Squad are on message with new Baggies boss
ALBION secured an impressive victory – comfortably their most notable of the Championship campaign so far – as they saw off high-performing Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
Kyle Bartley stooped to head in the only goal of the game in the second half as the Baggies defended resolutely to a man.
The Hoops, who had lost just once at home before Saturday, found West Brom stubborn at the back and were unable to inflict any blows themselves.
Albion are still in the relegation zone but this was their second win in five days following the midweek defeat of Blackpool and, with one more game before the World Cup break, new boss Carlos Corberan is clearly seeing things he can work with. Here are the talking points.
Back to basics
“In the Championship you have the basics and the extras. If you don’t do the basics, the extras aren’t going to work. Only the basics isn’t enough, but creativity and relying on quality in some moments isn’t enough either.”
A wise analysis from Corberan, who in his early days at The Hawthorns is demanding substance, hard work and determination as he seeks to drag the club away from their precarious position. Once those qualities have been established, then the technical aspect of Albion’s game can be developed further.
For now, Corberan wants a strong shape. He wants to be a threat at every set-piece – Albion have scored from a corner and a free-kick in the last two games.
The boss also prides himself on defensive solidity and his new side have kept successive clean sheets.
There are clear ingame indications that Albion are a work in progress. That is hardly a surprise, considering Corberan is only just getting started, but here there were more signs his message is being received and understood.
Momentum
This was the first time since the end of last season the Baggies posted successive wins in the league.
Let’s be honest, the victory at Reading and the hammering of alreadyrelegated Barnsley on the final day of the campaign carried little value as regards to their importance.
The last time Albion recorded consecutive, meaningful wins in the
league was almost a year ago when then-head coach Valerien Ismael guided them to three points at Coventry and then a Covid-ravaged side edged out Reading a week later.
One of former boss Steve Bruce’s Achilles heels was his inability to build on a positive result – like against Bournemouth and Fulham last season, which was followed by a car crash of a performance as the players took their foot off the gas.
It is highly likely Corberan will not allow such a collective attitude. Albion have dominated and won, and here they ground it out, in the process presenting evidence they are able to do both.
They will fancy a third success on the trot in the final game before the World Cup.
Attention to detail
Corberan didn’t just make three changes to his team for the sake of it.
He introduced Jayson Molumby in place of the impressive Taylor Gardner-Hickman because he wanted more bite and power in midfield, something QPR boss Mick Beale conceded Albion had boasted.
Corberan asked Matt Phillips to fill in as a centre-forward presence, while Erik Pieters brought experience, even if he did struggle with the tricky pairing of Chris Willock and Ethan Laird.
Bartley, the match-winner and very much a key player in the side again after weeks out in the cold, has been among the first Albion players to applaud Corberan’s tactics and approach to training.
The Spaniard is a stickler for detail and his insistence on analysing the opponent as much as his own side has already bore fruit with these two victories.
It is exciting to think what he and his coaching staff might be able to achieve with the squad over the course of the month-long break, especially considering what supporters have witnessed thus far.