I stated in my preview for the match on Sunday that Albion shouldn’t be afraid of either their opponents or failure, and after a close and intense first leg, I still feel that way. The advantage of hosting the second leg at home for Southampton makes them the favorites even if there wasn’t much of a contest at the Hawthorns, with Albion perhaps winning on penalties. On Friday night, the onus will be entirely on the hosts. Corberán’s club has a very good chance of earning themselves one more game.
It is similar, in some ways, to the 2000/01 play-off campaign when a new manager had rescued the club the previous season before guiding them to a top six spot against all the odds. To be fair to Gary Megson, the expectation levels were much lower and he had to effectively rebuild the squad – I’d argue that much of Corberán’s squad was underperforming rather than lacking in quality, so the job he faced was different. Nevertheless, at both times the club was in a recovery phase and, while Albion failed in 2001, it was the start of something very special.
With Carlos Corberán in charge of the team and Shilen Patel in charge of the club, I certainly have the feeling that the club could be on the verge of something very special once again. But, as in 2001, success in this play-off campaign is not essential and, for that reason, Albion should go into it without pressure. However, I believe this team is better equipped for success than Megson’s team was 23 years ago, and not only should they not fear failure, they should not fear their opponents either.
Southampton have been Albion’s expected play-off semi-final opponents for much of the past couple of months and, given that they have beaten the Baggies twice this season and Russell Martin has a 100% record as a manager against Albion, recent history appears to favour the Saints. Of course, football is never that predictable and there are plenty of reasons for the Baggies to be optimistic.
First of all, Albion’s performance at St Mary’s in November warranted at least a point with their display in the second half particularly strong. Furthermore, that was done without the man who has become one of Albion’s most potent threats, Mikey Johnston. Southampton deservedly won the game at the Hawthorns in February, but Albion were without Bartley that day, with Erik Pieters deputising, while Johnston was not yet in full flow starting only his second game for the Baggies.
Perhaps the strongest reason for optimism, however, is the man in the Albion dugout. There is no doubt that Corberán has a preferred setup and a preferred style of play, but he is far more of a pragmatist than his opposite number and will have learned a lot from the last two games. While the result didn’t go Albion’s way, the switch to a back three at Leicester City was a tactical success let down by poor finishing. Furthermore, there have been plenty of instances when Albion have reverted to the longer ball when struggling to break an opponent’s press. Russell Martin, on the other hand, is much more wedded to his passing style and, when it goes wrong, it can go wrong spectacularly as was shown in their own recent 5-0 defeat at the King Power.
Of course, football is ultimately about players and how they perform on the day. In recent weeks, good performances against Leicester City and Preston North End sandwiched an absolute dog of a display at Hillsborough, but that has thankfully been a rare occurrence under Carlos Corberán. Let’s hope that is the last one we will see in this campaign!
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