Have you ever heard the definition of insanity? Doing the same things over and over again expecting things to change.
I first heard that quote from the video game Far Cry 3, but it always stuck with me. And it’s somewhat what Ruben Amorim is doing at present. Manchester United have just recently lost on penalties to League Two Grimsby Town, notable among many things for footage of Amorim playing with a tactics board.
Amorim was seen twisting players around, and resulted in playing Mason Mount at Left-wing Back. Yep, that sounds fine.
Ruben Amorim has insisted that he will stick with his tactics until the end, which may be nearer than expected. Since coming into the United job, he had lost a European Final to Tottenham Hostpur, spent 260m Euros on a number of players, and managing a 36.4% win rate, the lowest since Alex Ferguson left.
So what can Wycombe Wanderers learn from him, considering these dreadful stats. Well that can learn what not to do.
Wycombe sit in the relegation zone currently, picking up 2 points from 2 draws. The other 4 games have all been losses.
Manager Mike Dodds, meanwhile, has admitted that Wycombe “Have no Plan B” and they “We just have to make Plan A better”, which is a concern.
In fact, managers with only one stated plan of attack should be a concern for any football fan. History is littered with managers who’s stubborn refusal to change their formula results in their own clubs failure.
Vincent Kompany spent over £100 million on players in the Premier League with Burnley, but his stubborn refusal to shift tactics saw the Clarets relegated immediately. Sean Dyche, meanwhile, took Burnley to Europe with Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes and Sam Vokes.
Russell Martin too, is a famed system manager, who’s glowing references include 1 win in 16 matches with Southampton in the Premier League, and a battering 9-1 loss on aggregate to Club Brugge in the Champions League playoffs.
Meanwhile, the teams who played with pragmatic managers in similar situations have often seen greater success. Brentford changed style and tactics under Thomas Frank, now at Tottenham. They went from a more defensive 5 back formation in their first season in the Premier League, but by Franks last season had the quality and depth to start playing “better” football.
So what can Wycombe, and particularly Mike Dodds learn?
Stubborn adherence to one philosophy can be a major detriment to a club. If you’re Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp, you can afford to be a tactical leader, but even they chopped and changed their tactics subtly but with emphasis over their time at Manchester City and Liverpool respectively.
Wycombe should know this better than most too, it’s crowning “glory days”, coming under the bitterly pragmatic Gareth Ainsworth, who knew how to win games even when it was ugly.
Even Matt Bloomfield, whilst wanting to play a certain style and formation, changed and tweaked until he found a formation and philosophy that saw Wycombe top the table for a period.
Remember the definition of insanity. If the results don’t change soon, then something else will need to.
