Russell Martin

[Wade Garrett]

5 minutes ago, Rebel said:

For me its a bit like the situation we found ourselves in with Claude Puel - we either need to sack him or back him.  With Puel we failed to back him and then decided to sack him late in the summer replacing him with a last minute panic decision in Mauricio Pellegrino - so be careful what you wish for. 

I still think Les Reed went for Pellegrino as he looked and sounded a bit like Pochettino.  Only he was far from that and his track record was terrible.

I believe in playing out from the back as opposed to lumping it forward - but I get frustrated that we do it all the time, with short passes to the centre backs or pinch passes to the CDM, particularly when the opposition have figured it out and are pressing the back line waiting for the mistake. At times it looks like suicidal football.  

But we still seem to have holes in the squad - we have missed a centre forward all season, as well as cover at left back, centre back, CDM and in central midfield.  How many times have we needed to close a game out by putting on a ball winning box-to-box midfielder but we just don't have one?

I'd stick with Martin - but tell him he needs a plan B as well as be a bit more pragmatic about how we play.

But also they need to give him the players to play his way - but also have a plan B.

If we don't go up a lot of players will leave - those on loan but also players like KWP, Aribo, Bednarek and Adarma - partly though cost cutting and the need to raise money but also partly because they want to play at a higher level

Martin will not compromise on his way of playing the game.  He would rather get sacked and take his pay-off back to Brighton.

[Lord Duckhunter]

6 minutes ago, Rebel said:

I still think Les Reed went for Pellegrino as he looked and sounded a bit like Pochettino

This is one of the biggest myths I keep reading on here, that Pelligrino was some sort of left field appointment who didn’t have the pedigree to manage us.

It’s just pony. He won La Liga twice & the UFFA cup, played  in 2 champions league finals, played for Valencia, Barcelona & Liverpool and won Argentina caps. as a coach he was Rafa Benetiz’s assistant at 2 different clubs and managed Alaves to their only Spanish cup final. Yes, he was a failure, but  like Gerard, Lampard & other failures he had the pedigree to be a manager. 

[notnowcato]

26 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Martin will not compromise on his way of playing the game.  He would rather get sacked and take his pay-off back to Brighton.

To be fair he was recruited because of his way of playing the game. 

[notnowcato]

15 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

This is one of the biggest myths I keep reading on here, that Pelligrino was some sort of left field appointment who didn’t have the pedigree to manage us.

It’s just pony. He won La Liga twice & the UFFA cup, played  in 2 champions league finals, played for Valencia, Barcelona & Liverpool and won Argentina caps. as a coach he was Rafa Benetiz’s assistant at 2 different clubs and managed Alaves to their only Spanish cup final. Yes, he was a failure, but  like Gerard, Lampard & other failures he had the pedigree to be a manager. 

As the game has seen all too often, player pedigree does not necessarily equal managerial success. 

[Fan The Flames]

12 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

As the game has seen all too often, player pedigree does not necessarily equal managerial success. 

You would think people would know that by now. It's like people who advocate for x ex-player who has no managerial experience just because 'they know the club'.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Rebel said:

If we don't go up a lot of players will leave - those on loan but also players like KWP, Aribo, Bednarek and Adarma - partly though cost cutting and the need to raise money but also partly because they want to play at a higher level

We do have the second parachute payment, but I agree, we will need to raise some funds, assuming we don't win the play off (I'm still very hopeful). My fag packet maths has us needing to make a significant profit in the next set of accounts to avoid breaching FFP rules. 

I would say that if players are currently on lots of money, they will be hard to shift. McCarthy has been a prime example, so too Bednarek. No Prem side was interested in buying Bednarek when we were touting him to all and sundry two summers ago, and likewise last summer. What has changed? AArmstrong has once more proved he can score goals in the Championship, but other than perhaps a promoted Ipswich, which Prem side is coming in for him? Aribo has done quite well in the second half of the season, but not enough for a Prem side to buy him. KWP is only here this season because he was shite the season before and we will have wanted a bloody serious fee for him. That fee will be lower this summer as he edges towards a free, so his departure is more likely, but not certain.

We will certainly need to do some trading if we are to acquire Downes (which I think could happen) and maybe a couple of others that can give us what has been missing this season.

