Lee Clark's Azzurri Army

Italian football is famous for three main things: Catenaccio and the defensive style of football that is stereotypical of Italian football, 3 at the back formations and sweepers and Pirlo's magnificent beard.

Pirlo's brilliant beard is nothing compared to Keith Fahey's majestic moustache

Unfortunately, it appears Pirlo won't be Hayden Mullins' replacement to play alongside Jonathan Spector in midfield, so instead Lee Clark has decided to bring the unorthodox (at least in England, where playing with 5 in midfield is still considered revolutionary) 3-5-2 system to the Second City.

Blues aren't the only team to use a 3 at the back system in England; Wigan gained a lot of admirers and partial success with their system, but after many seasons of great escapes they finally succumbed to the drop. This was little to do with the system - at times Wigan were unplayable, but their seeming unwillingness to spend money was suicide in a league where mid-table sides are spending £15 million pounds on a player and a striker who played for a team who nearly went down is being priced at the ridiculous price of £25 million pounds.

Manchester City attempted a similar system at times, but it seemed a half-hearted attempt. Mancini (Italian, of course) tried to get his players to play a 3-5-2 system but they did not like it. Their team seems suited to it, with quick centre-backs and attacking full-backs in Maicon and Kolarov, but for whatever reason it did not work for them.

The most successful 3 at the back system I have seen in English football recently has been Udinese  Watford, who, using players from their Udinese's academy and, of course, an Italian manager, narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League. The key to the team are really the wing-backs. Without quality wide players the formation becomes narrow and weak defensively, if employing a 3-5-2 system. Wigan played closer to a 3-4-3 system in reality, so width going forward was not so much an issue.

So what makes a good wing-back? Do Blues have a proper wing-back? Sitting halfway between midfield and defense, they are needed in attack to add width and stretch teams. The best team in the country, Manchester United, rely heavily on their wingers to create space. Individually, they aren't as good as Chelsea or Manchester City (arguably), but the others play very narrow at times which makes them easier to nullify. Wing-backs in a 3-5-2 need pace and stamina to get up and down the line, but they need to be able to cross the ball and dribble, as they will do the winger's job. They also need to be solid defensively, as otherwise the centre-backs will be pulled out of position. Obviously there aren't too many players that can do all of these well, so it's fortunate that Blues do have players that can. David Murphy will be, in my opinion, a terrific wing-back due to his ability going forward. Neal Eardley looks a very good option on the other side. Liam Davis has been very impressive in pre-season and with Shane Ferguson possibly coming in on loan, Blues seem spoilt for choice at LWB. 

One area that could be potentially worrying is at centre-back. Kyle Bartley looks a very good acquisition, as he has plenty of experience for his age and bags of ability. He is fairly quick as well, which is ideal for this position, as they may have to deal with wingers and the space in behind the wing-backs. Dan Burn looks like a decent centre-back for the middle of the 3, due to his aerial presence, but I'm not sure how good he actually is - he is quite highly rated but doesn't have much experience. Paul Robinson is a very good defender, but I hope his lack of pace isn't exposed in this system. I do believe Mullins could play very well in the centre of the 3, in the Daniele De Rossi-type role, where he can read the game and intercept the ball, but it looks like he may not be here come the start of next season. We may have a lack of pace at the back and I hope this is not a problem next season. 

With 5 in midfield, the idea is to keep the ball using numbers to overwhelm your opponents in midfield. To do this, you need players who can pass the ball, obviously, but you need pace as well. Olly Lee, Koby Arthur, Andrew Shinnie, Tom Adeyemi and all of the wing-backs have pace, which will help us to create chances and press the opponent high up the field, which will hopefully make us an exciting team to watch. With the talented Wade Elliott and the the tenacious Callum Reilly in central midfield, we can keep the ball and create. Reilly especially can score goals from midfield, which is always appreciated. Zigic may not be the fastest, but he may flourish in a 3-5-2 system. With the pace of Green, Shinnie, Asante and Arthur buzzing around him and Novak working hard to press and create, he may get the room he needs to display why Valencia once paid around £16million for him. 

All in all, Blues' fans could be in for an exciting season. No matter what happens this season, it will be interesting to watch. A team unlike any other we have seen in recent years, with a young manager who has fresh ideas will make this an exciting season.