Just because a manager uses a certain type of system at one club, it does not mean he will use the exact same formation and tactics at his next club.

That will also be the case when David Moyes replaces Alex Ferguson at Manchester United after 11 years at Everton.

But it can be possible to glean important tactical traits about a manager over a period of time. For managers like Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and David Moyes who have spent a significant time at a club, their teams are almost built in their image.

Ferguson may have used a variety of formations during his long career, and although he experimented with a diamond formation earlier this season, he has almost always favoured traditional wingers on the flanks.

Similarly Wenger has changed Arsenal’s style of play and formation from the Invincibles side through to the current side, but he has tended to favour inverted wingers or central attacking midfielders like Robert Pires, Freddy Ljungberg, Aleksander Hleb, Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky in wide roles.

Even a manager like Jose Mourinho who has had a nomadic career thus far, leaves his tactical imprint wherever he goes.

The Portuguese coach is obsessed with quick transitions and has been a reactive and pragmatic tactician rather than proactive with his Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Chelsea teams eschewing possession in favour of varying degrees of caution and devastating counter-attacking, depending on the football culture he finds himself in.

4-2-3-1

Moyes too will have key tenets that he will adhere to. Organisation and commitment will clearly be demanded like at Everton.

Formation-wise, he has rarely strayed from a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1 normally with a lone and often physically powerful centre-forward leading the line.

Interestingly if you look through his Toffees career down through the years, he has rarely had cause to use flying wingers in the tradition that Man United has become accustomed to with the likes of George Best, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo. Of course that does not mean he will not go down that route at Old Trafford.

Goals from midfield have also been a feature of his Everton side over the years, although that may also be related to the calibre of forwards he has had to field.

The highest goalscorer for Everton under Moyes is attacking midfielder Tim Cahill with 63 goals, with the highest placed specialist forwards Louis Saha and Yakubu Aiyegbeni at 34 and 33 goals respectively. Cahill’s spiritual successor as the most-advanced goal-scoring midfielder is Marouane Fellaini who is Everton’s top scorer this season and has netted 32 times for Moyes.

Again the lack of funds and lack of top class striker also explain the relatively low goals to game ratio which stands at 1.3 goals per game in Moyes’ full seasons in the Premier League, although they have been defensively sturdy in that time giving away 1.15 goals per game.

So what does all that tell us about Moyes’ tactical intentions at Man United. Perhaps not a lot but it could be a clue into the type of player that he will field in the space behind Robin Van Persie.

Wayne Rooney seems to be on the way out of Old Trafford, while Shinji Kagawa resembles some of the players he has often placed in wide roles.

The potential pursuit of Gareth Bale might have seemed unlikely two years ago when he was more of a traditional wide player, but the further he roams in to a central role in search of goals and opportunities the more likely he would appear to fit into Moyes’ tactical traditions.

As Pat Nevin pointed out at the Off The Ball Roadshow at Drogehda's McHugh's on Thursday night, myths about Moyes and long ball football are wide of the mark – and the statistics bear this out with Everton middle of the road when it comes to the use of the long ball and short passing. They do not use the route one approach anywhere near as much as a team managed by Tony Pulis or Sam Allardyce. As Nevin pointed out, Moyes is all about efficiency and the will to win honed as a player at Celtic.

It is pure speculation at this point but this summer Old Trafford will be a fascinating place.