Valerien Ismael aiming for complete West Brom side
New boss Valerien Ismael says his aim is to build a “complete” side that will make all Albion fans proud.
Following his arrival as head coach, Ismael made it clear he plans to implement his high intensity, counter-pressing, philosophy on the club.
While those principles brought him success at both LASK and Barnsley, he did receive some criticism at Oakwell for his direct style of play.
Ismael, though, believes at Albion he has inherited a squad that is more comfortable in possession of the ball.
And he says for that reason, his Baggies side will counter-press, but they will also play to feet better than his Barnsley side did.
“The philosophy is high-intensity football, high press but with this team we have the possibility to have more control in possession,” he said.
“My vision and my purpose is to become a complete team — out of possession to be unpleasant for the opponents, to dominate our opponents with our physicality and our intensity.
“But at the same time, I want to have the possibility when we regain the ball to control the game and the opponents.
“So we need to find the right balance between high intensity, finishing as quick and possible, and when we have the ball to have the quality to recover.
“It will maybe be something different (to Barnsley) because of the quality we have in possession.
“It is different. For sure out of possession, you can expect the team will have that intensity to regain the ball as quickly as possible and to make things really unpleasant for the opponent.
“But the difference is that in possession we will have more possession – that’s my expectation.”
Ismael believes fans will like his style.
“I hope for sure that the fans will be proud about our way of playing,” he said.
“It’s all about working together and having a work ethic for all the guys.
“We will need every player. Every player counts for our philosophy and togetherness is very important.
“It’s just a mentality thing now to implement in the squad but since I’ve been here, since the first day’s training, the guys have had the right reaction and the right mentality and at the minute they are ready to invest a lot of energy.”
