Adopting the same line of critique as Scholes, West Ham boss Sam Allardyce also shared his penny's worth about one of the newer tactical introductions to the Premier League over the past year. Last season, Hull tinkered with the 3-5-2 formation, allowing for a fairly comfortable consolidation campaign for Steve Bruce, but this year sees Queens Park Rangers and Man United lining up with three men at the back on the opening day. "'Cause it's the old World Cup fad they think, look, it's happening at the World Cup let us have a try at it," the Hammers' boss told Sky Sports. "Systems are needed to be associated to the players you have available at your club. I think for me, personally, and this is only a personal opinion and not every manager's opinion of course, and certainly by the looks of it not Louis van Gaal's opinion, that he's more into the system that he wants rather than the players he has playing to the system that maybe suit them. "But I think systems are about suiting the players that you have available to you and that gets the best out of them in the end. In the end they're not the all-important thing, the most important thing is understanding each other as individuals, understanding our strengths and weaknesses and working within the system that we play to our best ability. "If you get that, then you get results and if you don't get that then systems don't mean that much, 'cause it still breaks down whatever system you play and then you lose football matches." Self-awareness hasn't always been Big Sam's strongest point - considering he identified himself as a prime candidate to manage Real Madrid, despite the obvious issues with that assessment, but it's hard to actually disagree in this respect. There have been other accusations that Van Gaal is merely using the system without considering the players he has available, which is why he was forced to start with Tyler Blackett on Saturday, and also why he was forced to change the system at half-time.
