Sam Allardyce has indicated that West Brom’s January signings will dictate how he sets his team up in the club’s remaining 15 Premier League games. Arsenal loanee and deadline day signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles managed 90 minutes in the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday, while Turkish international and fellow deadline recruit Okay Yokuslu was handed his debut from the bench in the closing stages. Once again, Mbaye Diagne and Robert Snodgrass completed the game, but on an afternoon in the capital where he opted against including talisman Matheus Pereira in an attempt to pack the midfield and frustrate Spurs, Albion’s defensive frailties were exposed once again anyway.
Sam Allardyce said “I hope this doesn’t confuse you but we wanted to be a 5-4 to contain the opposition“We have tried every other system but we haven’t tried a 4-3-3. I hope this doesn’t confuse you but we wanted to be a 5-4 to contain the opposition. We couldn’t do that with Matheus because we play him just off the front man which would have been a 4-4-1-1. So to try and get the ultimate clean sheet we were working with the extra man in midfield. The extra energy, the extra legs. Matheus is a quality player in possession, a player that can provide and open up, but that’s no good if we keep conceding goals. In the end, that system didn’t work and I’ve tried everyone. I’ve tried a back five, I’ve tried a back three, I have tried a 4-4-2, a 4-4-1-1, a 4-3-3. The new players will ultimately decide what system we play. Unfortunately, for me, I have got to find that as quickly as we can. The new players have got to make a difference and help us where they can. I think that will ultimately me finding their best positions and other players may suffer by not getting selected, but he was unfortunate to be left out to be fair. It wasn’t that he hasn’t performed well because he has. It’s because we are failing at the other end.”
Albion welcome Manchester United to The Hawthorns this coming Sunday, before a key set of fixtures against sides immediately on the other side of the survival line; they host Brighton and Newcastle and visit Burnley before the middle of March.
