Alex Neil admits he has chopped and changed his team more than he would have liked since taking over at Sunderland - and says the Black Cats are one 'pillar' short of a consistent line-up. After taking over in February, with no opportunity to trade players in the transfer window, Neil has tailored both shape and personnel to the opposition on a game-by-game basis.
He has frequently used a back five, with three centre-backs, and revealed that he has employed that system more times in his ten games in charge of Sunderland than he had in the previous decade of his managerial career. But next season Neil feels Sunderland need a more settled core group, and the summer transfer window will enable him to refresh his squad and bring in the players that will allow him to play his preferred back four system.
"I think you'd just like the key pillars of your team to be consistent, going forward," said Neil. "I think we are one pillar short, in terms of consistency.
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"Most teams have normally got eight or nine guys who have done enough and who have enough credit in the bank, so when you are on a good run they are generally in your starting XI. Then there are a couple more who, whether it be positional, form, or the game that you are playing and who is suited to the shape, those can fluctuate.
"I've changed the team probably more than, ideally, I would have liked to, but I have felt that it was relevant for each game. As I've said before, we haven't had a pre-season base to work from, to set out how we play.
"From my perspective, I've played more back fives since I've been here at Sunderland than I have in the last ten years of managing at three different clubs - that should tell you that it isn't something that I would generally do, but I have felt it necessary since I came here because that is the best way to help us to plug gaps and give us a solution to certain things."
With Sunderland on the slide when he took over, Neil had to work quickly to get his ideas across to the players and to find a shape and set-up that suited them, in order to turn things round. And he has made good progress, with the Black Cats going into today's game against Shrewsbury Town at the Stadium of Light sitting in sixth position in the table, on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run, and having kept five clean sheets in seven matches.
Neil said: "What it does show is that I have got intelligent players, they take in information and strategy particularly well, and they have managed to adapt. I find that over a longer period - not ten games, but over a period of years - sometimes players get bored of it [one tactical approach] so you need to change it up.
"Sometimes a change of shape, a change of strategy, engages the brain a bit more and gives them something different to think about. I think the players have adapted to that really well."
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