Sheffield Wednesday: Garry Monk praises intelligence of squad as he ponders Owls' best system

Owls boss Garry Monk has praised the intelligence of his squad ahead of Friday's trip to Cardiff.

The 40-year-old is into his sixth week in charge at S6 and has employed a number of different formations in a bright start that saw him nominated for the Championship manager of the month award.

Tasked with navigating a congested fixture list, Monk’s Wednesday have achieved wins with variations on 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 systems and the manager has been clear that the ongoing international break will be used to get to impress certain principles on his squad.

Asked about the changes in tactics, the former Swansea boss praised his players, who he said have adapted quickly to his methods.

“The players have done very, very well with that,” he said. “It is not easy when you are getting used to new ideas and fresh methods, but they have shown they have taken our ideas on board really quickly. They have understood what I have asked of them.

“Of course, there can be better individual performances and better performances in periods of games but it takes time.”

Wednesday have been without only Liam Palmer and Atdhe Nuhiu during the break and are busy preparing for a trip to Cardiff on Friday before home clashes against Stoke and Leeds next week.

Monk has been clear throughout his time at Wednesday that he believes in a set of ‘seven or eight’ core defensive and offensive principles rather than getting bogged down in the intricacies of individual formations, which he says can be tweaked depending on the circumstances.

He said: “I always try to work with clarity.

“When a player goes on the pitch and knows his role, he has to deliver at a good level. You want to make sure a player knows their responsibility on the pitch and make it very clear for them so they have a good chance of putting in a good performance.

“They must understand the principles. If you do that, you always have a chance of being in a game to take points.

“I think we have done really well in the short-term to be as competitive as we have been and take the points that we have done. That is always a good sign because you know if you have a group like that in the short-term that the longer you have with them the better they will become.”