Albion Outlook: West Brom fans have their say

Tom Goffe, 30, Telford

It’s safe to say Pulis got it wrong on Saturday. Credit where credit’s due, Brighton played very well, but we definitely gave them a helping hand with the starting XI.

First of all, the defence. There is a saying ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’. Well we had only conceded one goal in three matches before Saturday’s game but Pulis decided to re-jig the defence completely and it didn’t pay off.

Secondly, midfield. As much as I was excited with Krychowiak’s arrival the first thing I thought was Pulis can’t surely play him, Barry and Livermore in the same team due to their similarities.

Well he went with all three on Saturday and it didn’t work. The game was wrapped up when Morrison came on for Livermore, but the side had a much better feel and balance to it after that. We had every player playing in their favoured position at that point also and we definitely looked the better for it.

Pulis has had to play players out of position up until now due to the fact he has had a small squad to work with, but now he has options.

Granted, it will take time for the new players to integrate but when they do he needs to play players in their favoured positions or introduce a different system that accommodates his favoured players. On Saturday he did neither and it ultimately cost us.

Alistair Jones, 40, Sedgley

What a disappointing result and performance on Saturday. I just don’t understand the team selection. Why change around the whole back four?

Obviously Jonny Evans, our captain and best player was back in as expected, but it effectively meant three positional changes.

Nyom is an accident waiting to happen and left-back in my opinion and changing Dawson to right back was a mistake when he has been superb as a right-sided centre half.

Even Evans doesn’t seem the same player when he is to the right of the central defence.

Then the decision to play three defensive midfielders in front of that was extremely negative.

For me though, not selecting Chris Brunt was a big mistake.

I think it may well be worth trying Brunt in a new position if he is surplus at left back and Rodriguez plays wide left.

We need him in the team as his assists stats are right up there with the best.

For me, Brunt has the best eye for a pass in our team, along with a hammer of a left foot, and is more skilled than people credit.

What about trying to solve our one area of weakness if Chadli is in the doghouse and trying him as a number 10?

Sarah Rudge, 25, Wolverhampton

With Jonny Evans returning from injury on top of some quality additions during the transfer window, a trip to the Amex Stadium to play newly-promoted Brighton should have heralded a better performance and result.

A lacklustre showing with only glimpses of attacking play plus an uncharacteristically poor defence led to a deserved 3-1 defeat. Foster looked suspect in goal and the lengthy international journeys for Hegazi and Rondon had clearly taken their toll.

The starting line up was questioned by many Albion fans with the trio of Barry, Livermore and Krychowiak being seen as too defensive. This was proven when Morrison was introduced and we managed more creativity in the final 15 minutes than we had in the previous 75.

It was disappointing to return from the international break with this kind of performance and if we want to bounce back against West Ham on Saturday we will undoubtedly need to put in a better display.