Express & Star

West Brom analysis: Pressure starting to build on Tony Pulis

Tony Pulis insists his team is evolving, but on Saturday, it looked like it was going backwards.

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Tony Pulis barks orders at his players. (AMA)

An unacceptable performance brought on by tactics and team selection that has already proved unsuccessful this season was eventually and deservedly punished four minutes from time.

Sofiane Boufal's superb 70-yard solo run from inside his own half was a moment of brilliance, but the way Salomon Rondon lost the ball in the first place and the way Albion's players fell like dominoes afterwards suggests there are systemic problems.

In short, it was a goal that should have been stopped. And it capped off a horrid game for the Baggies that leaves them eight matches without a win and two points above the bottom three with Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs to come in their next four games.

Pulis's name was being sung at the last two matches, albeit when the team were leading. Now though, the pressure is mounting after three wins in 21 league games; more and more fans are starting to turn.

The away end, who deserve immense credit for keeping the volume up when there was so little to cheer, implored their team to 'attack' in the second half and it was no doubt a sentiment echoed by thousands watching at home.

But Pulis's stubborn insistence on playing a midfield trio of Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Grzegorz Krychowiak that lacks penetration crippled the team once more.

The man from Paris Saint-Germain is yet to win in Albion colours, and seven games in, he must be wondering what he's let himself in for.

What's damning is that Pulis didn't learn his lesson from the last time Albion travelled south, when this set-up handed the impetus to a vulnerable Brighton team.

Southampton were also there for the taking. Having not scored in eight of their previous 10 league games at home, the locals were ready for turning.

But Albion sat so deep in the first half they played their hosts into form, giving both their players and their fans belief.

Pulis blamed that sluggish start on the Monday night game 'changing the week', but the excuses are starting to wear thin.

Monday's opponents Leicester had no trouble winning on their travels, and four days is ample time to prepare for a game.

Anyway, it's precisely his remit to overcome such issues and after 25 years in the business he should have enough experience of playing after mid-week (or even early-week) games.

By his own admission, this is the best squad he has had at the club, but this was a tepid performance that harked back to the drab displays of two seasons ago.

Before he moved to a back three, the only tactic seemed to be lumping the ball forward to an isolated lone striker incapable of making it stick.

If he had admitted blame for that first half then his decision to change to the wing-back system – which did work for a while – might have got more notice.

But his suggestion after the game that he only took Gareth Barry off because of an injury concern was a PR own goal.

As was his assertion that Jay Rodriguez missed the best chance of the game.

It was a big opening, and one the £12m man should have finished, but Oriel Romeu and Dusan Tadic had opportunites that were just as good.

The problem is, when you only fashion one chance a game, it puts so much pressure on that opportunity that players are far more likely to fluff their lines knowing how much it matters.

Last season, Albion were clinical on the counter attack, striking from a strong foundation at speed like a coiled viper.

But there is no venom in this team. Pulis has replaced his pacy wingers like Matt Phillips and James McClean with less direct but more cute players like Nacer Chadli and Rodriguez, but then he nullifies their strengths by forcing them to defend deep in their own half.

On top of all that, the strong base has disappeared. Pulis insists conceding three late goals in a row is not an endemic problem but it's hard to see how it's not.

And when a defensive coach who sets up not to concede is leaking such sloppy goals then why not go for broke? Losing 3-2 showing an ounce of ambition would have been much better than this no-show.

The problem is, when his back's against the wall, Pulis digs his heels in deeper, and often grinds out the result he needs by reverting to type. But it is not happening this season.

He is contracted until the summer of 2019 and was handed an extra year in August after guiding the club to a top half finish.

That's because owner Guochuan Lai and chairman John Williams want the club to be established in the top 10, but at the moment, that aim looks in serious jeopardy.

After the next four games, it would be no surprise if Albion found themselves in a relegation battle.

Pulis has been here before of course, he lost the fans away at Bournemouth last season and managed to turn it around then.

And he needs an equally impressive about-turn now because the limp nature of this 1-0 defeat from a squad that is, on paper, much better than last season's, raised serious questions about his management.