Express & Star

Five things learned from West Brom's defeat to Southampton

Albion were deservedly beaten 1-0 by Southampton on Saturday after a poor performance on the south coast. Here, Baggies reporter Matt Wilson picks out five talking points from the game.

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Jay Rodriguez. (AMA)

The team does not appear to be evolving

There was a wave of optimism coursing through the club and its fans at the end of August following a 100% start and a promising transfer window, but for the first hour, Albion resorted to their old habits.

The evolution of style that was supposed to be on show this season is yet to materialise, and Tony Pulis is paying for not completely committing to it. Some things have changed, but others haven’t, and his decision to persist with a toothless three-man defensive midfield is baffling.

Removing pace from the wings isn’t working

Part of that evolutionary plan is to get more comfortable ball-players in possession in the final third, which is why Pulis has removed the direct threats of James McClean and Matt Phillips in favour of Nacer Chadli and Jay Rodriguez.

But the problem is, the new pair are cute forwards, rather than pacy wingers, and they need a starting position much further up the pitch. McClean and Phillips are more dangerous from deep, so if Albion are going to sit so far back, Pulis may as well play them instead of the current two.

Confidence is shot

When Rodriguez arrived he seemed to be the clinical finisher Albion needed, but on Saturday he looked crippled with fear when he snatched at his only chance of the game. Similarly, the way his team-mates crumbled under some direct running from Sofiane Boufal was unusual for a Pulis team.

Conceding sloppy goals while setting up to win 1-0 is a remarkably dangerous plan considering it’s borne out of conservatism. And when the team is low on confidence, it gets even harder.

Excuses wearing thin

After the game, Pulis blamed the dreadful first half performance on the Monday night game against Leicester ‘changing the week’, even though the Foxes dealt with it fine and it’s hardly a new phenomenon.

Then he reiterated his desire to get all his players fit, citing injuries to Oliver Burke and James Morrison. But it’s extremely rare that a club has no injuries whatsoever, and he has a squad capable of dealing with such problems. There are fit players who can do the same things Burke and Morrison can, there are no kids on the bench anymore.

And it seems to be a watershed moment for some

In 2015, Pulis was the right man for the job and he backed that up last season with periods of geniunely exciting counter-attacking football that wrung the best out of a limited squad. Now, though, he has the tools at his disposal to play a different brand of football but so far, he seems incapable of doing so.

After the successful summer, this had the potential of being a make-or-break season for him and fans who have supported Pulis up until now are starting to wonder if he’s taken the club as far as he can.