[baggiebof]

I've only seen him on the box away at Forest but I commented then how much he reminded me of Robert Koren. Do not get me wrong, football has moved on but I think in certain games he could play in the centre of midfield in a 4. You could have him and Sawyers central with Phillips and Brunt (or someone else suited to playing as a wide midfielder rather than a winger) wide and be a successful possession based midfield 4.

[lewisant]

I've only seen him on the box away at Forest but I commented then how much he reminded me of Robert Koren. Do not get me wrong, football has moved on but I think in certain games he could play in the centre of midfield in a 4. You could have him and Sawyers central with Phillips and Brunt (or someone else suited to playing as a wide midfielder rather than a winger) wide and be a successful possession based midfield 4.

I think Pereira and Diangana are both left-footed and could play on the left wing.

[TheBrom]

Funny, I seem to remember stating at the time that we needed to look at getting an attacking centre midfielder in as we were becoming full with defensive mids. The evidence in the first couple of games suggests this too and we seem to still be lacking that one midfielder to link the midfield and striker(s).

[Baggies]

Despite everything i’ve said, the analytics community love Krovinovic. He is apparently the highest ranked player in the championship after 2 games on the “pass score”  model, which measures how many passes a player makes into goal scoring positions.

Only worrying thing is that the player who topped it last year was......Romaine Sawyers,

You do wonder if we have signed 2 really good players who possibly need to play the same position.

[wba_1996]

Sawyers is a deep-lying playmaker. Krovinovic is somewhere in between an 8 and a 10. As long as we have a decent defensive-minded midfielder alongside them then the midfield is completely fine. We just need to work on breaking down the deep defensive block that teams like Millwall will set up with. That will get better as the players get used to each other.

Mind you, if we weren't marking zonally we'd have 3 wins from 3 and nobody would be on here moaning about our striker options or worrying about whether Krovinovic and Sawyers can play together.

[baggie96]

Maybe Livermore as deep midfielder and Sawyers and Krovinovic ahead of him. Push the wingers up and play more of a 433 rather than 4231. Think that would suit us and we should dominate games more this year.

[Baggies]

It could be that they need time to get used to each other, it could be that the strikers aren’t good enough, it could be that the wingers haven’t been as dynamic as they could be or it could be because neither player is suited to playing the final pass (instead being the player who starts the move).

I suppose it is too early to tell at the moment.

[Baggies]

Maybe Livermore as deep midfielder and Sawyers and Krovinovic ahead of him. Push the wingers up and play more of a 433 rather than 4231. Think that would suit us and we should dominate games more this year.

Another option would be to go full Mowbray, take Livermore out and don’t bother with a defensive midfielder at all (although not really something I would be keen on). Krov, Sawyers and Pereira, with options to fit Brunt and Harper in there.

[lewisant]

Another option would be to go full Mowbray, take Livermore out and don’t bother with a defensive midfielder at all (although not really something I would be keen on). Krov, Sawyers and Pereira, with options to fit Brunt and Harper in there.

I'd be keen to see more of a 433 with Sawyers sitting and Harper and Krovinovic in more advanced positions and i do think this is something Bilic has done in the past. It'd be a risk because Sawyers has amazing composure on the ball but i'm not sure how he is going into tackles.

In front of those 3 you could go Pereira/Diangana, Austin and Phillips/Edwards.

We'd be potent going forward, hopefully more clinical in the box though i'm not sure how well we'd do defensively in open play.

Of course, there's always 442 which Bilic mentioned in pre-season where we could see a 4 across the middle of Pereira/Diangana, Sawyers, Krov, Phillips/Edwards and then Austin and Zohore starting.

[frazzle]

Just love what I’ve seen so far from Krovinovic. In spells he looks to really make things happen and hopefully he will only get better as the team settles in. Love players like him.

I’d keep the midfield three as it is for the moment. Livermore has looked ok to me whereas from what I’ve seen Harper looks like his development is faltering. Maybe he though he would be first pick this season so is a bit put out.

[zippyandbungle]

We could go really bonkers

                      Keeper

         Semi.    Bartley.     Hegazi

                    Livermore
Phillips. Krov  sawyers.  Diangana. Pereria

                  Austin

With all of the midfielders told to break in turn

[maccbaggie]

We could go really bonkers

                      Keeper

         Semi.    Bartley.     Hegazi

                    Livermore
Phillips. Krov  sawyers.  Diangana. Pereria

                  Austin

With all of the midfielders told to break in turn

Drooling over that midfield in the championship

[MICKYMEL]

Like his linking of play but would like to see him further up the pitch to do more damage.

Him and sawyers have helped us be more on front foot but I think we need to find a way of him moving into more attacking positions, especially at home

[baggiebof]

Like his linking of play but would like to see him further up the pitch to do more damage.

