West Brom v Oxford: Tony Mowbray outlines ‘difficulty’ as he lays down West Brom challenge
After Carlos Corberan left Albion at Christmas, Mowbray made an emotional comeback to The Hawthorns a little more than four weeks ago.
Mowbray has had to deal with a January transfer window while Albion has played six games in his first month.
The Albion manager hasn’t had as much time on the training field as he would have liked because two of his four game weeks have had three games in seven days.
This week, Mowbray and his team were able to have a thorough preparation for Saturday’s match against Oxford United.
As he attempts to make his mark on Albion, Mowbray acknowledges that the lack of regular time on the training field has been an issue.
However, the full week has come as a nice gift following a demanding month.
He clarified: “We’ve been playing every three days, with maybe one Saturday to Saturday, but the rest have been three-game weeks, so it’s been challenging to establish an identity. You can’t connect the dots with the players, therefore we don’t get any training done.
“As we progress, we’re learning more about the players—not just what they perform on the field, but also how they respond to certain circumstances both on and off it.
It’s been interesting to learn about the people, but eventually you have to figure out who your greatest team is.
“We have different types of player, which is good – a winger who works hard, up and down, helping his full-back and also the winger who stands out wide, attacks one-v-one.”
After losing at home to Blackburn last week and drawing at Millwall on Saturday, Albion will be hoping to go back to winning ways when they host Oxford at The Hawthorns.
Kyle Bartley is serving the third of a three-game suspension, so Mowbray will be without him once more. Jed Wallace will also be sidelined for a time due to a calf issue.
A new signer Tammer Bany and Daryl Dike, who Mowbray said survived the Millwall trip, are expected to be placed on the bench.
As they did in the rematch at the Kassam Stadium, where they secured a late equalizer, the sixteenth-place “Us” travel to The Hawthorns with the intention of frustrating Albion.
Additionally, Mowbray thinks Albion will have to figure out how to dismantle a defensive unit on another day.
“They are highly organized and competitive,” he continued.
It is challenging to play against; last week, we lost to a team that was well-prepared defensively, and we had to come up with solutions to defeat these teams.
“I don’t anticipate them showing up with a lot of ball and being expansive.
“I think the initiative us on us to break them down and ask more questions of Oxford than we did of Blackburn.”
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