BBC NEWS: Carlos Corberan has been advised to make a Heggem choice for West Brom’s match against Oxford United.
This post is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which features personal comments from FLW Fan Pundits on breaking news, teams, players, managers, possible signings, and more.
West Brom’s advantage at the top of the Championship has shrunk in recent weeks.
The Baggies were top of the second division in September, but have dropped to fourth after three games without a win.
Carlos Corberan’s team is still in the play-offs, but they will want to avoid extending this run for too many games.
They will return to play following the international break later this month with a trip to Oxford United, where they hope to resume winning ways.
The Spanish coach will undoubtedly be working hard to determine what adjustments may be implemented over the next two weeks to assist increase their prospects of fast turning around their form.
West Brom change suggestion
When asked what changes the team should make for the encounter with Oxford United, FLW’s West Brom fan commentator advised bringing in players like Callum Styles or Gianluca Frabotta to help generate opportunities.
He feels that Torbjorn Heggem switching to centre-back with Kyle Bartley might bring in Styles or Frabotta and help the squad grow in the future.
“It’s been a strange three games between losses to Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, and the 0-0 draw to Millwall,” Burgess told footballleagueworld.
“You might say that we’ve found opportunities to be more tough to come by, particularly at home, where I believe we should aim to create more clear-cut chances for Josh Maja.
“He had one decent chance early in the game [against Millwall] when [Tom] Fellows was able to sneak past Danny McNamara and tee it back to Maja on the penalty spot, who just about shot it over the bar.
“Albion didn’t have a better opportunity than that for the remainder of the 80 minutes, so I’m not sure how we’re going to keep it going.
“We tried with John Swift as number ten, and his performance against Middlesbrough was poor.
“[Grady] Diangana had a bit more luck against Millwall, but I think anyone against their setup, where it was basically attack versus defence, with the typical Millwall away performance you’d see, with a lot of their outfield players being very tall, very physical, and making it difficult for Albion to try and make any patterns of play.”
“So we absolutely need to enhance our chance creation, whether it’s by shifting Heggem to centre-back next to Bartley, bringing on Callum Styles, who performed well against Middlesbrough, or Gianluca Frabotta.
“Despite his mistake against Sheffield Wednesday, Albion might benefit from having a left full-back who is more willing to go up and down and be a bit more creative than Heggem.”
West Brom’s league position
| Championship standings 2024-25 (As of October 8th) | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Sunderland | 9 | +10 | 19 |
| 2 | Sheffield United | 9 | +9 | 19 |
| 3 | Burnley | 9 | +10 | 18 |
| 4 | West Brom | 9 | +6 | 17 |
| 5 | Leeds United | 9 | +8 | 16 |
| 6 | Watford | 9 | 0 | 16 |
| *Sheffield United were deducted 2 points | ||||
After nine games, the Baggies are only two points behind league leaders Sunderland and two points ahead of seventh-place Norwich City.
Corberan’s side finished within the play-offs last year and will be looking to replicate the achievement this season, if not go one better and finish in the top two.
Albion will face Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on October 19th, with a 12.30pm kickoff.
West Brom do not need to panic just yet.
West Brom fans may be concerned after three consecutive games without a win, but there is no need to worry yet.
A tweak or two in the lineup against Oxford United may not be a terrible idea, as freshening things up without completely overhauling their tactical approach could be the best course of action.
This is still the same group that went undefeated in their first six games and led the club to the top of the standings.
While there have been less decent opportunities produced in the previous three games, you would still expect Corberan to find a way to solve the problem in their next few games.
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