What’s with the resurgence of this? Seems this formation is played a lot when a team appears to be outmatched. (At lease on paper). Will we see more teams start to play this way?
We will IF a team goes deep or wins the WC with it. That's why we're stuck with 4-2-3-1—spain won with it and a bunch of high profile teams use it. It doesn't carry the stigma of 4-4-2, even though 4-4-2 is making a comeback in pro ranks. I hate seeing it in amateur for no reason. WC managers go to these formations because of the the talent within their squad and what they are up against.
"Formations" are given too much attention. The higher the level of play, the less relevant a single "formation" label is to describing how a team plays. The same principles of play apply regardless of what "formation" a coach chooses. Those principles should drive a team's movement on the field. The means good play in any particular situation looks similar regardless of the "formation" label. The movement on the field is more important than whether you classify a particular player as a back, midfielder, or forward. I prefer the 433, but I can adjust the 433 to play like any other system. That said the most common attacking shapes today for nominally 451, 442 and 433 "formations" are still 235 and 343 shapes.
Formation formation formation... I prefer Alignment, Assignment, Execution. My 4-4-2(or 4-1-4-1... or whatever may not be the same as your 4-4-2. I tell players the alignment. I set individual assignments within the alignment. I expect you to execute certain things within that alignment and assignment.