Three Ways Various Women's National Teams Broke Down a 4-4-2
A few patterns have emerged over the last couple of tournaments
The 4-4-2 formation is one of the most common defensive schemes in football.
Part of the reason why it is so popular is because it can be difficult to break down the two lines of 4.
This post will look at how a handful of national teams broke down the 4-4-2 setup by using vertical combinations in wide areas.
There were three different ways that teams broke down 4-4-2’s: using wide combinations to pull the opposition out of shape, creating a seam for a penetrative run forward, and creating space for players to receive passes in half spaces.
The tournaments featured include the 2019 World Cup, the 2022 She Believes Cup, and the 2022 Euro.
Creating Seams for Penetrative Runs
In order to create the seam for forward runs, the wide forward and the outside back needed to be as wide as possible.
It was also key for them to be on the same vertical line. This is what created the seam that can be exploited by a midfield or forward runner.
Below is a what that would look like on a tactical board:
The US Women’s National Team had success with this pattern at the World Cup, and it also showed up at the She Believes Cup earlier this year.
Combinations to Pull the Opposition Out of Position
In the opening game of the Euro, England faced an Austria team that was very organized defensively.
Yet, they had a couple of impressive sequences where they used Austria’s own organization against them.
Initially, England wasn’t able to produce anything from the triangle out wide, so they sent it back to their center backs. As Austria pushed up and shifted centrally to mimic the path of the ball, space was then opened up for the players on left side.
The first sequence in the clip shows how Australia pulled Norway’s players out of position to advance into the attacking third.
Creating Space in the Half Spaces
Against Norway in the World Cup quarterfinals, Australia consistently broke down Norway’s shape using these wide patterns.
Another wrinkle they used was creating space in half spaces for midfielders to receive in or for players to turn into.
First, it’s important to highlight the areas that I have defined as half spaces for this post. They are the areas that are just inside of the wide areas on the field, that don’t extend all the way to the center of the field.
Below is how Australia exploited these areas.
Conclusion
It’s interesting to see different teams use similar patterns across different tournaments.
Australia had a lot of success with it against Norway, but maybe it was foreshadowing the defensive woes that we saw from the Norwegians at the Euro.
I was impressed with how England how was still able advance the ball against Austria even if the progression came from long passes from Bright and not the wide triangle itself. That’s probably a testament to England manager Sarina Wiegman’s coaching.
One thing that really stuck with me while analyzing these patterns was the fact that the outside forwards and the outside backs were on the same vertical lines.
Often in US youth clubs and in college, players are taught to never be on the same vertical or horizontal lines as their teammates.
While I think the idea has merit in some situations, football is too fluid for such a comprehensive rule.
Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images