I dont think pragmatism and Martinez go together, tbh. I admire that for the most part. It's also a necessity for him to stick playing a certain system come what may because his whole pitch to the players he manages is that you dont stop trying to play and look for the easy way out when under pressure - which can lead to a lot of mistakes - but for him, if he failed to tolerate those mistakes, the jig would be up in terms of the control he has over his players. What would they do if they saw a manger espousing the credo of passing and finding space and retaining the ball suddenly order a more direct approach? If it were me I'd find it difficult taking him seriously again. So even if the personnel aren't in place we're going to get a brand of football that we've had for the last two seasons: building from the back and getting ourselves up the pitch in numbers to make things try and happen. The question is whether that would look like the first season or second - and that depends on the tempo we'd play at. Working the ball sideways can be fruitful but only if the pace of the pass and sharpness of players' movement to be there for it are a feature of our play; if not, it'll look like last season and we'll trouble not too many teams.
New personnel matters then, but so too does energy levels. We'll need them both to make an impact this season. If we dont get them in sufficient measure we'll still be more than ok, but it'll be more of the grind of season two.