[S-Clarke]

5 hours ago, trousers said:

Erm...

 

I don't class a little week or two flirt as being in the hunt to be honest, we've always been on the edge of it and playing catchup by some distance. As soon as we get close, we're back to 10 points adrift again.

If we were switching places over months, back and forth, then yeah for sure - but it was no more than a brief flirtation, we never really competed strongly enough for it in my eyes.

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, The Kraken said:

My expectation is that if we don’t go up we’re going to have to make monumental cost cutting changes, both on the playing side and within the club itself. We’ll have a lot of players still on relatively huge wages, plus we’ve got quite a few loanees out who haven’t exactly set their respective places alight so that’s another headache. Basically I think we’re a bit fucked financially if we don’t go up.

Maybe in the third year it will be a bit like that, but I just feel we have a tiny bit of grace next year - not based on anything other than a hunch and looking at what went on in the summer. If you think about it, we pocketed a hell of a lot in the summer (more than anyone else ever has at this level), we're likely going to pocket another 50m+ this summer with the sales of Bednarek, KWP and some others (maybe ABK). We'll trim the wage bill even further with Adams, Stu and McCarthy off - so as long as we aren't financially absolutely screwed and all this will have to service extreme levels of unknown debt, then I don't see any reason why we cannot compete strongly again. A lot will be down to recruitment as like you say, we will lose lots - pretty much an entire 11, and will need to start all over again.

Cock it up next year and I see no way back for us for a long, long time.

Edited May 1 by S-Clarke

[Wade Garrett]

2 hours ago, notnowcato said:

To be fair he was recruited because of his way of playing the game. 

That is true and makes SR look like the chumps they are.

[notnowcato]

41 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

That is true and makes SR look like the chumps they are.

Aye, different strokes for different folks… and all that 

[trousers]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't class a little week or two flirt as being in the hunt to be honest, we've always been on the edge of it and playing catchup by some distance. As soon as we get close, we're back to 10 points adrift again.

If we were switching places over months, back and forth, then yeah for sure - but it was no more than a brief flirtation, we never really competed strongly enough for it in my eyes.

 I get where you're coming from but I disagree a tad with your assessment of how in contention we were. I believe that first table was at the end of our "club record unbeaten run" (TM).... at which point there was no sign whatsoever that the wheels were about to come off... Our momentum was upwards and going on to secure an auto-promotion place from there was not unrealistic in the slightest.

So, in my humble opinion, we very much were "in the hunt" after 30 games and it's only hindsight that suggests otherwise. 

Edited May 1 by trousers

[Rebel]

3 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

This is one of the biggest myths I keep reading on here, that Pelligrino was some sort of left field appointment who didn’t have the pedigree to manage us.

It’s just pony. He won La Liga twice & the UFFA cup, played  in 2 champions league finals, played for Valencia, Barcelona & Liverpool and won Argentina caps. as a coach he was Rafa Benetiz’s assistant at 2 different clubs and managed Alaves to their only Spanish cup final. Yes, he was a failure, but  like Gerard, Lampard & other failures he had the pedigree to be a manager. 

he got sacked by Valencia in his first year and by Estudiantes after 2 years, and then was at Independiente for less than a year before he moved to Alaves  - and then was only there a year before moving to Saints.  Not exactly a great track record.

Pochettino was a gamble - but it worked.  

I think Pellegrino was a bad appointment - and not really based on any great decision making or analysis - or indeed the black box.  I think it was more Les Reed thinking how clever he was finding another Pochettino.

Can't help thinking they used to the same method to replace Van Dijk with Wesley Hoedt (a 6ft 4 left footed Dutch centre back - he will be great just like Virgil!)

[Rebel]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

We do have the second parachute payment, but I agree, we will need to raise some funds, assuming we don't win the play off (I'm still very hopeful). My fag packet maths has us needing to make a significant profit in the next set of accounts to avoid breaching FFP rules. 

