'Losing the plot' - Tom Cleverley told to 'abandon' Plymouth Argyle system as issues continue | OneFootball

Tom Cleverley is under pressure at Plymouth Argyle

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Plymouth Argyle continued their worrying form with a 2-0 defeat away at Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup.

The Pilgrims returned to League One after a tight relegation from the Championship last term, which saw them end the campaign as one of the division’s more competitive sides.

Under new manager Tom Cleverley, promotion was the aim, but four straight defeats to start the season soon scuppered those plans. Argyle did respond with a run of four victories in their next six third-tier outings, which could’ve provided a solid foundation to build from.

However, instead of progressing up the League One rankings, Plymouth have fallen back once more and are on another run of four straight defeats in all competitions. This leaves them sat 22nd in the table, firmly in the relegation zone and two points off safety.

Tom Cleverley pleaded with to change system amid Plymouth Argyle’s worrying form

Naturally, fingers are starting to be pointed most prominently at Cleverley for Argyle’s current run of form.

The 39-year-old was relieved of his duties as Watford manager at the end of last term for failing to carry them up the Championship but still showed signs of being a promising young boss with bags of potential.

Plymouth took a gamble on this following Miron Muslić’s departure, but has yet to be paid back. Recently, Cleverley’s decision to operate with a three-back system has come under immense scrutiny from supporters, who are far from pleased with what they are seeing on the pitch.

Football League World’s Plymouth Argyle fan pundit, Luke Hodge, believes that Cleverley must change his formation immediately to have any possible opportunity of saving his job.

“It's absolutely time for Cleverley to abandon the three at the back,” stated Luke. “He tried to shore the defence up, so we totally understand why he's done it.

“However, it hasn't really helped. We're still leaking goals and it has taken away from any kind of offensive threat we had. We look absolutely dire going forward. Quite frankly, we look dire at the back as well.

“He needs to go back to a four at the back. We’re a struggling League One team in free fall. He's continually playing three at the back, he's trying to stop goals going in, the best we can hope for would almost be a 0-0 because we don't even look like scoring.

“It has got to the point now where he has to go. He's losing the plot a little bit. He needs to go back to a 4-3-3, a 4-5-1. Even with the players we've got available at the moment, I would consider a 4-4-2. It's definitely there to be played.

“It gives you that offensive threat, but also it gives you a back four, which are strong and solid. I would go to almost a strong back four of centre-backs. Play them quite narrow. Almost what he's trying to do with the back three. But what that will give us is more of an offensive threat going forward.”

Tom Cleverley might not have long left to turn Plymouth Argyle situation around

Given the brutal nature of League One’s relegation system, languishing in the bottom four for a sustained period of time isn’t what anybody at Home Park will want.

Argyle look to have fallen into another slump at a critical point in the season, when other struggling clubs such as Blackpool and Peterborough have decided to sack their managers and make changes.

This leaves Cleverley in a vulnerable position. If results don’t improve almost immediately, then he will no doubt also find himself on the chopping block before long.

However, this in turn adds pressure onto himself and the squad, which will lead to more mistakes on the pitch and worse performances.

With all these factors taken into account, Cleverley’s situation at Plymouth seems rather harrowing and perhaps only a dramatic turnaround can save him now.