West Brom Boss Carlos Corberan: Outline Key Players He Needs To Sign
By Lewis CoxWest Bromwich AlbionPublished: 13 hours agoLast Updated: 3 hours ago 48 Comments
Head coach Carlos Corberan admitted a need for more signings after Albion suffered an EFL Cup first round exit at Stoke.
The Baggies boss saw his side lose 2-1 on the road for the second game to start the new season and stressed the club still have work to do in the summer transfer window.
Corberan carried two members from his starting XI at Blackburn to the line-up in the Potteries – Conor Townsend and Nathaniel Chalobah – and said that fact highlights the need for more.
As always, the boss caveated his point by stating Albion must work within their financial parameters and admitted the club did expect much of their business to arrive late in the summer. Jeremy Sarmiento and Josh Maja are the two arrivals so far, the latter is yet to appear and the former has come off the bench twice.
Corberan, though, responded unprompted with the club’s need to act in the window after the visitors crashed out with a 2-1 defeat
“Unfortunately we didn’t receive the result we wanted. Before we played the game, how I prepare the game, it was with the focus to have as competitive a squad and this is the focus right now, in my mind,” Corberan said.
“You can only have that competitive squad when you’re focusing on three things.
The first one is to create a group of, at least, 20 players who are ready to compete in the different competitions that we have.
“The fact that only two players played in the first XI on Saturday show that we need to add more players to the team, ready to compete at the level the competition demands.”
Corberan spoke of seeing personality and courage in his side to push to get back into the game.
He also expanded on seeing ‘versatility’ and ‘adaptability’ in Albion that the Spaniard sees as important for the campaign ahead.
“The second thing is to try and give the same identity to different players in the formation,” added Corberan, who lined up in a 3-4-2-1 tonight. “In the second half I watched the team play with personality and with some of the good ideas we have, but especially with the courage to go for the game and try to change the result.
“The third aspect is the adaptability of the squad, and to increase it, to face the game in different ways. The fact today we changed the shape, for me the team was managing well the shape, allowed me to feel as though we will have the versatility we need to achieve what we want to achieve this season.
“The second half, all these things were involved, but we didn’t manage the ball well enough in the first half and we didn’t achieve we wanted to achieve.”
Corberan used new recruit Maja, the former Sunderland and Bordeaux striker, as an example of options not yet available to him.
“We know the market is open and we knew that our market would be more used at the end of the market, or our squad would be seen at the end of the market,” the boss continued.
“Still the market is there but, as I always say, we need to approach the market with the possibilities of the club in mind.
“There are still players that are not yet with us, for example Maja – the striker we have at the club and we still can’t yet use.
“The club still has to grow in terms of players, and in terms of behaviours and in terms of adaption for the possibilities that new players are going to give us.”
Albion’s head coach insists it is important he maintains communication with head of football operations Ian Pearce between now and the end of the window with work to do complete squad building.
“I always say as a coach you want to have the players as quick as you can,” he added.
“But I need to adapt to the possibilities we have as a club, so (it’s) the one part of patience we need to have as a club to build a squad we want. Every club is going to manage the timing in a different way.
“We are still having the conversations with the club to see what things can happen with things we can approach, how we can approach the market, so still for me it’s work to do with our communication and co-ordination with the club, but it all depends about our financial possibilities.”
Asked if he felt there was a lot to do to add to the squad, he said: “Yes, we need to develop as a team – especially to avoid the losing a ball that we have conceded a lot of goals.
“And we still need to fix the team, for me, to balance better the squad because for me it’s important to have two players in each position to have a more competitive squad. For me today was open as an option for some places who were showing a good level.”