Liam Thomas

Sat 29 October 2022 13:10, UK

Don Goodman slaughtered West Brom winger Matt Phillips for an attempt to square the ball against Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.

The Albion midfielder was played through by two brilliant passes early in the first half and should have taken an effort on goal but chose to scuff a pass back instead.

Shortly after the near miss, Albion were made to pay as they were cut open by a sublime pass from Tommy Doyle, which was brilliantly finished off by Iliman Ndiaye to put Sheffield United 1-0 up.

Speaking during live commentary of the game on Sky Sports (12.39) Goodman was left baffled by Phillips’ decision to cross the ball instead of taking a shot on goal.

“What a brilliant run, what a brilliant ball and then it’s about whether can you make the right choice, well I think the Sheffield United defenders do really well they block off the avenue of a cross,” said the commentator.

“So surely Matt Phillips has to take this on himself, the cross isn’t on, it really isn’t on, he needs to be shooting for me.”

Poor.

In a day West Brom fans had been waiting for, it was a disappointing start to life under new head coach Carlos Corberán.

The Baggies sunk to a 2-0 deficit with only 25 minutes on the clock and it seems the team’s defensive frailties are still looming large.

It’s the fine lines in football and Phillips’ missed chance proved to be pivotal in the first 45 as it was a chance that would have calmed nerves and put Albion 1-0 to the good.

One positive to take from the dismal first 45 is that West Brom looked far more threatening moving the ball forward and did cause Sheffield some problems.

But all in all, it was poor and going two goals down in front of your home ground in the early kick-off on a Saturday afternoon is never enjoyable.

Hopefully, West Brom can turn things around in the second half and gain some much-needed confidence.

In other West Brom news, Simon Jordan has blasted Corberan’s appointment and labelled it “strange”