What is Sheffield Wednesday’s best formation: 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2?

Follow us on Google Discover

Carlos Carvalhal’s side had an up and down start to the season and sit in 14th place after eight games.

Having narrowly missed out on promotion last season and being billed as one of the pre-season favourites, Sheffield Wednesday have had a stuttering start to the 2016/17 season.

Carlos Carvalhal’s side currently sit in 14th place, eight points off top spot, which currently belongs to the season’s surprise package Huddersfield Town.

The Owls had an impressive transfer window, recruiting Almen Abdi and Steven Fletcher, who both took the step down from the Premier League, as well as bringing in David Jones and Adam Reach, who both passed up the opportunity to play in the top flight with Burnley and Middlesbrough respectively.

With all of this talent arriving at Hillsborough, many thought Wednesday could do even better than they did last season, but that has not been the case thus far, with one of their main problems being team shape.

Italian attacker Fernando Forestieri is the main stumbling block in the piece, having been constantly switched from the front line to left wing. The 26-year-old has often started just behind new signing Fletcher in the fashionable number 10 position, restricting opportunities for strikers Gary Hooper, Atdhe Nuhiu and Lucas Joao.

Against Birmingham, Hooper was introduced to play alongside Fletcher, and the two linked up for Wednesday’s goal.

The two strikers are proven goalscorers, but neither have the flair and guile that Forestieri possesses, and forcing the Italian out wide can mean that Carvalhal’s side is unbalanced and too attacking.

To play with a 4-2-3-1 shape, Wednesday would need a stronger central pairing than Kieran Lee and Barry Bannan, who are both technically gifted but are not as combative as summer signing Jones.

Carvalhal needs to find a happy medium for his side. Hooper and Fletcher would provide the goals the Owls need in a 4-4-2 shape, but would that then be detrimental to the impact Forestieri can have?

While it is a positive that the manager has so many options, it has made it even harder for Carvalhal to find his preferred XI, and the longer it takes to find out, the further behind the pack they could become.

A 4-2-3-1 formation with a solid central pairing could be the way forward for Wednesday and would give them the option to easily go with two up should things not be going there way.

Forestieri is the most talented player in the Wednesday squad, and he needs to be playing centrally where he can get on the ball, meaning that unfortunately for their strikers, there is really only room for a lone forward.