What is the best formation for a football team?

The football season is in full swing. Managers are starting to understand their best teams after the end if the transfer window and the shape of the season to come is upon us. The two Manchester clubs have carried the best form into the international break and sit neck and neck at the top of the league. Pep Guardiola has gone for the style that brought him unheralded success at Barcelona while Jose Mourinho across the city is straying a little from the defensive formula that has followed him throughout his career.

The formations that these two coaches have chosen is the most interesting aspect of the season so far. The signing of Nemanja Matic was the sign that Mourinho was going to cover his defence with a defensive midfielder or two. Pep spent a lot of his summer budget on fullbacks, to go back to the formation that he worked so well at Barcelona – also with a central defensive midfielder ahead of the back four.

There are so many different ways of setting out your team and the ideas of the big managers differ wildly – and not just in the Premier League. Think about how these guys set up their team –

• Antonio Conte
• Zinedine Zidane
• Jurgen Klopp
• Diego Simeone

It looks like both of these managers have a similar formation of 4-2-3-1 and this is the success of the season so far. The Chelsea surge in the league last season was built on three centre backs, wings backs and Ngolo Kante covering. Other teams followed suit. This season four-at-the-back is back in vogue.

The football fan and formations

Social442 is the perfect website to test out the formations you would use for your club and all the big teams in the leagues. Whether you agree or disagree with Pep and Jose, you can try out the different formation with the Social442 Football Formation Creator and have hours of fun in the process.

Think that you can do better than the top two? Give it a go. Have some ideas to help our crystal Palace at the bottom of the league? Well, I’m sure Roy Hodgson will appreciate your help.

But Social442 is about far more than the Formation Creator. You can keep up with all the latest news in the beautiful game. Don’t miss a beat with Social442.

Check it all out at https://www.social442.com/football-news

What the Manchester derby told us about the state of the game in Manchester

It was derby time in Manchester last night. I have spent the week in the city looking at the state of the game here and how the future looks for the two clubs. It could be looked at as a game in the middle of a crisis in the footballing city.Going into the game there has been much criticism-

• Manchester United lost 4-0 to Chelsea on Sunday after a poor showing at Liverpool the week before
• Jose Mourinho has spoken about his unhappiness living in the city
• Pep Guardiola's City went into the match on a streak of 5 games without a win
• The old guard of Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero seem to be out of favour

But in and around the city of Manchester you couldn't sense any panic or even much frustration towards the clubs or the players.These are generally proper football fans that love their club, are happy with the success that they have had but don't feel as though they are entitled to it. Contrast that to the glory-hunting Manchester United fan from other parts of the country and the globe. The fact that the United fans were still out-singing the Chelsea home support while being 4-0 down in Sunday shows that these are people who know their football and love their club.

Near the Old Trafford stadium I spoke to Mike, a United fan that sees a future that doesn't look as rosy as the recent past but will still support the club all the same.

"I can see us going down the same route as Liverpool did after their domination. Football goes in cycles and they have not really been near to winning the title again in over 25 years. I'd like to see them up there challenging for titles with us, but losing out to us every time! We have a future where we could go down the same road. I see Mourinho as a manager that could go one way or another. He could stay for 15 years and we could go on a run of winning trophies every year again or he could end up braking the club. It is a bit of a crossroads," said Mike.

The game does move on and it would be difficult to reliably predict what the future holds for the club. The longer they are out of the Champions League then the more they have to spend in wages to attract the big starts and the less likely it is that they will get another Cristiano Ronaldo or even another David De Gea.Mourinho is a gamble that the Glazers thought they just had to make after the failures of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. Where the club goes from here is in his hands.

On the other side of the divide is the light blue half of Manchester. The game last night ended in defeat so Pep Guardiola is facing probably his worst managerial crisis - six games without a win. After the amazing start to the season not many would have predicted this but it is happening. In the club shop on Market Street they are selling those detested half-and-half scarves and training tops with the Champions League logo alongside merchandise from their sister clubs in New York, Yokohama and Melbourne. This is big business.

But without the players to enact his tactical game, and in possible the wrong league and conditions to do it, Pep is fining managerial life tough for probably the first time. It is not a full-blown crisis and it won't cost him his job but clearly there is work to do.

I spoke to Peter who lives and works in the city. He didn't buy into the Guardiola project but backs the club to get it right, "It will take time. He can't turn all of these Premier League players into La Liga players overnight. It looks like tactically he knows what he wants but the players aren't quite there yet. Maybe in a few months we will look back on this as part of the transition. I certainly hope so."

That was before the match. That was before the defeat in the derby. Although it was 'only' the EFL Cup and there were run outs for some players that were not in the usual first team it will still hurt. Manchester City's owners have bankrolled the club to deliver success and this current run of form and a tame loss to their neighbours isn't part of the blueprint.

What happens next really is down to Pep.

Where will Guardiola go? My conclusion may surprise you!

Now that Pep Guardiola has confirmed that his next management assignment will be in England, it's time to look at the contenders for his signature. You might be surprised at my conclusion.

Manchester City have long been the front runners, if the press is to be believed. The fact that two of his ex-Barcelona cohorts are in powerful positions at the club is more of a sign that City want to emulate Barça than a sign that the deal is done. I'm sure that City don't see Pellegrini as their long-term manager but this also doesn't automatically mean that Pep is a shoo-in. 

Manchester United are looking seriously at the future direction of the club. The style and results of Louis can Gaal are not what they want from a manager. The points and goals tallies are more akin to David Moyes than Sir Alex Ferguson. There's no doubt that, like City with Pellegrini, they will look elsewhere in the long term. But I believe that Ryan Giggs is pencilled-in as a young manager that knows the club - not unlike what Guardiola himself was to Barcelona. And Zidane to Real Madrid, as has happened this week.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is a long-time admirer of Pep. But I can't help feeling that the admiration is one-way only. The repeated impatience with managers and the seemingly all-powerful dressing room is enough to send Guardiola running in the opposite direction. I'm sure that Chelsea would break the bank to secure his service and provide him with transfer riches, but that won't be enough.

Arsenal are my tip as his surprise destination in England. I think that Arsene Wenger will move upstairs at the end of the season and this is more likely if they win the league. London would surely prove a bigger draw than Manchester - especially if he's looking for new restaurants! His style of football is most suited to Arsenal's squad, above the other potential destinations.

He's currently 8/1 at the bookmakers for this, so it may be worth getting on it now!