West Bromwich Albion: Three hopes, one fear

Hope #3: That Craig Gardner can play a bit more of a role in the attack.

Since coming to The Hawthorns at the start of the 2014-2015 season Craig Gardner has served as the heart and sole of the West Bromwich Albion midfield. Alongside Darren Fletcher, Gardner has steadily become one of the most consistent center mids in the Premier League. His passing and vision make him an excellent Pulis midfielder, someone who can always find his teammates in open spaces around the pitch and can kill the clock.

Well all of that is well and good he hasn’t really shown himself as a midfielder who can build attacks. With Fletcher 32 years old no Gardner needs to start taking over some of his responsibilities and show that he can be a midfielder that can play on both sides of the pitch. He has shown flashes of what he can do as a center attacking midfielder but he has yet to do it over a long stretch of time.

Part of the problem is Pulis. The Pulis style allows for very little deviation from the system and can at times pigeonhole players to certain positions. It is almost as if they are fixed points on the map and unable to move in any real direction. While that makes them difficult to break down, for players like Gardner it means that they have very little opportunity to show what else they can do assigned from their very rigid tasks.