'A mixed bag': Lewis Cox and Jonny Drury analysis after West Brom defeat at Blackpool

Express & Star

Lewis Cox and Jonny Drury give their take on West Brom's pre-season defeat to Blackpool.  Ousmane Diakite pulled one back after Albion fell 2-0 behind early on.  It was another pre-season outing under the belt and Lewis and Jonny look at the positives and the concerns after the defeat.

Transcript

00:00Maggies fans, welcome to Express2Star.com, welcome to Bloomfield Road for Albion's first

00:13pre-season outing in front of fans. It wasn't one that was going to get you off your sixth

00:18Albion Big 2 while I get you to whack all. Coxie, some good, some not so good. End of

00:24game? Yeah, let's go on. It's pre-season isn't it? Yeah, we've been saying all day basically,

00:31sort of rinse and repeat from every summer. Especially in this early stages, I mean I spoke briefly

00:36with Ryan Mason down there realistically while they've been in three weeks, they're playing

00:42a different kind of system. I don't necessarily think the whole thing is rip up and start again

00:46but there's very new elements of the game here. We saw bits today, I saw a lot in Austria

00:51obviously a couple of weeks ago. Not the result today, but it doesn't matter. As you rightly

00:57said, there were parts of that where I suppose Albion gave Blackpool a leg up, one of the goals

01:04maybe, a couple more chances it could have gone in. But I think Ryan Mason saw little elements

01:09that he would be satisfied with. Yeah, you split it up, don't you, into a fitness exercise

01:14which is huge. Tactical and technical really, formations and that. Yeah, look, they're at

01:19an early stage. I'm not bothered that they lost 2-1 to a Ligue 1 club or a week ahead in their

01:25development. But, you know, minutes into Hegever, new signing, good minutes really into all the

01:31starters. And I suppose the main senior ones that came off the bench are your Johnsons and Hegevers.

01:35So, that's a real step forward, I would say, in that regard. Yeah, I'm not sure whether we've got the

01:401,500, 2,000 away fans in the away and there would have thought of it. I don't think they'd have

01:45been in Ahmed, but I think most need to realise that, you know, had you come here today and

01:50saw a 3-0 or 4-0 away victory, you know, yes, we've quite a bit waxed and lyrical, but it's all

01:54relative, isn't it? Yeah, and I just think it was probably a good workout, good to get this

02:00first domestic one with fans, obviously another one next week, that's another Ligue 1 side Lincoln,

02:05isn't there, and we'll be at the Hawthorns two weeks today. It's all geared to that August

02:10tonight, isn't it? If we're standing at the Hawthorns in three weeks after a 2-1 defeat, we're

02:15talking a different story, aren't we? There's obviously time before then, we saw a third signing

02:20coming this week, obviously George Campbell wasn't involved today, expect more, and that's

02:25the work of the club and obviously a lot of work left for Ryan Mason to do in the training ground.

02:28Yeah, there certainly is, we did see some changes, it was kind of elements of slow play, you

02:33know, we used to sort of go on about under Carlos Corva and our play was a bit ponderous,

02:37a bit slow, but it seems that Mason wants it back to front, he wants it quick, you know,

02:42if they have to go long, I saw him absolutely lambasting Josh Griffiths down here at one point

02:47for not going long when they were getting caught at the back, you know, he wants it forward,

02:51he doesn't want to, I'm not saying that's long ball, but get it forward if you're under pressure,

02:55but also we saw today Albion get it, play out to the full-backs, play into midfield, flick

02:59around the corner and try and move forward, obviously it's not going to work every time,

03:02but we did see differences, we saw a bit more of a Mason Albion, we'll probably see a bit

03:06more next week, and then hopefully at Valakana we might see somewhere near the finish proper.

