The basis of the 4-2-3-1: What is it?

[iNickStuff]

Just wanted to get your guys' opinions.

We've seen the 4-2-3-1 used many a time in modern-day football around the world with big and small clubs, whether it's in the heights of one of the world's best leagues such as the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga etc. etc. or the lower leagues that are the likes of the League One, League Two and non-league - even in the World Cup with Germany, exploiting the talents of Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger.Or even in the Premier League when both Roy Hodgson and Arsene Wenger played the same formation in their clash at Anfield that saw the two giants draw 1-1.

So is it attacking or defensive ???

I mean let's look at the basis:

The formation, normally, stands out with; four defenders, two midfielders, three attacking midfielders (or wingers) and a striker.Of course, this can vary between people's preferences to what they would like to employ.Teams such as Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool, the England, France and Germany national teams etc. etc. use it but have different situations of have, of course, variants of it.

Variants of the formation could include things such as:

• Defensive midfielders instead of centre midfielders.
• Wingers instead of a three attacking midfielder band.
• The centre attacking midfielder playing as a 'second striker' as it is.

Here's the deeper 4-2-3-1

Here's the normal 4-2-3-1

Not to mention that it can be altered to quite a few different formations, such as the 4-4-1-1, 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1, 4-2-1-3 and 4-2-2-2.

So, all in all, what's your opinion?

Criticism is welcome as long as it's constructive and please post normal comments and not things that are off-topic or cheeky.

Thanks.

P.S.

This is also for my knowledge.I am struggling to know whether it's an attacking or defensive formation and how to implement it into my FM2010 saves.
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[Reggaezal]

I would never call a 4231 a defensive tactic. Seeing how most of the 2 defensive/central midfielders are used to retain possession(to start attacks/counter attacks) to distribute play(yet again to start attacks/counter attacks).

You have 2 wingers but only 1 striker in the middle, hence before crossing the ball you will want the opposite flank's winger the attackind midfielder and striker to be in the box. one of the defensive midfielder will occasionally join the attack as well.

And when fullbacks overlap, the wingers cut in to make it 3 men up front.

overall it is a very very versatile formation. in my opinion id always play the 4231 deep, aka 2 holding mid 1 attacking mid and 2 winger formation. But the player roles can vary. ive been recently fiddling around with 4231 and you have some interesting points there.

 

[iNickStuff]

I would never call a 4231 a defensive tactic. Seeing how most of the 2 defensive/central midfielders are used to retain possession(to start attacks/counter attacks) to distribute play(yet again to start attacks/counter attacks).

You have 2 wingers but only 1 striker in the middle, hence before crossing the ball you will want the opposite flank's winger the attackind midfielder and striker to be in the box. one of the defensive midfielder will occasionally join the attack as well.

And when fullbacks overlap, the wingers cut in to make it 3 men up front.

overall it is a very very versatile formation. in my opinion id always play the 4231 deep, aka 2 holding mid 1 attacking mid and 2 winger formation. But the player roles can vary. ive been recently fiddling around with 4231 and you have some interesting points there.

Agreeable, however if it were to be used on the defensive side/counter-attackingly, would it prevail?

 

[Mike.]

Agreeable, however if it were to be used on the defensive side/counter-attackingly, would it prevail?

definitely. look at what mourhino achieved playing at inter milan. it is a system that can as attack or as defensive as you make it.

 

[Luke]

The 4-2-3-1 is both more attacking and defensive than a traditional 4-4-2.

Both the Wide Midfielders push up into Attacking Midfielder roles, and a Striker pushes back into the AMC slot.

The reason it works so well against a 4-4-2 is because the more forward players can get between the rather flat lines of players in the 4-4-2.

Someone like Ozil in the World Cup was too deep to be picked by by Gareth Barry, but not deep enough to be marked by Terry or Upson. This led to him being able to roam freely and caused England a lot of problems. The same can be said of Sneijder of Holland, and even Kris Commons at Derby.

The wingers can stop the full backs getting forward and if they do can leave the other team open to attacks, shown by 3 of Germany's goals against England.

It is also solid defensively as the two holding players are far more affective than the one that may be used in a 4-4-2

 

[Reggaezal]

Agreeable, however if it were to be used on the defensive side/counter-attackingly, would it prevail?

im not too sure defensively, but you do have 6 men in your own half so numbers can make it count.

Counter attack? Defo! the formation's shape itself is brilliant allowing smooth and fast passes to take place easily!

 

[Alcaraz]

I normally would say that depending on the formation it can be either attacking or defensive,maybe even Counter..Its a basis for many variants which can employ many strategies

 

[iNickStuff]

The 4-2-3-1 is both more attacking and defensive than a traditional 4-4-2.

Both the Wide Midfielders push up into Attacking Midfielder roles, and a Striker pushes back into the AMC slot.

The reason it works so well against a 4-4-2 is because the more forward players can get between the rather flat lines of players in the 4-4-2.

Someone like Ozil in the World Cup was too deep to be picked by by Gareth Barry, but not deep enough to be marked by Terry or Upson. This led to him being able to roam freely and caused England a lot of problems. The same can be said of Sneijder of Holland, and even Kris Commons at Derby.

