As Fabio Capello prepares to send England out in his much‑criticized 4-4-2 formation at Wembley against Bulgaria in the opening Euro 2012 qualifier, Frank Lampard has dismissed the 4-2-3-1 system favoured by the elite international and club teams, who include the World Cup winners, Spain, and Internazionale, the European champions.
The midfielder told Chelseafc.com: "Because football has become a bit more tactical and organized, it is about becoming harder to beat and teams want two holding midfielders. I don’t like the system too much. I think one holding midfielder, if they are good at their job, is enough and I find if you have two in a straight line then it doesn’t give you so many angles to play through midfield.
"I always think it is better to have people at different angles, which means one being deeper and the other two taking up different positions [further forward]."
Spain employed Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso as their defensive screen, and in the World Cup final faced Holland, who had Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel in the role. Internazionale benefited from Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso during their successful Champions League campaign.
Yet Lampard, who is injured but lined up in central midfield in Capello’s 4-4-2 during England’s disappointing World Cup, is unsure how much security two dedicated holding players offer.
He said: "Playing against two holding midfielders hasn’t really made a difference for me, because the opposition can’t have players everywhere. If you are clever about your movement, if two players want to sit and hold all the time then you can make angles to the side of them and you can still play through them. It depends really on the quality of the players.
"Formations do generally go in cycles. In the 90s it was 4-4-2 and then it changed and I think we [Chelsea] were probably the instigators as much as anyone in England in making it 4-3-3 when [José] Mourinho was in charge."
The midfielder told Chelseafc.com: "Because football has become a bit more tactical and organized, it is about becoming harder to beat and teams want two holding midfielders. I don’t like the system too much. I think one holding midfielder, if they are good at their job, is enough and I find if you have two in a straight line then it doesn’t give you so many angles to play through midfield.
"I always think it is better to have people at different angles, which means one being deeper and the other two taking up different positions [further forward]."
Spain employed Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso as their defensive screen, and in the World Cup final faced Holland, who had Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel in the role. Internazionale benefited from Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso during their successful Champions League campaign.
Yet Lampard, who is injured but lined up in central midfield in Capello’s 4-4-2 during England’s disappointing World Cup, is unsure how much security two dedicated holding players offer.
He said: "Playing against two holding midfielders hasn’t really made a difference for me, because the opposition can’t have players everywhere. If you are clever about your movement, if two players want to sit and hold all the time then you can make angles to the side of them and you can still play through them. It depends really on the quality of the players.
"Formations do generally go in cycles. In the 90s it was 4-4-2 and then it changed and I think we [Chelsea] were probably the instigators as much as anyone in England in making it 4-3-3 when [José] Mourinho was in charge."
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