Fewer touches than Palmer: West Brom's 100% duel-losing dud failed Corberan's big test - opinion
10/29/2022 11:10 AM
West Bromwich Albion’s miserable run of form continued in the Championship today as they fell to yet another defeat, this time against Sheffield United.
New manager Carlos Corberan has been shown first-hand just how much work needs doing now, as his toothless outfit were kept quiet at The Hawthorns.
The Blades raced into a 2-0 lead with goals from Iliman Ndiaye and Oliver McBurnie, with the latter a delightful rifled finish from just outside the box finding the bottom right corner.
Despite boasting more possession and shots than their opponents, Albion struggled to break down a stubborn Sheffield United side who held onto their early lead with relative ease.
Although there was a new manager in the dugout, there were still plenty of West Brom players who just weren’t at the races today. Alex Palmer could be included among that number, having registered the worst rating of anyone from the home side, as per SofaScore.
Conor Townsend and Karlan Grant, who was once again handed a chance up front, were other notable disappointments, but perhaps the player who fell most into that bracket was the usually reliable stalwart Jake Livermore.
Nobody on the pitch had a worse success rate when it came to duels, as he lost 100% of his three personal battles.
Furthermore, only Grant and Jed Wallace had the ball less often. Given his position in the centre of midfield, this statistic is particularly unforgivable for the 32-year-old – even goalkeeper Palmer touched the ball more often (43) than Livermore (35), via SofaScore.
The former Tottenham Hotspur ace has been among the Baggies’ most consistent players in the midfield engine room, considering that he has featured 210 times in total for the club. It makes displays such as this even more disappointing, because of how much they have relied on him throughout the years.
Despite being in the busiest area of the pitch, Livermore also failed to make a single tackle, clearance or interception, whilst also being dribbled past once. It was a defensively invisible performance from the usually combative midfield stopper.
“Not enough energy throughout and was largely outplayed by the Blades midfielders”, wrote Birmingham World‘s Charlie Haffenden in his post-match ratings column – a damning but fair assessment of Livermore’s performance.
He’ll need to buck up his ideas quickly now that Corberan is here to stay, with the manager unlikely to accept many more performances like this from such an experienced player.
