Is the English Premier League Going Through a Formational-Trend Shift?

Is the traditional 4-4-2 making way for the 4-3-2-1 without it being widely noticed?

Liverpool have been playing that way regularly for some seasons now, with a very defensive flavour to it, as did Chelsea under Mourhinho, but are we now starting to see it adopted in its attacking version by teams like United, Tottenham, and the new-look Chelsea?

United aren't buying Berbatov to put him on the bench, nor Rooney or Tevez, and he'd surely not play any of those three on the wing. So surely he is looking at them as the "2-1," with Berbatov at the front. That leaves three across midfield, (although Rooney and Tevez will no doubt be getting stuck in midfield), and a back four.

Chelsea lined up pretty much the same on Sunday: Anelka with Deco and Lamps behind.

Tottenham had a go at it, with Modric and Dos Santos behind Bent.

So it begs the question: Why, and why now?

I can think of a few reasons.

Centre backs have gotten very good at defending, and some of the best defenders in the world have come to the Premiership. They make it much more difficult for attackers to play right up at the top of the pitch.

The formation trend that preceded this one was to have the holding/defensive midfielder. This guy's job was to snuff out the player "in the hole," but if you have two in the hole, one of them is going to be free.

Possession is key in football. If you have the right players in the team, 4-3-2-1 gives your players more passing options and will help the team keep possession.

It also leads me to England; who, under Capello, looked set to adopt it to utilize our attacking and creative talents, despite its dismal failing in mid-week. It wasn't the system that was wrong it was a key player's absence and lack of fitness, competitive practise, and hunger to play an international friendly after the Premiership has just kicked off.

Pundits won't be able to say, "They're playing 4-4-2 for their clubs" because they're actually not any more, so maybe we should give 4-3-2-1 a chance. It certainly seemed to work for us in Euro '96.