Jonathan Wilson has published a good piece on Roy Hodgson's Fulham.

From the piece,

So what is it that Fulham do? The easy answer is that they keep their shape, and certainly that was in evidence against Hamburg, who passed and passed and passed and found navy shirts thwarting their progress wherever they went (a more complete analysis of that game is given here on the excellent zonalmarking website).

But why? Everybody knows that teams who keep their shape are harder to break down; why and how are Fulham better at doing it than other sides? There is, sadly, no easy solution; it's all down to hard work. "We work on it every day," said Davies. "Every day in training is geared towards team shape. I've been working with the manager three seasons now and every day is team shape, and it shows."

A faint smile suggests the work isn't necessarily particularly interesting. "We have a little laugh about it now and again," Davies said, "but when he [Hodgson] came in we were fighting relegation and now we're in the Europa League so you take it. If you're going to play for him you've got to put a shift in and perform, work to a system and be tight defensively."

So what is it exactly that they work on? "I don't want to give any secrets away," Davies said, "but he gets the 11 that he wants and he drills everything in that he wants. We've got the ball – it's never unopposed. It's certain drills defensive, certain drills attacking and we work very hard at it. There's no diagrams, it's just all on the pitch. We do a lot of work after every game on analysis, sorting the bad things out, sorting the good things out. It's nice to know what you work hard on works so well. It's just working on little things now and hoping we can still get better."

As my readers will know, this backs up what Mark Schwarzer said in my interview with the Fulham goalkeeper last season. “Hodgson is...a good trainer. He spends probably 95% of the time plus on the training field doing 95% of the training sessions and for me that's probably one of the highest percentage rates I've ever seen a manager be so involved with the team.”

The team's success is constructed around sound defense, something which all football managers know cannot exist without a top goalkeeper. “We've defended very well...if you don't concede a goal, you have a good chance of at least getting a point if not winning the game. That's been the mindset from the beginning,” says Schwarzer.

I wanted to share a program with my fellow football coaches.

UEFA has released TactX. I don't know how easy it is to use but it appears to have some potential for coaches.

Go to the site and learn more about it.

The 4-4-2 formation is the most popular formation in football. But why?


To start with, the 4-4-2 is the most balanced formation of all. A manager is provided with strong coverage in every area of the pitch - defensive coverage, offensive coverage, midfield coverage, width. There are no obvious holes in the 4-4-2. It is a sensible formation.

The major strength of the 4-4-2 is the back four. The back four cover the width of the pitch, accounting for every threat from the opposition. This back four is stable; it is the staple, the bread and butter, of the 4-4-2 formation. There is no gaping hole in a back four as there may be in a formation that only provides for three defenders, such as the 3-5-2.

Moreover, a back four always provides opportunities for one member of the defensive unit to get forward. A full-back can join the attack; his team will still be left with three defenders during his foray. All his defensive partners need to do is move over a few metres, ensuring that the defense still accounts for the width of the pitch should a problem arise in the foray of the full-back. Anybody who watches Barcelona will immediately recognize the wild forays of right-back Dani Alves. He often makes attacking runs on the right side of the pitch; his defensive teammates simply shuttle over a few metres. The same applies with Chelsea fans who watch Ashley Cole. He runs forward on the left side; his teammates move over a few metres to cover Cole's side of the pitch in the defensive zone.

Managers can play around somewhat with the other six players in a 4-4-2 formation.

However, traditionally, a manager has play one centre-forward as a point of reference for all of his teammates. Teammates will always be aware that they can get the ball down the pitch to their centre forward to trouble the opposing defense, hold the ball or lay the ball off for oncoming teammates. This traditional centre-forward role is filled by the likes of Kevin Davies on Bolton, Bobby Zamora on Fulham and Didier Drogba on Chelsea, amongst others. If I played on Bolton, I would always know where Davies would be standing; he would be my point of reference on the pitch and I could send him a long ball knowing that he would battle to get it and allow me and my teammates to run forward and join him in the attacking zone. If I played on Fulham, Sunderland, Spurs and many other teams, the same would apply, though of course with a different player filling the role of Davies.

The role of the secondary forward changes by manager. Some secondary forwards will stand near the target man to provide closeness for a quick pass or they will look to run onto flick-ons. Many secondary forwards drop back further to contribute to the midfield, but they are always looking to get forward to meet the striker for a lay-off pass.

The 4-4-2 formation also provides for two central midfielders to both protect the defense and serve as initiators of attack. These two midfielders ensure that there is no easy path through the centre of the pitch for the opposition. They will always return to a defensive position and either tackle the opposition, force the ball backwards or pressure the ball to a wide position. On the attack, these two midfielders must be decisive passers who know instinctively where their teammates are so that they can quickly get onto the ball and pass to either the wing or the forward line and create a speedy attack. With this, it is clear that the central midfielders must serve both a defensive and attacking role. Obviously the central midfielders must possess excellent stamina and a brilliant football mind.

