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Hartson Prefers 4-4-2
By Martin Williams August 23 2004
Wales striker John Hartson has revealed that he prefers the 4-4-2 system used against Latvia in Riga last Wednesday, to the usual 4-5-1 formation deployed by Mark Hughes.

Hartson was partnered by Newcastle's Craig Bellamy in the 2-0 victory, with both players getting on the scoresheet.

In the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign the 29-year-old was mostly used as a lone striker for Wales with speedsters Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy playing off his knockdowns.

That formation helped Wales to gain some very good results including a 2-1 win over Italy at the Millennium Stadium, but Hartson believes the 4-4-2 used to see off Latvia would fair even better.

"Any striker will tell you it's hard with one up front," said Hartson.

"With Craig's pace and the speed coming down the flanks from the other guys, we can cause teams problems in the World Cup qualifiers."

The Celtic striker did however aknowledge that Wales were very fortunate to come away with the victory from Riga having not played at their best.

"We were a bit lucky, they hit the bar and missed with a header from about a yard out," he said.

"I nicked one at the end, and was pleased that Craig got the second after he worked so hard all night.

"It's about winning games at the end of the day. We're five games unbeaten now and will take a poor performance."

Wales Manager Mark Hughes was full of praise for his strike force.

"Craig was outstanding while John led the line superbly," he said.

"He got no protection from the referee, and that is something I seem to talk about over and over again, but he kept his cool, while Craig is as sharp and as confident as I have ever seen him in his career.

"I could not have been happier with the front two. They are capable of hurting any team in the world playing like that, and that includes England."

The duo also did enough to impress opposition manager Alexanders Starkovs.

"It is for Sven-Goran Eriksson to decide whether they (Hartson and Bellamy) will be a danger to him," said Starkovs.

"But the way Wales attacked and the quality of their play shows that they can cause a problem to any team in the world.

"I would like to congratulate Wales, they were fine opponents and I wish them luck in their World Cup games... and hope they beat England!"

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