Five man plan for West Bromwich Albion Gunners trip

Jul 28 2008 By Chris Lepkowski

ALBION manager Tony Mowbray admits he is considering a five-man midfield for the opening game of the season at Arsenal.

Mowbray revealed last week he intended to put out a strong side at Ipswich and that proved the case, although the Baggies were more defensively set up than last season.

He played with five midfielders, with Ishmael Miller playing as a lone striker.

Mowbray admitted the system – which, despite the connotations, was actually a fluid, attacking formation – was in his mind for next month’s trip to the Emirates.

But he also revealed the arrival of new players may force a re-think before then.

“If you’re talking about formations in the Premier League then playing with one striker and five in midfield is an option,” said Mowbray.

“Everton finished fifth in the Premier League playing like that and they did okay.

“You have to look at the players you’ve got and pick the best formation. Saturday was the first time I’ve given any thought to a formation, rather than just putting players out on the pitch.

“I thought in the first half it worked well. We were fluent, dominated the game for long spells and could have scored more goals.

“I would like to think we’ve got at least three, four or five new players on the pitch come the opening day so that formation may change depending on the players we bring in.”

Albion will remain at an Essex hotel until tomorrow lunchtime before travelling to their game at Northampton Town.

Mowbray revealed he intended to fine-tune the team during that period.

“It’s about getting the players fit and organising the players,” he added.

“The lads worked extremely hard in Holland and I felt Ipswich would give us as close a test to a Premier League side as there will be.

“So we wanted to give the lads a few days together, mainly to relax, but also training and trying to tie down the tactical things.”