A one-striker formation, the lone forward in a 4-4-1-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1 and so on requires a number of things.
First and foremost, your lone striker needs to have these things:
- Strength
- Pace
- Aerial ability
- Good decision making
- Good off the ball movement
- Ability to create space for himself
- And, obviously, be able to score goals.
When having that lone striker, you cannot have, say, Javier Hernandez up by himself and expect him to muscle his way through two, supposedly braun defenders and score 3-4 goals. It just won't happen. Sure he has pace and skills but how many times will he be able to pull them off? Very few.
You need either a complete forward (so, the likes of Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney) or you need a strong, aerially-adept forward. With that in mind, they can then hold the ball up, get into space, challenge aerially and muscle his way past opposing central defenders.
With the striker aside, you'll need him to have some back-up. So the following would be recommended:
- For wingers, you need for them to be pacey and skilful. They can then get the ball, dart down their flank, get the byline and provide a cross to the striker. He then gets aerial service and is more likely to score. Fast, inside-cutting forwards are recommended but, if you can find a creative, but fast winger, he should be your player to provide down the flank.
- In terms of your midfield you'll need combinations. Here's one; two central midfielders requires a playmaker and a ball-winning midfielder. A combination of the two then allows the playmaker to look for passes, most likely to the wingers or even the striker, and get attacking moves on. The ball-winning midfielder then covers for the playmaker and acts like a shield for when the opposition come charging for the ball.
- A three-man midfield often carries a bigger combination. A playmaker, a ball-winning midfielder and either a box-to-box or attacking midfielder. The playmaker can either be a central or deep-lying playmaker, one that can play as a defensive midfielder and can operate from just ahead of the defence. Then there is the chance for the ball-winning midfielder to partner the playmaker in the midfield while he looks for passes and the attacking midfielder, or box-to-box player, joins the attack with the wingers and the striker. Switching it around, you'd have a playmaker, an anchored defensive midfielder that shields the defence and then an attacking midfielder. In that three-man central midfield, although the playmaker doesn't have much cover, the attacking midfielder will often provide an easier option and continue the move. He will, more often than not, be a creative player to, and become the second playmaker.
With that information, you should be able to pile all of that up and decide whether a lone-striker formation is beneficial or not and, if it is, whether you need to improve on your current squad or just go with the formation anyway.
Hope that helped.