Graham Alexander admits 'mistake' after coming to realisation about his Preston North End players

Graham Alexander says he made a ‘mistake’ in changing Preston North End’s shape for the game at Stoke City following the promising draw against West Brom, saying it helped him realise the players need consistency.

Preston looked as if things may have finally clicked under Alexander when they put in a battling performance to get a point against promotion-chasing West Brom, with the slight tweak to a 3-4-1-2 working wonders.

However, the manager swapped from the back-three for the first time in the next game at Stoke, lining his side up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that didn’t work as well, especially in the attacking third of the pitch.

North End were unable to build upon the momentum of West Brom, meekly losing 2-0 without having a shot on target, with a 3-2 defeat to Sheffield United following it on Tuesday night.

“I can make a mistake and still be successful”

Speaking on Wednesday ahead of the daunting match against Southampton, Alexander was asked if there was one thing that can be sorted to hopefully make everything else fall into place.

“Yeah,” he replied to BBC Radio Lancashire. “I think it's something that I can do.

“I think I made a mistake after the West Brom game by changing the shape after a positive performance.

“I was trying to do it to suit certain individuals but when I look back into what the players have been through, which is part of the job of reviewing and trying to understand the players' perspective right now.

“Went back to January, the start of this run of a lot of defeats, in the 28 games up to us coming I think they changed formation 15 times in those 28 games. With the best will in the world, it's going to be difficult for players to understand the different tactics, week in, week out, every three days.

“I probably added on to that by doing it myself in the past week trying to find a solution to fit the players.

“There is an issue there. It's been well-documented that the recruitment has been around a back-three and then a back-four and potentially a back-three again, so there is things we have to deal with.

“So I think trying to have a consistent formation, formations are overblown at times, but I think trying to be as consistent as possible for the players and with the players will give them the best option of producing their best performances.

“It's something I realised possibly after the Stoke game that the players needed something a little bit different from what I first thought.”

When it was put to Alexander that it’s not often managers make such admissions, he said: “I’m trying to be honest with people.

“I stress the importance of not trying to chase perfection for players because you're going to set yourself up for disappointment every single day. No one's perfect. It's important that I live by that rule as well. Acknowledge it and take accountability.

“I'm confident enough in my own abilities to understand that I can make a mistake and still be successful, same as I was when I was a player.”

Alexander believes it’s duels that are costing Preston North End

Though the decision to change shape ultimately backfired at Stoke, Alexander has repeatedly downplayed the importance of formations and maintained it wasn’t the actual structure of the team that ultimately led to the defeat but his players not being decisive or strong enough in either box. The same thing happened against the Blades.

“I said to the players when we reviewed the Stoke game, we didn't really lose that game on formations,” the manager said.

“We lost it on both boxes, actual moments, we were structurally okay. Similar to last night, if you look at the goals we conceded, there's not overloads, it's not like they've got a 3 vs 2 or a 5 vs 4, we've actually got the excess players, we just don't engage aggressive enough in certain moments.

“I really believe that duels in both boxes is where our future lies. It's not in the magic formula of a formation or a structure that's going to make us head the ball better, or tackle people, or press people. It's in the individual moments, I believe. If we can engage in those individual moments better in both boxes, I think we've got a chance of winning more games than we have done.

“But I think a structure is important for players. I stressed to the players on Monday, if anyone can give me a formation where you don't have to run, don't have to win duels and you don't have to defend and attack a box, then let me know. Obviously there isn't one. So let's focus on the fundamentals and the basics of winning matches.”