Football, as Sir Alex Ferguson noted last week, moves in cycles. He was talking about clubs and nations, about how certain places suddenly produce a great generation of players, but it is true as well of formations and styles of play. After the rise of 4–2–3–1 to replace 4–4–2 as the world's default, the backlash is well and truly under way. As so often, the key lies on the flanks. The history of
![The Question: Has 4-2-3-1 lost its gloss?](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/a3f501155793163f43e3e675d447868110a4d400/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fi.guim.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fstatic%2Fsys-images%2FFootball%2FPix%2Fpictures%2F2013%2F1%2F15%2F1358247561456%2FArjen-Robben-008.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26height%3D630%26quality%3D85%26auto%3Dformat%26fit%3Dcrop%26overlay-align%3Dbottom%252Cleft%26overlay-width%3D100p%26overlay-base64%3DL2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMtYWdlLTIwMTMucG5n%26enable%3Dupscale%26s%3D0bf867b16eed2495fe911d6510a4e0dd)