The Hawthorns head coach is intent on changing the mindset of the Albion players he took over from predecessor Carlos Corberan this month.
However, Mowbray, whose side is next in action at bottom-of-the-table Plymouth on Saturday lunchtime, highlighted the need of maintaining the squad’s strong defensive resilience, which the Spaniard had taught into them.
The 61-year-old did confess, however, that he will eventually lose his voice yelling orders for players to be front-footed to win the ball back, rather than settling back into a defensive formation.
“I think it’s really important to not throw (away) all the good work of the last two years of the well-coached team, out-of-possession particularly, and being difficult to break down,” pointed out Mowbray.
“We talked about 11 draws in 12 games, which is practically inconceivable, yet that’s exactly what occurred. I know they were sometimes in front and sometimes behind.
“I wouldn’t want to lose that. I’ve been extremely loud, and they keep exploiting the best parts of the previous game, but here I am, wanting to play open, attacking football. “You need to loosen up a bit.”I’m going to lose some of my voice because they don’t counter-press. They loose the ball but do not walk on it; instead, they return to shape. I want to go the opposite way.
“Bit by bit, over the piece, I’m sure that will come and we’ll become a team that creates more chances and scores more goals.”
Albion took advantage of a mediocre and rotating Portsmouth side that struggled away from home last time out, scoring five goals at The Hawthorns. The image of players sprinting forward to attack after already scoring four or five goals was the clearest sign of Mowbray’s influence thus far.
Saturday’s match pits the Baggies, who are still looking for a striker before Monday night’s transfer deadline, against a Pilgrims side that has won four games this season at Home Park.
“I just want the group to build the mentality really that we just keep going, it doesn’t matter about the score, we have to get the football right on the pitch,” he said.
“We need to know how to attack and how many men to commit beyond the ball. “We kept going.”
