I am fascinated (I know very sad) how clubs spend millions of pounds literally on players to fit a particular formation favoured by a manager, which got me thinking about how formations can win or lose clubs famous trophies, championships and make or break managers.
How did formations evolve over time? I began reading some stuff online which just made my head spin as I couldn't understand a lot of it. I remember as a young lad many years ago that every team always had two strikers and was rare to see this change until the modern area.
We discuss how x and y players don't fit into a certain formation preferred by Robinson or that he has completely changed the formation that resulted in a negative run of form (like pre christmas last season) and how not getting the formation right, with the right players can cause huge financial implications for clubs. It could literally mean the club being relegated or worse go out of business. For me it seems that this is a huge factor in football when we talk about how we can finance the club moving forward never mind attracting a quality manager and players. However finance also reflects which way a manager chooses a particular formation as they may not have the money to play his preferred formation. I think maybe this is something that causes issues for Robinson.
Not being a coach or manager I would guess the evolution of formations would be a massive subject for guys studying to be coaches and managers and how they approach their chosen profession.