Youre asking why a formation that suits the players we have hasnt been effective in 20 years?
Its been effective overall when weve used it with players sub par for the roles + other premier league sides have used it in bursts.
Imagine when Moyes stumbled across formations and it clicked...lucky he didnt think "ahh no ones done this successfully in 20 years so it wont work now"...Guardiola doesnt seem to mind trend setting and neither did Wilder to get Sheff Utd into the premier league and up the table -- short burst.
Tbh i really dont know what Wide forwards you think would push us up into top 4 level for under circa £40mil each thesedays...
RB Lamptey, Emerson and Aarons would all be around £30mil. Im hard pressed to think of anything other than a massive gamble for under that level.
CM: We need a 'star' player in there...that wont cost buttons...again we cant afford to gamble.
We may strike lucky on another godfrey signing but id rather we stuck to 3, rather than punt on 4 or 5 signings on the cheap.
Anyway, im open to suggestions,
@Stephenlloyd had some ideas for a 3 at the back where we also wouldnt need many signings.
But id definitely prefer now to sign 3 players instead of spreading the cash around...for me, aside from a right back we should focus centrally.