Carlos is still keeping his feet on the ground
THEY might have won five in a row before facing Coventry City on Wednesday evening, but Carlos Corberan has been quick to remind everybody associated with West Bromwich Albion that they’ve achieved nothing just yet.
He wants the continuity of ‘winning mentality’ football - similar to what Jurgen Klopp has fostered at Liverpool in recent years.
Albion have been often scintillating and always as solid as a rock at the back since they began their winning streak with a late victory over Blackpool prior to the international break. The performance against Stoke City and the second half at Sunderland were excellent, while the weekend’s success over Rotherham United was encouragingly straightforward.
Indeed it was a game that, 12 months or so ago, would’ve presented a much greater challenge under Valerien Ismael, whose Albion side were set up to counter and, as a result, often struggled to break down teams who’d come to frustrate - they’d generally do just that.
Corberan in many ways is the opposite of Ismael, whose stubbornness and reluctance to change things was often Albion’s downfall; their current incumbent selects personnel and sets teams up on a weekly basis dependent on the opposition and the unique challenge that they pose.
So far, he’s utilised the embarrassment of attacking riches to great effect. Tom Rogic has made a big impact in the past ten days, Daryl Dike too. Jed Wallace, who was performing at a high level before the World Cup anyway, has gone to another level while John Swift has quietly returned to action with a couple of eye-catching displays too.
Matt Phillips has been more reserved, perhaps the most defensive minded of the Albion attackers in the last couple of games, but Grady Diangana and Brandon Thomas-Asante had the desired effect when being introduced at the weekend. It’s important for Corberan to know that he can look to his bench and impact the game with alternative options and, so far, they’ve done so. The Albion fanbase, of which almost 4,500 were set for the away end at the CBS Arena this week before heading down to Ashton Gate to tackle Bristol City on Boxing Day, are in high spirits. The turn-out on a Wednesday before Christmas, despite the inconvenience of the rescheduled date and the cost of tickets, is evidence of that. They can’t wait to see Corberan’s team in action again.
Albion will, though, keep their feet firmly on the ground while the supporters continue to think bigger and look ahead. How couldn’t you get a little bit carried away at the minute? It’s not just the results, but the authoritative displays, while giving opposing teams barely an inch a defensive sense, that have put Albion back into the promotion race which just weeks ago remained a highly unlikely prospect.
Their recent wins have lifted them immediately out of relegation peril and into the middle third of the division, on the cusp of the play-offs.
There’s not another side in the league - bar the top two - who could argue that they’re matching Albion for form, or could claim they boast equivalent squad resources.
All of that said, Corberan is still looking below for motivation. Continue in this vein, and things will take care of themselves. It was the attitude that he maintained during Huddersfield Town’s play-off campaign last season, and nobody could argue that it didn’t bear fruit. In many ways, it’s reminiscent of Klopp’s ‘Mentality Monsters’ approach at Liverpool.
“I think we know where we were when I arrived here to the club,” Corberan said.
“We know that in the Championship as soon as you go to a game not at the right level you can break this positive momentum.
We want to keep competing, keep being an important team and a winning mentality team.
“It is not ever watching the future but watching the past, because this is what I want, to watch the past, because we are not going to forget fast the situation where we started because we need to protect ourselves for everything.”