Kyle Bartley and defenders slammed in West Brom v Stoke City
Steve Madeley believes that West Brom defender Kyle Bartley must take the blame for the second Stoke City goal as his side lost 3-1 on Saturday.
Jake Livermore, unfortunately, put the ball into his own net in the first half while Jacob Brown scored a brilliant header in the second to double Stoke’s lead.
Watching on from the press box, Madeley slammed the organisation in the Baggies defence and believed that Bartley deserved criticism for that goal.
Via his personal Twitter account, the Athletic journalist said, “Another appalling goal to concede from another free-kick. Smith lifts it into the box and Brown runs between Ajayi and Bartley to convert an unmarked header. Bartley looked more culpable to me but others might disagree.”
Shocking
After an impressive win against Championship high-flyers Bournemouth, the expectations were that the Baggies would continue their good form.
Steve Bruce’s side have looked very good on some occasions and then very poor on the rest.
This is exactly what happened against Stoke on Saturday.
The players never got out of second gear and struggled defensively.
They did not have the hunger or desire as one would associate with Bruce’s teams of old.
Whatever glimmer of hope they had of finishing in the top six appears to have gone with this loss.
In other West Brom news, Chelsea want to sign a Baggies ‘Dynamo’ and are hoping to seal the deal quickly.
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