OPINION
There’s no doubt that right back has been a bit of a problem position for West Bromwich Albion this season, but in January recruit Mason Holgate, the club may have found a solution.
The 22-year-old arrived on loan from Everton last month and is only a few of games into his Baggies career, but his performance in a huge game against fierce rivals Aston Villa on Saturday suggests that he will be a big hit at the Hawthorns this term.
He picked a booking up early on for a challenge on Andre Green, but didn’t let that discourage him. He continued to produce a display full of dogged defending and invaluable attacking contributions, even setting up Hal Robson-Kanu’s vital opening goal.
West Brom have such attacking talent that they only need their defence to be passable most of the time. However, with Tyrone Mears or Tosin Adarabioyo at right back the Baggies have always looked slightly suspect on that side of the pitch.
Not so with Holgate, it seems. The 22-year-old is a solid defender, while being impressive from a technical standpoint. His passing is good and, as he showed on Saturday, he can get forward to good effect as well.
Darren Moore’s team play in a pretty narrow 4-3-3 formation, so it’s crucial that the full backs provide width and an extra attacking dimension. Holgate can do that with aplomb.
The Baggies were already well set up for a serious run at a Premier League return before the Everton loanee’s arrival last month, but with Holgate in place it appears that they may have found the missing piece of the promotion puzzle.