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West Brom Fan View: Albion's performance at Anfield offers hope

West Brom produced a great performance to shut out Liverpool at Anfield.
West Brom produced a great performance to shut out Liverpool at Anfield.

When a football club makes a decision to sack their manager, there’s normally an immediate upturn in results when a new one arrives. Maybe the players want to impress their new boss, or maybe new tactics or a different team selection gives the players a fresh impetus. Worryingly for West Bromwich Albion, that hasn’t happened with their appointment of Alan Pardew.


The Baggies last decent result came against Tottenham in late November, when a Salomon Rondon goal early on helped the team to a 1-1 draw at Wembley, that was under caretaker boss Gary Megson. Since Pardew’s appointment, Albion have drawn with Crystal Palace and lost to Swansea, which is a rather underwhelming start.

Pardew’s next game? Away to Liverpool. Gulp.

But Alan Pardew’s side defended magnificently as a team, restricted Liverpool to very few chances and surprised everyone in coming away with a well-deserved point. The back four of Allan Nyom, Ahmed Hegazy, Jonny Evans and Kieran Gibbs were rock solid.

Ahmed Hegazy was a rock at the centre of defence.
Ahmed Hegazy was a rock at the centre of defence.

This was against a team including the likes of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho, but even they struggled to break down the West Brom defence. But it wasn’t just the defence that impressed me, it was our overall play, the way the team played out from the back and looked assured on the ball.

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West Brom could have even stolen a win if Hegazy had done better with a free header in the second half. There’s a real threat to this team now, from set plays and from open play, and it’s good to see. It bodes well for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday, in what will be another hard game.

There were still players who struggled, Jake Livermore and James McClean especially are still proving to be weak links in this side. They both give their all for the team, but their quality on the ball is sadly lacking at this level.

Let’s hope for a good result on Sunday!

Jake Livermore is struggling for form this season
Jake Livermore is struggling for form this season