When Manuel Pellegrini was appointed as manager of West Ham, their long-suffering fanbase thought they had the manager they’d been waiting years for.
The ‘West Ham Way’ had been promised by many, but few even came close to delivering. Pellegrini had continental pedigree and a clear style that had been attractive and produced real results in his last four European stops at Manchester City, Malaga, Real Madrid and Villarreal.
Pellegrini started the year with the 4-2-3-1 that he had leaned on in recent years. The Chilean prefers wide playmakers to inside forwards. He likes at least one of his wide players to be a creative player who comes towards the ball. His football requires creativity, and a number ten with an eye for a pass.
In the first portion of the season, West Ham struggled for creativity. Felipe Anderson played a couple of games as the number ten but it was clear that he was better in the wide roles, where he was able to use his pace and acceleration to move past defenders with ease. He’s a creative player, but Pellegrini’s 4-2-3-1/4-2-2-2 system requires a more traditional pass-heavy number ten.
The lack of this meant Pellegrini utilised a 4-1-4-1 formation for a lot of the year. Robert Snodgrass often got the nod in the central positions, playing more as a box-to-box midfielder than the through-ball heavy creator Pellegrini was used to. West Ham were much better when Pellegrini chose to use a formation he had rarely used in his managerial career. They won nine of their 18 league games in which they played this formation, including wins over Manchester United and Tottenham.
Pellegrini’s team had creativity via Anderson, but a lot of it came from the halfspaces in the wide areas. Pellegrini’s philosophy has always been about controlling the centre of the pitch with multiple technically gifted midfield players.
While West Ham were a good team, they still weren’t the type that necessarily radiated Pellegrini’s passing and ‘magic rectangle’ philosophy. This is a testament to his flexibility, but a number ten was always going to be on their shopping list. The club delivered on Friday, signing Pablo Fornals from Villarreal for an undisclosed fee.
Fornals looks like the visionary number ten that Pellegrini has been looking for, and he opens up a variety of formational possibilities for West Ham. He fits nicely on the left-hand side of their midfield three when the Chilean opts for a 4-1-4-1 formation. But the arrival of Fornals could signal Pellegrini returning to his roots. This is not to say that West Ham did not play attacking and attractive football, they absolutely did. His style was a welcome arrival after the dismal football David Moyes served up, but he will want to give us a glimpse into a style that revolutionized both Spanish and English football.
So what exactly is Pellegrini’s philosophy? Well, it starts with the coolest named formation in the sport – the Magic Rectangle. Pellegrini has used this at the majority of his stops. This was his personnel in the 4-2-2-2 formation when he managed Malaga.
The design of the formation is to maintain possession. Defensively, Pellegrini wants his teams to sit deep in two banks of four. In possession, the two ‘wide’ players will generally move inside and overload the centre.
The idea behind this is to allow them to maintain possession. Pellegrini teams will often play a lot of short passes in the middle, and the security of the ball in the middle of the park means that his teams are often able to play with real flair and freedom. Simply put, his teams are not worried about giving the ball away with ambitious cross-field balls because they know they have a secure base to build from in the midfield.
The width in a Pellegrini team is ideally provided by the full backs. At Manchester City, he didn’t really use wingers and inside forwards, something that was evident in his poor usage of Raheem Sterling. Pellegrini prioritises possession in the middle, so he likes his players to come short to the ball as opposed to run in behind or hug the touchline. This system should not be labelled with the traditional numbered formation, because it can feasibly have two strikers or one striker, and it plays almost the same. The principles of controlling the centre with short passes and utilising overlapping full backs for width is the same regardless of how many strikers are out there.
For this style to work, the application of multiple number tens and creative players is utilised. This is less common than one might think, as some coaches want just one creative player who comes to the ball. Pellegrini teams have had as many as three on the field at the same time. In ‘big’ games at Malaga for example, they would often have a trio of Isco, Joaquin and Duda playing behind the striker.
