West Brom 0 Southampton 1 - Five things we learned
Matt Wilson takes a look at five things to out of the defeat to Southampton.
1. Poacher Needed
Albion have already scored more goals this season than the last one, but they’ve now failed to net in five of their last six games. When the goals dry up, teams look to their strikers to bail them out but Salomon Rondon hasn’t scored for nearly four months. Staggeringly, the club weren’t looking for a striker in January, but surely a sharp-shooter with an eye for goal should be the top of the wanted list this summer. Because there’s no guarantee the defence will chip in so much next season.
2. Chris Brunt deserves to start
With everyone available, Tony Pulis picked what looked like his strongest XI. It was certainly his most attacking one. But Brunt offered a different dimension when he came on with his pin-point crossing. The question is, how do you fit him in the team alongside Chadli, Morrison, and Phillips? The answer might be at left-back, where he played on Saturday, which would also shuffle Allan Nyom and Craig Dawson into their preferred positions.
3. Because Dawson impressed in the the middle
It wasn’t a fantastic start at right-back for Dawson, but he improved greatly once he was moved inside. Gareth McAuley has been fantastic this season, but the Evans-Dawson partnership is the long-term solution at centre-back. It might be time for Pulis to get them accustomed to each other ahead of next season, especially if a new left-back is on the radar this summer, allowing Nyom to play right-back next year.
4. Is it time for 4-4-2?
Albion are still within shooting distance of their record Premier League points tally, but with all their recent woes in front of goal it might be time to go on the offensive. Pulis never plays two up front but with Hal Robson-Kanu impressing in recent weeks and Rondon in desperate need of help, perhaps it’s time to abandon those principles. Jake Livermore and James Morrison looked sturdy enough in a midfield two when Pulis tried it out on Saturday.
5. Club can be proud of Albion Foundation
Forget the multi-millionaire players, the real heroes on Saturday were the community workers from the club’s charity who help people every day. People like Blind Dave Heeley and Disability Sports Co-ordinator Paul Hunt are truly inspirational chaps, and the work Rob Lake and his army of charity workers do behind the scenes deserves to be recognised. They’re usually unsung heroes, but for one day, they were in the spotlight. And too right.
