under Karanka but they are completely different ways of playing.

Football is cyclical and there are innovators and followers. Pep is an innovator. He changes the way City play all the time and other teams follow and try to emulate it and then he moves on and does something else. Klopp was similar in that he brought the gegenpress to the PL and everyone's had to adapt to counter (and mimic) it. There will be something that comes along and counters these things and whoever does that best will be the next big thing. It could be a return to deep defending, direct football to big blokes up front or something completely new.
 
A lot of teams seem to have different shapes for in/out of possession.

I think that with the huge increase in athleticism over the past 20 years, formations aren't to be followed dogmatically when wingers and forwards are routinely getting back throughout the whole match and defenders are rushing to fill gaps in midfield.
 
How the teams press, counter press and transition is far more important than some abstract blackboard idea of where footballers stand as if in some military formation

The average position on the field would probbaly dictate more of a players actual position over 90 minutes rather than were they happen to be standing at kick off

I mean take Boro, half the board thinks we've played wingbacks in the last few games and half of them think it's been a 4-2-3-1, the reality is over 90 minutes you could
take a snapshot of the team overhead and have every possible formation imaginable being played at some point in the game
 
Yep there's probably at least 6 "phases" these days. The thirds of the pitch and in/out of possession. Actually could throw transition into each as well. That's 9. It's fluid. 😁
 
Fluid formations aren't a modern day thing. Look at Arsenal from that era with Bergkamp and Henry dropping into deeper positions and wide players breaking into forward positions.

Liverpool used to do it in the 80s and i'm sure we could think of teams and systems that were fluid in decades before. Players are fitter now than ever before and modern day footballers are more athletic but football hasnt been reinvented in the last decade. Things just evolve and many ideas are adapted from old styles anyway.

I think we sometimes forget how good players and coaches were from decades ago.
 
I'm very much with Carrick on this formation thing - it's all about zones of responsibility, where & when the ball / players are..

Formations is for commentators ese..
 
Uwefuchs said:
Fluid formations aren't a modern day thing. Look at Arsenal from that era with Bergkamp and Henry dropping into deeper positions and wide players breaking into forward positions.

Liverpool used to do it in the 80s and i'm sure we could think of teams and systems that were fluid in decades before. Players are fitter now than ever before and modern day footballers are more athletic but football hasnt been reinvented in the last decade. Things just evolve and many ideas are adapted from old styles anyway.

I think we sometimes forget how good players and coaches were from decades ago.
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The difference is there's more bull**** now. In the past you had Liverpool playing on the big match and saint and greavsie and that was it.

Now there's hours and hours to fill so the bull**** has had to expand.

Look at how the team lines up from a goalkick. That's your formation.
 
Hap said:
We played with five at the back, more often than not, under Robson.

5 2 1 2, when TLF arrived. Probably before, with Higgy and Barmby up top.
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I think it was a 4-3-2-1 with Hignett & Barmby the 'midget gems' (we aren't very good with nicknames are we?) behind Fjortoft.

Under McClaren we notionally lined up 4-4-2 but I always though Mendietta played narrow making it a 3 & allowing the RFB to overlap, with Downing pushed on on the other side.

LW __________CF______CF_________

_______CM_______CM_____RM__

LB__________CB_______CB___________RB
 
newusername said:
I think it was a 4-3-2-1 with Hignett & Barmby the 'midget gems' behind Fjortoft.

Under McClaren we notionally lined up 4-4-2 but I always though Mendietta played narrow making it a 3 & allowing the RFB to overlap, with Downing pushed on on the other side.

LW __________CF______CF_________

_______CM_______CM_____RM__

LB__________CB_______CB___________RB
Click to expand...
Robson nicked the Christmas tree formation from Terry Venables who he worked under for England at the time..
McLaren copied fergies 99 treble winning team. For Giggs scholes Keane Beckham read
Downing zenden boateng mendi.
 
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