Has Leicester City and Atletico Madrid’s similar use of the 4-4-2 brought it back to footballing fashion?

There was an ephemeral moment in the “Mike Basset: England Manager” in which Ricky Tomlison ends a rousing rendition of the poem “If” (Rudyard Kipling) with the bold statement: “England will be playing be four-four-f*cking-two.” Hilarious as this was it seems, this season, in particular, that 4-4-2 is not to be taken lightly.

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Leicester City, recently crowned Premier League champions, have adopted a 4-4-2 under Claudio Ranieri and are joint 1st in terms of clean sheets in the League while over in Spain, Villareal, who utilise the same formation have only conceded 12 goals at home, less than Barcelona, Real Madrid, Leicester, Tottenham and Manchester City.

The highly praised Atletico Madrid have, again, made the Champions League final and boast the best defensive record across the five major European leagues, they too use a 4-4-2. Sir Alex Ferguson never bothered with a false 9 or trequartista and dominated English football for over a quarter-century.

Simply put, when 4-4-2 is utilised correctly it is absolutely devastating. The crowning of Leicester City, as Premier League champions, represented a fundamental shift in the world of football. This was the season that money-laden clubs were toppled by a vicious combination of hard-work and team-work on a consistent basis. It is the kind of unimaginable story that would have been laughed at in “Roy of the Rover” comics for implausibility. Nonetheless, Leicester City have toppled Premier League ‘Goliath’s’ and sit on top of the world, with a Barclays Premier League trophy to the side of them.

The backbone of this seemingly impossible feat is Ranieri’s 4-4-2 system. Leicester went through a four-game period (March 3rd) of 1-0 victories and these victories were not based on fortune, chance or lucky decisions, but rather through a ferocious application of discipline and energy. This is epitomised by the relentless pressing by one N’golo Kante and the virtually impenetrable blend of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan.

The rigidity of the squad and this seemingly embedded system is amplified when you compare Leicester’s 2-1 loss to Arsenal on Valentine’s Day, with Tottenham’s draw with Chelsea (2nd May 2016) which handed them the title. After taking a two-goal lead before half-time, Spurs had an ample opportunity to take a leaf out of Leicester’s book – stay organised, don’t concede and continue to keep their title rivals under pressure. The game was then marred by a series of robust challenges, and petty fighting. Eric Dier could have been sent off for three reckless challenges while Moussa Dembele received a 6 game ban for clawing Diego Costa’s face. Tottenham also broke the record for the most yellow cards received in a match (9).

When Leicester had full-back Danny Simpson sent off, rather unfairly, against Arsenal the team did not rush into challenges and did not panic, but remained organised and were unlucky to have been beaten by a stoppage-time Danny Welbeck header. When they were deadlocked against Manchester United, in a game that could have sealed the title with a Leicester victory, they did not needlessly commit players forward and remained calm and were content to not over-commit. This has been the small, yet decisive difference, between Leicester and the rest of the Premier League.

Although entertaining, it’s somewhat bemusing to watch Liverpool tactically out-work themselves in a Chuckle Brothers-esque game of “to me, to you”, to secure a fruitful 5-4 victory against relegation-threatened Norwich. In a similar vein, in the most recent North London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal, Spurs scored two goals to overturn the deficit, and then conceded again by allowing Alexis Sanchez to equalize. On that same day, Leicester scored a single goal against Watford, shut up shop and took another three points back to the King Power. Leicester has thrived in their mission to achieve a consistently rigid and organized performance. They remained confident in themselves, and their team-mates, and stuck to their game plan, playing a 90 minute game of smash and grab, being content to sit back and not lose their heads, allowing them to achieve great things.

They have qualified for the Champions’ League while also reaching the semi-final of the Europa League, only to be stunned by a similarly well drilled Liverpool side. But Champions League qualification is only a minor footnote this season when one take’s into account their almost absurd defensive record at home. 

