Tony Brown irritated by what ‘pointless’ West Brom star kept doing v Burnley
Tony Brown singled out one West Brom player for criticism in the game against Burnley at Turf Moor in the Championship.
The two promotion chasing sides played out a competitive 1-1 draw on Tuesday, 11 March.
John Swift opened the scoring for the Baggies and Zian Flemming equalised only three minutes later.
Adam Armstrong slammed for what he did against Burnley
Adam Armstrong was handed a start by Tony Mowbray and he clearly did not do enough to repay the manager’s faith.
That certainly was the view of the club’s all-time record scorer, who was not impressed with what he saw from the striker.
The 28-year-old played 74 minutes of the game and was then taken off by Mowbray who brought on Will Lankshear in order to make something happen.
Brown told BBC Radio WM on 11 March at 8:24pm: “Armstrong has made two or three runs in behind so far, but he’s been offside for all of them.
“He needs to bend his run otherwise it’s pointless for him.
“On the other hand, the Albion players have defended well and recovered well so far.”
West Brom need more from Adam Armstrong in the final third
Brown’s critique of Armstrong’s performance against Burnley highlights key areas where the striker must improve to regain form in the Championship.
His offside-heavy runs and dismal duel success show a lack of timing and physical presence.
At 28, Armstrong’s 83 per cent pass accuracy is decent, but losing possession four times suggests sloppy decision-making.
| Stat | Adam Armstrong |
| Minutes played | 74 |
| xG | 0.18 |
| Shots | 1 |
| Pass accuracy | 83% |
| Duels won | 0 out of 3 attempts |
| Possession lost | 4 |
| Offsides | 2 |
| Passes completed | 5 |
Mowbray can help by drilling him on positional awareness, teaching him to bend runs and stay onside, as Brown noted.
Tactical tweaks, like pairing him with a creative midfielder to feed better-timed balls, could unlock his movement.
Mowbray might also use Lankshear’s late impact as a wake-up call, fostering competition to sharpen Armstrong’s focus and finishing, vital for West Brom’s promotion push.
Hopefully, he looks at tapes from this game and cuts out the errors as the room for such mistakes is minimal and unacceptable.