Following the late defeat to Huddersfield on September 2, West Brom manager Carlos Corberan urged his team to tighten up in defense.
The defensive deficiencies of his team, which have allowed two goals in all but one game this season and have gone five games without a clean sheet, plainly irked the Spaniard.
He added that they were experiencing the same problems whether they used a back four or a back five, indicating that his defense’s confidence will be key in eliminating the mistakes.
After Saturday’s late setback, Corberan told the Express and Star: “I have to consider the fact that we’ve only let up one goal against Leeds. We have let up two goals in every other game, and in the Championship, giving up two goals makes it difficult to win many games of football.
He said: “We need to enhance the feeling, especially from the back, to defend better. We also need to attack better, to not give the opponents the choice. It has happened playing with four, playing with five.
The West Brom boss referenced Josh Maja’s missed chance that led directly to the Huddersfield counterattack for the winning goal, stating a need for review: “The key moment in the game was the chance we had with Maja, the counter-attack we couldn’t stop and the goal we conceded.
“There is something we need to reflect, we cannot concede two goals, conceding two goals is too much to win a Championship game.”
Despite their form not being too much of a worry in the early stages of this season; two wins, two losses and a draw from five games, the defensive record is certainly an issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later if the aim is to have a successful season.
Nine goals conceded in just five league games is cause for concern, and even in their victories over Middlesbrough and Swansea, the defence never looked solid. This side will need to tighten up, particularly if their seemingly free-scoring form dries up.
Against Swansea in particular, the Baggies looked like they would cruise to a comfortable 3-0 victory, but two late goals from the South Wales side ramped up the pressure. Corberan called at the time for his defence to do better, but there has not been much improvement yet.
On paper, there is a lack of consistent firepower in this side – perhaps the boss’ reason for calling for stronger attacking form to keep them balanced.
The concern is that if their goals dry up, they simply won’t win games. At least if the defence was tight there could be the hope of snatching wins against the run of play, but work needs to be done.