They belong to a league where Barcelona and Real can decimate anyone by a margin of 5+ goals on any given weekend, and where Atletico simply refuse to let the ball cross their goal line. They belong to a league where the sheer size and volume of Camp Nou, Santiago Bernabeu, and Vicente Calderon mirrors that of a Nirvana concert. Though this league is dominated by three of the best teams in Europe, Villarreal have managed, on a consistent basis, to concede fewer goals at home than most of Europe’s elite, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, who have played with a defensive pairing of  Otamendi and Mangala costing almost £60million and Roma who are competing for the runners-up spot with Napoli in the Serie A. 

To put this achievement in perspective, they have conceded the same amount of goals, at home, as PSG, a team that exercise a monopoly power over the rest of their league opponents, bar Monaco, who have returned to a youth-focused growth strategy as oppose to mass spending. The dominant force of French football, PSG, coasted to a Ligue 1 title, finishing 27 points clear at the top. To put their season in another context, they achieved what the almighty Bayern Munich could not and beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 in their 3rd home game of the season. Villarreal then also held them to a 0-0 draw in the return fixture at the Vicente Calderon. 3 months later they also went on to beat Los Blancos in another dogged 1-0 victory. They have beaten Napoli in the Europa League and put in a resolute performance to hold Barcelona to a 2-2 draw at home. 

One could make the case that they might just be, one of the most under-rated teams in Europe. Again, Villareal are based on an extremely well balanced 4-4-2 system and their style is emblematic of Atletico’s and Leicester’s “smash and grab” system. They experienced a somewhat dominant period from 30th January – 10th March in which they only conceded 2 goals in ten games, a time where they faced both Atletico Madrid and Napoli. 

They have also unearthed an extremely dangerous forward in Cedric Bakumba, who reached the 20-goal mark in early April and is the 2nd top scorer in the Europa League with more goals than Aubameyang and Marco Reus.

Their achievements are not the fairy tales of Atletico and Leicester, but their ability to frustrate, and achieve victory against world-class teams regularly deserves thunderous applause.

4-4-2 is not strictly reserved for the glitz and glamour of European football – it also belongs in the purgatory of mid-table, where foundations are, quietly, being built for the future. Watford’s recent performances are a far cry from the first half of the season. Odion Ighalo began the season in prolific form and was a fantasy footballer’s dream. 

While their Nigerian hitman was doing the business at the top-end of the field, Quique Sanchez Flores team as a collective, after only 20 games, were 4 points behind Manchester United and boasted a better goal difference than Liverpool. Unfortunately, they have experienced a rather unfortunate slump in form and have only taken a mere 8 points from their last 10 league games. But again, this does not detract from the fact they have had an extremely successful season. 

A number of key performances highlight Flores’ 4-4-2 system which, especially against top opposition, is extremely effective. A 2-1 victory over FA Cup holders Arsenal, a 3-0 December drubbing of Klopp’s Liverpool, two draws against former Premier League holders Chelsea, and a semi-final appearance in the FA Cup demonstrate the promoted sides success. 

Again, Flores’ team are an underrated story that has been lost in the behemoth labyrinth of ‘the miracle season’. The physicality of the strike partnership of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo has proved to be a handful for most Premier League opposition, and their ability to shut-out top-flight offense, having kept 11 clean sheets this campaign, is an extremely impressive feat, considering that they were 2nd in the Championship this time last year. A transfer window of smart spending is required for Watford to build on a hugely impressive campaign. Watford’s fans will hope Ighalo can find consistency next season and with added squad depth, they will hope The Hornet’s won’t slump in the 2nd half of the season again.

At the core, however, Watford have a wonderfully balanced squad with a solid foundation upon which to build for the future. It is not inconceivable that they could finish in the top half of the Barclays Premier League next season and even challenge for another domestic trophy. So if any manager next season says that they will be playing 4-4-2, heed the prophecy of Mike Basset: Four-Four-F*cking-Two.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Alex Hannam.