I know Diame was a passenger in the game, but I don't think playing 2 in midfield with Hayden would have seen us wrest more control of the centre. Perez puts pressure on their CBs and CMs and were we to play with 2 up front, the gap between the forwards and the midfield would increase the amount of long balls we'd rely upon. I don't think the wingers were restricted in attack, and even were we to play 4-4-2 they'd need to have shouldered the same defensive responsibility they do in a 4-2-3-1, perhaps even more. We put in 16 crosses, but most of them were shite.
I think the tactics were right, but we were undone by a combination of a momentary lapse in concentration at the back, the opposition's specific qualities, a poor selection choice (Diame) and wasteful play by the wide men.
4-4-2 repeatedly gets unravelled by 4-2-3-1 as the midfield gets swamped, the wide men rarely get 1-on-1 and the two strikers get starved of possession. Meanwhile the team playing 4-2-3-1 can overload the midfield, the #10 finds holes and channels or pulls CMs and CBs out of position. With the squad we've available I get why we play it.