John Eustace swapped the playoff chasing Lancashire outfit Blackburn rovers for the relegation strugglers Derby County on the 13th of February but in a couple months how has he transformed the roles of key players and overall, how has he transformed the way Derby now plays.
Before John Eustace: the old tactical (or lack of) approach
Under former manager Paul Warne, Derby set up extremely defensively in a 4-2-3-1 system, although on the pitch a set formation was unseen by many. From the start of Derby’s horrendous losing streak they only managed a combined 28 shots on target in a total of 7 games with only 3 of them being converted. Toothless in attack is one way to describe it. Their main attacking outlets were Jerry Yates and Lars-Jorgen Salvesen who both have only managed to pick up a combined 3 goals since the start of 2025. As it seemed from an outside Point of View there looked to be no tactics or game plan, just swing in a cross or hope.
Eustace’s Tactical Approach
John Eustace’s Rams set up in a 3-5-2 formation in possession and a 5-3-2 formation out of possession, with 3 strong and aerially dominant centre backs in Craig Forsyth who has spent 13 years at the Rams, Matt Clarke who had a loan spell at the club from 2019-2021 before signing from Middlesbrough in the January window and Nathaniel Phillips who is a Liverpool loanee who famously Cruyff turned Zlatan at the San Siro and Sondre Langas who is a current Norwegian international. All four of them are pivotal in the Rams’ overall set piece and set piece play with them all offering the same key attributes. This allows their wing backs in Callum Elder, former Australian international who’s registered 3 assists this campaign and has been reliably good for the Midlands outfit and Kane Wilson who has showed real promise this season in transition and attacking plays netting twice and assisting once this season. Out of possession both wing-backs can and are constantly tracking back and are quite prominent on either flank of Derby’s defence, whereas in possession Kane Wilson is the naturally more attacking player and is confident in taking his man on having an average of 1.5 successful dribbles per 90 minutes.
The 3 main midfielders used in Eustace’s Derby are Ebou Adams, who is the captain of the Rams, Liam Thompson who graduated from Derby’s academy and Harrison Armstrong who has captained England U18’s and is on loan from Everton. Thompson plays the deepest out of the three offering much needed coverage in the defensive midfield position especially as Ebou is played further forwards than he did under Warne and Hamshaw. Ebou plays predominantly as a centre midfielder but through the new era he has been progressing further and further forwards whilst still offering his immense defensive coverage that has made him a standout player in this squad. Harrison Armstrong plays the same role as Ebou just on the opposite side of the pitch and ever since making his first start vs Middlesbrough has been quite impressive netting a goal in their most recent match vs Plymouth Argyle.
The two attacking outlets under John Eustace have been Marcus Harness, who is an Ipswich Town loanee, he has found the net four times this season (three of them being under J.E) and Jerry Yates who has eleven goals and assists combinations this season whilst being on loan from the Welsh outfit Swansea City. Marcus Harness has been a standout in the past three games scoring three times and assisting once whereas Jerry Yates hasn’t registered a goal but has assisted once despite being heavily prominent in every attacking situation Derby have found themselves in.
The top three standout performers under John Eustace:
Ebou Adams
The Gambian international has undoubtedly been the former champions of England top performer all season having an average rating of 7.27 on fotmob as well as having the most tackles in the league by a landslide he has been some player to come up against with his aggressive tackle style and his passionate eccentric. Under the former Birmingham City boss, he has been named captain in a decision that no Derby fan could disagree with. Not only has his defensive play been incredible but his attacking play too, finding the net 5 times this season contributing to 13% of the former FA Cup winners goals this season. He certainly knows how to rifle one in, unless it’s against Cardiff. The 29-year-old joined the Rams on loan in January 2024 before making the move permanent from Cardiff City for an estimated £800,000 after becoming a fan favourite.
Matt Clarke
Matt Clarke has been nothing short of incredible at the back for Derby after signing in the January window. The former Brighton defender re-joined the Rams after 2 years on loan at the club from 2019-2021 before moving to the Teesside in which he featured 51 times and gained 6 goals and assists whilst there. He is a naturally comfortable on the ball player in certain situations deciding to take his man on instead of the traditional back pass to keeper and it perfectly complements Derby County’s playstyle to a tee.
Marcus Harness
The Ipswich town loanee has struggled to impress under Paul Warne this season as he was mainly utilized as a central midfielder under the ex-Rotherham boss although ever since John Eustace has come in, he has been played in the Left-Striker role which in my opinion. compliments his attributes perfectly as the Ex-Burton man has been on fire ever since scoring 3 and assisting one in the J.E era and always looks a threat whenever on the ball. His silky touch and pinpoint passes have been a joy to watch and is one to look at in the summer
