'Can they do it': West Brom style of play review after pre-season evidence on how Albion will set up

Express & Star

Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox discuss how West Brom will set up this season - on the latest episode of the Baggies Broadcast.

Transcript

00:00Have you got any indications, Steve, you know, about how Albion will play?

00:03You know, my favourite kind of lines that Mason's given so far is the fact that

00:07all he's bothered about is winning games, you know.

00:10He's not bothered about, you know, I'm sure he is, but he's not going to come out

00:13and say, we're going to play passing football, we're going to be Russell Martin,

00:15Southampton times two, you know, and passed scenes to death.

00:18But have you got any indication of, you know, you said there about his sort of

00:23repeating sort of passing move and stuff like that?

00:26It sounds very simple for a football fan to listen to,

00:28but do you get an indication of how Albion are going to play this season

00:32from what you've seen this week?

00:34Yeah, I think we did.

00:36I think we are going to see more of it in the behind-closed-doors friendly

00:40against Dynamo Keeve tomorrow for sure.

00:42But certainly the sessions that they were doing yesterday did offer some insight.

00:48I mentioned the word pass and move.

00:50I mean, it sounds quite obvious.

00:52A lot of teams want to play possession football and make sure, you know,

00:56we hear the word overload quite a lot these days in modern football.

01:00So I don't think it's really a trade secret or give him much away in terms of that.

01:06But like I said, the proof will be in the pudding tomorrow when the teams are actually

01:10out on the field.

01:12We were speaking to Alex Smoe, weren't we, Lewis, just a short time ago.

01:16And we said, obviously, you know, in pre-season friendlies, it's not about the opposition.

01:20It is literally about what have we worked on all week.

01:22Let's put it into practice.

01:24But they're not going to go full pelt.

01:27And that was one of the most fascinating things of that session.

01:30And it's what I'm looking forward to, Lewis, tomorrow,

01:33seeing the things we saw on the training field,

01:35if they do pop up and appear in this game against Dynamo Keeve tomorrow.

01:38Yeah, definitely.

01:41I'm really looking forward to the friendly.

01:42And just to, I suppose, give a shameless plug,

01:45we'll be obviously bringing full coverage of that on our socials,

01:49on the Express A Star website.

01:51I mean, obviously, you know, Steve's been kind enough to give his time here

01:55and join us on the podcast.

01:56He'll be bringing his coverage as well from a different platform,

02:00obviously, means of radio and online.

02:03And I made a WM little appearance today, cameo the other night, Steve.

02:06You did, your parents were very proud listening back at home.

02:11Yeah, my folks tuned in, so that got you an extra, extra, extra sort of listen.

02:16But just bringing it back to the style and that, you know,

02:20we're saying pass and move.

02:21And absolutely, that's what we've gleaned.

02:24But I don't want it to sound, to dumb it down too much.

02:27The big thing, aside from that, that I took was tempo.

02:32So, tempo, and I think as a result, I hope, I get the impression

02:38that we'll see a front-footed, energised Albin this season.

02:43You know, no pondering on the ball.

02:45The ball will be moved quickly.

02:48I don't think pass for the sake of it.

02:49I think it'll just be purposeful, which I think Albin have potentially,

02:54as supporters certainly, have craved for a while.

02:56One thing I will say, lads, in terms of another thing that stuck out for me

03:02in terms of individuals, first of all, Orna Hegeber,

03:05still working on that pronunciation for when he scores his first goal for Albion

03:09when I'm commentating on the games for WM.

03:11But he was very strong, not afraid to get stuck in,

03:16and winning the ball back.

03:17I think that might be a feature that we see from the team.

03:20So, and Isaac Price, for me, Lewis, we knew it already from what we saw last season,

03:27you know, in that latter part of the season,

03:29but what a player he is up close and in person and in training.

03:33Oh, yeah.

03:33I mean, again, you mentioned trade secrets, Steve.

03:36I don't think it's any, we're not, we're not giving too many clues away

03:40that Isaac Price is a serious talent, are we?

03:42Let's be honest.

03:43I mean, he's, you know, no disrespect to Northern Ireland,

03:47you know, a footballing nation, but he's already a star for them, isn't he?

03:51Let's be honest with his scoring record.

03:54What he's done for Albion in four, five, six months so far, incredible.

03:58And he's without doubt one of the club's main talents now, isn't he?

04:01And main assets.

04:02So, he stuck out in training, Steve.

04:06We talk about attackers.

04:07We saw the day one return of Mikey Johnson.

04:10I don't know if we need to labour his story at the moment,

04:12but he looked really sharp.

04:13He looked ready on it and he was involved.

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