I think this interview sheds some insight as to why we are playing a deep 4231 and why we are stagnating in terms of movement and creativity. I know he's been championing the 433 but the lack of dynamic midfielders means he can't really put his ideas into practice.

I think he may envision Gerrard as the deep controller in 433 but Gerrard doesn't control games through tempo. Then there's the 2 support CMs or box to box midfielders. Lucas i think can't play this role - We spent years converting him to a traditional DM that he's now more suited as a deep anchor type midfielder in 4231. You need midfielders with great mobility and endurance to work as a unit in 433 i.e. look at Spurs with the trio of Paulinho, Dembele and Sigurrdson. I think the players suited to this role are Henderson and Allen. Hendo has great engine but is not a great ball carrier. Allen is not great in the air, but he has both engine and the ability to carry the ball.

So now we have defaulted back to 4231 but as he said in that interview, the 2 CMs move sideways, so most of the attacking movement comes from the central attacking midfielder. But the lack of a genuine playmaker means there's a gaping hole between the midfield and the forward players. Not a good situation to be in.

Be humble boys! Be humble. We are gentlemen.

On a side note, Sunderland played like beast unleashed from its cage after Canio's departure.

It's amazing how the sacking of a incompetent manager can galvanize a team and the effect it does to the team morale. Truly amazing indeed

sunderland play like a relegation fighting team with roaring supports from their fans. despite others criticism towards the team, i'm actually very pleased with the way we responded after 3 "depleted" performances.