View: Best West Brom XI under Steve Bruce includes back four
There is a new man in charge at the Hawthorns for West Brom and that means a fresh slate for everyone, including the manager Steve Bruce.
After four months out of work, Bruce got the call to replace Valerien Ismael as manager at Wes Bromwich Albion which means he has completed the trifecta of managing all of Albion, Aston Villa and Birmingham City in his career.
But one of the biggest questions surrounding his arrival is how he will approach the rest of the season tactically, with the Baggies desperate to find their goalscoring form.
Having scored just 34 goals in 28 games this season so far, they find themselves having dropped to sixth place in the league with just three wins in 14 and four defeats in their last five.
Part of their issues stemmed from Ismael’s insistence on playing a five-at-the-back formation, which often saw the team with little attacking options to break opposing teams down.
The hope is that Bruce will have learnt from that and seen the fan’s reactions, and instead adopt a more offensive approach starting with a back-four.
Sam Johnstone is likely to be reinstated to the starting lineup now considering his feud was with Ismael and not the club. He is comfortably the best ‘keeper in the league and deserves his spot.
Bruce likes experience in his teams, so Darnell Furlong is likely to claim the right-back spot from Taylor Gardner-Hickman while Conor Townsend will continue on the left.
When everyone is fit it’s likely the starting centre-backs will be Kyle Bartley and Dara O’Shea, although he isn’t quite fit yet to return to the starting lineup.
In midfield, Ismael tended to go with two of Jake Livermore, Alex Mowatt and Jayson Molumby. But Bruce can use all three together to blend together the best qualities of winning the ball back and sustaining pressure in the final third.
In attack, Daryl Dike is certain to be the first-choice striker when he’s fit again while Karlan Grant should keep his place on the left as the top scorer this season. On the right, expect a fresh start for Grady Diangana who will be looking to make a big impression with his clean slate.
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