Him and sawyers have helped us be more on front foot but I think we need to find a way of him moving into more attacking positions, especially at home

I agree that our number 10 needs to be more attacking and threatening the goal but is that Krovinovic's strength. I think he may be better playing and attacking from deep, he really does remind me of Koren.

[frazzle]

I really like him but a lack of end product becoming evident. Pereira did more in his ten minutes on the pitch in terms of dangerous crosses and passes than Krovinovic. Early days though.

[TheJacko2000]

I agree that our number 10 needs to be more attacking and threatening the goal but is that Krovinovic's strength. I think he may be better playing and attacking from deep, he really does remind me of Koren.

Looks so much like him, the way he moves etc. Don't think for a minute he's as good as RoKo and certainly doesn't seem to have his long range shooting ability or composure one on one. Early days though and still a very promising player.

[Fritzl Palace]

Personally, I would like to see him drop back alongside Sawyers to get Pereira into the #10 role.

Krov   Sawyers

Phillips   Pereira   Diangana/Edwards

Austin

Pereira would be a hell of a suupply line in that role for Austin or Zohore from what I saw last night. Plus it means removing Livermore from the side who, whilst I think he has looked better this season, still offers very little as a footballer.

[WBAlbion123]

Personally, I would like to see him drop back alongside Sawyers to get Pereira into the #10 role.

Krov   Sawyers

Phillips   Pereira   Diangana/Edwards

Austin

Pereira would be a hell of a suupply line in that role for Austin or Zohore from what I saw last night. Plus it means removing Livermore from the side who, whilst I think he has looked better this season, still offers very little as a footballer.

Agree with this but do we leave ourselves exposed defensively? Maybe one for the lower half teams?

[Fritzl Palace]

Agree with this but do we leave ourselves exposed defensively? Maybe one for the lower half teams?

Does Livermore add anything defensively?

[Atomic]

For me Krovinovic is a bit in between effective positions. If he's going to play in that number ten role he needs to be driving into the box more both with and without the ball. At the moment he's playing too much in front of them with little to aim at ahead of him and defenders are crowding him out. He either needs to comit a defender on the ball or run off the ball beyond the centre backs.

He could play deeper in a flat three alongside ideally Sawyers who can hold and Phillips who can carry the ball from deep. Krovinovic in a three then has the option of picking out one of three forwards and another midfielder (Phillips).

i.e.
                        Phillips           Sawyers              Krovinovic

Pereira / Diang?                       Austin                                Zohore


At the moment we're not getting the best out of him he's pretty but mostly ineffective.

[WBAlbion123]

Does Livermore add anything defensively?

I'd say yes he's a big strong lad and adds a bit of physical presence to our midfield even if his footballing skills are somewhat limited, swap him for Krovinovic and I'm not sure there is enough balance to your midfield certainly against some of the stronger sides anyway. With that said I'd happily swap Livermore for Ajayi when Hegazi is back.

[caravanc58]

i think there's to much emphasis on the need for a defensive midfielder, they should all be able to tackle. can anyone recall the midfield under Ardiles?

[AlbionFan]

i think there's to much emphasis on the need for a defensive midfielder, they should all be able to tackle. can anyone recall the midfield under Ardiles?

The team for the Final against Port Vale.Midfielders are in BOLD

GK   1   Tony Lange
RB   2   Nicky Reid
LB   3   Steve Lilwall
CM   4   Darren Bradley
CB   5   Paul Raven
CB   6   Gary Strodder
CF   7   Andy Hunt      
CM   8   Ian Hamilton
CF   9   Bob Taylor
LM   10   Bernard McNally
RM   11   Kevin Donovan

Substitutes:
FW      Simon Garner      
MF      Gary Robson
Manager:
Osvaldo Ardiles

[TheJacko2000]

The team for the Final against Port Vale.Midfielders are in BOLD

GK   1   Tony Lange
RB   2   Nicky Reid
LB   3   Steve Lilwall
CM   4   Darren Bradley
CB   5   Paul Raven
CB   6   Gary Strodder
CF   7   Andy Hunt     
CM   8   Ian Hamilton
CF   9   Bob Taylor
LM   10   Bernard McNally
RM   11   Kevin Donovan

Substitutes:
FW      Simon Garner     
MF      Gary Robson
Manager:
Osvaldo Ardiles

Bradley was a converted Centre back, could definitely tackle. The Mowbray title winning team would be a better example.

[wba_1996]

Does Livermore add anything defensively?

I think we'd notice it pretty quickly if we went with the midfield you suggested. Ejaria waltzed through our midfield last night without challenge until Livermore got close enough to him. Take him out of that midfield and I can see opposition players walking into the box at will until one of the centre backs is forced to act. Though that is on the rare occasions they would actually see any of the ball with our 6 attack-minded ball-players