These "cookbook" miking arrangements were developed decades ago from various peoples' experience, with whatever kinds of music they happened to be recording, under the conditions that they typically encountered. Later on, various formulas were devised which gave a mathematical basis for evaluating mike setups, but even those formulas aren't necessarily precise or reliable (e.g. the way in which arrival-time differences are equated with level differences and vice versa).
The kind of recording that most people here seem to do most of the time is quite different in principle from the kinds of recording that these "cookbook" methods were devised for. The "cookbook" methods assume live, unamplified performers in concert hall settings or studio recording of live ensembles. There are certain built-in assumptions about the way that reverberation will vary with distance from the sound sources, which aren't particularly valid when the sound sources are loudspeaker arrays that are pumping out pre-mixed audio (generally in mono) and where the room has other than concert-hall acoustics. Most of all there's an assumption that the engineer is free to place the microphone pair at any desired distance from the sound sources and at any desired height, so that the balance of direct vs. diffuse sound can be chosen to suit the room, the type of music, and the intended type of playback system.
I'm not saying that the formulas are irrelevant; I'm just saying that there's no reliable basis for any argument over which one is "best". Certain approaches make more technical sense than others--but even the approaches that are obviously flawed from a technical standpoint (e.g. coincident, large-diaphragm, dual-diaphragm cardioids, or pairs of shotgun microphones in any configuration whatsoever) can, at least sometimes, produce good-sounding recordings. And the approaches that make much better technical sense overall (e.g. with small, single-diaphragm supercardioids or wide cardioids having some moderate spacing between them) can be disappointing. A lot depends on factors that are simply outside the recordist's control. And a lot depends on what you personally consider to be a satisfying or a disappointing recording, since different people listen for different qualities in a recording.
--best regards