That One Tactical System Will Just Not Suffice.
In Brendan Rodgers first campaign, the 4-2-3-1 worked wonders.
The slow and steady build up was an alien system for every side who played us, working to tremendous effect in Scotland. Teams who expected us to play traditional domestic football were amazed when we slowed our whole game down to draw out defenders and make space for players to move into.
By the second season it had gotten stale, and predictable.
We went almost the full campaign without winning four league games in a row, doing so eventually but never putting together the sort of winning run that came in Brendan’s first season, the winning run which shattered points records and gave us the title Invincibles. It was a winning formula we seemed reluctant to dump.
Amazingly, we still won a second treble, but the cracks had begun to show. When we started this season playing exactly the same way, with every club knowing it by heart and many having learned how to effectively counter it, I knew it would be a long campaign.
Several managers had it so well figured out that Rodgers struggled against them time and time again. One of the managers who was most effective at stifling it was Neil Lennon; incredibly he has persisted with it, including the lunatic tactic of playing one man up front against packed defences and crossing the ball into the box.
He says it’s because players are “comfortable” with it. Yeah, and so are opposing players in going up against it. Our players will just have to learn something new, all the better to catch rival clubs off-guard all over again. Do that right and we’ll run away with the title.
The 4-2-3-1 has had its day. One up front might have too. That system has got to go, or at the very least it has to be married to at least one other formation and tactical plan. A manager who is flexible in his approach, and can change it to adapt to each team we go up against, would smash through this league like a wrecking ball.