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West Bromwich Albion FC / missing link between the midfield and the striker(s)

« on: August 06, 2018, 06:37:54 PM »

so I've been following the club for 3+ seasons now and it's baffling to me that for most of it the club has seemingly shown very little concern for this. A central attacking midfielder (CAM) is seldom used. WHY???

When I first questioned this it was explained to me the reason was Pulis and his dinosaur ways. I accepted this even though I disagreed with his philosophy 100%. We finally let go of him last season but too late to do anything about this issue even in the winter transfer window in which we were apparently handicapped by our budget.

Now another transfer window is nearing an end, and although I was unable to watch Saturday's game it seems clear to me the issue remains the same. Our attack is too one-dimensional: heavy on the wings, rarely through the middle. The reason is clear, we don't have a link (CAM) between Livermore/Brunt (or, insert whatever midfield tandem of your preference) and our front man. Pardew already tried the 4-4-2 without much success, because you can't just throw any two strikers out there and expect that it'll work. We do NOT have the skill set upfront to be running a 4-4-2, never mind the depth which is nonexistent.

Either bring in additional strikers to run a 4-4-2, or bring in players who can serve as the link ahead of Livermore/Brunt and in between the wingers (this currently consists of Morrison ONLY, who has been injury-prone as of late and was sorely missed on Saturday). HELP create scoring chances.

I understand reinforcements were needed at the back this summer but we were relegated in large part to our lack of scoring (only Swansea/Huddersfield scored less than us) and all we have done to address this issue is add Barnes (replacing McClean) and now swap Gayle for Rondon. I think we all know the definition of insanity - can't keep doing the same (stuff) and expecting different results. And in order to do something different you need different players.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / The defining stretch

« on: February 12, 2018, 05:11:54 PM »

Given the results this weekend, it's important that we at least get a draw tonight. A win isn't impossible, but at worst we need to get a point on the road against Chelsea. Then we go into the defining stretch of our season:

vs Huddersfield (17th)
at Watford (11th)
vs Leicester (8th)
at Bournemouth (10th)
vs Burnley (7th)
vs Swansea (16th)

Six games in which we don't face any of the league's Big-6, four of those games at The Hawthorns, and when you really think about it: all winnable games. There has been a lot of talk about us needing at least 38 points to survive, well there's 18 points there for the taking, REALISTICALLY for the taking. Asking for a 6-game winning streak might be a lot, but even if we can just win the home games and draw on the road games, that's 14 points. If we can get at least a draw tonight, that's 15 points which would put us at 35 going into a tough closing stretch at Man U, vs LP, at Newcastle, vs Spurs, and at CP.

Please stay with me and this club through this stretch, let's not give up yet. Especially in those next 4 home games we need to come out in full support and do our bit to help. We're not done. COYB!

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Player ratings

« on: May 22, 2017, 05:57:42 PM »

Foster - 8/10: probably the team's MVP, he's an outstanding GK and without him this team would be destined for the Championship. I really fear the club is wasting his great form with these average seasons.

Dawson - 6.5/10: not a fullback and quite honestly I'm not too impressed with him as a central defender either. To be a team competing for a top-7 finish Dawson needs to be more of a bench player who can come in to solidify a defense in the second half, not someone starting 37 games. He fills in admirably at FB but he's not that great offensively to make up for the lack of pace that makes him struggle to get back defensively.

McAuley - 7/10: He was very good much more often than not this season but along the lines of my thoughts on Foster to me it felt like the team wasted his performance this year. 7 total goals is outstanding. All that being said you can't bank on him to continue to perform at this level at his age and the team should sign another CB (or two) to strengthen this position.

Evans - 8/10: Stud, stands out early and often in most games as a player a class above everyone else. Excellent defender with a fine touch who isn't afraid to play it forward and is a threat on set pieces. Can't ask for much more from a CB. I really hope teams don't throw crazy cash at WBA for him and succeed in acquiring him.

Nyom - 6.75/10: I wanted to rate him above Dawson but below McAuley. Square peg in a round hole at LB, or another defender being played out of position as it should be clear to everyone he is much more comfortable and looks far better at RB. A pleasant surprise even if he can struggle with consistency at times, I wouldn't have a problem with him being the starter at RB next season.

Fletcher - 5.5/10: Awful, the most head-scratching lineup decision every time out for me. Consistently losing the ball which is unacceptable at his position, he will flash some good stuff every now and then but that is far from enough to justify his starting 37 games. I'm not even comfortable with him coming off the bench, and want to scratch my brain with a hanger when I read about this contract extension non-sense.

Livermore - 6.5/10:  I thought his Baggies career started off very well but fell off the wagon hard. At his best he looked like that holding midfielder who could play it forward and link up with the three ahead of him, but especially during this horrible stretch to end the season he looked indecisive/rushed and made far too many mistakes. I even wonder if he was being asked to do more than he is capable of. Not sure what to make of him yet but I'm inclined to accept him as a starter next season.

Yacob - 6/10: I expressed my feelings on him in his thread recently. I consider him a great asset as a defensive midfielder in terms of recovering the ball and overall defending. However, he doesn't get paired with anyone who can compliment his game and I cringe whenever he's asked to pass the ball further out than 5 yards, and that plus the fact he's a yellow card waiting to come out makes me feel like he serves better coming off the bench. I would have loved to see a 60/30 split between Field and him in this later part of the season.

Brunt - 7.5/10: his gorgeous crosses alone are enough for me to want him on the starting XI. He provides leadership too which this team sorely needs. On this roster I wouldn't mind starting him at LB even if it asks more from him in order to get forward because I feel there's enough depth at his position to sub for him later in the game (which hopefully helps him stay fresher throughout the season). Needs to handle most of the set pieces as far as I'm concerned, especially if Matty is not available.

