How Plymouth Argyle managed to beat Stockport County - it involves Tom Cleverley masterstroke | OneFootball

Tom Cleverley played a masterstroke in his Plymouth Argyle side's 4-2 victory over Stockport County.

Plymouth Argyle pulled off what might've been seen as a shock on Saturday, as they comfortably beat promotion-hopefuls Stockport County 4-2 at Home Park.

The Pilgrims are seemingly still a work in progress with plenty of room for improvement, but they really showed their teeth on Saturday, with a dominant and inspired performance to get the better of Dave Challinor's side.

The game started very open, with both sides having chances to take the lead before Argyle eventually went ahead through a calamitous own goal. From then on, they didn't look back.

However, a clear turning point in the match was when Cleverley pushed his midfielders further up the pitch, which saw his side cut out more Stockport attacks at the source, and become much quicker in transition, helping them on their way to a controlling performance.

In the early stages of the game, the midfield trio of Bradley Ibrahim, Brendan Wiredu, and Malachi Boateng sat deep when their opponents attacked, but the tactical tweak from the head coach allowed much more freedom and fluidity in the middle of the park.

Plymouth Argyle helped to Stockport County triumph after a genius tactical move from Tom Cleverley

Even though it's been a difficult start to the campaign for the Devon-based side, Cleverley himself has never been questioned, as it's quite clear that the reasoning for such a slow start stems beyond the head coach.

However, with the transfer window now closed and Argyle's business completed, we're starting to see the 36-year-old's coaching ability shine through with a squad that he's happy with.

There was a sense of optimism in the air in PL2 on Saturday, as the Pilgrims hosted Stockport. Yet not many would've foreseen the eventual outcome before a ball was kicked, as the home side ran out convincing 4–2 winners.

After an end-to-end start, an own goal and a Caleb Watts wonderstrike gave Cleverley's side a two-goal advantage, before Oliver Norwood's controversial penalty slashed the deficit in half on the stroke of half-time.

One observation from the opening 45 minutes was how deep Plymouth's midfield were sitting whilst defending, and it resulted in County having plenty of time to build attacks deep into Argyle territory. Fortunately, the head coach saw this too.

When the teams emerged for the second half, it was clear to see early on that the midfield trio was pushing out much further than they did in the first half, which saw Ibrahim find himself in a position to net the third with another thunderous strike.

This small tweak from the 36-year-old paid off hugely for his team, as they looked much more fluent in transition, cut out Stockport attacks earlier, and fashioned a lot more of their own chances, which saw them run out 4–2 winners.

Ibrahim and Boateng ran the show in the second half after the tactical adjustment, and this may have been somewhat of an overlooked positive, on a day that there were plenty to choose from.

Tom Cleverley could have selection headache in Plymouth midfield

Heading into the final week of the transfer window, Cleverley admitted he wanted to strengthen his midfield unit, and did so with the loan acquisition of Law McCabe, who is still an unknown quantity having missed Saturday's clash due to international duties.

However, the midfield trio which was deployed against Stockport in Ibrahim, Wiredu, and Boateng, could be the perfect blend of players which hold the key to finally getting Argyle ticking in League One.

Now we've seen how much more sturdy the Pilgrims look in the middle of the park when they push up against teams who like to play a patient passing style of football, selecting the correct personnel will be the difference for Cleverley.

At this point, Ibrahim and Boateng pick themselves, but it will be interesting to see if the 36-year-old sticks with the more defensive-minded Wiredu, or opts for a bit of flair and creativity in McCabe or Ayman Benarous to complete his midfield trio.

We saw against Cardiff that dropping Ibrahim into a more defensive role and playing Benarous ahead didn't have the desired impact, whereas playing Wiredu gives the former Arsenal man and his midfield colleague Boateng more freedom to get up the pitch.

Whilst Cleverley is now boasting some evidence about what works well in the engine room, and keeping a close eye in training, he certainly still faces a big selection headache when it comes to finding his midfield unit.