Exclusive: Phillips claims West Brom duo were ‘all over the place’ at times v Newcastle
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips has admitted the centre-back duo of Dara O’Shea and Kyle Bartley had some iffy moments as West Brom lost 3-2 to Newcastle United on Tuesday.
Albion were dumped out of the FA Cup after Slaven Bilic opted to make nine changes to his starting line-up.
O’Shea, 21, was one of only two players to keep his spot in the side but he was still moved from the right-back position to centre-back.
Semi Ajayi was rested for the Newcastle clash while Ahmed Hegazi picked up a hamstring injury in the defeat to Wigan on Saturday.
O’Shea has impressed since breaking into the West Brom first team this season but he failed to stop the Baggies from conceding three goals in 47 minutes this week while playing alongside Bartley in the heart of the defence.
“They’re up against a Premier League side and, on the night, Almiron was unbelievable. He was fantastic and Joelinton held the ball up well,” Phillips told West Brom News when asked about Bilic’s centre-back duo for the game.
“They’ve come up against some players in Allan Saint-Maximin and Valentino Lazaro, a front-four that were really lively, energetic and physical, so they had to soak up a lot of pressure in the first half.
“I thought that, in the main, they dealt with it ok. At times they got pulled about a little bit and positioning was all over the place. But in general, once they settled down, they looked a solid partnership.”
West Brom weren’t awful by any means against Newcastle and O’Shea and Bartley were two players who you can’t say had bad games.
No one particularly impressed in the first half and the lack of cover from the midfield for the defence was telling at times as Newcastle found it way too easy to spring into an attacking phase of play.
With Hegazi injured, it’s likely that Bartley and Ajayi will start at centre-back against Swansea on Saturday while O’Shea could move back to the right-back spot.
In other West Brom news, Darren Fletcher has criticised Albion fans for the poor atmosphere at The Hawthorns on Tuesday.