‘Remarkable’ – Jake Livermore outlines ‘lovely problem’ facing West Brom boss Bilic
Jake Livermore has claimed that West Brom manager Slaven Bilic is facing a “lovely problem” over his team selection during the Championship run-in.
The Baggies moved to the top of the second tier with a 0-0 draw against Birmingham City on Saturday, and are back in action on Friday night when they face fourth-placed Brentford at Griffin Park.
Bilic made a number of eye-catching omissions from his 20-man match day squad at the weekend, with no place for the likes of Connor Townsend, Kamil Grosicki, and Gareth Barry.
But Livermore believes that Bilic’s calls were testament to the strength in depth that Albion possess, and has also made it clear that he expects his manager to rotate his squad thoroughly during the upcoming fixture schedule.
As quoted by the Express and Star, he said: “One of the strengths of our squad is the togetherness of it – but the depth is quite remarkable really.
“I think there’ll be times when players are not involved at all, and then suddenly they’ll be starting because of rotation and how it works and where we are with strength and positional wise.
“Disappointment of not playing, or not starting, is only natural because we want to play football and do our best for each other, for ourselves and for the club. It’ll be difficult, I’m sure, but ultimately we all want the same thing.
“It’s a lovely problem for the manager to have.”
Livermore has hit the nail on the head here.
There are literally no sides in the Championship who can match the Baggies when it comes to quality squad depth.
Take Grosicki as an example.
The 32-year-old is 73-cap Poland international who hit eight goals for Hull City over the first half of the season and then reaffirmed his ability with a stunning effort against Aston Villa in a friendly during lockdown – and yet he can’t even get on the bench.
The remaining fixture schedule will be absolutely hectic, however, and bearing that in mind, it would be a real surprise if – as Livermore suggests – we don’t see Bilic flex some of that strength in depth over the coming weeks.
In other West Brom news, Don Goodman has been raving about Albion’s “unsung hero”.
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