Semi-serious answer.
I think it has potential but Roberto tried a 3 at the back and the players were too dumb to play it although it worked OK in the Charity Shield against the Chavs - I seem to remember being impressed with Clichy in the left sided centre half role. I would trust Sagna to make a decent job of his role too.
Not so sure about Sterling on the left though - I think that we need a genuine left footer in that role. There seems to be a lack of height in the team as well.
Maybe we need to use the League Cup (or even early rounds of the FA cup) for tactical experiments and accept if it goes badly then we have to suck it up.