Bristol City are the only unbeaten side left in the Football League... and it's all thanks to Steve Cotterill's innovative tactics. Bristol City top of League One and unbeaten after 16 games. Steve Cotterill playing three at the back as Holland did at the World Cup. When Louis van Gaal led Holland to a World Cup semi-final playing three at the back and declared he would use the same system at Manchester United it appeared we could be on the cusp of a tactical revolution in this country. Shortly after though Van Gaal, like Harry Redknapp at QPR and a few other managers at clubs in the Football League, had quickly abandoned the back three and returned to systems traditionally more tried and trusted on these shores. One place the back three is still going strong though is not in the aforementioned footballing heartlands of Manchester and London, but down in Bristol. At Ashton Gate, to be precise. The opening day of the season saw Sheffield United welcome Bristol City to Bramall Lane. It was supposed to be the confirmation of pre-season predictions that Nigel Clough's Blades would canter to the League One title, but Steve Cotterill hadn't read the script. Cotterill surprised his opposite number with a 3-4-3 system, silencing the home crowd early on by flooding players forward and eventually running out 2-1 winners. Bristol City have not looked back since. Three months on, still employing a system similar to those abandoned by Van Gaal and Redknapp, and Cotterill's side remain unbeaten in League One. Saturday's 1-0 win over Oldham at Ashton Gate was their 10th victory in League One season. If he is being picky, six draws is probably more than Cotterill will have liked, but his side do not lack adventure - they are the top scorers in the division with 33 goals already. That's quite some feat when you consider they lost League One's top scorer last season, Sam Baldock, to Brighton in August. The 23 goals lost with Baldock's departure look like they will be more than compensated for by the attacking trio of Kieran Agard, Aaron Wilbraham and Luke Freeman - all signed in the summer. In Cotterill's system, Wilbraham is the target man with the pace of Agard and the guile of Freeman providing further goal threats coming from wide and deep. Between the three of them they have scored 17 in the league already this season. Bristol City have been lucky with injuries so far. Cotterill has had to make very few changes to his starting line-up and with a small squad to choose from he'll need that luck to remain if they are to keep up this relentless form. Excluding Baldock, Cotterill has only used 17 players in the league but he does have some nous in reserve to call upon. Defender Adam El-Abd, winger Scott Wagstaff and forward Jay Emmanuel-Thomas have not been regular starters but all have Championship experience. The key will be if those players can slot quickly in to Cotterill's system and one suspects, given how well prepared Bristol City were on that opening day to play three at the back, they might just do so. It is refreshing to see genuine innovation in the lower leagues, and with it a real gamble paying off. The tactical success of Holland and Costa Rica at the World Cup may not have had the impact expected by some on the top flight, but it's influencing things in the third tier. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...nks-Steve-Cotterill-s-innovative-tactics.html
How nice to see that someone likes our new approach to the game and let's hope it continues to win us games.
'winger Scott Wagstaff' He's no more a bloody winger or wing back than fly. His ONLY use is an injury time sub playing inside.
Chelsea are a Premier League club, a cut above the Football League, so deserve distinction from us mere mortals in the Football League!!! As for the Oxford defeat, they are just using League stats. Good read though and nice to see us get some press coverage, however I suspect SC would prefer we remained under the radar, as we normally do