The opportunity for triangles and flooding one side of the pitch to free up an overlapping full back is something that has meant Pellegrini historically has a very impressive record in Europe. His teams are flexible and at their best, very hard to mark. His system has been very friendly to playmakers, Isco, in particular, broke onto the European stage as a result of Pellegrini’s system getting the best out of him, allowing him to roam in from the left and start passing moves with other players. Below is what the ‘big game’ version of Pellegrini’s tactics could look like with the arrival of Fornals.
West Ham were without Manuel Lanzini last year, so Pellegrini had to utilise more traditional wide players such as Michail Antonio. They lacked depth in that position, so he didn’t really have the personnel to run any variation of his 4-2-2-2 or 4-2-3-1. In the 4-1-4-1, Anderson still drifted inside to create the ‘rectangle’.
Lanzini’s return towards the end of the year meant that Pellegrini had that secondary playmaker. This meant Anderson didn’t necessarily need to drift as centrally as he had been doing previously. Adding Fornals opens up so many other possibilities. Anderson was still deadly from the flanks last year. I expect to see him in those areas a lot this year as the Irons have the personnel to control the centre of the pitch which will create space for him and Arthur Masuaku to form a tandem on the left flank.
There is a legitimate chance that Pellegrini will lean on the trio of Lanzini, Anderson and Fornals quite often. He has had these three playmaker setups in the past if his personnel dictated this. It wasn’t the case at Manchester City because he had Jesus Navas, James Milner and Raheem Sterling in one of the wide roles. But West Ham’s personnel offers the three playmaker possibility.
Though I do think Manuel Pellegrini wants to return to his roots next season, the 4-1-4-1 still could be a useful formation he leans on heavily. It would not be at all surprising to see Pellegrini play Jack Wilshere or Lanzini over Mark Noble.
It is clear the Chilean wants to have two ball players ahead of Declan Rice, a holding midfielder very capable of playing the isolated defensive midfield role in a more adventurous system.
The 4-2-3-1 system with the three playmakers behind the striker will have a lot of creativity and flair, but it might lack the threat running in behind. This would be especially true if Maxi Gomez arrived from Celta Vigo, as he is not exactly the paciest striker, even if he does possess good technical ability.
Playing the 4-1-4-1 with an inside forward roaming in from the right-hand side could be a good way to give West Ham attacking balance. Pellegrini might also see this as the best way to get his three playmakers playing at the same time.
Still, I think the 4-2-3-1/4-2-2-2 hybrid works with three playmakers because history suggests we shouldn’t doubt Pellegrini’s system and philosophy. Fornals affects the 4-1-4-1 because he has the ability to play through balls and dictate the play.
Snodgrass played more as a box-to-box midfielder and provided overloads on the flanks to free up full backs. When Anderson drifts inside, this 4-1-4-1 can quite easily take up the shape of a 4-2-2-2 because the right winger will drift inside, playing as a raumdeuter style player and forming a tandem with the striker.
Antonio demonstrated the potential of this with a couple of goals over the course of the year after attacking off the ball from the inside right channel. Andriy Yarmolenko has also returned to training, so he could be the inside forward that drifts in to hit double figures. With Fornals’ arrival, he is hardly going to be short of through balls as West Ham finally have the wealth of technicians that Pellegrini-ball requires.
People always look at signings in terms of the player. This is obviously important, but something that always goes under the radar is whether a signing can allow a manager to be more flexible and play different systems.
Fornals fits in well as a number ten or as a wide central midfield player. If Pellegrini goes to a 4-2-2-2 system, Fornals may find himself playing in a ‘wide’ role.
Pellegrini did an excellent job last season with the likes of Snodgrass and Antonio playing big roles even though they didn’t really fit his system. Fornals allows Pellegrini to play different combinations of players in his midfield set up.
Regardless of the formation on paper, the principles will always be the same. The midfield will play narrow and West Ham will have that box shape in midfield. The magic rectangle is here to stay, and West Ham might be able to play it even more effectively this year.