Chadli - 6.5/10: I'm not a TP fan so count me as someone who feels this guy is being dragged down by the tactics. I'm not totally letting him off the hook here as I do acknowledge he missed some good scoring chances this season and failed to provide consistency but mostly I feel that the roster fails to match him up with creative players he can link up with, which coupled with being asked to play so deep back is just a total misuse of his talent.

Morrison - 6.5/10: An enigma for me. I wonder if I would rate him lower if there were other options for the attacking midfield role but outside of playing Chadli there he's all this roster has. I believe the period of time when his form was really great "coincided" with the team's great run this season. I'd be inclined to start him even if his form was poor simply because there don't appear to be any more options on the roster, this team desperately needs an infusion of talent at this position, otherwise the team is far too one-dimensional on the attack (crosses from the wings).

Phillips - 7.5/10: I dock his rating due to the games he missed with injuries but he's arguably the team's MVP over Foster as his absence is sorely noticeable. Eight assists put him in the league's top-10 in that category. He's a headache for fullbacks going forward, he backtracks enough defensively to make an impact, and he can score along with his ability to set up others to score. One can dream thinking about how this season would had finished much better if he had been available over these final few games.

McClean - 7/10: Can't ever question his effort, which for this roster is a BIG plus. His game has a good number of limitations but he makes up for it with his willingness to put pressure on opposing defenses and he had some fine moments defensively this season as well. Ideally someone who can come off the bench and provide that spark in the last third of game or so with fresh legs against tired ones.

Rondon - 6/10: Disappointing is the best adjective I can come up with. He is criticized too harshly by a frustrated fan base but he didn't do himself a lot of favors this season. Yes he did struggle for a large portion of the season but the circumstances around him weren't ideal more often than not. At the end of the day he's yet another striker who fails to score a whole lot playing under Pulis and that says a lot for me. Morrison's dip in form and Phillips' absence hurt Rondon's game a lot.

HRK - 6.5/10: I'm still not sold on him being PL material but I have to applaud his effort. At the end of the day he shouldn't be a starter for a PL club and I think he's better served as a winger than as a striker which isn't good for him because there's a surplus of talent on the wings (when compared to other positions) in this club with youngsters like Leko not even getting a fair chance to make their mark.
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Overall I'm more frustrated with TP's tactics and approach than with any one player in particular but I'll save that for the TP thread.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / This season failed to make a fan out of me.

« on: May 16, 2016, 06:11:03 PM »

I joined this forum early in the season following the acquisition of Salomon Rondon. I'm Venezuelan living in the U.S. and have no real affiliation with any BPL club, so I was excited to follow an English club with real desire for the first time in my life. I didn't know much about WBA at the time so I was just excited about a Venezuelan striker being in the BPL for the first time and I figured I'd root for the club to do well and maybe surprise people with a top-10 finish, really just hoping for some success for Rondon going hand-in-hand with club success.

The season was a massive disappointment to me.

Never mind results, I mean we can get into that a bit later, but execution was just godawful. I'm 30 years old and have memory of soccer as early as the semis of the '90 WC and in 25 years of watching soccer I've never witnessed soccer as ugly as the one WBA plays. Mind you, I've been watching Venezuela play soccer for the same amount of time and we were BY FAR the worst team in South America until we started to be somewhat competitive in the early 2000's. I vividly remember Brasil destroying us 7-0 in the '99 Copa America in which a very young Ronaldinho scored a ridiculous goal (google it if you'd like).

This season has also allowed me to learn more about WBA's history as well as Tony Pulis'. I'm sorry but I have yet to read comprehensive explanations as to why the club should continue to have Pulis as its HC. The best (and by that I mean least worse) reason I've heard/read is that the club could be so much worse without him. "Remember when" is usually how those arguments go, surely pointing back to I don't know, the early 2000's When the club seemed to keep going up and down the Football League. On the other hand I don't often see fans point to the '12-'13 season as if it was such a fluke for the club to finish 8th in the BPL. Is the fan base maybe so shook by finishing 17th in '13-'14 that they're content with the mediocrity  that has been the season simply because it didn't result in relegation? I get the AV rivalry but their awfulness doesn't make this club's struggles any less painful to be honest.

It's extremely difficult to foresee a whole lot of improvement going forward with Pulis. He seems to play a 4-1-4-1 I wouldn't have such a problem with if he played true wingers that were capable of contributing on offense. He already ignores FB play by playing CB's across his 4-line of defense which is asinine on multiple levels because he: 1) takes Evans out of CB and, 2) keeps Gamboa/Pocco without even sniffing the pitch when they haven't even gotten a fair chance to show if they can play at BPL-level and the little I've seen of them makes me want to see more. I'm not saying they can get it done, but I think they deserve the chance. But risking on defense to possibly score more goals isn't something TP seems willing to mess with and the result will be more unappealing football that is simply hard to watch. I will myself to watch but I definitely not enjoy the execution nor the results. I haven't even gone into the lack of creative midfield play. The combination of desert and HELLHOLE Rondon is thrown into at the lone forward position where it was a true accomplishment he scored 10 goals all season. Sigh.

I'm frustrated that I put the time and effort into this team this season yet walk away from it upset I couldn't become a fan. Can't nobody become a fan of what TP is doing to this club. What he's doing might keep you in the BPL for another season or two but this team is never going to accomplish anything significant with him at the helm. I don't know what Peace is waiting for, maybe for AV to get promoted back into the BPL and finish far ahead of WBA.