Fabian Hurzeler and his staff got the footballs out straight away as the squad reported back to Lancing.
The head coach told them to take care of every possession and that every pass matters.
His assistant Jonas Scheuermann stressed a word we hear a lot – intensity.
That was something which was clear in the first pre-season, including time in Tokyo, with Hurzeler.
And again last year, when some of the new signings were kept apart from the main group as they got up to speed with the demands.
The clips released by the club of players out on the pitch with footballs on day one of training last week felt a far cry from yesteryear, when the first week or two were all about running.
But it all came with a serious message.
Hurzeler could be heard telling his men: “Take care of the ball. Every pass matters. Fast, fast, fast. Be efficient.”
While Roberto De Zerbi’s Albion side are still celebrated by many for their attractive build-up play – as were Graham Potter’s team – keeping possession and playing short, sharp passes under pressure is an under-rated trait of Hurzeler’s plan.
There were a couple of great examples on back-to-back trips to Manchester midway through last season.
Good play in a tight area on one flank, then a swift switch to the far side ahead of goals by Kaoru Mitoma at City and Brajan Gruda at United.
And then there is the intensity out of possession.
Albion led the Premier League in terms of possession won in the final third last season, doing so on 780 occasions.
That demands that word we keep hearing – intensity.
Hurzeler’s St Pauli topped the same metric in the German second tier in 2023-24 but Albion ranked only eighth in his debut Prem campaign.
Scheuermann said: “We give them the ball but, on the other hand, of course they have also to work physically and do running.
“To find the mix and to find the balance is very important.
“The performance team say to the players which distance they have to reach, how many high-intensity metres or sprint distance they have to cover.
“That’s very important for the performance team.
“Give them the ball, joy, togetherness but, on the other hand, work hard on the pitch.
“During the season we want to see intensity in every game and that is the reason we want to see it every day in the training sessions.”
Albion will be back at it this week ahead of their trip to France in late July.