30-07-2017, 12:21
I strongly believe almost any formation CAN work. But everyone has to know what they are doing and be confident in it.
4-4-2 CAN look old and past its sell-by date. But played well it can and does still win.
The biggest thing is when the opposition mucks up your plans you have to be flexible. Under Cookie we had a number of players for whom this was second nature - Clucas, Darikwa, Doyle, Boco, Roberts could all change games and adapt wherever they found themselves on the pitch. Adaptability within individual players always seems more important to me than having lots of different players to slot into different systems.
4-4-2 CAN look old and past its sell-by date. But played well it can and does still win.
The biggest thing is when the opposition mucks up your plans you have to be flexible. Under Cookie we had a number of players for whom this was second nature - Clucas, Darikwa, Doyle, Boco, Roberts could all change games and adapt wherever they found themselves on the pitch. Adaptability within individual players always seems more important to me than having lots of different players to slot into different systems.