
Slaven Bilic explains what went wrong for decisive goal in loss v Brentford
Slaven Bilic has condemned his West Brom squad for the number of mistakes leading to Brentford’s winner on Friday evening.
Ollie Watkins fired home the winner early in the first-half after mistakes from Matt Phillips, Semi Ajayi and Ahmed Hegazi gave him a tap-in from a matter of yards.
The defeat at Griffin Park means that the Baggies haven’t won a Championship clash in four games, as their worrying run continues.
Bilic wasn’t happy with the goal in his post-match interviews, claiming that his side didn’t transition in defence good enough.
“We made a mistake,” he said on Sky Sports.
“We knew that Benrahma is good one against one, and we tried to stop it. We normally try to double it there, but we couldn’t manage our defensive transition.
“Then it was a chain of mistakes, that can happen but at least the scorer can not be in that position in front of the forward players, we have to be goalside.
“If you make those few mistakes in one attack then this is what happens.”
Many West Brom fans slammed Hegazi for his role in the goal, allowing Watkins to get goalside of him in his own six-yard box.
They certainly have a point, but there was a number of problems as the Bees cut through the Baggies way too easily only 20 minutes into the clash.
The first mistake was on Phillips’ part. Albion let Brentford have way too much space in the middle of the park, and that allowed Said Benrahma to isolate Kieran Gibbs down the left.
That laziness by Phillips saw Romaine Sawyers dragged out of position to double up on the tricky winger, allowing Josh Da Silva to leave the Scotsman way too easily in the box.
Then the final nail in the coffin was Hegazi losing Watkins in the six-yard box, allowing the deadly striker one of the easiest goals he will score all season.
It wasn’t good enough, and there were three main problems in only one transition which allowed Brentford to capitalise – that must be fixed before the trip to Sheffield Wednesday.
In other West Brom news, Darren Moore has singled out one player for his role in the winning goal on Friday
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