ALEX Neil said he was open to playing any formation after setting his side up in a 3-4-2-1 against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup Third Round on Tuesday, September 16.
The Lions have typically played with two strikers in a 4-4-2 this season, with Josh Coburn and Mihailo Ivanovic leading the line, but Neil switched to a back three to match up with the Eagles’ 3-4-3.
The change worked well, with the Lions going man-to-man with Palace across the park and competing well with the Premier League outfit.
Millwall held the Eagles to a 1-1 draw in the 90 minutes, with Ryan Leonard scoring a late equaliser, but lost the penalty shoot-out 4-2.
Neil explained he was willing to use any shape going forward.
“I’ve played every formation at different clubs,” Neil said. “Whether it’s a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2, 3-4-3 or 4-4-2. I hadn’t played 4-4-2 until I came to Millwall, so shapes are not a big deal.
“All you need to sort out and organise is how you’re going to build when you’ve got it [the ball] and what you look like when you haven’t, and how you’re going to press.
“That takes time. So it is time-consuming, and I need to make sure I describe it in a way they can understand, and they need to be able to go and carry it out, and that’s what made tonight so pleasing.
“I wouldn’t rule out any formation, we’re really flexible on how we play. The reason I picked that formation is that I thought, for the players that played tonight, it worked really well and suited all their strengths.”