![]() The 4-1-4-1 formation employed by Pep Guardiola in Manchester City's 3-1 win at Arsenal in February '23 ![]() It's this lone pivot (named as such due to their literally pivoting between defence and midfield) that distinguishes this formation from a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 with a flat midfield 3. The central defensive midfielder plays a key role in the team's overall structure, acting as an anchor at the base of midfield to shield the back four and help connect defence and attack. To broaden out the picture: 4-1-4-1 consists of a back line of four defenders (a right back, a left back, and two center backs), a lone holding midfielder, a more advanced midfield four made up of two central midfielders, a right midfielder, and a left midfielder, and finally a lone striker. ![]() The 4-1-4-1 soccer formation is a variation of 4-5-1 that essentially drops one of the 3 central midfielders into a deeper-lying role, creating a conservatively-minded central defensive midfield position that could be referred to as a single pivot (this is similar to a double pivot structure, but with just one CDM rather than two). We'll also give you some examples of teams that have demonstrated the efficacy of 4-1-4-1, before wrapping up with a quick guide to how master tacticians can prevent this system from working effectively. In this article, we'll be exploring the 4-1-4-1 formation in depth, explaining how it works and what its key strengths are, before highlighting any weaknesses that coaches should be aware of when thinking of implementing this formation. However, one formation we haven't touched on yet is 4-1-4-1, a fairly common shape that a number of renowned teams have used over the years. In our series on the most popular soccer formations in the world, we've examined pretty much every shape there is, from the rigid, compact, old-school 4-4-2 structure to more inventive modern systems such as the possession-oriented 4-2-3-1 shape that helped Vicente Del Bosque's Spain team dominate the world just over a decade ago. And a big part of this tactical blueprint comes down to the physical shape of the team. Ultimately, it's the manager's prerogative: they will match their system to the footballing DNA that they want their team to represent. In football, some tactical systems are used to place focus on defensive solidity and shutting out the opposition, while others are built around keeping possession of the ball for long periods and gaining control of the game that way.
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