MLS's Obsession With 4231

Why the 4231 formation strives in MLS, but not anywhere else...

The 4-2-3-1 is a formation that has lost much popularity throughout world football in recent times. In part, due to the rise of managers preferring to have a three-man midfield consisting of one lone defensive midfielder who shields for the backline and two box-to-box midfielders who contribute to the attack and defense. Playing such a system allows the versatile midfielders to freely shift between pressing and attacking responsibilities. The rise of the three in the back formations such as 3-4-2-1 or 3-5-2 who give great numerical advantages in the midfield has also contributed to the decline in popularity for the 4-2-3-1.

If you look at the most successful teams in Europe in recent years that have won trophies or consistently finished in the top four within their domestic leagues, you’ll notice that a drastic minority are utilizing the 4-2-3-1. Teams such as Manchester City, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, PSG, Atletico Madrid, etc. don’t utilize the 4-2-3-1. All of them, however, use variants of the 4-3-3 or three back formations. Then there is Major League Soccer…

When we go across the Atlantic to the United States it is a completely different story. In the past seven seasons, the majority of the best teams within the league utilize the 4-2-3-1. The so-called Seattle Sounder dynasty that has reached four MLS Cup finals in the past five years has utilized a 4-2-3-1 up until this current season (mostly due to injuries). 2020 MLS Cup winners, Columbus Crew, oops I mean Columbus SC (sorry-not-sorry), used a 4-2-3-1 to win their title. These are just a couple examples of recent successful MLS teams that have used the formation to great effect but there are plenty of others.

The formation isn’t only used by the best but by the majority of the entire league. This past weekend of MLS games, twelve of the twenty-seven teams lined up in a 4-2-3-1. Almost exactly half of the teams in the league use a 4-2-3-1. The second most employed formation this past weekend was a 4-3-3 which came at a meager five teams. When you tune into a random MLS match, you have just about a 50/50 chance to be watching at least one team that uses the 4-2-3-1.

Without a doubt, the 4-2-3-1 has dominated MLS in recent years and has become a staple formation within the league. But why is it when the rest of the footballing world is shying away from this formation that it still continues to strive in MLS?

Designated Players

If you didn’t already notice, MLS has a very unique salary and roster system not seen anywhere else in the world. A major part of this unique system is Designated Players. MLS teams are allowed to pay three players whatever they want, without it counting towards the salary cap. In other words, your designated players are your team’s superstars. In MLS, you want your superstars to be attackers, players who can single handily win you games with their goal scoring or creating ability.

The ultimate attacker that can influence the game the most is the attacking midfielder. They are the catalyst of the offense, the ones who pull the strings, the playmaker. This is why MLS teams almost always tend to use one of their DP slots and spend big money on an attacking midfielder. MLS Players such as Nicolás Lodeiro, Alejandro Pozuelo, and Lucas Zelarayán are all attacking midfielders, number tens, who can control and win games for your team. When an MLS team spends a lot of money on this attacking midfielder, they want to make sure to get the absolute most out of him.

So where is the best place on the pitch to place your number ten to give him the most influence? Centrally duh. This is where the 4-2-3-1 comes into the picture. In the 4-2-3-1, the attacking midfielder is placed centrally where it provides them with the most accessibility to get on the ball which is exactly what the number ten needs to dictate a game.

In the 4-2-3-1, the attacking midfielder is in the heart of the team.

When the defense wins the ball, the ten will be close enough to receive it immediately to initiate a counter. He can link-up play between the two holding midfielders, the wingers on his side, and the striker ahead of him from this position. He can also run in behind the striker to receive a layoff or sit back and be available to recycle play. You want your number ten to have the max accessibility to the ball and his teammates. This is how you get the most out of his creative and technical abilities.

Not only do the DP attacking midfielders benefit from the 4-2-3-1 but the other attacking DPs a team may have. Say an MLS team has used all three of their DP slots on attackers. An attacking midfielder, winger, and striker make up those three slots, something that is very common in MLS. In a 4-2-3-1, they are in a close vicinity where the best three players can link up and play off each other. This puts them in the best position to score or create goals for your team. That’s why you paid the big bucks for them, right?

The 4-2-3-1 has natural triangles throughout the formation which allows for fluidity in the attack.

