Valerien Ismael
Matt Clarke made his West Bromwich Albion debut in their goalless draw with Watford on Saturday. Clarke was brought on for the final 25 minutes, replacing Dara O’Shea at left-centre-back. Straight away, Clarke was in on the action, reacting quickly to foil an attack from Watford when he cleared a Josh King centre that ran across the face of goal. Clarke picked up the game’s second booking when he stopped Watford in their tracks – think of a ‘tactical’ foul, and you’re not wrong. The 24-year-old also headed away a corner and nipped in to poke a loose ball back to Baggies goalkeeper David Button. Clarke’s game overall is good, and when played on his natural left-hand side, he can be a real asset to Albion this season.
Valerian Ismael said: “There is a reason why we took him because we knew about his quality. He will give us more possibilities in the build-up because he is left-footed. I am very delighted with his adaptation in such a short time. He has only been here for ten days, but it feels like he has been with us since the start of pre-season. He understood quickly the principal, the way to defend, defend forward and play with courage and I think it was a great performance.”
Clarke was one of a few players doing exercises post-match, mainly with free weights.
Valerian Ismael said: “We will see, we have two weeks now. We have a great squad, especially in the centre-back position we have high quality. We need every player, and this is a great thing for me now the players are giving me the problem that I need to pick the right players. But we need every player, the centre-backs we have got they will play games all season, so the good thing is with the left foot we have more possibilities.”