Often managers will enforce a central midfield of two types of players, with one serving a primarily defensive role and the other serving a primarily "passing" or attacking role. Think here of Sir Alex Ferguson, who always enforces two central midfielders; they have been key for every one of his teams. Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes have been crucial to his team's success this season. However, with Ferguson, his midfielders, though one may be better at defense and the other at attack, always provide a dual role. Don't defend as a central midfielder and you will not play in a Ferguson midfield.

The 4-4-2 formation is also full of partnerships. On a map, one will immediately notice six sets of units in a 4-4-2 formation. There is a back four unit; a midfield four unit; a right-wing unit made from the right-full back and right midfielder; a left-wing unit made from the left full-back and left-winger; a central midfield unit; and a forward unit made from the two forwards.

These units mean that each player in the 4-4-2 unit is responsible for his fellow unit members. He is responsible for knowing where they should be on the pitch at all times so that he can pressure in partnership with them when on defense or, when attacking, alter his position on the pitch to get open or quickly pass to them when in possession. The best players know instinctively where their unit teammates are at all times. This requires football instinct, extensive study and maturity. It is often the speed by which one covers, gets open or lays a pass that determines whether one's team wins or loses.

Here lies the strength of the 4-4-2 formation. Next time your friend asks you why so many managers rely on this formation, you will have the answer.

Steven Gerrard has been more than a football player for Liverpool fans. He has been a source of pride, a victor, a talisman, a grand stamp on the football world. Fans, players and managers have gazed on in awe at his abilities. Perhaps the greatest manager in the contemporary football world, Jose Mourinho, has not hidden his admiration for the lifelong Liverpool mantelpiece.

Gerrard turns thirty in a matter of weeks. And it so happens that Gerrard will pass into a new decade of his life, the last decade of his football-playing life, on the back of an unfortunate season. He and his teammates failed to meet the expectations set for themselves, their fans and the football world. Liverpool lie seventh with three games remaining in the Premier League. It is becoming more and more certain that Gerrard will not captain a Liverpool team in the Champions League next season.

Unfortunately this drop in play of the Liverpool team has been led by the drop in play of the Liverpool captain. This has been apparent to Liverpool fans throughout the season. Injuries bothered Gerrard as did the absense of striking sensation, Fernando Torres, but his own play suffered considerably. One need not use Opta stats to realize this. The captain has been a less powerful force, less deadly on the pitch. As an experienced player and captain, nobody would be more aware of this than the Liverpool captain himself.

"I'm always honest with myself, first and foremost. I always know when my form is there, or when it's slightly under what it should be at. Whenever I come off a football pitch I know straight away," said Gerrard. "The challenge for me now is to finish strongly. It has been frustrating at times this year with injuries and dips in form. I haven't been reaching the level I want to play at."

Gerrard's numbers are down in every major category from a year before, both offensive and defensive.

Offensively, Gerrard's numbers are down in goals (7 vs. 16), assists (7 vs. 9), shots per game (2.1 vs .3.4), chances created for teammates per game (2.4 vs. 2.7), passes attempted per game (52 vs. 58) and pass completion percentage (72% vs. 78%). Every major category. He has not just slowed down in the final third of the pitch. He is getting on the ball on fewer occasions in the middle third of the pitch and is less decisive in his distribution of the ball.

Defensively, he is attempting slightly fewer tackles per game (2.4 vs. 2.5) and contributing to a Liverpool defense that has worsened significantly from a year earlier (0.94 goals per game conceded in 2009/10 vs 0.71 goals per game conceded in 2008/09).

Now Gerrard remains one of the best midfield players in the Premier League, an attacking force that would be welcome on every other Premier League team. His football foresight, his mesmerizing shots, his creative mind, his delicate touches of the ball, his uncanny ability to improve his game in the most needy of times - these attributes of his game still remain.

But one cannot but recognize that in the season in which Gerrard turns 30 and well passed his 400th career game played, his performances have dropped to the naked eye and in every major statistical category, both offensive and defensive. The Steven Gerrard of the past 12 months has not been the Steven Gerrard of previous years.

The question now becomes whether the aging Gerrard has passed a career threshold and continues the downward slope of the previous 12 months or finds new energy to reinvigorate his performances next season.

My bet is on the second option. I think Gerrard has merely slumped but can rediscover his form for another two seasons. With this in mind, as a football fan, I hope that Liverpool do not give up and sell their star. It would be very difficult for a player in his thirties to not only focus on rebuilding his own game, but to fit into a new football system. Let us football fans hope that Liverpool player Stevie G finds that spark inside of himself and returns his game to that of his greatest seasons.

Spurs were truly impressive today.

Michael Dawson surely played himself into strong consideration for the England world cup squad. He was superb.

While Gareth Bale was once again excellent, scoring a brilliant goal, troubling the Chelsea defense with his pace and setting up many goalscoring opportunities for his teammates.

Updated list (January 2010) available here. Click to see.

We all witnessed Lionel Messi's superb 4 goal performance at home to Arsenal in the Quarter-Final of the Champions League.

Now enjoy some of the greatest plays of his young career.