03:11Yeah, I think you're right in the first point there, they will still pass it short, won't they,

03:16and classic examples earlier on, twice in the first, what, 20 minutes,

03:20Josh Griffiths in goal gave Diakite a pass, and he either didn't want it or he wasn't ready,

03:25or he was under pressure, he got pressed, the first time they got let off, someone shot over,

03:30the second time was a goal, wasn't it, I think, the first goal, or the second goal, sorry,

03:34so they got caught, and you saw Mason sort of shaking his head and, as you say, just gesticulating,

03:39get long, so clearly there's a balance, you know, he wasn't happy with them passing it out there

03:44and getting pressed, which is what none of us want to see, none of us want to see Josh Griffiths

03:49pass it to Diakite, who's under pressure, pass it to Jason Molumbi if he's playing, who's under pressure,

03:53or Mola, who's under pressure, and give away a chance, that's not, what's the point,

03:57so it was maybe a bit refreshing to see the manager, head coach, saying, no, you know, get it out there,

04:03and you say, and I thought, it was the strongest side, obviously, in the first half, wasn't it,

04:08and in these friendlies, the longer the second half goes on, the more changes that happen when you get to 60, 70,

04:13it becomes a little bit of a, I don't want to say a pointless exercise, because it's good experience

04:18for those young players, isn't it, and fitness as the game goes on,

04:21but you lose that element of a more familiar side, but I thought,

04:25oh, it's a normal contest, I was trying to think of the first period,

04:30I didn't actually think that, there were some decent moments from all of them,

04:34but in the front area where it's Diakite leading the line, supported by, you know,

04:38Isaac Price, Tom Fellows, really Albans, better players, certainly they're better attackers,

04:42I didn't think they were that involved today, really, I don't,

04:45in the Kyiv game in Austria, as I said out there, you know,

04:49I think Price and Fellows were two of Albans' best players out there, really, two of them,

04:53and they were a little bit quieter today, I think, very well shackled,

04:57maybe just not quite as at it, and Diakite had some of my moments of holding it up, actually,

05:01but Grant was quiet, but he came into his own a bit second half plan,

05:04he used his, sort of, movement and speed over the top,

05:07kind of got it in two or three real scoring chances, he lifted one over the keeper and in nicely,

05:13but it was ruled out for offside, couple more, one save, one just got away from him,

05:16so that was a weapon, some decent deliveries, I thought, from Alvin.

05:19I thought the full backs had it tough, Callum Styles did especially,

05:24fought really for Blackpool's first goal, gave away the free kick for the second,

05:28Hegem and Phillips, okay, not quite as demanding, again, as they were,

05:34dominant, sorry, as they were in Austria, Furlong, I didn't think, maybe,

05:38like, Styles had his best afternoon, but, yeah, a mixed bag maybe,

05:43it's probably a kind assessment overall, but, look, I'm not fussed about the defeat,

05:47as I say, it's just what elements of Ryan Mason wants to see,

05:51I know it's your first time seeing his side in action, wasn't it,

05:54not being in Austria, and you're right to point out those things that you noticed, I think,

05:57because they are what we've seen, what I saw out there in training, they want,

06:01and I thought we saw little aspects of it today, it wasn't the best performance by a long shot,

06:06but we saw a couple of signs of it, which I suppose is a good thing,

06:11and it's funny, isn't it, we were saying in the game,

06:13you lose all your friendlies, then you might have a good start to the season,

06:16or win all your friendlies, in general, I mean, we've seen it in LB in fairly recent years,

06:21haven't we, friendly wins, and then a bad start to the season,

06:24I mean, I didn't do all the friendlies that season,

06:26but I've just been having to work with Steve Bruce down there,

06:28the black ball box, and that brings back a few memories, doesn't it,

06:31so, yeah, it's not, you know, we're worried about the result as we are,

06:36we'll have some reaction to bring from today,

06:38and some have had decent days, better than others,

06:40and it's on we go, signing number three is through the door,

06:43and it's Lincoln, it's that day, isn't it,

06:44not that you or I will be there, but we will, I've got it.

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