The 4-4-2 formation

I keep hearing about why the 4-4-2 formation is no longer a working model for modern day football. I hear people say it's no longer an effective formation, but is this strictly true?

I think it's still a very good formation just used incorrectly.

What are your thoughts?

Leciester and Burnley both play it and there bossing the Championship. I bluddy wish my team would play it.

It works in lower leagues where the majority of players are British. Premier League is too continental nowadays.

Well Manchester City and Liverpool have both used modified versions of it this year to good effect, the problem with it is basically that it's not very effective when other teams play with 5 in midfield as without really good midfielders it's very easy to lose control of the game.

At the top level, teams have too much technical ability in the middle of the park that allowing yourself to be outnumbered there is fatal

It is probably only because Liverpool and City have Suarez and Aguero, two world class talents who do drop deep that they can afford to play 442. Since Aguero has been out, City have played one up top.

The trouble with formations is that a) most people don't know what they are talking about when they waffle on about formations on talk shows, newspapers, pubs, forums etc and b) the insistence from the media to use formations to show tactics.

There are not too many formations is use. 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1 are about it. Most teams in the Premier League either play 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. I can only think of Arsenal that plays a true 4-3-3 with say Podolski, Giroud and Walcott as three forwards.

Man United for instance playing 4-2-3-1 just tells us that the two midfielders hold, the two wide men push forward and Rooney drops of the main striker.

Well Nodge vs Liverpool lined up diamond vs diamond for the first fifteen minutes today!

Didn't go quite so well for us

not a big fan out the traditional English 4-4-2 with out and out wingers. you need a hell of a good two man midfield otherwise you will just get over ran

people keep saying city play it, but they have the luxury of having yaya toure in midfield and dont play wingers. they often have silva and nasri cutting inside and helping out.

even then we have seen them get found out in europe