I would say that if players are currently on lots of money, they will be hard to shift. McCarthy has been a prime example, so too Bednarek. No Prem side was interested in buying Bednarek when we were touting him to all and sundry two summers ago, and likewise last summer. What has changed? AArmstrong has once more proved he can score goals in the Championship, but other than perhaps a promoted Ipswich, which Prem side is coming in for him? Aribo has done quite well in the second half of the season, but not enough for a Prem side to buy him. KWP is only here this season because he was shite the season before and we will have wanted a bloody serious fee for him. That fee will be lower this summer as he edges towards a free, so his departure is more likely, but not certain.

We will certainly need to do some trading if we are to acquire Downes (which I think could happen) and maybe a couple of others that can give us what has been missing this season.

I think maybe Bednarek, KWP, and Adarma only having a year left on their contracts will make a difference - the buying clubs can afford to buy them out of the last year of their contracts or we will be able to find the money to pay them off as part of any sale 

we might be stuck with Aribo and his £70K a week

I had hoped they all had relegation clauses cutting their wages by 30% or more which would have made them easier to sell - but it doesn't sound like they did.  They should be mandatory in all footballers contracts!

[Lord Duckhunter]

13 minutes ago, Rebel said:

I think Pellegrino was a bad appointment - and not really based on any great decision making or analysis - or indeed the black box.  I think it was more Les Reed thinking how clever he was finding another Pochettino.

Can't help thinking they used to the same method to replace Van Dijk with Wesley Hoedt (a 6ft 4 left footed Dutch centre back - he will be great just like Virgil!)

Les Reed did a bloody good job for the club, he wasn’t some amateur half wit you’re trying to make out he was. Yes, Pellegrino was ultimately  a poor manager for us (although he’s rapidly moving out of the bottom 3 with subsequent appointments) but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t thought through. He certainly had a pedigree to match “mid table Martin “prior to his appointment. Hopefully, we’ll get to see if Lego head in the Premier League & can make a proper judgement. 
 

Your other point is just ridiculous, if that was Les’ modus operandi, surely he’d have signed a Croatian to replace Lovren & a Belgian to replace Toby. 
 

 

[CSA96]

LR: "Mauricio believes with the quality we have we can play exciting, attacking football, taking the game to our opponents by playing a high-intensity game. He will continue to develop and introduce young players whilst building on the core of experience that we have in the squad.

During the recruitment process Mauricio quickly became our first choice and, while he had other options, we are delighted he feels that St Mary’s is the right place for him and we believe he is the right fit for us."

Hmm.

Edited May 1 by CSA96

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

4 hours ago, Chez said:

We do have the second parachute payment, but I agree, we will need to raise some funds, assuming we don't win the play off (I'm still very hopeful). My fag packet maths has us needing to make a significant profit in the next set of accounts to avoid breaching FFP rules. 

I would say that if players are currently on lots of money, they will be hard to shift. McCarthy has been a prime example, so too Bednarek. No Prem side was interested in buying Bednarek when we were touting him to all and sundry two summers ago, and likewise last summer. What has changed? AArmstrong has once more proved he can score goals in the Championship, but other than perhaps a promoted Ipswich, which Prem side is coming in for him? Aribo has done quite well in the second half of the season, but not enough for a Prem side to buy him. KWP is only here this season because he was shite the season before and we will have wanted a bloody serious fee for him. That fee will be lower this summer as he edges towards a free, so his departure is more likely, but not certain.

We will certainly need to do some trading if we are to acquire Downes (which I think could happen) and maybe a couple of others that can give us what has been missing this season.

This concerns me, Chez, I thought we were in the black after our sales last summer, and it doesn't take much to offload the out of contract players and expensive loan players if we need to.

How do you motivate a kid who's been sold to us for £10-15m quid and thinks he's Billy Big Bollocks? How to you motivate a Sulemana who struts around as if he owns the place but is shit and needs to prove himself? I'm not convinced RM has got the most out of this squad and next year, if we're not promoted, he'll have a lot less to play with. One thing I have noticed is he's gone very British with his team, so I can't see the likes of ABK playing for us again.

I'm also still very hopeful for the play-offs. There's no team to be scared of. If any of that lot play the high press, RM needs to get the team to look forwards once we beat the press rather than stop and wait for reinforcements. That's why Edozie has something about him. He is willing to take on players..his problem is he's just too much of a lightweight.

