Daniel Feliciano

Tue 15 February 2022 9:45, UK

Steve Bruce has admitted that his new 4-3-3 formation at West Brom may not be the best fit for the club after they were held to a 0-0 draw with Blackburn.

Bruce took over at The Hawthorns at the beginning of the month but has yet to win after two games in charge, with his Baggies side yet to score a goal with him as manager.

Now after a dull draw in his first home game against fellow playoff hopefuls Blackburn, Bruce admitted in his post-game presser [via Birmingham Mail] that his choice of formation since taking over may be a mistake.

“There are plenty of positives but I have to look at the situation to see if 4-3-3 really suits us with what we have available because we have to find a way of creating more opportunities in the final third,” he said.

West Brom have now won just once in ten games and failed to score in each of their last four fixtures in all competitions.

Adaptable

Bruce is already showing something that Valerien Ismael never did during his time at the club, and that’s an adaptability and willingness to admit mistakes.

Ismael vehemently stuck with his 3-4-3 formation after taking over despite pressure to change it to get the best out of his attacking players.

Bruce changed it immediately but with several injuries and problems within the squad currently, his choice of 4-3-3 with only two natural central midfielders available probably wasn’t the best one.

He’s now going to go back to the drawing board and look to work something out to improve the team’s fortunes, rather than just allowing the rot to continue as he marches on with his ideas that aren’t working.

Whether that’s a personnel change by bringing in fresh blood to the team or a change of system remains to be seen, but the mere fact he’s open to change is a huge positive already.

In other West Brom news, ‘Scrap’ – Ex West Brom player reacts to draw v Blackburn, cites ‘crucial’ run-in