Ryan Mason was set up for failure at West Brom amid new reveal
Ryan Mason was always going to have his work cut out in the early days of his West Brom tenure.
West Brom recorded 43 assists in the Championship last season, but the players who provided 26 of them are no longer at The Hawthorns.
It has been a month of inconsistency for the Baggies, with West Brom’s most recent 1-0 defeat to Ipswich Town leaving them 11th in the table.
This came after Albion lost 2-1 to Watford and prospered in a 2-1 win over Preston, which pretty much sums up the Baggies under Ryan Mason.
The recently appointed manager was tipped to earn West Brom Premier League promotion at the start of the season, but a couple of months in and that seems like a fleeting dream.
West Brom have lost their creative players
Mason mentioned that West Brom has lost several creative players after the defeat to Ipswich.
There seems to be some truth to his observation, as of the 43 Albion assists last season, players who provided 26 of them no longer play for the club, according to Albion Analysis via X on 28 October.
Tom Fellows, who left The Hawthorns for Southampton over the summer, is no doubt their biggest miss, assisting 14 times last season.
Meanwhile, Mikey Johnston currently leads Albion’s assist stats for this season with four.
- Isaac Price and Aune Heggebo both have two assists
- Toby Collyer and Alex Mowatt both have one
- Albion’s players have a combined 11 assists this season
The numbers are simply not good enough for a team that no doubt has ambitions of making the Championship play-offs this season.
West Brom’s current form reflects limited creative output
West Brom have netted 12 goals in the Championship this season, which is the sixth fewest in the league.
This means that the Baggies are averaging a goal a game in what has been a season lacking in creativity.
Indeed, this issue was prevalent in Albion’s defeat to Ipswich
- West Brom created 1 big chance and 0.39 expected goals
- Albion took 10 shots
- Only one shot was on target
As per Sofascore, 0.39 in expected goals from 10 shots taken is not only poor, but desperate.
This is an Albion side that does not have solutions to their creative woes, and as a result, have resorted to taking shots from just about anywhere. Indeed, six of their 10 attempts were from outside the box.
While this may be a tactical issue, with the likes of Fellows no longer at Albion, Mason was set up to fail the second West Brom allowed their main creator to leave without signing a replacement.
Enjoyed this article? Stay connected with all the latest West Bromwich Albion news, updates, and behind-the-scenes content by following us on our new Instagram account – @westbromnews247