Versatile footballers are a manager’s dream. They allow fluidity to change the formation and tactics depending on how the game is going. Luckily for Des Buckingham at Oxford United, he has several of these players.

Buckingham is a manager who likes to alter his team depending on who they come up against. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the formation and starting XI change game-to-game, but it does mean that you may see subtle tweaks either before or during the 90 minutes.

Tyler Goodrham is so useful to Oxford

Buckingham nailed his Goodrham use v West Brom

Tyler Goodrham is a perfect example of this. The 21-year-old came through the academy set up at United as a forward. By the time he broke into the first team squad, United had found a place for him on the left wing. Cutting in from the touchline and bending shots past the keeper at the far post became a trademark goal for the youngster.

Towards the back-end of last season, this started to change. Buckingham found a position for him on the left of a midfield three. Himself and Ruben Rodrigues would almost play as two 10s, with Cameron Brannagan as a single pivot in charge of controlling the play.

This allowed Oxford to be more attacking both in and out of possession. The two attacking midfielders would press extremely high along with both wingers and striker to force teams to play long.

Goodrham made this position his own. This set up was a crucial reason as to why United were able to defeat Bolton in the League One play-off final. It’s also a perfect example of Buckingham altering the starting XI with a specific tactical goal in mind to not allow better teams time on the ball. The idea being to initiate a higher press than what Oxford were doing before, under coach Liam Manning.

More recently, Goodrham has been showing more flexibility. The local boy featured in three positions in the game against West Brom last weekend. Since the arrival of record signing Siriki Dembele in the summer, Goodrham has been moved to the right-hand side, a position he has still had success with.

Dembele was replaced with Malcom Ebiowei in the second half, a winger who likes to cut in on his left. This meant a switch to the other wing for Goodrham. As the game went on, United were getting more momentum. Wanting to capitalise on this, he decided to take off a box-to-box midfielder in Idris El Mizouni for a winger in Owen Dale.

Would this disrupt the balance of the team? Luckily for Buckingham, Goodrham was on hand to slot into the midfield as he has done so often, to allow United to have six attack-minded players on the pitch without losing their shape. The changes paid off in the 92nd minute of the game when Dane Scarlett headed home an equaliser.

More versatility on show v Derby

Three days later against Derby County, Goodrham is asked to play three different positions once again. This time it’s Owen Dale who comes on for Dembele, and Goodrham swaps to the left wing once again.

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The Rams managed to get an equaliser in the second half after Scarlett scored his second in as many games, 12 minutes in. Looking to consolidate a point under Derby’s second half domination, Buckingham brought on left-back Greg Leigh for midfielder Rodrigues.

This change means Leigh, who is versatile enough to play as a winger at times, goes out wide and Goodrham comes back into the midfield. Another example of Buckingham using his player’s versatility to alter the style of players he has on the pitch depending on the context of the game.

An interchanging Oxford back four

Manager Buckingham has also tinkered with his defence depending on their opposition. After the first six games, it was clear that skipper Elliot Moore and Ciaron Brown were the centre-back pairing United were going to go with, moving forward. Both full-backs have interchanged depending on fitness, but it was clear who Buckingham would choose if everyone was fit.

That was until Burnley came to the Kassam. United opted to give a debut to young loanee Ben Nelson at the back, his first minutes for the club at home to a side looking for promotion back to the Premier League this season. With Nelson being a physical presence at 6’3″, you could see the thinking behind it. This change allowed Brown, who stands at 6’2″ himself, to shuffle across to left-back.

Brown is no stranger to playing left-back, and has played there throughout his career. This added height gave United a very physical back four. United left that game with a clean sheet after holding Burnley to a scoreless draw.

Honorable mentions for versatility go firstly to left-back Greg Leigh, who has been used several times as a left-winger. Providing outlets with his aerial abilities and defensive work to see out points late in games.

Sam Long is another full-back, who has played all across the back line and even in midfield for the club he grew up supporting. After playing several games at right-back this season, he was thrust into the centre of defence when skipper Moore got injured early on in the season.

Centre-back pairings this season have included Brown and Moore, Moore and Nelson, Long and Nelson, Long and Brown. These changes have come mostly from injuries, showing the value of having versatile players who are comfortable playing in a variety of different positions.

And especially for a newly promoted team, with the smallest budget in the league, it is vital that Oxford have players like this who can soften the blow of injuries in key areas of the pitch with reliable back-ups that don’t alter the line-up too much.

Buckingham is the envy of the Championship because of that.