But there is an area at the moment where it feels past and future are not overlapping.
And it left them exposed in defeat at Everton in terms of attacking options against a makeshift defence.
They just about had enough on day one versus Fulham.
Or did they? More resources might have meant a 2-0 lead and no late drama.
At Everton, when chasing the game and with Georginio Rutter ruled out, they certainly did not have attacking back-up.
And it cost them as - for all their hard work and good intentions - they ran out of threat.
The inquest among fans and media was about that after the game rather than the defensive factors Fabian Hurzeler had pointed out.
Maybe it was a bit of a diversion from the head coach.
To be fair to Hurzeler, those observations about defensive work were totally consistent with how he always talks about what his team do without the ball.
But it feels like several individual cases and decisions have come together to leave Albion short in attack.
Hurzeler said in his press conference at Everton that defeat was due to details.
Asked by a local reporter what the details were, he cited defensive issues.
When the microphone came my way, I asked whether he had felt short of attacking options.
He replied: “If we score the goals we wouldn’t have this discussion.
“I think we created so many chances but not only chances. They were big, big chances.
“It would only be an excuse if I said we missed a striker, that we have not enough offensive opportunities to change (the line-up).
“Overall we created enough opportunities to win this game.
Different names come up in discussion among fans. Evan Ferguson, of course, is one.
The Republic of Ireland centre-forward has had little impact for Albion or on loan at West Ham since his hat-trick against Newcastle two years ago.
But reports of a decent debut for Roma suddenly made him the man Albion need.
Is that the case or is he best off where he is?
Does that decision for him to go make sense in isolation?
Hurzeler has Abdallah Sima on his staff but does not seem to see him as part of his Prem plans.
One theory is you may as well have him on the bench as at least he is a striker.
But why do that if, rightly or wrongly, you do not think he can do the job?
Meanwhile we wait to see what Stefanos Tzimas and Charalampos Kostoulas bring.
And that is a wait that is taking longer than we probably assumed would be the case.
One hopes it does not lead to extra expectations when they eventually play.
So we are left in a void where players have gone and the successors are not ready.
It is similar on the wing. Simon Adingra would have been an option at Everton and Tommy Watson might be at some stage in similar circumstances.
For now, Albion are again between those two stools.
Brajan Gruda plays wide but is not really an impact player to get in behind a tiring defence.
And all this comes after the sale of Joao Pedro.
It felt from outside that the Brazilian wanted to go this summer.
Albion took 13 points from a possible 15 without him late last season and got 13 goals from nine different players.
Joao Pedro then became the latest big-money departure.
It might be unpalatable but these arguments about where Albion would be if they did not sell players are irrelevant.
They have to make selected big sales to continue to operate on a sound financial basis.
On top of that, they could probably never attract young potential bargains if they had a reputation for not letting them move on.
And, eventually, contracts are going to expire anyway.
On Sunday, we had another reminder of how hard Albion have to work to keep up in the league of giants.
Everton, in their new home, are now selling 20,000 more tickets than Albion for every game.
Just another huge club - many of them with fabulous wealth - who feel they are a bigger deal than the little outfit from the Sussex seaside and that they will leave them behind.
"A mighty club ready to create waves in English football once again," the booming voice-over told us during a video on Everton’s big screens just before kick-off on Sunday.
So we are left where we are.
Albion as a club still punching above their weight financially.
Still having to make clever decisions of which they cannot get many wrong. Spinning plates at times in terms of players.
They have individual cases which all make sense in isolation - Ferguson, Joao Pedro, Sima, Kostoulas, Tzimas, Watson. You can add Julio Enciso to that.
But put them together and the net result was frustrating to watch as an average Everton side were let off the hook.