Albion boss Tony Mowbray admits the Baggies must change their defensive tactics to cope with the Premier League.
Yet Mowbray insists his team can transfer their goal-laden attacking Championship form to the top flight, when they kick off their campaign next month.
The Baggies boss knows his players will have to change their appoach to defending to succeed among England’s elite.
He said: “When we’ve got the ball we know we can dictate football matches. That’s why you recruit players who can handle the ball, believe in themselves and aren’t in a rush to get rid of it.
“Out of possession we have to be better this year. We’ve got to deal with the transition of possession so when we do give it away we have to be better structured defensively.
“Last year we took teams on, spread the pitch out and waited for them to give it back to us and that’s why we scored lots of goals.
“I would suggest that this year the opposition won’t give it back to us as quickly as a lot of teams did last year.
“We have to be more organised and tactically differently set out to how we were last year.
“Last year we didn’t ask people to chase back behind the ball and get back in position. We’d wait for opposition to give it us back and break away on them.
“In the Premier League they don’t give it away as readily as they do in the Championship.”
Despite his admission, Mowbray is still reluctant to chase a midfield ‘spoiler’ although he admits he may have to compromise his principles in the hunt for new faces.
He said: “You want players who can run, pass, destroy and create and they cost money. So somewhere down the line you compromise on one or two particular facets of their game.”
12 Comments
I can’t wait to see a ToMo team in the prem - whether its Arsenal away or wigan at home, you just know TM will try to win the match by playing good football.
This guy talks so much sense - but he also backs up his talk with the type of players he buys , the teams he picks and the way we play..
I can’t remember ever enjoying my footy so much as i do under this guy. Yes next season will be hard - we will fight against relegation and we will lose some matches - but we will do all that in STYLE.
Taking on the best league in the world the Mowbray way - in style - OH YES !!!!!
At first i thought he needed a hand with some fence panels and maybe a bit of creasote!!
Cant wait for the season to begin!!
Agree Happy - he talks so much sense. How different to the Brian Robson drivel we had to put up with.
in tomo i trust but its going to be a hard season
I don’t think we’ll be anywhere near relegation. OK I’ve always been optimistic, except when Robson destroyed that, but I really think we’ll be mid table. We need a class forward, forget KP he was never going to get us 15 goals at this level, plus a solid midfielder for when needs must. Also we all know we need a centre half and dare I say a better left back, get rid of Beattie, Pele (good name, nothing else), and we’ll be rocking!
the more this guy speaks the more i worry how long he will be be with us.
I wouldn’t write off Beattie just yet. Sometimes things drop for you, sometimes not. A player also needs to be ‘lucky’. He was not. Players with phenomenal reputations don’t always make it if that 1/100 of a second deserts them. If TM decides to play him, we get behind him, all the way. Let’s not be Perfidious Albion.
keeping Craig Beattie and losing Philips.
Bad move TM
oh oh pikees you lot need a miracle never mind a tactical change for your defence… your attack was the only reason y you lot went up last season cus your defence was shabby….
boing bog bog To The Pikees
Cyril - if I have one rule, its never to be perfidious !!
There is nothing that gets my goat like someone being perfidious. I said to the wife just the other day “Ooooh the perfidiousness of some people”.
She on the on the other hand doesn’t mind so much.
I’ve always quite liked beattie - he knows where the goals are, he scores some beauties, and he is a willing runner - he just hasn’t got the polish of our other strikers. Whether he is good enough for the prem is in doubt - but he will give 100% if he gets picked.
8 - could be worse - we could be selling eastwood and keeping bothroyd !!!
Losing Phillips may not be too bad, at 35, dodgy knee his days were numbered in the Premiership. The worry is how we are going to replace him. Moore is not the answer, can Miller & Bednar play together! Even more worrying is that no central defender signed! Can see it being a long hard season.