Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Most used formations in Europe chart



Here's a really fascinating graphic from whoscored.com of the most used formations in Europe's top 5 leagues. Interesting that although 4-2-3-1 is the most used formation in Spain, England, Germany and France, it's only the 11th most used formation in Italy where it has been used only four times. Given Italy's history of catenacio it's unsurprising three man defenses are far more popular there than anywhere else in Europe. Of course, some of the formations are so similar in practice it renders the notations all but meainingless- I'm guessing it's pretty difficult for anyone to distinguish between a 3-5-2, a 3-5-1-1 and a 5-3-2. Nonetheless this is a fun little chart and certainly highlights how fashionable 4-2-3-1 is at the moment.