Sunday, August 17, 2008

The off-season: West Bromwich Albion

I finally made it to the last team and I was only on day over my limit. Assisting in my analysis of the last team West Bromwich Albion is the fact I haven't seen them play, not even yesterday against my team Arsenal.

Out of the three promoted teams, WBA are the most likely to stay up. They have the attacking power to score enough goals whilst they have consolidated their defence during the summer. Hopefully Tony Mowbray can do the job.

GK: Dean Kiely, Scott Carson, Michael Danek

Getting Carson was a real coup for WBA. An England international with Premiership experience under his belt and still relatively young, West Brom can have two good goalkeepers hopefully keeping the goals out.

RB: Carl Hoefkens, Gianni Zuiverloon

Really I have no idea about these two players. At least Mowbray has two players for this area.

LB: Paul Robinson, Marek Cech

Probably a better area for West Brom. Robinson has Premiership experience and was courted by other Premier League clubs during the summer. In the first game against Arsenal, Cech was pushed into left midfield, maybe indicating he may be there for the rest of the season.

CB: Leon Barnett, Neil Clement, Shelton Martis, Abdoulaye Méïté, Pele

Recruiting Meite was vital - none of the other players bar Clement has played in the top flight. This is where Mowbray may have to recruit more players than he needs and fast.

WG: Chris Brunt, Graham Dorrans

A lack of wingers could lead West Brom to play a defence style of 4-5-1. Chris Brunt is the most likely to shine in this area.

CM: Robert Koren, Jonathan Greening, Kim Do-Heon, Filipe Teixeira, James Morrison

With Greening, Koren and Morrison in the centre, the middle of the park is a solid area for Mowbray. We still have to look out for Kim whilst Teixeira might leave.

FW: Roman Bednar, Ishmael Miller, Craig Beattie, Sherjill MacDonald, Luke Moore, Bartosz Ślusarski

Probably the most crowded area for West Brown. Only Bednar, Miller and Moore could take on the Premiership whilst the rest are just too bad or unknown to me. Most like they will play 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 with Bednar partner the other young striker.

Summary

In: Winger x 2, Forward x 2
Out: Martis, Beattie, MacDonald, Ślusarski

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