Ryan Mason must take blame for West Brom’s awful goals return as appalling stats emerge
West Brom’s lack of attacking intent while ahead may be the biggest reason behind their poor goals ratio.
Goals have been hard to come by at The Hawthorns this season, with the Baggies only netting 14 times in 15 Championship matches.
Much has been said about the strikers, with Aune Heggebo being continuously criticised for his West Brom performances.
However, the blame may not lie with the Baggies’ attackers, but rather Ryan Mason’s tactics, with the Black Country outfit’s attacking intent taking a serious hit when they go ahead.
West Brom continue to back off when they are ahead
One of the biggest concerns about West Brom this season is their inability to kill off matches.
So far this campaign, the Baggies have not won a single game by more than one goal.
On top of this, they have only netted more than once on three occasions, with the last coming in West Brom’s 2-1 win over Oxford United before the international break.
However, this may be due to how much the Baggies back off opponents when ahead.
According to BBC Sport on 21 November, West Brom have had 121 shots when they’ve been drawing in Championship games this season, the most of any side, which works out at 14.4 shots per 90 minutes.
However, when they’ve been winning, the Baggies have faced 32 more shots than they’ve had themselves (48 for, 80 against) and are averaging 8.6 shots per 90.
This has cost West Brom multiple times, with the Black Country club already dropping seven points from winning positions this season, as well as being knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
Therefore, the Baggies’ lack of goals may not be down to their attackers, but Mason’s tactics, as he is clearly encouraging his players to sit back when ahead.
As a result, rather than blaming the frontline, the manager should take the forefront of the stick.
West Brom have created barely any xG this season
According to Opta on 21 November, the Baggies have only created an xG of 16.68, the fifth-lowest in the Championship.
On top of this, of the teams in the bottom five, they are only one of two to be underperforming this metric as well.
| Position | Club | xG created | Over/underperformance |
| 24th | Swansea City | 12.49 | 2.51 |
| 23rd | Derby County | 14.84 | 5.16 |
| 22nd | Middlesbrough | 16.04 | 2.96 |
| 21st | Charlton Athletic | 16.55 | -0.55 |
| 20th | West Brom | 16.68 | -2.68 |
Therefore, while the attackers have been poor, they have had little to work with.
Realistically, Mason needs to solve this issue, or the dreams of the playoffs will be a distant memory, and the manager will likely be sacked
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