Valerien Ismael explains West Brom selection after eyebrows are raised
It was a team selection that prompted questions from supporters.
But head coach Valerien Ismael has explained why he made a number of key changes to his starting XI for the trip to Barnsley.
Following a Covid-19 outbreak at the club, Albion had to put together a makeshift side for the win over Reading last weekend.
Defenders Cedric Kipre, Semi Ajayi, Matt Clarke and Conor Townsend all missed the clash against the Royals after testing positive for coronavirus.
In their absence, though, the Baggies put in an impressive display to beat Veljko Paunovic’s side.
Fans were particularly pleased with the performances of Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Jayson Molumby during that win.
But the duo found themselves back on the bench for the trip to Oakwell – with Kipre, Clarke and Townsend all returning to the starting XI despite only coming out of isolation 24 hours earlier.
Albion went on to be held to a goalless draw in South Yorkshire.
Although they did enough to win the game comfortably – with the Baggies seeing three efforts cleared off the line, while they missed numerous other opportunities.
Fans, though, were disappointed Gardner-Hickman didn’t feature at Oakwell and that Molumby got just 20 minutes.
But Ismael said his team selection was a show of faith to the players who have performed well for him this season. And the boss revealed he also wanted to keep players in their natural positions – with Gardner-Hickman filling in at left wing-back for the win over Reading.
“We’ll need everyone – it’s important that everyone is available,” Ismael said when asked why he changed a winning team.
“Everyone deserved to play after the Reading game last week, but we put the legs back in defence and everyone in his position.
“We have won lots of games with the starting XI from Friday, so there was no reason to move away from that and change many players.
“This is the reason. Our problem is at the front, we need to score goals, it’s a big problem. This is the issue you can talk about, where we can get criticism. Our conversion rate is much too low.”
Ismael admitted having had an extended break from training, Kipre, Clarke and Townsend were tired during the last 15 minutes at Oakwell. But they still restricted Barnsley to very little – with the Tykes having just one shot on target in the entire game.
“The last 10 or 15 minutes was a fight for them,” Ismael said when asked about his returning defenders. “But sometimes it’s not about how you feel with your body, or in your head – it’s just about getting three points.
“The next game is 10 days away so we have enough time to recover.
“We changed the two centre backs, they kept another clean sheet and did their job well.
“The problem is not in the back-line, it’s not in midfield. In the last third, in the opponent’s box, we need more goals. I want to see more goals, everybody wants more goals.”
