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when is someone on the albion staff going to read my blog and address the club's biggest problem?!? it's not the lack of goals (this year), or quality defenders (though, that would help), or that the club has lost any of its important players on account of relegation (although, the loss of jonathan greening is now debatable) - it is that they do not know what to do when they've gone in front on the score-line!
against newcastle, they had 1-0 lead going in at half-time, but damien duff scored an equalizer 5 minutes into the second half. if it weren't for a missed penalty in the nottingham forest match, that might have ended in a draw, as well. they managed to hang on against ipswich and bury, in the league and league cup respectively; but, it wasn't for the other teams' lack of endeavour following the albion goals as much as it was sturdy defending by olsson, carson and keilly (who played well in goal against bury). luckily, in both matches the baggies went on to find a second goal and keep the clean sheet. di matteo fielded a team lacking some really important players in the cup game against rotherham, and west brom could not hold any lead for a significant amount of time past the first goal. at 2-1 they had the lead for about 2 minutes - and if it weren't for the millers sharing the same weak defensive proclivities - the baggies could very well have lost this one 3-2 instead of the 4-3 win that they managed in the end.
what i think i'm talking about is a break-down in the intellectual aspect of what they are doing, and it's as if the goal they've just scored distracts them. it was no different against the blades today. the baggies go 1-0 up, and within 2 minutes they've conceded and it's 1-1! again, they seemed to be able to meet the challenge and pull the lead back within 5 more minutes, and early in the second-half they have a 2-1 lead. while they eventually only split the points on this one by virtue of a penalty, it was still a sloppy mental break-down at the back with united playing for the penalty, and knowing that the ref was just dying to give one and get himself a round of applause from the home crowd.
i usually don't go after referees as i know that it is a difficult job and bad calls are as much a part of the game as any other aspect of it - but the distribution of cards in this match was not in line at all with what was really going on. he even called a dive in the box correctly against the blades, but neglected to issue the mandatory, automatic yellow card that accompanies this particular foul. he had, however, booked robert koren just minutes earlier for the same infraction.
be that as it may, the albion have to stop giving up these cheap and lazy goals on the back of a good score. as i've always said: they need to keep the ball and - without being reckless - continue going forward, pressing for more goals. the trouble is, i'm not sure that there is anyone on the team who really understands that they need to exert this type of control over the game to be effective; other than perhaps chris brunt, who really dragged the baggies out of their tentative defensive positioning and drove the attack forward against ipswich, finally producing the second goal. it also may just be that idea of attacking when you have a lead is an archaic idea belonging to some care-free, romantic past, and just isn't the way these kids are taught to play football anymore. in today's game it seems that the acquisition of any lead means you pack your penalty area with the 9 back and mid-field players, let the other team come at you and look for counter-attack opportunities. the thing is, the albion have never played this way. moreover, they've never successfully played this way; and it is therefore contrary to any of the club's playing traditions going back 50 years and more.
it's a world that believes only the "big four" can afford to play beautiful football; everyone else is taught to play like stoke city. again - and going back to the early 1950s - west bromwich albion have never done well playing the "long ball" game - never! it has always been a disastrous gambit, and i guess that traditions and their accompanying aesthetics sometimes go beyond that which is explicable and these qualities can transcend time, space and even logic... and so it is with the baggies: they must always play like a proper albion style team. anything less - or even too much of a variation, will just not work. just as manchester united have to play a certain style in order to be manchester united, so do the baggies have a similar mandate in order to be the west bromwich albion. i just hope that they come to understand this.
don howe found this out in the early 70s, when - after coaching the arsenal to the double in 1971 and bringing his successful formula to the club as manager - found only failure, hard times and relegation for the trouble of bringing what he thought was the modern way of playing football to the hawthorns.
despite my initial concerns, i'm increasingly happy with di matteo as the gaffer. whatever else he may have done, he has rejuvenated the play of numerous individual players on the team and has the club on an undefeated run that can't be anything but good for team confidence; and, we haven't really seen this team play up to its potential yet - not by a long way. as i've said before, i think the RDM is a winner.
the real star of the day was roman bednar... two goals scored in only his second game back and with the general consensus being that he'd only be good for about an hour or so. di matteo even has bednar playing at a level higher than he was playing before; and this was a really brilliant performance. i don't think that tony mowbray knew how to use bednar this well, as he always limited him to playing only in certain formations. for example, TM would never have used him as a single striker in a 4-5-1 set up; although di matteo did against the blades, and to great effect. if mowbray had perhaps expanded his strategies and played bednar a little more freely after miller was hurt, he might have got some better results.
at the end of the day - and given the immediate task at hand - this is good group of players. west bromwich albion is a well organized club, and there is plenty of room for development within the present group of individuals - including those, like miller and morrison, who'll be back in the team this year and ready to add to the mix. once the team starts to show more of its potential and gets the couple of more players it needs in, i'm sure they'll accomplish what is hoped for and expected of them.
in the mean time, it would be a good idea if they went over their history and watched some old videos of west brom teams from the past, and remind themselves of the intangibles that they are dealing with here. they can then all have a little think about what it actually means to be west bromwich albion.
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