West Bromwich Albion head into the 2020/21 Premier League season as one of the three newly-promoted sides, with a fight against relegation the expected situation.
After playoff heartbreak in the season before their promotion, where the Baggies were knocked out by Midlands rivals Aston Villa at the semifinal stage, a new look West Brom side aimed to go one better the season after.
Slaven Bilic replaced the outgoing James Shan, who sold the ageing, but also in demand Salomon Rondon, Craig Dawson, and Jay Rodriguez in favour of youthful talent with something to prove – mixed in with some experienced incomings to help mould the side.
Grady Diangana, Matheus Pereira, Darnell Furlong, Filip Krovinovic, Semi Ajayi and Kenneth Zohore all came to the club at the age of 25 or below, with elder statesman Charlie Austin and Romaine Sawyers boasting a high level of Championship experience.
These signings became the core of an already impressive West Brom squad, guiding them to automatic promotion through finishing second in the league.
The Baggies come into the season as one of the favourites to end in the bottom three, with limited funds allowing them to sign successful loanees permanently, but completely fresh faces only stretching to former Wigan defender Cedric Kipre, and Brighton second choice goalkeeper David Button so far in the transfer window.
As a result, the players entrusted to gain promotion to the Premier League last season have been given the responsibility to remain in it this campaign, to stay in the division the sole priority, with possible cup runs unlikely due to squad rotation to rest players for more important fixtures on the weekend.
Recapping pre-season
As much pre-season friendlies should not be looked at too closely, with fixtures used to get players back up to speed after a short absence away from the pitch, there may be a slight cause for concern for the West Brom fans.
Matches against Nottingham Forest and Brighton failed to supply excitement coming into the new season, with a 1-0 loss at St George’s Park and a 0-0 draw at the AMEX Stadium unlikely to change the popular assumption that West Brom will be fighting for survival in the upcoming season.
Transfer business
Despite the lack of fresh faces coming into the training ground, the West Brom faithful will be more than happy to see the return of key players that helped them gain promotion last season.
The first player to return to the Hawthorns was Pereira. Loaned in from Sporting CP before their Championship campaign, the Brazilian winger was a key part of the Baggies attack. Mainly utilised behind the striker, the former Nurnberg loanee contributed towards 24 goals, topping the assists chart with 16. Penning a four-year-contract for a fee of just under £10m, the 24-year-old represents excellent value for money, especially in the current climates, and will be a key player for the Albion this season.
West Brom were also able to secure the signature of Diangana. Similar to Periera, the Englishman spent last season on loan at the Hawthorns and was a vital part of their promotion campaign. Although he struggled with a hamstring injury for a large part of the season, the 22-year-old was still able to score eight goals and assist six from the left-wing position, with his close control dribbling and pace on the ball working well in a Bilic system that was based around high-energy attacking football.
Signing from West Ham for just £18m, there was a shock around the footballing world that the Albion could secure his signature for such a small fee, despite the 2019/20 season being his first full campaign at senior level.
Callum Robinson became the third man to make his loan move a permanent one. Joining in January to increase competition in the attack, the Irishman played a total of 16 games, contributing towards five goals.
Swapping clubs with Oliver Burke, who moves to Sheffield United, the 25-year-old will provide capable backup to Diangana on the left-wing, but also slot in either through the middle or on the right-hand side when called upon.
The Albion will have two new faces playing for them this season, with centre-back Kipre likely to see the most game time out of the pair.
Signing from Wigan for just £1m due to their financial crisis, the Ivorian international started every game for the relegated side from the start of February, helping them to 11 clean sheets in 17 games.
Kipre will likely battle with Ahmed Hegazi and Kyle Bartley for the second centre-back spot, with Ajayi the most regular starter last season.
Button also joined the club from Brighton but will serve as a backup to Sam Johnstone.
The only regular starter to leave the club was Nathan Ferguson, who left the club at the end of his contract to join Premier League rivals Crystal Palace.
Although he played just seven league games last season, the most high profile departure was that of Chris Brunt, who joined Bristol City on a free transfer after 13 years with the club. Captain from 2011 to 2015, the Northern Irishman made over 380 league appearances for the club, playing in nine separate Premier League seasons, as well as three successful Championship promotion campaigns.
