Darren Moore looks for a range of skills for West Brom
Darren Moore wants to build an Albion team capable of either outplaying or outfighting their opponents.
The 44-year-old has never been a head coach before, and so has been fielding questions over his footballing philosophy in his first week as full-time boss.
Style of play has been an emotive issue for Albion supporters in recent years, and the fanbase was divided on that particular issue for some of Tony Pulis’s time in charge.
Moore has indicated that he will try to build a balanced team with different skills, capable of adapting to the various challenges posed by Championship opponents.
“The league has many different challenges and hurdles,” he said.
“Fans will see a team that when it’s needed to play football, will play football, and will compete with the very best in the division. But also a team that’s willing to fight and scrap, because there are many different challenges during the season.”
Moore may be a fledgling manager, but he has won promotion out of the Championship as a player on four separate occasions, including twice with the Baggies. It is a league he knows well, and he wants his team to be able to be hard workers capable of playing the ball around.
“There’s many styles you can have,” Moore told BBC WM. “What style is the right style?
“Two teams have gone up playing two totally different styles, Cardiff and Wolves. Which is the right style? Because they both worked.
“The Championship has many different styles of play, you’ve got to be able to adapt to those styles when they’re up against you. (You need) different plans.”
During his six games as caretaker boss Moore made Albion hard to beat again after a nine-game losing streak and managed to shut out Manchester United, Newcastle, and Tottenham.
But he disputes the notion that those famous 1-0 wins were purely built on defensive displays.
“Hopefully I brought a little bit of balance,” he said. “We were organised and disciplined off the ball but we still played with two strikers and two wide players.
“I knew we had to win games. Even though we were compact, we did carry a goal threat as well which I thought was really important.
“I thought the performances justified that. When it was time to venture up the pitch and play we did, and we got some good results.”
