Cedric Kipre has had a pretty turbulent return to West Bromwich Albion, after leaving a mark on the Cardiff City fanbase last season. Many a Bluebird has made their way onto social media this summer to display their affection for Kipre and outlining their hope for his return. Carlos Corberan, though, had other ideas.
Over the course of pre-season, we saw Kipre reintegrated into the squad. Corberan does his homework, and he watched plenty of extended clips of Kipre in a Cardiff top over the course of the summer, to see how - if at all - he might fit into the Spaniard's Albion plan. Kipre is a ball playing centre half, comfortable with the ball at his feet, who can pick a pass and can play in a back four or back five.
There were concerns, shared by some in the fanbase, that Kipre could be susceptible to error. Lo and behold, within 25 minutes of the new season beginning at Blackburn Rovers, that was evident. Some Albion fans might've not expected to see Kipre, who it was predicted would start at Blackburn having got 90 minutes at Bolton a week earlier, line up against Swansea a week later, but he did.
There was another nervy moment when, with Albion relinquishing their stranglehold on the game and infuriating Corberan by their failure to manage the game situation accordingly, Kipre sparked more anxiety when passing back past Alex Palmer, who in denying a corner conceded a throw-in deep in the Albion half. Momentary miscommunication which was almost disastrous.
At Leeds, Kipre was improved. He brought the ball out, displayed impressive close control when under pressure, but his late challenge on Dan James in the penalty area prompted furious appeals for a penalty, which thankfully fell on the deaf ears of the officials. By the time Middlesbrough arrived, we knew to expect Kipre in the side. This is now a side which has settled down in the early stages of the campaign and he, at the heart of the back three, is able to carry out Corberan's demands better than most, if not all, of his defensive counterparts.
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Kipre was one of the man of the match contenders. Let that not be considered based purely because he scored a goal - a fine goal by all accounts, especially from the boot of a centre half, albeit a technician such as Kipre. No, he was assured for the most part, got Albion on the move for their second goal and he made a couple of important defensive contributions towards the end, prior to Jeremy Sarmiento's settler when ten-man Boro were still interested.
There is occasionally an erraticism to Kipre's game, but Corberan can see quite clearly his capabilities which, if he can iron out those deficiencies, will make him a key component of this system and approach that Corberan desires this team to take up.
"I said to have Kipre, he is one player with special conditions, especially offensive special conditions," Corberan said. "I was analysing all his games last year, he played in a line of three, of four, as right centre-back, as left centre-back in a four. With only Pieters, I thought it's important to have him because being right-footed he is someone that can play on the left.
"Dara O'Shea was one player that had the same skill, but not every player feels comfortable if you need to play there with four. The key with him is to be more proactive than reactive and never lose the concentration. As soon as he does this he will start to play well. If he starts to be reactive and loses the proactive and concentration - every player as well as him can make mistakes.
"Against Leeds, he was excellent too in my opinion. Against Middlesbrough, he showed consistency which is very important for us. With Kipre I said to him I cannot allow any type of loss of concentration. He knows how to play, he needs to keep concentration for 100 minutes in the pitch. When he plays with concentration he plays very well, because he has very good skills. When he loses concentration, the mistakes appear. It's important we protect ourselves by keeping the concentration."
It might be sometimes because of the match situation - it especially happens when Albion are on the ropes, as they have been in the later stages of both of their Hawthorns games so far this season, having been utterly comfortable earlier in both afternoons - but you can't help but sense the nerves in the stands when Albion look to play out from the back under pressure, against a side with their tails up.
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It takes bravery to not panic and to maintain the manager's demands in that moment. There'll be teething problems because Albion are trying something relatively new, from the goalkeeper forwards. Manchester City and Arsenal supporters, for example, can probably rest a little easier when they see their respective teams and beat the press from a deep position on the pitch. There's an element of trust and understanding in what they're doing, because it's been the norm at those clubs for some time.
In the early stages of this, it's understandable that fans will be on the edge of their Hawthorns seats hoping that their players don't put a foot wrong in pressurised moments. Corberan accepts that only consistency on the pitch will eventually bring the trust from the stands, but he makes the point that, in his eyes, football is too beautiful a sport merely to play long ball football and, in order for Albion to play the way he wishes, there'll be a requirement to take risks.
"It's not easy to play out from the back at times, because you can have the feeling you can lose the ball," he added. "With Semi Ajayi we lost the ball first half - it was an action we should've managed better. At the same time it was a positive that the team reacted with personality and to keep doing the things we need to do - but do them well.
"It's knowing when to play with one touch, two touches, when to go wide, when to keep it in the middle, when to use the keeper, when to go to the last line. Football is something rich, something amazing, only for the solution to play long. That's all. To create a chance playing short, you make the opponent press.
"When you break the press, you have the advantage to attack. Sometimes goals, or chances, you can't have them if you don't make a couple of risky passes. It's important to have one identity - it's everything we do in the training ground, analysing a lot with the players the things we do."
