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Position Analysis – Defensive Midfielder 4-2-2-2

Posted on Wednesday, 29th July 2009 by admin

In light of the transfer news concerning Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano I thought I would do an article on what position they take up and how important it is for Liverpool – but firstly an overview of the position itself…

Most the time we consider the defensive midfielder position as a single position – take Makelele, Keano, Viera e.t.c. But the defensive midfielder role can be split between two players. One of them employed as a deep-lying play-maker there to direct and control play and the other as a more persistent and dogged defensive midfielder there to break up the oppositions play and cover the defence. The deep lying/ defensive midfielder system originates from South America and is used extensively in the Brazilian, Chilean and Argentinean leagues as well as their international teams. Take the Brazilian national team – they use these two defensive players to counter balance their immensely attacking team. Look at two pictures below – from 1998 and 2009.

brazil 4-2-2-2-no2

This shape is perfect for Brazil as it means that the attacking midfielders can really break forward to help the two front men, safe in the knowledge that there are two midfielders maintaining the balance of play. Brazil are famous for their world class attacking midfielder’s and their freedom to roam can really damage the opposition. The two holding midfielders also fill in for Brazil’s flying full backs as the overlap as wingers to supply width in this narrow formation. As I’m sure you know Cafu, R.Carlos and Alves are masters off this – it is all made possible by the two defensive midfielders.

A coach’s view, “The advantage of this system is that the attack can be very variable, particularly if the central midfielders play a bit staggered” - It is an effective attacking formation.

Rafa Benitez has used a slight tweaking of this formation to great effect for Valencia and Liverpool. At Liverpool he has Javier Mascherano to protect his defence and to bulldog the opposition off the ball whereas Xabi Alonso deals with the play making side. He is able to spray a 60 yard pass with pin point accuracy and pick out a killer through ball – he is a very intelligent player. Together they are second to none at controlling the game, and can sit in the midfielder’s hole as cover for advancing full backs. He has also employed this role during his successful tenure at Valencia (See picture below)

liverpool 4-2-3-1

Both Xabi and Mascherano form an elite defensive partnership: I have been bemused lately with many blogs questioning who the better defensive midfielder is. They complement each other’s game for Liverpool and it is no wonder why Rafa wants to warn them away from the Europe elites. I personally think they hold the key to next year’s title challenge because they are so important not only for their duties as listed above, but because there presence means Gerrard and Torres are given freedom to roam – which is a scary thought for most teams.

Rafa needs to keep these two key players!

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