The 4-2-3-1, explained

The basic shape

A back four, a double pivot of two holding midfielders, an attacking midfield band of three (two wide players flanking a number ten) and a lone striker. The double pivot makes it hard to play through, and once the ball is won the ten and the two wingers give it three ready-made runners in transition.

Key roles

Double pivot (two 6s)

Two defensive midfielders share the screen in front of the back four. One is usually more conservative, the other is allowed to step forward in possession.

Number ten

The creative fulcrum. Finds space between the lines, links with the wingers and drops deep when the pivot needs support.

Wingers

Cut inside to combine with the striker and the ten, or stay wide to stretch the opposition full-backs. Very often inverted.

Centre-forward

Plays as a lone striker and has to occupy both centre-backs. Target forwards and pressing forwards both work, depending on the profile of the ten and wingers behind.

Strengths

• Defensive stability out of possession: the 6s shield the back four against counters.
• Clear attacking axis with the ten as the reference point between the lines.
• Easy to rotate into a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 mid-game by pushing one of the 6s higher.

Weaknesses

• The lone striker can get isolated if the ten doesn’t support quickly enough.
• Wide spaces can get overloaded when the opposition runs a 3-2-4-1 in build-up.
• The ten has to cover a lot of ground and makes the biggest difference: without a good one, the shape looks static.

Build it in MyLineups

1. Open the builder.
2. Pick one of more than 300 clubs or national teams to load its current squad.
3. Open the formation picker and tap 4-2-3-1.
4. Swap players into the shape: your two 6s side by side, the ten directly above them and the wingers on either side.
5. Export a clean square lineup image, or copy a share link that reopens the exact same XI on any device.

To take this shape further — build the 4-2-3-1 from a fully custom lineup with no base club, import any of ~10,000 players from the catalog, create your own custom players, assign a captain, log cards, goals, substitutions and ratings, or save the lineup for later — use the MyLineups mobile app.