Alex Neil gives interesting insight into why he had to change Sunderland's game plan to edge past Crewe

Neil was speaking to former Sunderland defender Danny Collins on the official club podcast this week, and outlined why, particularly because he has not benefited from having a full pre-season with his squad, he will continue to tweak both shape and personnel as he looks to secure a place in the top six.

"There were a lot of superstitions in football that I don't really quite get: 'Well, we've won so the same team should play the next game'," Neil explained.

"Tactics and strategy and squads in football have moved on massively.

"We've got to learn from different sports as well, if you look at American Football for example they've all got guys who do specific jobs and what they're good at. Football squads are no different."

Neil explained, however, that having a Plan B to lean on is vital and the 2-0 win over David Artell's side proved why.

The Black Cats boss had brought Luke O'Nien and Jermain Defoe into his starting XI for the game after they had impressed against Fleetwood Town days earlier, and devised a strategy that he felt would expose Crewe's habit to play through midfield.

Crewe are a team Neil knew well, as he had offered support and advice to Artell during his time out of management earlier this year.

But Artell sprung a surprise in how his team approached the game, forcing Neil to turn to the creativity of Dan Neil and Patrick Roberts in search of a breakthrough.

Leon Dajaku also impressed in his cameo from the bench, bringing width and direct running in the latter stages.

"So for example, we set up against Crewe to smother them in the middle of the pitch," Neil explained.

"They didn't risk the ball in the middle of the pitch, so that strategy then went out the window a little bit.

"It was only really later on when I changed it did it improve for us because we probably needed a little more creativity on the pitch.

In the end that worked for us.

"That's one for me where I look at, because I watched Crewe about ten times this year and the one time we play them they don't do anything that they've done in any previous match.

"So that's one where all that preparation does go out the window, and then you need to adapt within the game.

"I'm not precious about how we win the game.

"My main belief is that I want to win the match first and foremost.

"I have a style that I'd like to adhere to and get close to, yeah, but I've come into a situation where I don't have the luxury of putting that foundation in place.

"I've got to find a way of being successful in that time. Come pre-season then hopefully you're able to put that foundation in place and it makes things simpler."

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