Darren Moore praises West Brom's team effort and hails front four as deadliest in the Championship
Darren Moore has claimed his ruthless front four is one of the deadliest in the Championship - but praised the collective effort of his team after Albion smashed seven goals past Queens Park Rangers today.
Dwight Gayle, Matt Phillips, Jay Rodriguez, and Harvey Barnes tore into Steve McClaren's side during a rip-roaring second half that
Rodriguez crashed home two penalties which were both won by Gayle, who also notched his first goal in Albion colours.
Phillips scored twice, once with either foot, and although Barnes didn't get on the scoresheet, the 20-year-old loanee played creator-in-chief in a free role behind the strikers.
It is the first time in more than a decade that Albion have struck seven goals in a league game, the last time coming in 2007 when they beat Barnsley 7-0 on the final day of the season.
It means Moore's side, who also scored four against Norwich last weekend, are the Championship's top scorers, and he reckons his front four is the league's most potent strikeforce.
"On this afternoon’s display you’d say so," he said. "We’ve got tremendous belief in all of them as with the whole squad.
"At the top end of the pitch, through Harvey, Jay, Matty and Dwight Gayle, we’ve got players that when the opportunity does come, have the skill and attributes to out the ball in the back of the net.
"There was a ruthlessness about them that we saw this afternoon."
But Moore was quick to praise the rest of his team too, who provided the platform for his attackers to go out and demolish QPR.
Jake Livermore was particularly impressive in central midfield, and while the Baggies conceded a sloppy goal from a set-piece in the first half, their defence looked more comfortable than recent weeks.
"It’s a team effort," said Moore. "They are the ones at the right end of the pitch putting the ball in the back of the net and causing a lot of problems.
"I’m delighted to have those four, but it’s the squad and the group cohesion we’re trying to generate at the club. You saw that in spells today."
Moore played a 3-4-1-2 system today after trialling it in the Carabao Cup in midweek, and it brought him resounding success.
Moving Barnes into a central role freed up the talented youngster, while both wingbacks - Phillips and Kieran Gibbs - got on the scoresheet.
But Moore refused to commit to playing it from now on.
"As I said before, there’s different shapes and systems for this league," he said. "There’s different obstacles to overcome in this division.
"It’s a system we’ve looked at and tried. It worked today. Is it something we’ll persevere with? We’ll wait and see how the season goes.
"We’ll always pick a team and a shape we think we’ll win a football match. The players made it work today."
Albion went into half-time level after Joel Lynch's goal cancelled Matt Phillips's opener but they struck six unanswered goals in a rampant second half.
"I was happy with the first half performance," said Moore. "You saw us trying to work the ball and create chances.
"I just thought they were hanging on. They did some dogged defending. You’ve got to give them credit because they stayed in it.
"My word at half-time was persevere. Just keep going the way you’re going and have that trust in one another.
"The boys did just that. Second half, in tight areas of the pitch and under pressure they worked the ball very well and showed their ability."
Despite scoring seven, Moore barely cracked a smile in his post-match press conference and he's refusing to rest on his laurels.
"You’re not going to score that many goals every week," he said.
"As long as the performances are positive and the supporters see we’re trying to move in the right direction, then that can only be good for us.
"We’re pleased with that performance, but there’s a lot of work ahead.
"There’s things I can pick out as a staff which we will and there’s still training to be done to perfect things and make things better. We’ll keep working."
