Steve Bruce reveals ‘best weapon’ West Brom can use to lift form
West Brom manager Steve Bruce has hailed his players’ efforts in his first two games but has called for more quality in the final third.
It was the same season long problems that hindered the Baggies as they fired their second blank in as many games under their new boss.
Bruce did outline one area they can find some goals as he called his players ‘dangerous’ from set pieces.
“Both teams struggled to create anything in the final third. I couldn’t fault the effort and the endeavour,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“There’s lots to be pleased about in terms of the effort, but we must improve in the final third. We must find a bit of creativity from somewhere in the team.
“Obviously, you need to score a goal to win a match and we haven’t managed to do that in the last two games.
“Sam (Johnstone) only had a couple of saves to make and we nearly nicked it at the end of the game with a set-piece.
“Set-pieces look like our best weapon at the moment. We look dangerous from them, as did Blackburn.”
Quality.
It’s times like these when you consider what sort of impact Daryl Dike would have had on this West Brom side. Might Valerien Ismael still be in the job if the American stayed fit and found form?
As different as the story could be, looking at the state of the squad it is very unlikely.
The Baggies players just can’t score, and the solution seems very difficult to find. It is all good blaming the players, at the end of the day those are the ones on the pitch, with the ball, who can make that killer impact.
But it really isn’t as simple as that for the players. Ismael’s very pragmatic, defensive system looks to have drained every ounce of attacking flair out of these players and it might take some time for it to return.
The extent of Ismael’s lack of attacking capabilities is clear to see with Bruce being tasked with the job of getting the team playing and more importantly winning.
As good as he is at gaining promotion, he isn’t exactly the most expensive football manager but the fans can still hope for a turnaround in form.
In other Albion news, Steve Bruce keen to transform West Brom player Grady Diangana.