Tactics are not my forte (insert sarcastic gasp here). But the introduction of Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics has shed a new light on the numbers behind the names.
While a tad heavy in semantics at time, Wilson weaves a tapestry of football intellect that is decorated with fascinating anecdotes from the men who blazed the trail to inversion. If you have not already, take five minutes to read a synopsis and subsequent discussion posted on Guardian.co.uk.
The obvious next step was to take the theories on the page and apply each to the Toronto-based team I spend countless hours watching (on both match day and umpteen Monday, Tuesdays and Thursdays in between).
The obvious next next step was to consult with the man who understands what the numbers behind the names mean, but rarely divulges. I am talking about John Carver.
"I prefer 4-4-2, I have got to be honest," J.C. said in the hallway of BMO Field on Thursday. "When you talk about preseason this is something that I can play around with. I can mess around with formations and I can play it different ways. But you know, sometimes things hit you in the face by accident."
The 4-4-2 is as English as the Sunday roast. It is a defensive minded system that relies on width through mobile fullbacks and/or a midfield virtuoso to create offence. But while it may create offence, it is far from being creative. It works; but at times it seems to cancel itself out on the field. As far as I can tell the 4-4-2 remains in the soccer lexicon because it has been there for so long.
The idea of establishing a tactical system was not paramount for Carver in his first season as in reality his plate was full in finding 11 players he could trust from week to week. But now, in his second season and with a midfield full of decisions to be made, the onus will be on Carver to pick an 11 and establish a system.
"It's quite exciting but it is also going to be an issue," Carver said of the talent backlog in the TFC midfield. "But I would rather have that problem than worry about how I do not have anyone to play in this position or that position. I'll find out a little bit about myself because I have to pick the 11 players and I don't care what anyone says I'll always be picking the wrong 11. If you don't win a game people will ask questions, and I understand that."
As I mentioned above, tactics are not my forte and I will not begin question a coach (but I hope to pick his brain at a later date) with years of experience. But with a selection pool of Dwayne De Rosario, Amado Guevara, Rohan Ricketts perhaps an attacking-friendly formation might whet the appetite of a team with a nasty reputation for lengthy goal droughts. In addition, TFC's best player down the stretch last season was Marvell Wynne, who scored a pair of key goals from his fullback spot and turns the right side of the field into a track meet each game.
Why not live with not having a true centre back and deploy Wynne -- and the equally mobile Jim Brennan -- into attacking roles at home (3-5-2) and buck the 'defence wins championships' belief. On the road, Carver can relax, play a more conservative game and drop Wynne and Brennan back with Tyrone Marshall and Marco Velez.
Coaches, tacticians and those with ideas feel free to discuss the merits of the 4-4-2, 3-5-2 or the 4-3-1-2 in the space below, as I am interested in learning what else is out there. Also, as a new feature I am going to start uploading the raw audio of my Q&A with Carver (click above to play), so if you listen to it as well, let me know (as if you don't bother to listen, I'll save myself the work of uploading and continue to integrate the quotes).
