Carlos Corberan must go back to basics and deploy Jed Wallace in familiar West Brom role v Middlesbrough
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan must go back to basics against Middlesborough on Saturday and deploy Jed Wallace in his familiar wide role following his tactical mistake against Watford.
The Baggies suffered their second defeat in their last three games following a disappointing 3-2 loss against ex-boss Slaven Bilic and Watford at Vicarage Road on Monday.
Albion fell behind to Ken Sema’s first-half effort at Vicarage Road in what was a disappointing first half in which Corberan deployed Wallace and Swift in unfamiliar attacking roles.
Corberan’s men did show some improvement in the second half, equalising twice through Conor Townsend and Wallace and the Spaniard explained his reasoning for the strange tactical tweak.
Speaking to Birmingham Live [22 February], he said:
“I think the main position of Marc Albrighton is the right side and he is a player who of course I decided he would play.
“That’s why I moved the position of Wallace. If I put Wallace on the left, I think that we would lose an option on the counter attack because he is one of the faster players – in him and Asante, we had the possibility to make counter attacks.
“After, with Swift, he wasn’t playing as a winger, but as a false playmaker in from the left. The idea was to attack with four players in the middle – Chalobah, Okay at the base, and the next line of Swift on the left and Wallace on the right, to have in Marc a right winger and to give us options to attack.
“What we tried to do didn’t work. It isn’t about the structure or the shape – there is one point in football when you need to want the ball, you need to attack and you need to find the passes that create things.”
With the Baggies’ impressive transformation and playoff charge in danger of petering out if results don’t improve, the Spaniard must return back to basics against high-flying Middlesborough at the weekend.
As Corberan admitted, his tactical decision to deploy Wallace in the number 10 role and Swift out wide simply did not work against Watford, despite Wallace impressing on the night.
However, the 28-year-old has only registered one goal and an assist since the turn of the year, with many of Corberan’s attacking players struggling to score and create consistently.
To change that, Corberan must change tact and utilise Wallace in his usual wide role once again. Five goals and six assists so far this campaign means Wallace remains West Brom’s key creative outlet but his role at no.10 hasn’t bore any fruit in recent weeks.
Why not return Swift to his usual no.10 role and make the most of Wallace’s crossing excellence out wide?
Corberan cannot afford to spring any more tactical surprises, especially with Michael Carrick’s rampant and tactically innovative Middlesborough side coming to town on Saturday.
In other West Brom news, Bilic has shared his verdict on Corberan after Watford’s win over the Albion.