View: New Allardyce quotes hint at West Brom January plans
Sam Allardyce has claimed that West Brom need to sort out their defence if they are to pull away from the Premier League relegation zone.
The Baggies are 19th before Boxing Day’s fixtures and things are looking bleak after Monday night’s 3-0 loss to Aston Villa.
The defence is clearly an issue and the new Albion boss has declared that ‘clean sheets are more important’ than goals.
Allardyce is quoted by Sports Mole as saying, “You start by sorting the defence out, because if we get a clean sheet we only need one goal to win, and at this moment in time, the team is struggling to score more than one goal in a game.
“Goals have been difficult for us to come by, but clean sheets are more important to start with than goals.
“And if you can get more goals and clean sheets at the same time, we’ll start shooting up that league a little bit better and quicker than maybe anybody expected.”
This suggests that Allardyce will prioritise signing defenders when the January transfer window opens in just under a week.
The former Everton boss may be able to somewhat improve the Baggies’ poor defence but there is no way he can improve it enough to keep the club in the league with the players who are already here.
Sam Johnstone is a good goalkeeper. He had his critics at the start of the season but there is no denying that Albion would be considerably worse off if he wasn’t around.
Johnstone has made 63 saves in the Premier League this season which is six more than Leeds’ Illan Meslier who lies in second place.
Yes, clean sheets have been hard to come by but it is hard to envision the Baggies having any clean sheets to their name without Johnstone.
The defence then. Semi Ajayi is a solid defender who has had some incredible performances this season most notably against Tottenham and Manchester United.
It is doubtful that Ajayi is facing the chop in the near future as one of Albion’s most consistent performers.
The rest of the usual defence is in question, however.
Darnell Furlong leaves a lot to be desired defensively which isn’t ideal when your club is in a relegation fight.
Dara O’Shea is young and clearly has a lot of potential but it remains to be seen if he is ready to play constant first-team football at this vital time.
Branislav Ivanovic looks slow and miles off the pace. His transfer is looking like a worse decision every time he plays and it’s hard to see Allardyce keeping him in the side.
Kieran Gibbs is a liability, as he showed at Goodison Park, and he doesn’t quite bring the defensive expertise you would expect from a seasoned Premier league defender.
There is a lot for Allardyce to sort out but if his comments about the defence are anything to go by, then he will be dipping into the transfer market next month in search of new defenders.
We all know that Albion could do with new signings all over the pitch but the defence has been a serious problem area.
You could argue that the Baggies have a talented attack in Grady Diangana and Matheus Pereira even if they don’t show it often enough.
But it’s hard to claim that there is much quality in the defence and this is something that Allardyce has to change.
In other West Brom news, Robbie Savage has delivered his verdict on Albion’s season so far.
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