The wingers can stop the full backs getting forward and if they do can leave the other team open to attacks, shown by 3 of Germany's goals against England.

It is also solid defensively as the two holding players are far more affective than the one that may be used in a 4-4-2

Fair enough.

However, what are the roles of the wingers if it was to be more defensively based? I mean,they are there to attack, not to defend, despite having the ability to drop deep and pick up passes. The attacking midfielder the same.

 

[Mike.]

Fair enough.

However, what are the roles of the wingers if it was to be more defensively based? I mean,they are there to attack, not to defend, despite having the ability to drop deep and pick up passes. The attacking midfielder the same.

you set them to defensive wingers. even eto was used to do that

 

[iNickStuff]

you set them to defensive wingers. even eto was used to do that

Ah, I see.

It's only because I have been baffled about what the basis of the 4-2-3-1 was for quite some time and shedding some light onto it now will help me.

 

[Reggaezal]

Fair enough.

However, what are the roles of the wingers if it was to be more defensively based? I mean,they are there to attack, not to defend, despite having the ability to drop deep and pick up passes. The attacking midfielder the same.

The roles of the winger are in respect to the roles of the attacking midfielder and striker.

For example in liverpool, gerrard, kuyt, benayoun are the 3 men behind the striker, but did you notice these 3 are 100% compatible with any position(the wing or the center) and therefore they just swap positions. meaning they are the same roles, an attacking midfielder role, but the central player sends more through balls and the wingers send in more crosses.

But what i dont understand is the need for the wingers to be more defensively based. the holding midfielders are the ones who snuff out the passes and distribute play. the wingers dont really have to come back that much, seeing how the fullbacks can bomb forward to link up as well.

 

[iNickStuff]

The roles of the winger are in respect to the roles of the attacking midfielder and striker.

For example in liverpool, gerrard, kuyt, benayoun are the 3 men behind the striker, but did you notice these 3 are 100% compatible with any position(the wing or the center) and therefore they just swap positions. meaning they are the same roles, an attacking midfielder role, but the central player sends more through balls and the wingers send in more crosses.

But what i dont understand is the need for the wingers to be more defensively based. the holding midfielders are the ones who snuff out the passes and distribute play. the wingers dont really have to come back that much, seeing how the fullbacks can bomb forward to link up as well.

Ah yes, that is true. I see now. The six men back are the ones that are supposed to be capable enough to take on say the opposite four attacking players that may consist of two strikers and two wingers, should it be a 4-4-2.

And when counter-attacking the three attacking band of the two wingers, attacking midfielder and the striker would just be able to form a heavy attack aginst their back four or possibly five, counting the defensive (central) midfielder.

 

[Mike.]

The roles of the winger are in respect to the roles of the attacking midfielder and striker.

For example in liverpool, gerrard, kuyt, benayoun are the 3 men behind the striker, but did you notice these 3 are 100% compatible with any position(the wing or the center) and therefore they just swap positions. meaning they are the same roles, an attacking midfielder role, but the central player sends more through balls and the wingers send in more crosses.

But what i dont understand is the need for the wingers to be more defensively based. the holding midfielders are the ones who snuff out the passes and distribute play. the wingers dont really have to come back that much, seeing how the fullbacks can bomb forward to link up as well.

becuase then you suddenly have two banks of four in defence (8 men behind the baal), but can unleash 6 on the counter

 

[eFusion]

I say it depends on how you want it to be. Obviously, pacey wingers are required to make it work to it's potential on both defence and offence. Plus, a creative CAM feeding a quick and confident striker makes for a dangerous counter-attack.

 

[iNickStuff]

I say it depends on how you want it to be. Obviously, pacey wingers are required to make it work to it's potential on both defence and offence. Plus, a creative CAM feeding a quick and confident striker makes for a dangerous counter-attack.

Agreed.

Thanks for your guys' feedback. Appreciated

 

[taida]

4-2-3-1, one of my favourite tactics and it's not really hard to see why. Extremely versatile I've found [people have said it can easily be switched to 4-3-3, 4-4-1-1, etc.] but people that are saying it's not a defensive one haven't tried it much.

Personally, when I use it, I love to use it centrally. I.E not many wingers, and I love it's attacking ability, but a simple shift of pulling your AMC's and your MC's back one position and hey presto, defensive I've found. You'll have 6 people in a defensive position with 3 in midfield and one up front or even in the attacking midfield role, it's very useful.

However, with the three AMC's it can be open to attack from the wings if your defence isn't up to it and, with wingers, it can be open to attack right down the middle, so it all depends on how you play.

In conclusion, from my experience with said tactic, it's all about what players you have and how you want to play them. If you have a very defensive based team then it can be very defensive and vice versa if you have an attacking team, then it can be very dangerous to your opponents back line.

 

[nilelg5]

I use 3 types of 4-2-3-1's which are attacking, defensive, and counter attacking

Attacking
View attachment 103277

Defensive
View attachment 103278

Counter attacking
View attachment 103279