Joseph Masi discussed West Brom’s 0-0 draw with Birmingham City during a recent edition of The Express and Star’s ‘Baggies Broadcast’ podcast.
The Baggies advanced to the top of the Championship table this past weekend after they took a point from their clash with Birmingham on the same weekend that Leeds United suffered a 2-0 loss to Cardiff City, which saw them drop to second place.
However, considering that the Baggies took more than twice as many shots as the Blues in Saturday’s game, some Baggies fans may feel that their side should have taken all three points from this fixture.
As per WhoScored, West Brom lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape for Saturday’s game and during a recent edition of The Express and Star’s Baggies Broadcast podcast, journalist Masi was critical of Slaven Bilic’s tactical setup in this game and, in particular, of how Republic of Ireland international Callum Robinson was utilised in this game.
The journalist said: “The only player who I believe is getting in his best position is Matheus Pereira, really. He’s moving Pereira from wide-right to that number ‘10’ role – which, I think, we all know is his best position, no one’s going to dispute that, you want Pereira in those central areas – but it’s not Jake Livermore’s best position. I think he’s been outstanding all season, but I think he went to another level in a [midfield] three when he was given that extra bit of protection to push on.
“And I’m not sure it’s Callum Robinson’s [best position] on the left of a three. The Robinson issue – you’ve got to have a massive caveat with it. It was the first game in three months, that’s the longest that professional football players have ever been without playing – but when Robinson was wide left in a 4-3-3, he had more space to cut inside, whereas when he tried to cut inside on Saturday, he was essentially drifting into areas already occupied by Pereira.”
Was Callum Robinson played in the wrong role against Birmingham City?YES
NO
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TIF Thoughts…
According to WhoScored, Saturday’s game against Birmingham City saw Robinson earn the second-lowest average overall rating that he’s earned in any of his Championship games for the Baggies thus far since moving to The Hawthorns on loan back in January. With that in mind, it may not come as a big surprise that Bilic’s tactical decisions with regards to Robinson’s role in the team last Saturday have been questioned.
However, considering that this was the Baggies’ first Championship game since 7th March, Robinson and his teammates may take some time to get back into the swing of things, so it may be a bit early to question Bilic’s tactics.