West Bromwich Albion head coach Valerien Ismael spoke to reporters after his side’s goalless draw with Watford on Saturday. Ismael had overseen his third friendly in charge of Albion and it was a notable step up in terms of the quality of opponents having played against Woking and Sheffield Wednesday so far. The Baggies conducted themselves well at Vicarage Road against a newly-promoted Watford side that were playing in front of supporters without restrictions for the first time since December. Albion went close through Grady Diangana and Matt Phillips, the former superb throughout the game. On the agenda post-match was the performance of Albion, the first appearance for Matt Clarke since he signed on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion and a transfer update.
On the performance
Valerian Ismael said: “We are really delighted with the performance. They’re buying the philosophy, we put the right intensity into the game – as long as we had the strength to continue that way we created a lot of problems for Watford. We won a lot of balls, we created a lot of chances and at the end it was clear that the strength became less, but after we made some changes and this is a good thing now, when we change the team we can keep the intensity high until the end. I think we took another step closer to where we want to be in two weeks. It gives us a good feeling. We are moving forward, in the right direction. I think we can see that everyone works hard together, everyone is committed to the way to play and it’s a great feeling for us to produce such a game.
Assessing the fitness of the players
Valerian Ismael said: “I think when we see the numbers we get against Sheffield Wednesday and today again, I feel we’ve come closer to where we want to be for sure. We need more games, you need to get the games to become fitter. It’s clear that I feel that at the moment it’s a great feeling, the guys they’re all together, they adapt now with the way to train, the way to play and as I say today was a great test for us to see where we are and where we want to be.
Three clean sheets
Valerian Ismael said: “It’s pleasing because when you change the way you play when you are more aggressive on the pitch, the guys know what happened with the defence [last season] but we’ve given another solution to the guys and for sure you need to be fresh, you need to have a great fitness to clear the situations. Today we conceded too many chances from Watford, but at the end of the day, I feel that we had a good game. We have to score goals, and I feel now that we need to keep going in that way.”
Did any players catch the eye?
Valerian Ismael said: “I feel that all the players involved, all the players are committed to the way to play and it’s a good sign. When you change the first XI completely and the players work well, even the young players, this is a great sign for us because the young players showed up and gave us a good feeling. At the minute it’s interesting for me to see the reality against a strong opponent today. The young players will give us time, there’s no rush on the transfer market, to assess exactly what we need for the squad.”
The result and the confidence it brings
Valerian Ismael said: “Before we speak about the result, it’s more about the way we play and the process. The first thing for us at the minute is to be focused on the process, but for sure in our mindset, we do this to win games, so the first thought was to see if we had the intensity all around the pitch. Everyone needs to be committed to each other and dedicated. We need to recognise the way we play and I thought it was great for us to give confidence to the players. After you see the result, we can score more goals – we have the possibility to create, out of possession we created chances, in possession we created chances, we created chances in set pieces – it’s all what you need in the Championship and we are closer to where we want to be.
On Diangana
Valerian Ismale said: “Step by step he’s become stronger and he’s on the front foot. Grady, KG, Matty, they all perform for us. It’s a big season in front of the players and we can see how with players with the philosophy I feel we can improve on it and for sure the confidence within the players. But we need to work on their fitness, because we saw that in some situations we need too much time to come back into shape and to go again but it’s all in the process.”
Clarke’s performance
Valerian Ismael said: “There is a reason why we took him because we knew about his quality. He will give us more possibilities in the build-up because he is left-footed. I am very delighted with his adaptation in such a short time. He has only been here for ten days but it feels like he has been with us since the start of pre-season. He understood quickly the principal, the way to defend, defend forward and play with courage and I think it was a great performance.”
Will Clarke start on August 6?
Valerian Ismael said: “We will see, we have two weeks now. We have a great squad, especially in the centre-back position we have high quality. We need every player and this is a great thing for me now, the players are giving me the problem that I need to pick the right players. But we need every player, the centre-backs we have got, they will play games all season so the good thing is with the left foot we have more possibilities.”
Matching a Premier League side
Valerian Ismael said: “You know, the good thing with our way to play is that it doesn’t matter who our opponent is. Our focus is on us and we know that we can compete with anyone and we are able to beat anyone. When we do the right thing on the pitch with our intensity, we always have a solution for the guys, even against the top players. In two situations today we were unlucky but it was our fault because we made two mistakes before we conceded the chance. But this is a good thing and we can work on it and our fitnes is getting better and better week after week and I think we will avoid such a mistake.
A word for the fans
Valerian Ismael said: “It’s a great feeling to have the fans back. You can imagine and feel the fans starving for football and it is a great feeling for Watford fans. It is great for us to simulate the League already. Today it was a great test for everyone, for the fans to have the Saturday afternoon to watch football and to come here to see the team again and how the team has improved. To create that togetherness you need in the League and I think it was a great afternoon for our fans
Planning to sign any players?
Valerian Ismael said: “We will see, I think at the moment I said that the good thing is our young players did well and they have given us time. There is no rush on the transfer market, we want to see the young players and today it was a very important game for us. We needed to assess the players but we saw that the performance was there. They understood the principle and I think it is better for us if we can push some young players from the academy. We will do it if we have the possibility and if the performance and commitment is there we will do it. Otherwise for sure we will show what we can do in the transfer market but at the minute there is no rush. We are working behind the scenes to prepare. We prepare a lot of things already but we have no rush because of the good performance from the young players.”
