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The 4-4-2 is probably the most popular and commonly used of all the soccer formations in the modern game.

It basically involves one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders and two strikers and all these players should be positioned as shown in the disgram.

So the defence therefore consists of a left back, a right back and two centre backs. The midfield then is made up of a left midfielder (or winger), a right midfielder (or winger) and two central midfielders- one of whom will probably be more defensive than the other.

And that’s really what the 4-4-2 is. But there must be some advantages to using this soccer formation if it is so popular mustn’t there? Absolutely!

Four defenders: you are well covered at the back without detracting from the numbers you need in attack. If you hadfive defenders then you may not have as many attackers as you’d like, but with this there is a good balance.

As for the midfield, in soccer it is crucial to dominate your opponents in the middle of the park because then you can direct the game. Four in midfield gives you sufficient numbers in midfield and should cover both wide positions and central ones. Perfect! As for up front, two strikers should normally be fine. You’ll often get one out and out goal scorer and another to just play off the main striker.
As you can see, sometimes the shape of the midfield is turned around.

With a diamond formation, one of the central midfielders drops back to become a defensive midfielder sitting just in front of the defence. The other pushes on to support the strikers and sits just behind them as a sort of play maker. The two wide midifielders are then brought more inside to close up the gaps and the full backs might then be the ones expected to attack down the wings.

It really depends on the team and the manager as to whether the diamond formation can be pulled off. Certainly the normal layout is more popular though and most people tend to stay away from the diamond!

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