Argyle's tactical switches pay off with win

TOM Cleverley thought Plymouth Argyle’s switch to a new 3-4-2-1 formation worked well as they secured a second consecutive League One win at Home Park by beating Stockport County 4-2.

- By CHRIS ERRINGTON

Cleverley had previously opted to play with a back four this season, but given the aerial threat of Stockport strikers Nathan Lowe and Kyle Wootton, plus the long-term injury to the Pilgrims’ attacking wide player Xavier Amaechi, he opted to make a tactical change.

That saw Kornel Szucs, Alex Mitchell and Brendan Wiredu playing as central defenders, with captain Joe Edwards and Matty Sorinola the two wing-backs.

Cleverley was asked by Herald Sport at his pre-match Press conference on Thursday about whether he would consider changing to that setup, given the types of players he had available to him, but he had indicated he would be sticking with a back four. “You got my team on Thursday but I didn’t want to give it away obviously!” joked Cleverley.

“We went to wing-backs today, a back three. We have got the personnel to do it. I thought that Stockport would offer a real aerial threat in the box, with Wootton and Lowe, which they did.

“We have been playing in a three when we have the ball anyway but we just weren’t being able to transition into it often enough. Today, we did it out of possession as well and it worked well.”

He continued: “I went through this at my previous club (Watford) as well, where wingers are some of your best players. If they get injured then maybe 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 is not the most effective.