[Lighthouse]

40 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

LR: "Mauricio believes with the quality we have we can play exciting, attacking football, taking the game to our opponents by playing a high-intensity game. He will continue to develop and introduce young players whilst building on the core of experience that we have in the squad.

During the recruitment process Mauricio quickly became our first choice and, while he had other options, we are delighted he feels that St Mary’s is the right place for him and we believe he is the right fit for us."

Hmm.

That’s just a bog standard, new manager press release. I don’t get your point.

[Dark Munster]

38 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

That’s just a bog standard, new manager press release. I don’t get your point.

They chose him, and he had just signed, so of course they believed it. 

On the other hand, if it had been 6 months later after dire, losing football, and they said "we have full confidence that he'll turn it around" then that's completely different, you know that it is indeed a load of bollocks (and they are probably about to fire him).

[Weston Super Saint]

Any idea when the reaction(s) will be happening?

[Chez]

4 hours ago, Rebel said:

I think maybe Bednarek, KWP, and Adarma only having a year left on their contracts will make a difference - the buying clubs can afford to buy them out of the last year of their contracts or we will be able to find the money to pay them off as part of any sale 

we might be stuck with Aribo and his £70K a week

I had hoped they all had relegation clauses cutting their wages by 30% or more which would have made them easier to sell - but it doesn't sound like they did.  They should be mandatory in all footballers contracts!

where has this £70k wage for Aribo come from?  I often say players are on far more than we imagine,  but in his case, we signed him for buttons from Rangers, who pay fuck all. I cant see why we'd have to pay him that much and not have a cut in his contract should we go down.  Doesn't stack up. That said, even with wage cuts, players are on far more than the championship can cover.

[saintstowin]

22 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Any idea when the reaction(s) will be happening?

RM has today confirmed he meant reactions to the motivational what's app messages he sends each player.

[Whitey Grandad]

32 minutes ago, saintstowin said:

RM has today confirmed he meant reactions to the motivational what's app messages he sends each player.

Ah. I think I see the problem here.

[Fan The Flames]

23 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

That’s just a bog standard, new manager press release. I don’t get your point.

I guess, as they were describing Potchs way of playing and the fact Pellegrino didn't play that way, suggests he wasn't that well studied/considered by the recruiting team.

[Tommy Mulgrew]

A lot of the criticism of Russ’s PB football is about goals conceded and turgid play.  The two are connected and the first partly results from the second.  

We probably pass the ball to each other more quickly than other teams in the Championship and that is admirable and impressive but the almost automatic passing is mainly sideways or backwards because opponents cut off the more obvious routes forward.  Really good players with quick-witted vision for a killer forward pass are needed to work the ball quickly up the pitch to the opponent’s penalty area; either that or a long ball over the top down the middle or diagonally.   We do the latter sometimes but not often.  We do the former rarely.  When we do we either, we cut incisively through the opposition with relatively few of our players high up th pitch.  If we lose the ball, we generally have good cover for a counterattack on our goal.

By going sideways or backwards, we give the opponent time to get all players behind the ball and when we tippy tippy the ball forward we have to commit our entire outfield player forward to break down the opposition defensive formation.  If we lose the ball, the  opposition counterattack can move quickly on our goal because we have overcommitted forward and attackers quickly bear down on an inadequate defensive shield in front of our goal.  The result is a high proportion of opponents’ chances result in a goal and a blame the goalkeeper (and the manager and the defence and the midfield) culture among our fans.

The more we mix up our play with a more direct approach, the more likely we are to pose a threat on our opponent’s goal and the more likely we are not to concede to a goal to the counterattack if we lose the ball up the pitch.  It also reduces the likelihood of us losing the ball in or near our penalty area.

Football is a simple game.  At present we are making it difficult.

[WGC Saint]

I’ll happily swap RM for Kieran McKenna next Christmas when Ipswich are bottom of the Prem and he gets the sack and we’re languishing in mid table of the Championship passing it around in our own half and then giving away the inevitable sloppy goal whilst missing a host of chances at the business end.

Edited May 4 by WGC Saint

[Dusic]

Significant tactical tweak today and excellent overall performance. McCarthy disnt have to do much and Leeds couldnt handle our incisive passing at times.