The formation provides a solid spine that allows fullbacks to push into the attack because they have holding midfielders to cover. It allows DP attackers to use their creativity, without having to worry too much about defensive positioning and leaving the defense vulnerable (more on the defensive advantages of the formation next). The higher quality attacks in MLS can score goals with only four or five players pushing into the attack and so the formation suits MLS offenses well.

So the first reason the 4-2-3-1 is popular in MLS to make the most out of Designated Players. Reason number two is a byproduct of this Designated Player rule.

Roster Imbalance

The Designated Player rule directly leads to imbalances in MLS rosters. MLS as a league is very top-heavy in terms of spending. All their money and investment go into attacking players and very little into defenders. This creates a significant quality gap between MLS attacks and MLS defenses. It isn’t unusual that you could have an attacking DP player who’s getting paid $6 million a year playing against a four-man MLS defense that makes a combined $1 million a year and that’s being generous.

This is why MLS has some of the highest goals scored and goals conceded numbers in the world. It’s because the quality of attackers in MLS is so much higher in general than defenders. So if you don’t have the quality in defenses to stop these attackers what can you do? Well, that’s where quantity over quality has to become the strategy. That’s where the double pivot of the 4-2-3-1 comes in.

The double-pivot is the two defensive midfielders that sit right in front of the defensive line. If you can’t beat these higher level, DP attackers with individual’s quality you need to make up for that with numbers. Having a dual-pivot creates a defensive square in the most dangerous attacking zone.

Zone 14 (Red) is the most threatening position an opposing attacker can be in. They have the most attacking options available to them in this position. As a defense, your goal is to keep attackers out of this zone and force them wide in less threatening positions.

An opposing attacker’s goal is to get into this zone. The main defensive job of the double pivot is to prevent the ball from getting into this zone. They are a buffer that opposing attackers have to get through first before being able to attack the defensive line directly. You can add an extra level of protection by having your central attacking midfielder drop back and increase that buffer from two players to three players.

What if that attacking player does get into zone 14? It’s not the end of the world. This defensive box that the 4-2-3-1 creates allows the defense to swarm that player within the zone with four players. The opposing player, if executed properly, gets surrounded and forces him to lose possession of the ball.

In a more desperate defensive scenario where your team’s best strategy is to drop in a low block and absorb pressure, you can have your two wingers and attacking midfielder drop back. This transforms the 4-2-3-1 into an even more defensively sound 4-4-1-1.

The 4-2-3-1 gives MLS defenses a way to negate some of the impact these elite attackers can have when playing against lower quality defenses. The formation also makes sense with the style of play within MLS.

Style of Play

MLS is one of the most end-to-end (ha) leagues you’ll watch. Games are a back-and-forth affair with little pauses of possession. Due to the style and pace of the game, counterattacks are one of the biggest threats that defenses have to deal with. With the constant back and forth, it is very easy for defenses to get disorganized and expose themselves. However, the way that the 4-2-3-1 is set up to provide a safety net for such style and pace of the game.

In the attack, the whole team pushes up but with the double pivot we discussed earlier, they provide cover for when those counterattacks try to happen. Those holding midfielders, combined with the fullbacks running back on defense, and the centrebacks create this safety net.

Typically, this is how the 4-2-3-1 looks like in possession on offense. Your fullbacks can make overlapping or underlapping runs, but they will run back on defense creating this safety net shape. It creates a defensive screen that helps disrupts counters.

When on offense and your team loses possession, the 4-2-3-1 already sets up your team to have an effective barrier to stop these counters. If the opposing teams try to break through the middle, there are two holding midfielders that can disrupt that. If they try to play over the top or down the wings, the centre-backs can cover the threat until the holding midfielders and fullbacks catch up. Obviously, it’s not guaranteed to work 100% of the time but it’s a simple, but effective way to prevent getting exposed by counterattacks.

Conclusion

The 4-2-3-1 is an easy system to implement that isn’t overly complex or difficult and because of that, it’s very accessible to most MLS teams. However, just because it is simple doesn’t mean that it isn’t a formation that can’t win you trophies in MLS. Quite the contrary. The Seattle Sounders have proven over and over again that if utilized correctly, the 4-2-3-1 can be a formidable formation to dominate the league. Even though new coaches entering the league are bringing in different ideas and formations, the 4-2-3-1 is still king and here to stay in Major League Soccer.