Good teams have set systems and styles

injuries haven't helped, but Smith doesn't actually know whether to go 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 (diamond).

He'll say he's being flexible, and it's fine to mix it up for a specific opponent, but you have to have core principles for players to know what's expected of them. They won't gel as a unit otherwise.

Once he'd got it sussed, at Champ level at least, Farke never deviated from 4-2-3-1 apart from the odd switch to 3 at the back if we were chasing a game. That's why, in 20-21 specifically, we were such a machine.

Posted By: jamesward, Nov 16, 12:19:44