Potter's plans put into practice as Albion beat Newcastle

Of course, they always plan carefully.

But it doesn’t always end triumphantly.

The fine detail for this key fixture at home to a side below them in the table included a new build-up on the day of the game.

Graham Potter took the players away to a hotel during the long hours ahead of the 8pm kick-off.

Then, rather than giving Andi Zeqiri another run down the left, he brought in Jakub Moder for a first Premier League start.

On the left as well. But not so much.

Danny Welbeck and Neal Maupay were the players with chalk on their boots while Leandro Trossard caused more problems centrally.

When Moder and right-sided Pascal Gross went forward, it was moving inside Welbeck and Maupay respectively.

An uninspired Newcastle could not cope and Albion should have led before Trossard’s curler from just outside the box found the far corner in first-half injury time.

The gameplan survived a near miss by Ryan Fraser but carefully thought-out tactics work so much better when your team also produce the quality of finishes we saw on Saturday.

Such as that which saw Welbeck copy Trossard’s effort to make it 2-0.

Maupay’s controlled volley after a flowing move was the icing on the cake.

Former Southampton striker David Connolly, working as expert summariser for TalkSPORT, likened the squares cut into the playing surface to a chessboard on which Albion could put their strategy into practice.

Potter has lost a few of his pieces to injury but moved those which remained to deal with a lack of defenders at half-time at Southampton recently as the clock ticked.

He did the same going into this match but with rather more time to work on it.

Potter said: “You are always looking at the opposition because they have a set-up as well to ultimately stop you.

“You have got to look at how you can put the players in the best situations to show what they can do.

“I think there has been a consistency in what we are trying to do all season.

“That depends on the players of course, it depends on the opposition.

“But what we are trying to do has been the same.

“You go game to game.

“As soon as the Southampton game is finished, you prepare for Newcastle.

“This time we had six days in between the games and that is where the work is.

“You just try to prepare the team to understand what the challenges can be in the game but also how we can perform to our maximum.”

Potter allowed himself, his staff and players some downtime in the wake of this win.

But he knew thoughts of how to tackle Manchester United a week next Sunday would not be far from his mind.

He added: “I think you can celebrate three points in the Premier League because they are so hard to come by.

“Maybe this evening (meaning Saturday) it will be a nice glass of wine with my wife and with the family tomorrow.

“Sadly, even then you are thinking about how to prepare for the next match.

“It’s a bit of a drug unfortunately, this football lark, but there are worse things to do, I guess.”

Nights like this make the long, painstaking process feel more worthwhile.

“Brick by boring brick,” coach and former skipper Bruno wrote on Instagram yesterday in his first football post since last July.

“Follow and trust the process, you will overcome obstacles.

“Right actions in the right order, one right after another.

“This team is incredible. They deserved a night like yesterday.”

The plan to get Moder running into the danger area should have paid off almost immediately.

He sliced over following a right-wing cross from Maupay after 90 seconds and saw an effort saved by Martin Dubravka two minutes later after a pass cleverly curled in from the left by Welbeck.

Nothing much is going right for Newcastle.

They brought back Miguel Almiron from injury but then saw Isaac Hayden stretchered off with a potentially season-ending injury after an accidental collision with Yves Bissouma. But then, unlike Albion, they very rarely looked like making things happen for themselves.

The hosts went ahead in first-half added time, just when it seemed a familiar pattern of unrewarded control was being followed.

Joel Veltman, whose pass was at the source of Trossard’s winner at Southampton, curled a superb ball as the Belgian pulled away to the left of goal.

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Trossard took it down instantly, cut inside and curled a delicious shot inside the far post.

Fraser hit that same upright early in the second half with an effort which bore some similarity.

But Welbeck’s strike soon after was a carbon copy in terms of the finish, although the build-up was more complex and involved both Maupay and Trossard.

With only their second two-goal lead in the last 15 months, and first since their previous meeting with Newcastle, Albion were even more liberated from that stage They moved the ball from left to right for Gross to cross and Maupay guide home on the volley, so ending his personal goal drought.

Albion might have added to their tally but it was a successful raid on their own stadium.

In a break from the norm, Potter kept his squad at a hotel as long as possible during the day, arriving at the Amex 90 minutes before the game.

It was not necessarily intended to replicate away trips, which have been fruitful for more than a year now.

Just another part of the plan.

Potter said: “Normally we have pre-match at the Amex and it seems like a long day. We had an afternoon at a hotel and rested up there.”

Was it anything to do with superstition?

“No, it’s not the hotel or my coat or my scarf that win you football matches,” he replied with a laugh as his post-match Zoom session reached quite a relaxed conclusion.

Well we know the scarf isn’t lucky. He wore it against Palace!

“It’s the players and their quality.”

True. But Potter had earlier referred to feeling like he had walked under ladders during the recent run of mishaps.

Even a man of logic accepts luck is an element you sometimes need.

Normal luck, rather than outrageous good fortune, will suffice when you plan and play like this.

Albion: Sanchez; White, Dunk, Veltman; Gross, Bissouma, Lallana, Moder (Propper 89); Maupay, Trossard (Mac Allister 79), Welbeck (Zeqiri 83). Subs Steele, Burn, Alzate, Jahanbakhsh, Tau, Izquierdo.

Goals: Trossard 45+3, Welbeck 51, Maupay 68.

Yellow card: None.

Newcastle: Dubravka; Manquillo, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett; Willock (Murphy 62), Shelvey, Hayden (Hendrick 45+2); Joelinton, Almiron (Longstaff 76), Fraser. Subs: Darlow, Carroll, Ritchie, Gayle, Lewis, Fernandez, Murphy, Longstaff.

Yellow card: Dummett (63) foul.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.