Comment: Tony Pulis needs to find a new proactive identity with West Brom
It may have been a successful summer off the pitch but so far there have been a few teething problems on it.
Tony Pulis is yet to find the best system for his new-look squad, and a fresh identity of the team – which needs to change – is yet to emerge.
Pulis has tinkered with the formation recently, but despite a couple of promising performances with a back five against big-hitters Manchester City and Arsenal, he abandoned it against Watford last time out.
Returning to a more traditional back four for the match with the Hornets, it appeared the Baggies boss was once again attempting to mirror the opposition’s formation.
Albion may have lost against City and Arsenal, but the wing-back system worked well in patches against both, particularly on the left hand side where Kieran Gibbs is suited to the role.
But Pulis only played it against Pep Guardiola because he predicted – wrongly on this occasion – that the Spaniard would do the same.
He persevered with it against Arsenal because the Gunners have also been playing a back three this season.
When Watford rolled into town, he dispensed with the new look and returned to a back four. Albion may have been seconds away from victory, but ultimately, they were outplayed.
Pulis is a reactionary coach, one who prefers to stifle the opposition first and foremost before building on that base.
When his teams are playing poorly, those attacks are long balls into the channels for the front man to chase, when they’re playing well, they are clinical and sweeping counter-attacks, the like of which we saw last season.
But this season’s squad is stronger than that one, reactionary tactics are no longer acceptable.
Pulis asked for time to find the best system to suit his new players, and he deserves it after guiding the club to a top-half finish last season, even if form tailed off towards the end of the campaign.
Three wins in 19 league games may be a damning statistic, but towards of the end of last season a threadbare squad was overtired.
Pulis won nine of the previous 16 league games before that and this season he has been minutes away from beating both Stoke and Watford.
In fact, the only result so far that has really disappointed was the defeat away to Brighton.
More worrying though, have been the performances. The 1-0 away win at a wasteful Burnley side was a smash and grab, and there have been limp displays against Brighton, West Ham and Watford.
Pulis will always grind out points, but the manner they are won in is now under more scrutiny.
The issues is, last season, Albion had an identity, a plan that all the players knew like the back of their hand. Sit deep and break at speed.
Pulis now has higher quality players at his disposal and more of them, which means he needs to evolve the team.
There are signs that he’s trying. Changing the formation suggests he’s searching for the answer, but instead of mirroring the opponent, he needs to settle on what he thinks is his best XI and his best shape and get Albion to impose themselves on games.
New signings like Grzegorz Krychowiak, Gareth Barry, and Kieran Gibbs have proved adept at keeping the ball; no longer do the Baggies need to use possession quickly before they lose it.
Of course, the best teams and the best managers tailor their tactics to the opposition, just look at the way Tottenham sat deep and picked off Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Pulis does not need to completely abandon that aspect of his preparation, in fact, it would be a dereliction of duty to do so, but he does needs to temper it.
Proactive rather than reactive tactics will be the best way to evolve a new style that suits both the players, and the fans.
