Not everyone has the financial muscle strong enough to assemble any tool they want in order to execute the task at hand and flex on their foes. We tend to praise the rich elites that rarely exceed expectations and ignore those who may not reach the heights touched by the wealthy few but still perform far beyond the limits of their budgets.
Agitated on the edge of his technical area on the tips of his toes yet balanced securely by his white Adidas running shoes. Three white stripes run down the side of his baggy tracksuit; his laser-focused eyes shielded by specs that have now slipped down the trunk of his nose that is shaded by an Adidas baseball cap. He shapes and insert two fingers into the side of his lips to summon an authoritative whistle at his players after the ref points towards the opposition’s goal to signal a throw-in near the halfway line. The lads know exactly what to do after examining the hand gestures he performs at the side of the pitch. Rory Delap smoothers the ball in his long sleeved red and white jersey, he paces backwards on to the side of the Britannia pitch and jogs forward to launch a rocket of a throw-in into the crowded opposition box. The ball flies true and straight, unmoved by the whirling Wednesday evening wind. The giants that occupy the box shuffle across to their various thoroughly rehearsed positions whilst anticipating the flight of the ball. A stocky figure pops up at the far post and heads the ball down into the bottom corner of the net, Ricardo fucken Fuller
This the trademark of Tony Pulis’ management career. Working with what he has and exceeding what is expected. Not many managers can devise a direct long throw in the final third of the pitch that sees one of their shortest players in their squad scoring at the end of the sequence, let alone anywhere in Rory Delap’s range. Tony Pulis’ days managing Stoke City may have been tarnished by the team’s notorious style of play that led to Aaron Ramsey’s shock injury. However, his achievements at Stoke are memorable and his second season managing West Brom was special, not just on the scale of the club itself but the entire Premier League history. I'm not reaching.
Predictions made by football analysts, especially the ones on TV, usually carry the same tone of advice for newly promoted teams that lack technical ability: face defeat with complete stubbornness when playing the league giants and capitalize on points against the teams around you in the league. A survival blueprint, this blueprint existed long before Pulis set foot in the top tier of English football, many have tried it and succeeded but this article isn’t about Big Sam and the boys. Think of West Brom, a team that is always caught in the fight for survival every season, a midtable finish for them is seen as a luxury when you look at their history. Finishing in the top half would be a wet dream for their cult following. When West Brom hired Tony Pulis in 2015 they expected to get in return, a stable club that will comfortably linger in midtable away from the brutal dogfight below. An educated expectation as this was the trademark of his Stoke tenure, hardly involved in a relegation fight towards the end of each season and grabbing that odd upset against the top six. So how did he manage to achieve what was expected and also give West Brom fans wet dreams?
Tony Pulis’s West Brom had a tactical identity almost similar to Tony Pulis’ Stoke side, the ever-famous two banks of four with a targetman and a quicker more technical forward upfront. Before I continue, I’d like to say shout out to Jon Walters, the lower midtable Wayne Rooney. Okay that flat 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 usually caused headaches for teams coming to the Hawthorns, stubborn and compact in the defensive phase, teams would find it difficult to break them down. The attacking is usually left to the wingers and front players, Nacer Chadli and Matt Phillips in Pennent-Etherington-esque roles out wide, James Morrison and Salomon Rondon with their best renditions of Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones. The quartet of attacking players were disciplined too, they had to earn the right to be expressive by doing their fair share defensively first; of course, this tactic has been used by mothers all around the world, eat your veggies first before you eat the meat. The opposition braced themselves to face a lot of long passes played directly aimed at the front two in West Brom’s build-up play. Tony Pulis’ philosophy demanded that the players keep the ball away from their defensive third. Players with aerial presence were fundamental to winning the first ball and unleashing wingers with pace on the flanks with second.
*** A opposite of the Sarri and Guardiola philosophy of playing the ball at the back and luring the opposition to press them. The team usually has a very technical player at the base of midfield who has an eye for a pass, usually one touch, out of the pressure trap dissecting the now vulnerable opposition at pace with the rest of the players playing at counterattack intensity. It’s the idea of creating your own counterattack but without depending on first being attacked ***
This West Brom team did not score bags of goals in 2016/17, but the goals were shared throughout the team. For example, Rondon, their main striker, scored 8 goals that season and their second top goal scorer? Gareth McCauley, a fucken centre back mate, with 6 goals to his name. Where did these goals come from? The answer is set pieces. West Brom had the third highest percentage of goals from set pieces, Ginger Jose’s team leading the pack that season.
In the upper ends of the league table, managers like Guardiola study the opposition’s last fifty set piece routines to prepare their own teams. Klopp hiring a throw-in coach even made it to mainstream football media. The importance of set pieces cannot be ignored. The margins of survival in the Premier League can be as fine as a late goal, conceded from a corner kick. Much emphasis is placed on devising tactics for when the ball is in play but consider how many times the ball goes out in a match, I’d assume the percentage would be higher when the ball is played aerially on a windy Wednesday at Stoke. Tony Pulis earned the record of never being relegated in any tier of football by playing on the negative space of the football picture. I know who my hipster manager GOAT is.