Burke and Johnathan Leko also left the club permanently, with goalkeeper Alex Palmer departing on loan to Lincoln City, and Gareth Barry retiring.
Who is West Brom's key player?
If West Brom are to survive an immediate relegation back to the Championship, it will be largely down to the contributions of Pereira.
The attacking midfielder was an integral part of the West Brom side that scored a total of 77, with the Brazilian contributing towards 24 of those – 10 more than Diangana, who was his closest competitor in the Albion ranks.
As said previously, his 16 assists in the Championship did not only rank highest in the West Brom squad but in the entire division. His knowhow to find the willing runs behind the defensive line caused chaos in the final third, with his 2.8 key passes per game showing exactly that.
The 24-year-old did not only breach defensive lines through incisive passes, but also his technical ability when running with the ball. Usually coming in from deep or from out-wide, his ability to beat his man and push his side up the pitch was similar to that of Diangana, with defenders usually having to foul the tricky runner to stop him. Fouled 2.7 times per game in the 2019/20 season, another chart that he topped, his ability to win free-kicks high up the pitch and load bodies into the box was game-changing and will be one of the Baggies’ main source of goals if he can recreate such numbers in the Premier League.
Defenders Dara O’Shea, Bartley, Ajayi, and Hegazi scored a total of 11 goals in the Championship last term, with West Brom making the most of set-pieces when given the opportunity.
Adept at crossing the ball in, Pereira is also a threat from direct free-kicks, with two of his eight goals coming this way.
The Albion are unlikely to play the free-flowing attacking football they were able to last season with the step-up in quality, so will be pinning their hopes on Pereira to create the majority of their chances both in open play and dead-ball situations.
A breakthrough talent
With the young talent of Diangana and Pereira capturing the majority of the headlines last season, the performances of 21-year-old Dara O’Shea went under the radar.
After a loan spell at Exeter City during the 2018/19, Bilic promoted the Irishman to the senior side to provide cover at right-back.
Struggling for gametime early on in the season, with the youth academy graduate making just one appearance in the opening 28 games, the defender was suddenly given his chance in the first team.
A six-game winless run between the end of December and late January saw O’Shea being thrown into the starting eleven against Cardiff City – despite not even making the matchday squad in the four games prior.
Although West Brom lost 2-1 away to the Bluebirds’ the game would be the first of nine consecutive games the youth international would start, with O’Shea missing just two of the final 18 games.
In that run, the right-back did not only contribute towards eight clean sheets, completing 1.8 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game in the process but was also an attacking threat, scoring three times.
Key dates
Saturday, 19 December - Matchday 13 | West Brom vs Aston Villa
Saturday, 16 January - Matchday 19 | Wolves vs West Brom
Saturday, 24 April - Matchday 33 | Aston Villa vs West Brom
Saturday, 1 May - Matchday 34 | West Brom vs Wolves
Writer's verdict
The West Brom hierarchy has done well to retain a host of key players from last season, but the quality of their squad will mean that it is likely that they will suffer relegation to the Championship.
A defensive back-line that lacks experience at the highest level may prove costly, with expenditure in attack leaving just one addition in a defence that looks no stronger than the one relegated in 2018.
Despite funds being spent on the wings and behind the striker, as well as talk about Karlan Grant, it also seems increasingly likely that the Albion will start the season without a prolific striker that has a track record of keeping fit.
Austin was the top scorer for West Brom, but his 11 goals ranked 25th in the Championship, with his tally five less than Jarrod Bowen, who left Hull City in January.
Hal Robson Kanu and departing Zohore scored a combined total of 15, with all three failing to start more than 25 games in the Championship last season.
As a result, the lack of squad depth, inexperience at the back, the absence of a trustworthy number nine, and the lack of funds to sort these problems will result in a fight against relegation during the 2020/21 Premier League season.
However, the model of Sheffield United has shown that relegation is not as simple as that. Tipped to go down last season, their unique tactic that was believed by many to be too expansive to play in the top division, as well as not needing to rely on a single player and their lack of spending in the transfer window resonates with the situation West Brom are in, showing that it would be silly to write off the Albion before the season starts.