Opportunity knocking with Cup break – boss
CARLOS Corberan is relishing the chance to work with his West Brom squad during the World Cup break.
The Spanish coach replaced Steve Bruce as manager near the end of October and oversaw a significant upturn in form before the season was paused. Albion won three consecutive games, prior to the international break, to lift themselves out of the relegation zone.
Corberan, though, will be determined to prove it was more than the cliched ‘new manager bounce’. The Albion boss now has the chance to take advantage of the unique break in the campaign and undergo a mini pre-season with his new players. Corberan said: “For me, it was a great opportunity to come here and I have tried to give my best. When you are at a big club, with big supporters, a big stadium and big players, everything is positive.
“This break is a great opportunity because when you don’t do a preseason with the squad, it is a perfect moment to work with the players. To now have this period of time is fantastic because we can use it in the same way as a pre-season.”
However, it will be a pre-season that sees the players return close to peak fitness, opposed to after an extended summer break. A factor that Corberan is keenly aware of.
“It’s even better because you don’t have the same physical demands that pre-season has where the players have a longer period of break beforehand,” he continued. “The players are not going to lose the physical level.
“So, you can be working more on tactical points that you think are going to be important for the team, in attack and in defence.
“To have this opportunity to be working with the players, three weeks in a row without a game, is positive.
“We have time to better develop the line of thought, to keep insisting the messages we have given from the beginning, but to use more time training these concepts.”