Even though we have two fantastic strikers, neither of which would want to play in the winger position very often, and both want to play regular games in the ST position, I personally don't want us to play 4-4-2 long term.
4-2-1-3 is the way to go for us, and it works perfectly for us. Everything fits together nicely.
Ben Arfa is willing to track back more often, but we need to give him freedom to go forward. In a 4-4-2, he's go too much defensive responsibility. In a 4-2-1-3, he should track back, but he's not got the same amount of weight on his shoulders as there'll be two DM's back to cover, and Ben Arfa will have more freedom.
I also love the way we have Cabaye in front of the two DM's, and in that CAM position he has some extra freedom to wave his magic wand. But he will also track back as he's a natural box to box mid, but he's definitely a lot better and more useful in a 4-2-1-3 formation and has been much more effective in terms of whole match performances. He's shown moments of magic throughout the season, but in the 4-2-1-3 formation, he's put in more consistent performances.
However, this leaves us with a bit of a headache, as -
1. The 4-3-3 type formation works far better with a natural LW and a natural RW and a striker between them.
2. We have two great strikers, but only one striker spot in that formation.
Will Ba be happy if he gets around 15-20 starts as a striker next season?
I don't think it would be right to class Ba as just a covering striker just because Cisse is better in that position, but at the end of the day he is below Cisse in the pecking order if we had to play a central striker.
Cisse and Ba together as an up front duo doesn't work. In a 4-3-3, Ben Arfa, Cisse and Ba make a great trio, they can rotate, move around and cause havoc, but Ba and Cisse together up front in a 4-4-2. Never works.
4-2-1-3 is the way to go for us, and it works perfectly for us. Everything fits together nicely.
Ben Arfa is willing to track back more often, but we need to give him freedom to go forward. In a 4-4-2, he's go too much defensive responsibility. In a 4-2-1-3, he should track back, but he's not got the same amount of weight on his shoulders as there'll be two DM's back to cover, and Ben Arfa will have more freedom.
I also love the way we have Cabaye in front of the two DM's, and in that CAM position he has some extra freedom to wave his magic wand. But he will also track back as he's a natural box to box mid, but he's definitely a lot better and more useful in a 4-2-1-3 formation and has been much more effective in terms of whole match performances. He's shown moments of magic throughout the season, but in the 4-2-1-3 formation, he's put in more consistent performances.
However, this leaves us with a bit of a headache, as -
1. The 4-3-3 type formation works far better with a natural LW and a natural RW and a striker between them.
2. We have two great strikers, but only one striker spot in that formation.
Will Ba be happy if he gets around 15-20 starts as a striker next season?
I don't think it would be right to class Ba as just a covering striker just because Cisse is better in that position, but at the end of the day he is below Cisse in the pecking order if we had to play a central striker.
Cisse and Ba together as an up front duo doesn't work. In a 4-3-3, Ben Arfa, Cisse and Ba make a great trio, they can rotate, move around and cause havoc, but Ba and Cisse together up front in a 4-4-2. Never works.
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