Every week, Matt Davies and Joe Chapman discuss the goings-on at West Bromwich Albion over on our dedicated Facebook page. Here is what was said
The win over Hull and West Bromwich Albion’s current form is on…
JC: As a group, we examined the games that remained before Coventry. Hull has been playing exceptionally well, Southampton has returned from its international break, Cardiff is in the top six, and Ipswich, Sunderland, and Leicester all appeared to be tough tests that, if completed, may have determined how Albion would do this season.
Every time you think it might be too much, like in the case of Hull, At the beginning of the week, I thought that four points from Hull and Coventry would be a good return, but obtaining six points, scoring five goals, maintaining the momentum, and making it ten points from a possible twelve is an extremely impressive return.
doing and the buy-in from the squad in terms of what he’s asking them to do and how they approach games.
Having come through the adversity of the difficult run with injured players missing, you start wondering, with them sneaking players back into the squad—Semi Ajayi came on and scored on Saturday; Sarmiento came on; Swift and Maja aren’t far away—what they might be able to achieve. They’re still in a really strong position. They’re banging there.
What I saw on Saturday, without being there, was a great result, but the goal Matt Phillips scored was a thing of beauty. To score a goal that looks like a counterattack, even though you’re totally in control of possession, is an art. They invited the Hull press, played around them, and made it look like they were countering, even though they were in control. It was brilliant.
The goal itself, the passing, the dummy from Wallace, the cross from Diangana, and the finish from Phillips It was an outstanding goal—as good a team goal as The Hawthorns has seen in many years. They’re playing so well. How long can they keep it going and remain at the top?
Albion now seems to be turning a bit of a corner with injuries, and there’ll soon be some nice problems for Carlos to contend with…
JC: Four or five weeks ago, it couldn’t get any worse. You’ve just lost Swift; Maja was already out; Sarmiento too; that’s your top scorer and your two summer signings. Dike has been out since April. Reach has been out since pre-season. Then Kipre goes off against QPR, and you are fearing the worst because Carlos was not positive about that in the aftermath.
Thankfully, it was nowhere near as bad as that, and he’s carried on playing, but generally, it seems like they’re slowly turning the tide on the injuries—getting players back and making players available to Carlos so that he’s not having to rely on academy players who have limited experience.
You hope that while you’re getting these players back, there aren’t any further injuries. There has been such an emphasis placed on Diangana, Wallace, and Thomas-Asante—they’ve been asked, as the only senior options recently, to go again and again—but now that burden might become a little more eased. That ought to help everyone, and there’ll be an equilibrium where Carlos has options on the bench in every game.
Maja will be back after the international break; Swift might be back a week later; and Dike will hopefully be back at Christmas time. That would be enormous. To have those three players anywhere near it and to ensure that everyone else stays fit in the meantime, the picture will be rosy for the festive period.
With impressive form comes attention—there’ll be quite a few televised Albion games in the coming weeks…
JC: We were on the pitch at Leeds early on, against a relegated club. Then we were on TV at Blues, so that was a local derby. Then we were on the telly at Coventry, sort of a derby, and two teams who were around it last season. Sky haven’t been to The Hawthorns this season, which is unheard of; we’ve been left alone for Saturday 3 p.m. kickoffs, which has been nice.
They’re now a little bit victims of their own success. They’re going well, sneaking under the radar a bit, and eventually Sky will start picking up games. If this game at Southampton would’ve happened a few weeks later, fourth vs. fifth, it would’ve been on TV, I’m sure. Then, between the end of November and the middle of December, they have four Saturdays in a row.
Saturday 5:30 against Ipswich, Saturday 12:30 against Leicester, Saturday 12:30 up at Sunderland, and Sunday midday against Stoke It’s like famine to feast. It’ll irritate fans; it doesn’t suit many logistically, particularly at this time of year.
It’s par for the course—they’re playing well, there’ll be recognition, and it just happens they’re playing teams now who are above them and around them. Four Saturdays in a row is a bit intense, but it is what it is, and having a few extra quid in the coffers from Sky won’t hurt.
The only game so far against one of the relegated teams, before Southampton, was at Leeds in August. Can you draw any comparisons?
JC: It’s the second game against a newly relegated team; the first was at Leeds, and I thought we were pretty good that night. There were a few rocky individual performances; they were getting to grips with the season. They got themselves in front, but had it not been for switching off at the back for a minute, they’d have won the game.
I know Alex Palmer made some big saves that night, but so did Ilan Meslier at the other end. I just think Albion can go to Southampton this weekend and not worry about the fact that it’s a relegated Premier League team. You can go there and play your own game. I don’t think Albion will be fearful; I think they can go toe to toe with them. I think they can be gotten at.
I did think they’d go well this season and thought they’d be a top-two team; they’re still there and thereabouts now. The way Albion can hurt teams on the counter, I think the game might suit them. They seemed to have turned a bit of a corner away from home; they had that great win at Preston, won comprehensively at Coventry, and at Bristol City and Watford, they could’ve won.
Right now, they are just more likely to win games away from home than they were. If they prevailed 1-0 or 2-1, it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world. Southampton is undoubtedly a talented team—they recently defeated the Blues and won at Millwall—but Albion will be assured since they know what needs to be done and have Sarmiento back in the lineup, so they could be able to sustain this momentum for a little while longer.
With Albion, it goes rather smoothly. They don’t have by any means the largest team in the championship, but they do appear to have a fairly stable group of adaptable players who can fit into any kind of system.
There appear to be plenty of knives in the Swiss Army Knife, from the strings to Albion’s bow. That’s because Carlos has transformed them individually and collectively.
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