Quote Originally Posted by Wullie View Post
Playing 4-2-3-1 can be great if done right and although there's a huge Tangerine spectacles type haze over the "We always score 4" period under Jackie, he had us playing very well, if only he'd signed some competent defenders, who knows what that team might have achieved.

On the other hand, Houstie.........club was feeling sorry for itself, he gambled, threw Levein's overly-cautious approach in the bin, played with two flair players wide and two ball winners and a front pairing who understood each other, fullbacks who could attack and put a balls into the box.

The problem is never the actual system, it's fitting the wrong players into the system you choose.
Agree with this 100%. A lot of folk get really wound up about our formation when it's actually more about the players. Most of the best teams on the planet play 4-2-3-1 and look amazing doing so. However, these teams usually have 2 attacking full-backs providing width to stretch the opposition and a midfield that control possession properly. We've not had that the past few years. Maybe with Smith at RB and Sporle or Robson at LB we can actually play the system properly for a change. When your full-backs are Watson/Murdoch and Booth, you're not offering any threat so you end up playing too narrow.