4-5-1... it simply doesn't add up; Stan the Man.

Byline: Stan COLLYMORE 

MORE and more fans are getting fed up with teams playing 4-5-1 and I fear it's starting to kill the game.

It was interesting on Saturday that there were four Premier League games in which one of the teams was trying to pick up points playing 4-5-1. Two of the teams - Wigan and Portsmouth - played with five grafters in midfield and lost, conceding six goals between them.

In the two other games, Stoke played two strikers at Bolton, who played 4-5-1, and should have won instead of draw.

And Birmingham started with just one up front at Hull in Christian Benitez, but then brought on a second striker in Garry O'Connor who scored the winner.

And I'm amazed by how many teams down the divisions, from Wycombe to Nottingham Forest, who lost at home playing five in midfield.

I think this trend is harming the game.

Fans are getting fed up with their team packing the midfield out. It's not as if they are playing a mixture of workers and creative players - they're just packing the team with grafters.

A glance at the weekend's results show that it isn't necessarily working either so what's the point of it?

I just think it's time to go back to having two wide men and two strikers up top. Statistics show that most goals come from crosses, yet more and more teams don't play that way.

The 4-4-2 system has worked for decades - why has it become so discredited? We need to go back to that formation which is naturally more expansive, and create rather than stifle.

I can understand when managers say football is a results business and they will play whatever system works to eke out the points to keep them in a job, but it's turning the fans off.

Managers might point at Liverpool and say they play 4-5-1, but their one is Fernando Torres, a world-class striker, and he has Steven Gerrard, a world-class midfielder, playing off him.

Hull last season played with a version of 4-5-1, but they had Giovanni pushing forward and the goals he scored helped them stay up.

But 4-4-2 is just so much better balanced and provides more entertainment and goals. The fans love it too because it lends itself more to open and exciting football.

Just look at Friday's Sheffield derby. In the first half United scored three goals playing with two strikers and two wide men.

Wednesday started 4-5-1 and couldn't get a kick. They switched to two up front, scored two goals and nearly got an equaliser.

Managers need to get over this fear of losing and start being more positive.

CAPTION(S):

WIDE OPEN Pompey keeper James is not impressed