Rafa Benitez claims his Newcastle United side did not play a defensive 5-4-1 during his time at the club, but rather an aggressive 3-4-3. The former Magpies boss is currently out of work after being sacked by Everton last year, with the Toffees in danger of dropping into the Championship.
The Spaniard made an attempt to dispel any rhetoric of a defensive tactic, pointing to variations of a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 in their Championship title winning campaign. Newcastle would win the title on the final day with Brighton drawing with Aston Villa to hand the Magpies top spot.
Speaking to CV Academy, Benitez said: "At Newcastle United, some people had the idea we were playing 5-4-1 and it's not true. In the Championship we were playing with [Dwight] Gayle and [Mohamed] Diame in behind, we were playing 4-2-3-1, sometimes 4-4-2 in the Championship.
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"After the first year we were playing 4-2-3-1, so, depending on the players you are more offensive or less offensive and some games when we were better than the other teams, we were playing with three at the backs and it was a 3-4-3.
"We had Rondon, Almiron and Perez and we were quite offensive and aggressive, with the wing backs and Hayden and Shelvey in midfield. Depending on the teams, you manage."
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