View: Steve Bruce must solve West Brom midfield puzzle to earn promotion
West Brom have serious problems as they enter the final 14 game stretch of the Championship season, and Steve Bruce needs to fix them.
The former Aston Villa and Newcastle manager was brought in for immediate results as manager, with the Baggies struggling under Valerien Ismael and falling to just three wins in 14 games.
But while the mood around the club was massively changed by Bruce’s arrival, the results didn’t change in his first game as boss.
A red card for Jake Livermore in the first half massively inconvenienced West Brom as they were soundly beaten 2-0 by another one of Bruce’s former sides in Sheffield United.
The result saw them drop out of the playoff spots for the first time this season and down into ninth in the table, with 30 games played so far this season.
While one big problem is their attack, having scored just 34 goals so far, that issue stems from a lack of structure and freedom in midfield.
Bruce tried to address this in his first game, switching to a 4-3-3 formation and away from Ismael’s 3-4-3, using dual 8’s either side of a deep-lying playmaker to try and take advantage of their superior possession.
However on this occasion the experiment was cut short because of the red card, but there were still positive and negative signs even from the 39 minutes it was in action.
Mowatt struggled to effect the game from his new deeper role, with his defensive awareness lacking and his incisive passing unable to shine through so far away from the opponent’s goal.
Reach did well in his offensive duties, keeping Oliver Norwood busy throughout but off the ball it was no shock that the natural winger looked completely out of sorts in the centre of the pitch.
Combined the duo won just three of seven ground duels and only one aerial duel during the game [Sofascore], and that’s something they must address if they want to control games and feed the attackers.
Ismael was keen to build up through his wing-backs, but Bruce will have to find a midfield partnership that can work to feed the wingers and striker.
Jayson Molumby will get his chance in the next game because of Livermore’s suspension, but there is plenty of space for a more attack-minded player like youngster Quevin Castro to come in and make an impact.
Whether Bruce is willing to take that risk at this point in the season isn’t clear yet and is probably unlikely, but there is a puzzle to solve in midfield at the Hawthorns and right now the pieces just don’t quite fit.
In other West Brom news, View: Key man still missing, one change for Bruce – Predicted West Brom XI vs Blackburn