West Brom – What Went Wrong?

West Brom had a very disappointing season, finishing in 17th place and only 3 points from safety. They changed manager back in December when they sacked Steve Clarke and replaced him with Spaniard Pepe Mel. In comparison to the season before, where West Brom definitely overachieved, it was definitely one of the main factors that cost Steve Clarke his job.

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Pepe Mel has since left the club, so chairman Jeremy Peace will be looking for a new man, someone who can perhaps take them to the next level. However, not only a new manager will do this. The squad is in desperate need of a clear out, and this began when West Brom confirmed they would release defenders Diego Lugano, Steven Reid and Liam Ridgewell, as well as midfielders Zoltan Gera and Scott Allan, while offering contracts to the other 2 out of contract players, Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans. But in my opinion, they need to do more.

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What needs changing?

Defence

From this above stat, you can tell that 7 clean sheets out of 38 games is simply not good enough. West Brom are blessed with a fantastic goalkeeper in Ben Foster, but their defence leaves a lot to be desired for. The departures of Reid, Ridgewell and Lugano suggests that this is definitely one area the Baggies are looking at changing, so a new Right and Left back would definitely be needed, along with at least 1 centre back, but perhaps one to be an understudy to Jonas Olsson, who I do think is still a very competent defender. In my opinion, Billy Jones is simply not cut out for the Premier League and should move on. Goran Popov is also set to return to his parent club.

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Midfield & Attack

As for the central midfield, I think they have 2 of the best tacklers in the league in Youssuf Mulumbu and Claudio Yacob, who also possess fantastic passing attributes. Although, they do not have great depth in this position, so 1 or 2 additions would not go a miss as for that centreal midfield role. On the wing, they also need to make additions with Scott Sinclair, Morgan Amalfitano, Thievy Bifouma and Matej Vydra are all set to return to their parent clubs, so only leaves Chris Brunt, Stephane Sessengon (who i see as more of a number 10) and James Morrison as realistic wingers.

So 1 or 2 first team options would be perfect for them. In the attack, they have lacked goals and in 12-13 mainly came from on-loan Romelu Lukaku. They tried to replace him in the form of Victor Anichebe, as well as a few dazzling performances from Saido Berahino has not been enough,  but this has just not worked. They’ve lost Nicolas Anelka, Shane Long and Markus Rosenberg this season, although I do believe Anelka & Rosenberg were never good enough for the Baggies. A proven goalscorer is needed for West Brom to complete the puzzle, and this could help take them to the next level.

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Conclusion

So to conclude, West Brom need to strengthen in several areas, but with this, maybe they can rediscover that form of 12/13 and maybe get a top 10 finish.

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