• 4 days ago
As the January window marks a great opportunity for a number of clubs to get just the assets they need to turn their season around, there has been some clear struggle from the Baggies in a number of areas.
So, what could they need from the upcoming transfer market?
Transcript
00:00Charlie, looking at West Bromwich Albion and their season so far, obviously we've mentioned
00:06Josh Madgers being probably the standout player for them. Approaching January now and the
00:12window is so important sometimes midway through the season that you do actually get players
00:18who can actually push you over the line, especially in a sort of play-off chase for Carlos Corberán's
00:24side. So just how important is this January window for West Brom? Is there any sort of
00:30area that they might need to improve on, whether it's clear or someone they might just go to
00:37add to the squad depth? How do you sort of think they're going to approach this January
00:41upcoming window and how important is it for Carlos Corberán's side?
00:47I think it is important that they do address a few areas in the squads, but they don't
00:51have the money and the resources really to do it properly, which is the worry. And that
00:55has been the case for quite a few transfer windows successively now. The loan situation
00:59is getting better under the new ownership. They're doing a great job to try and resolve
01:03that, but it's not an overnight fix. It's going to take several years for things to
01:07get back to normal. A promotion would certainly help. The influx of cash would be absolutely
01:11huge for the club. That isn't on the horizon just yet. Just struggling to stay in the play-off
01:16race and not winning games, drawing far too many, not scoring enough goals. They need
01:21to address those issues. And you can do that in January, but not having many funds, it
01:25makes it easier said than done. In terms of the areas they maybe need, the wing position,
01:30the left wing position in particular, they've been struggling in. The number 10 role, they
01:34can't seem to find who's best in that position. Karl-Heinz Grant has come central at times
01:38and that's worked out. But when John Swift's come into the team, Jed Wallace, Grady Diangana,
01:44the likes haven't quite been hitting their best form, which has not helped West Brom
01:48and their goal-scoring woes. Lewis Dobbin on loan from Aston Villa, you thought, could
01:52he make an impact? He's not had the desired impact. Micah Johnston signed permanently
01:57for three million pounds. An assist, a very impressive assist he's got this season, but
02:02apart from that, hasn't really had any sort of contribution. What we saw from him last
02:06year on loan from Celtic, he looked like he could be a very key player for the Baggies,
02:10but he just hasn't quite hit the ground running. Another area they might start looking at as
02:14well is in defence, because of all the injury problems they've had. Semih Ajayi will be
02:19out until around March with a hamstring problem. Paddy McNair, only signed on loan for a few
02:24months, is probably out until the end of his loan, also with a hamstring injury. Kyle Bartley
02:29has been holding lots of different problems as well. He can't seem to maintain full fitness.
02:35He's been a very key player. He's got that experience to try and carry West Brom through,
02:38but if they can't keep him fit, that's going to become a problem. Torbjörn Häggum, the
02:43new signing, has been very impressive, very versatile, very useful, but they definitely
02:47need someone else to bolster that defence, because if you start running out of options,
02:50especially when the fissures start racking up, defence is one of the areas that's going
02:54to notice it most. So if West Brom can find another defender, that could be important
02:57for them.

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