Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti will go with his tried and tested diamond formation. It's a peculiar strategy since it offers little width and puts significant demands on certain players. We discuss it here in some depth.
The advanced player behind the front two should expect little room to maneuver as he will be marked closely by the holding midfielder from the opposition. Consequently, any attacking midfielder will not do. Those whose game is based on movement, particularly from deep, would find it difficult to impose themselves from this position.
Instead, a more intricate player is required, one who can thread passes after 1 or 2 touches. Pace and ball skills are of added bonus since this would induce free kicks in dangerous positions. In Chelsea's case, it may therefore be more effective to employ a player like Deco as opposed to Lampard in this role.
Note, playing one behind two front men is different from playing 1 behind a single striker. The later situation offers more opportunities for movement than the prior.
Width is important as otherwise approach play becomes narrow and predictable. This is not something to be overlooked as highly skilled teams can suffer from this. Arsenal, for one, have intentionally concentrated their play down the center, which has caused opposition teams to pack the midfield. Liverpool too, over the last 18 months have shown excessive dependency on the Gerrard-Torres link up.
One way to offset this is to send the middle two in the diamond into wide areas when the team has possession. This can be problematic as these players are unlikely to be effective down the flanks and more importantly leave large spaces in the event of a counter attack.
Ideally, you compensate for a lack of width via your full backs. This sounds easier than it is. Your first concern as a manager doing this is whether your full backs are physically up to the task. Can Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa sustain trips up and down the pitch for 50 games in a season? Your second concern is the end product of these players, if their crossing or final ball is poor than what exactly is the point?
Most academies will educate young players to force opposition play down the sides as any resulting cross should be dealt with by the defense. The compelling argument for playing the diamond is that this process happens naturally.
The advanced player behind the front two should expect little room to maneuver as he will be marked closely by the holding midfielder from the opposition. Consequently, any attacking midfielder will not do. Those whose game is based on movement, particularly from deep, would find it difficult to impose themselves from this position.
Instead, a more intricate player is required, one who can thread passes after 1 or 2 touches. Pace and ball skills are of added bonus since this would induce free kicks in dangerous positions. In Chelsea's case, it may therefore be more effective to employ a player like Deco as opposed to Lampard in this role.
Note, playing one behind two front men is different from playing 1 behind a single striker. The later situation offers more opportunities for movement than the prior.
Width is important as otherwise approach play becomes narrow and predictable. This is not something to be overlooked as highly skilled teams can suffer from this. Arsenal, for one, have intentionally concentrated their play down the center, which has caused opposition teams to pack the midfield. Liverpool too, over the last 18 months have shown excessive dependency on the Gerrard-Torres link up.
One way to offset this is to send the middle two in the diamond into wide areas when the team has possession. This can be problematic as these players are unlikely to be effective down the flanks and more importantly leave large spaces in the event of a counter attack.
Ideally, you compensate for a lack of width via your full backs. This sounds easier than it is. Your first concern as a manager doing this is whether your full backs are physically up to the task. Can Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa sustain trips up and down the pitch for 50 games in a season? Your second concern is the end product of these players, if their crossing or final ball is poor than what exactly is the point?
Most academies will educate young players to force opposition play down the sides as any resulting cross should be dealt with by the defense. The compelling argument for playing the diamond is that this process happens naturally.
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