Knights said while his team will be more defensive this year after often being an all-out attacking unit in 2008, it will not take on a zone-orientated style this home-and-away season.
"I've stated from day one that was the way we were going to play in 2008; we were going to play with a lot of flair and creativity," he said on Tuesday.
"We certainly did that, not all the time to the result that we would have wanted as we did get punished in a number of games last year, and we did lose eight in a row – that's fact.
"The good thing is we bounced back and won seven out of eight in that stretch and played some exciting footy.
"This year, it was always going to be the plan from 12 months ago to add more of a defensive element as we went along, but that won't stop us from playing exciting footy.
The coach said Essendon’s style would reflect the strengths of its list rather than trying to follow the game plan that delivered a flag to the Hawks in 2008.
"We're one of the sides in the competition that will play a fairly up-tempo brand of footy against any defence.
"That's where our list is at and that's what it's suited to. I can't rein these blokes in too much. I've got to let them play to their strengths, which is most important."
Knights said he has enjoyed watching his players face off for senior positions this pre-season, with round one the bigger-picture focus for his list.
"There is probably a percentage of your group that is playing for a spot in round one," he said.
"You probably have in a team environment 14 to 15 guys that are pretty much locked into their roles and barring injury, will represent the team for the first round.
"But there's probably six, eight or 10 players vying for those last spots, and that's pretty exciting.
"Younger players like Sam Lonergan came through this program last year in the NAB Cup and he got himself an opportunity and hasn't looked back since, so it's a wonderful vehicle to play young players and give them some game time."
The Bombers are through to the semi-final of the NAB Cup and will now face Collingwood at Docklands on Friday night for a spot in the decider the following week.
Knights said the club hasn't changed its stance on what it wants to achieve ahead of the home and away season, despite being just one game away from its first pre-season grand final since 2000.
"A big focus is still on round one, but we're here to win every game," he said.
"Both games have been eerie – we’ve been in close games and we're into the semi-finals and there hasn't really been a lot of hullabaloo or anything like that.
"We've had a quiet focus. We're keen to win the game against Collingwood on Friday evening – we know they're in hot form – but we think we'll play better again this week and should put up a good showing."
