4-3-1-2 Formation
The diamond in the formation refers to the midfield, with an attacking midfielder and a holding midfielder employed and flanked by two wingers, who move in-field slightly to shore up the gaps in the centre. To cover for the lack of width in the side, the full-backs become wingbacks and start slightly higher up the pitch.
4-3-1-2 Formation
The diamond formation is typically associated with the World Cup-winning English national team in 1966, christened the ‘wingless wonders’. In recent times though, the employment of the diamond usually revolves around a single player. The Argentinian national side in the 2006 World Cup held an extremely fluid diamond formation which gave Juan Roman Riquelme space to instigate attacks, while AC Milan under Carlo Ancelotti in 2004 used the diamond to assist the Brazilian playmaker Kaká.
