Team Focus: Has 4-4-2 Really Been Left in the Dark Ages?

'A step back to the dark ages' is how former England marksman Gary Lineker described the tactics used in the current crop's latest performance against the Republic of Ireland, with manager Roy Hodgson reverting back to a 'predictable and dated' 4-4-2 formation.

That is, at least, how the hosts ended the game, but whether it was Hodgson's initial intention is up for debate. The under fire boss refuted the claim that he had simply returned to using a system with which he had had success at both Fulham and West Brom in particular, instead insisting that his side were set up in a way similar to that of Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final.

It seemed to many as a somewhat desperate attempt to recognise the success with which Jurgen Klopp's side had drawn so many plaudits, but the fact is it wasn't entirely dishonest. However, the way that Dortmund played against the side that their coach rightly claimed were the best in Europe wasn't really the same system with which they had reached the final, and gained so many admirers along the way.

In the absence of Mario Gotze it was left to Marco Reus to support Lewandowski from central areas, vacating his usual left sided role for the more defensive minded Kevin Grosskreutz. In turn, their formation, having lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1, became more of a straightforward front two, with Reus' average touches actually higher upfield than those of Lewandowski (as seen in the player positions map from WhoScored.com's match report).

It's worth noting that England also had some key players missing, with captain Steven Gerrard out injured along with Jack Wilshere in the midfield. A point that should also not be overlooked is that in Daniel Sturridge, England had a player more willing to drop deep and link up play prior to his injury after half an hour. Indeed, the in-form Liverpool forward had one more touch (13) in 33 minutes than his replacement Jermain Defoe (12) managed in the remainder of the match.

The Spurs man plays on the last defender. It's the only way he knows how, and as the game neared a conclusion without a positive result in sight Rooney was perhaps naively pushed closer to the striker having been effective in the build up in and around the box. The Three Lions actually played some attractive football in opening up the Irish defence down the channels at times, but with the delivery into the box and end product absolutely dire, the team as a whole completed just one accurate cross from 23 attempts.

With the 4-4-2 formation having been widely panned, it's interesting to see just how accurate Lineker's comments are with regards to its demise. In light of Hodgson's comments on Dortmund's playing style, it's intriguing to see that only in the Bundesliga (120) was the formation used more often than the Premier League (91) this season, though the Schwarzgelben were not one of those to deploy it.

When looking at the number of times 4-4-2 was used across Europe's top 5 leagues over the last 4 seasons, it's clear that Match of the Day's front man has a real case.

In England's top flight, the 4-4-2 formation was the most popular by some distance in the 2009/10 season, used more than twice as many times (334) as any other. That figure dropped to 255 in the following campaign and then again, marginally, to 251 in 2011/12, though it remained the most used formation in the country.

However, in the season gone by the 4-4-2 was ditched by many, used just 91 times, with the vastly popular 4-2-3-1 way out on top on 334. Incidentally that is an identical figure to that of the 4-4-2 in the first season here, and also the formation with which Dortmund have had such great success.

When looking at the usage of the formation across the rest of Europe's top 5 leagues in that time it's no surprise that 4-4-2, in recent years, has been far more popular in the Premier League. The system has been utilised just 48 times in La Liga this season, with a round of matches still to play, while Serie A sides lined up in the same way on just 56 occasions.

Indeed, across Europe, of the 98 teams in the top five divisions only 5 have used a 4-4-2 formation on at least 20 occasions over the course of the season, with three of those sides playing in Germany, and none from the Premier League. Freiburg, who finished 5th in the Bundesliga, were the most successful of those, with Gladbach, Hannover and Lorient all mid-table sides, while Torino were languishing towards the bottom of Serie A this season.

It’s clear that the sides that have stuck with the old formation aren’t really challenging in their respective leagues and, in summary, Lineker's opinions are certainly backed up by the stats. Whether it is Hodgson's intention to use such a formation in an ideal world, however, seems unlikely.