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People need to stop talking about the "defensive weakness" of Spain. They have only conceded one goal so far this tournament.
The advantage of 4-3-1-2 over 3-5-2 is the extra midfielder in the centre of the pitch. It helps Italy keeping possession in that zone and make it harder for Xavi and Alonso to dictate play. And Spain tends to be narrow as well (before Navas comes in) and that suits Italy's narrow midfield. With 3-5-2 you have 3 central midfielders against Spain's 3 (Alonso, Xavi, Busquets), and all is even in that area.
The disadvantage of the 4-3-1-2 is that no one naturally guards the opponent's fullbacks. Arbeloa is not much of a danger, but Jordi Alba is a real threat going forward. Marchisio will have to shift over and help Abate/Balzaretti and perhaps Montolivo will have to drop back in line with the other 3. But on the flip side, Cassano and Balotelli have been very good at exploiting the space behind attacking fullbacks, and Pirlo has the killer pass to make best use of that.
Italy's 4-3-1-2 is also less rigid than other 4-3-1-2. Pirlo in theory is the deepest midfielder, but he has freedom to move forward, knowing that De Rossi and Marchisio will cover the space. Montolivo's instinct is not to stay close to the forwards, but to drop closer to the midfield 3, and he contributed a lot defensively against Germany.
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