Frank de Boer has denied his plans for Crystal Palace to adopt the popular 3-4-3 formation means they are about to embark on a season of "adventurous and exciting" football.
The expectation since his appointment as manager is that he would attempt to implement the style with which his former club Ajax excelled in the process of winning four Eredivisie titles.
There was also therefore the risk that he would be repeating a mistake made by one of his predecessors, Alan Pardew, 12 months ago, whose pursuit of what he called "street football" led to a relegation battle and eventually the sack.