After last year’s unconvincing football campaign and this preseason equal results has led many fans to want a change in Benfica’s tactics and I for one am one of those people. Benfica has gone for years using the 442 (diamond) formation which has gotten us a tetra championship running a two time final appearance in Europe and many successful seasons breathing new life into Benfiquista’s. It seems to me that RV will decide to go with the 433 once again this year which in my eyes is not the better formation considering the players we have. I ran a poll on twitter asking about using a 442 or 433 and below are the results:

After allowing this poll to run for three days this is the response I got. Watching these poll results closely over the three days the 442 option was always dominant in fact the first 20 or so odd votes were all for the 442. As so for me this mean’t that maybe the greater part of the fans want the team to change back to the 442 of course this is small sample but it does give you an idea. So let’s talk about both formations!

4-3-3:

The classic infect the midfield for dominance formation, which if used correctly can be lethal. In fact I believe with the midfielders we have in our arsenal it can work; Pizzi, Krovinovic, Gedson, Fejsa, & Semedo. Those are quality players who can hold ball and really distribute play. Especially a three man midfield of Pizzi, Gedson & Fejsa sounds very delightful. Although with our wingers who are NOT goal scoring machines what so over I am very against it and this showed last year, Salvio was our second best goal scorer with 9 goals, NINE GOALS MAN, he couldn’t even get 10 and if it wasn’t for a stud named Jonas to score 34 goals Benfica wouldn’t have been talked about. Listen a team that lacks two strikers to score needs wingers who can finish and as much as I hate to say it we have 0 who can finish on a consistent week in and week out. Rafa, Salvio, Zivko, Cervi are not consistent finishers, BUT on the contrary are consistent creators and facilitators. Not to mention with the possible exit of Jonas that has been talked about it would be a risk to run the 433 in any game, in fact it was this preseason. always going down in the ICC except against Juventus. Look if we had another guaranteed Jonas then yes let us run the 433 but we don’t and I like to win convincingly and I think this formation wouldn’t do it. Having Gedson, Pizzi, & Fejsa, plus two wingers Zivko & Salvio who can create good danger is an amazing thing to have but none of them can score consistently and having them just making safe passes back and forth and creating for nothing which is what we have seen in preseason it is annoying and mind boggling why it hasn’t change. This brings me to another issue about our wingers and midfielders, they like to cross the ball a lot and is very infuriating when there is only one and sometimes no one in the box, and we have seen this more often than not using the 433, every time the striker checks in to receive play we have no one to stay up and be a threat. I also forgot to mention with adding an extra midfielder you are bringing in generally a shorter player which in turn you lose in height as another threat during a free kick or corner, and those happen almost every 5 minutes. We honestly run a useless formation to our pieces and it ticks me off quite a a bit. I’m not against the 433 as a formation I just think our players are not for that formation. Although if we had to run this formation right now here is my pick:

shout out to Footballuser for having a site like this to create this. SO if I had to choose the players for a 433 this would be it. Of all the wingers we have excluding Salvio I think Zivko would be able to score the most goals while also being a creator on the pitch, and deserves to play and shine. Real asset we have. I choose Castillo because in preseason he has impressed the most with his physical ability to hold up the ball and hold off defenders, with him playing out to anyone of our midfielders/ wingers it could work great, but I am not for it.

4-4-2 (DIAMOND):

The infamous 4-1-2-1-2 formation that we all have come to know so well over the years is in my opinion the way we should go about it. Look man last year we didn’t have two good strikers we only had one in Jonas who was much better on his own than with a partner, but this year we have two really good strikers that neither one deserve to be on the bench and both bring qualities. Now I have two ideas as to how we can line up;

A) B)

In picture A is what would most likely be our formation in a 442, the reason I like Zivko over Cervi is because of our left back Grimaldo, it gives Zivko that ease of mind when running back on defense and Zivko can work much freely on his offensive game in creating and what not. Having Zivko on the pitch is such an asset to us anyone who has seen him play knows his IQ, Shot, Technical ability, vision and so on is out standing. He is a great player and with someone like that who can play out wide and in the middle why not be a servant too two strikers instead of one? When Pizzi had his stand out year in 2016/17 he was playing alone in the midfield making his own decisions and I feel he likes to have that responsibility, and again he has two options to serve for goal scoring opportunities. Fejsa on his own is a beast and can hold his own ground with no help, I am not skeptical on his part. Salvio is Salvio and he will play his heart out and create dangerous runs and crossing opportunities that he has always dose so well in a 442. Honestly having someone like Castillo to come back get the ball and hold and be able to dish it out to someone like Ferreyra who is lethal in front of goal is outstanding game play. Pizzi playing with Zivko and Salvio creating play and using Castillo as a “tabela” is really great idea that many don’t seem to understand. He brings a lot more to the table than it seems. Not to mention we have full backs that love to cross they crossed 24/7 in a 433 with one striker.. Imagine with two strikers in the box, it will make a difference. I would also like to add that in addition to an extra striker you have another threat during dead ball situations corners, freekicks, etc.

Now on to picture b, using Pizzi on the right instead of Salvio. Look there was a time where Pizzi played on the right and it didn’t look to bad, he was very good actually in blocking passing lanes and his defensive IQ on the right was through the roof, why he got call ups to play for the national team. I put PIzzi on the right to make way for Gedson in the middle, everyone is raving about Gedson in a 433 but since everyone is hyping him up im sure he could play alone in the middle with the help of pizzi and Zivko. Plus it would bring some young blood and fresh legs to the midfield meaning more pace and stamina! To be honest I dont like picture B it is just an idea.

With all that I have shown in this piece it is just my humble opinion we all want the best for our club this is just my hot take!! I Have always and will always be a supporter of a two striker system, especially with this squad at hand. Now, I know we have Krovinovic which is a difference maker at all times. Until he is back from injury and after I have seen everyone’s form at that time I will then come up with a different idea. Until then the 442 is the formation I would love picture A precisely. I would love all your opinions, so please comment below or link me on twitter @DylonGMendanha love a good conversation about Benfica and its formation debate! Cheers to all. We have a huge game tomorrow against Fenerbache vamos lutar ate ao fim!

“Benfica Till Death”