Comment: Time for West Brom players to step up now the shackles are off

Under Tony Pulis, the consensus was that players brimming with attacking potential were being unnecessarily held back.

But there are tentative signs that, under Alan Pardew, the team is finally being let off the leash.

How well Pardew’s first full week in charge goes depends largely on the result of today’s game with bottom club Swansea.

But, whatever the outcome, his training sessions so far suggest he is trusting his players more.

Towards the end of the Pulis era, players were starting to grow frustrated.

The Welshman’s sessions were often days after days of relentless drills on defensive shape. After three years, those drills grew stale, players became bored.

Pardew’s sessions have been different.

He hasn’t ignored the importance of shape, a key component for any team in today’s Premier League, but considering what he’s inherited, there isn’t as much need to work on it as one would usually expect to find at a new club.

Pardew’s been pleasantly surprised by the discipline out of possession, there’s no need to go back to basics with this squad. He’s been trying to free it up.

A typical session this week started with the first half an hour devoted to shape; after all, his system will be different to Pulis’s.

Albion’s new boss plans to trust his defensive players more. The likes of Jonny Evans and Kieran Gibbs are good enough to defend one-on-one, they don’t need to double up.

Nor does this team need three defensive midfielders against the majority of its opponents.

Under Pulis, the wingers were often required to track back and fill in as a secondary full-back, creating an impenetrable back six at times.

Pardew, though, wants to be more adventurous.

He often splits the first XI into defence and attack, taking one half of the team himself on one pitch and giving the other half to No.2 John Carver on another.

Tellingly, the wingers always head off to the attacking pitch.

But that is just a small part of training. After working on shape, Pardew brings the attack and defence together for an 11-a-side game against that weekend’s substitutes and the best youth-team players available.

He stops it every now and then to make pointers, but often the ball is live. The idea is for the attackers to express themselves.

“I’ve just tried to give them a clear platform to go out and have the freedom to play,” he said.

“I could go and get a non-league team to be a really strong, disciplined, defensive team.

“But with this standard of players and the work-rate we put in, we should be creating more than we do.”

This week, training has been rounded off with attacking drills and shooting practice. Pardew wants his goal-shy team to create more, and score more.

This approach means there is no more hiding behind tactics for the players. Pardew will trust his defenders to defend, and his attackers to attack.

It’s now up to the likes of Salomon Rondon, Jay Rodriguez, Matt Phillips, and when he returns, Nacer Chadli, to prove they deserve to be in a Premier League team.

Pardew is pleased with what he’s inherited. He’s been impressed by the squad’s togetherness and their work ethic.

But after a goalless draw with Crystal Palace, he’s yet to see that attacking spark that wins you matches at this elite level.

Albion huffed and puffed against the Eagles, but couldn’t blow Roy Hodgson’s house down.

Now they’re being let off the leash and trusted to do their jobs, it’s time they stepped up to the mark.

Because if they don’t, Pardew might look at the transfer market and wonder if there is anything better out there.