Will be interesting to see if we use the back 5 vs WBA who we have already beaten twice and who are happy to concede possession.

A nice change up to have. 

[trousers]

44 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Significant tactical tweak today and excellent overall performance. McCarthy disnt have to do much and Leeds couldnt handle our incisive passing at times.

Will be interesting to see if we use the back 5 vs WBA who we have already beaten twice and who are happy to concede possession.

A nice change up to have. 

Indeed; kudos to Russ today for the tactical changes. One can't help but ponder though what might have been had he embraced such tactical fluidity more often during the course of the season.

Anyway, that's in the past now. Looking to the playoffs with much positivity after today. COYR!

Edited May 4 by trousers

[RedArmy]

Please, please, please keep KWP playing out wide in the playoffs and no more inverted full back nonsense. 

[Dusic]

29 minutes ago, RedArmy said:

Please, please, please keep KWP playing out wide in the playoffs and no more inverted full back nonsense. 

He hasnt been used like that regularly since autumn 2023 really so imagine its highly unlikely.

[Wade Garrett]

Well done for changing formation today.  Prefer a front 2.

[Patrick Bateman]

3 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Well done for changing formation today.  Prefer a front 2.

Absolutely, enjoyed that.

[Wade Garrett]

Martin showed yesterday that he can change our shape.  I’ll like him a whole lot more if he continues to be pragmatic and adaptable,

[FarehamSaintJames]

He’s a trendy man, where does he shop? - my wife.

Edited May 5 by FarehamSaintJames

[Colinjb]

14 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Martin showed yesterday that he can change our shape.  I’ll like him a whole lot more if he continues to be pragmatic and adaptable,

I would like to think he was trying some psychology on his fellow managers by appearing to be totally predictable so he could surprise them in key games.

But, this is giving him far, far too much credit I feel.

[gio1saints]

He played our strongest available 11. 
Playing THB, Jan and JS together is quite some barrier  to try and get through- especially when you have a KWP and a RM or Bree on either flank for cover. Was like an umbrella around Alex. 
That should be starting line up next two games - and final if we make it. Defensively much harder to breach than previous versions but still lots attacking options. 

[S-Clarke]

8 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

He played our strongest available 11. 
Playing THB, Jan and JS together is quite some barrier  to try and get through- especially when you have a KWP and a RM or Bree on either flank for cover. Was like an umbrella around Alex. 
That should be starting line up next two games - and final if we make it. Defensively much harder to breach than previous versions but still lots attacking options. 

When you look at the makeup of our squad and the players we have, what with our noticeable weaknesses in CM, it does make me wonder why we've not tried 3 at the back more often this season. It gives us more protection off the ball, and then on the ball one of the CB's can step out into midfield to provide an extra number in there. 

I didn't think it particularly nullified our attack either, as it enabled Manning and KWP especially to hug the width and play as our wide players essentially. The two up top, playing somewhat closer together, gave us a stronger outlet when we needed to retain the ball. It also meant we could have a player like Fraser playing LWB and not end up being particularly exposed.

I will add that Leeds were inept though, they didn't use the ball well at all and kept giving it away, so this setup will have much stronger tests - but It's something I think we could have seen on other occasions this season.

Edited May 5 by S-Clarke

[miserableoldgit]

15 hours ago, trousers said:

Indeed; kudos to Russ today for the tactical changes. One can't help but ponder though what might have been had he embraced such tactical fluidity more often during the course of the season.

Anyway, that's in the past now. Looking to the playoffs with much positivity after today. COYR!

Haven't read everything yet. Have we had the usual "We were lucky....we only won because the opposition were sh1t" posts yet?

[trousers]

15 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

Haven't read everything yet. Have we had the usual "We were lucky....we only won because the opposition were sh1t" posts yet?

Not seen much of that kind of rhetoric to be honest. Yes, Leeds certainly weren't at their best but had they been then I feel we would've still got something out of the game. A very timely decent performance from us. 

Edited May 5 by trousers

[trousers]

30 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

When you look at the makeup of our squad and the players we have, what with our noticeable weaknesses in CM, it does make me wonder why we've not tried 3 at the back more often this season. It gives us more protection off the ball, and then on the ball one of the CB's can step out into midfield to provide an extra number in there. 

I didn't think it particularly nullified our attack either, as it enabled Manning and KWP especially to hug the width and play as our wide players essentially. The two up top, playing somewhat closer together, gave us a stronger outlet when we needed to retain the ball. It also meant we could have a player like Fraser playing LWB and not end up being particularly exposed.

I will add that Leeds were inept though, they didn't use the ball well at all and kept giving it away, so this setup will have much stronger tests - but It's something I think we could have seen on other occasions this season.

Yep, agree.... Yesterday's win was somewhat bittersweet in a way. Whilst setting us up nicely for the playoffs it also served as a reminder of what could've been this season.

Anyway, now's not the time for an end of season postmortem... Let's save that for the promotion party....

Edited May 5 by trousers

[miserableoldgit]

Adam and Jo spoke a  lot of sense re:- RM, giving him 8.0/8.5 out of 10, on yesterdays Going Home, plus a good fair review of the season.

[ScandiSaint]

1 hour ago, miserableoldgit said:

Adam and Jo spoke a  lot of sense re:- RM, giving him 8.0/8.5 out of 10, on yesterdays Going Home, plus a good fair review of the season.

Thought this too. Annoyed to miss out on automatic but it's still been a very good season at times after a complete mess last season. Don't see the logic in changing manager again. 

[DrSuess1979]

7 minutes ago, ScandiSaint said:

Thought this too. Annoyed to miss out on automatic but it's still been a very good season at times after a complete mess last season. Don't see the logic in changing manager again. 

Total agree

We forget what a $hit show he inherited.

 

[Toussaint]

18 minutes ago, DrSuess1979 said:

Total agree

We forget what a $hit show he inherited.

 

Because he didn’t, he had a fresh start with a new team behind him giving him 100% backing in his philosophy and a bunch of premier league players and loanees at his disposal. 
 

Having said that, we are we are are and I feel much more positive after Russ and the team’s performance yesterday. 

[StrangelyBrown]

4 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Martin showed yesterday that he can change our shape.  I’ll like him a whole lot more if he continues to be pragmatic and adaptable,

Completely agree, I just hope it isnt another saintsy glimmer of hope before yet more disappointment.

[miserableoldgit]

On 05/05/2024 at 13:31, ScandiSaint said:

Thought this too. Annoyed to miss out on automatic but it's still been a very good season at times after a complete mess last season. Don't see the logic in changing manager again. 

There is no logic to it....especially those calling for Steve Cooper, who is so good that he is, I believe, still unemployed. The problem is that some people just don't like RM. If he won the PL with us AND found a cure for Cancer, ended poverty and established World Peace,they would still dislike him. Changing managers is not always a positive step....look at last season.....look at Birmingham. There will always be people on here, like a certain poster who has an irrational "dislike" of Nigel Adkins, who will never change their opinion of a manager whatever he does.

Edited May 7 by miserableoldgit
The post wasn't about me.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, miserableoldgit said:

There is no logic to it....especially those calling for Steve Cooper, who is so good that he is, I believe, still unemployed. The problem is that some people just don't like RM. If he won the PL with us AND found a cure for Cancer, they would still dislike him. Changing managers is not always a positive step....look at last season.....look at Birmingham. There will always be people on here, like a certain poster who has an irrational "dislike" of Nigel Adkins, who will never change their opinion of a manager.

Hmm, not sure.

Which cancer?

[miserableoldgit]

32 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Hmm, not sure.

Which cancer?

Any cancer.....hopefully the one that I am suffering from. I was just indicating that it doesn't matter what good he does some will still dislike him....

[Osvaldorama]

I think he’s more than done enough to warrant another season. I also hope that he will have learned a lot this year.

There has been so much change at the club it makes sense to keep the same manager if we don’t go up imo. 

[Midfield_General]

2 hours ago, Toussaint said:

Having said that, we are we are are 

Couldn't agree more

[notnowcato]

A change in formation was an excellent use of time on the training ground, time that before this week they’ve had previous little of in the past 6 weeks. 
 

Now WBA won’t know which formation to prepare for and we have the option of in game switching between a back 3 or 4. Love it. 

Edited May 5 by notnowcato