Yahoo News Carlos Corberan drops selection hint and shares West Brom 'miracle'
Carlos Corberan mischieviously smiled and simply replied "you will see, you will have the answer in the next games," when asked at his West Bromwich Albion press conference whether he'd be rotating his side at The Hawthorns this week. Albion entertain Rotherham United this evening and then welcome Sunderland on Saturday, less than three days later.
Albion can all but secure their place in the play-offs with two victories and six points, after Coventry City lost at Southampton on Tuesday night and Norwich City dropped two points at relegation threatened Sheffield Wednesday, having led 2-0 into the closing stages. The gap currently stands at six points, and if Albion can drag themselves up to 75, it'd take a minor miracle for them not to claim a place in the top six by the beginning of May.
Corberan has relied heavily on Alex Mowatt and Okay Yokuslu in midfield lately; while the interchangeable front four positions in the side can be occupied by a quartet from a pool of seven or eight players, and while Corberan has utilised four different centre halves in recent weeks, he's turned constantly to Mowatt and Yokuslu. The former is a player of the season contender having returned from his spell in the Middlesbrough wilderness.
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Albion lost Jayson Molumby to injury in January but acted in bringing in Yann M'Vila on a short-term deal. Corberan also has Nathaniel Chalobah at his disposal, although he hasn't made a single appearance since the frantic 2-2 draw at Queens Park Rangers over a month ago. Might we see the squad more roundly utilised with two matches in the space of four days?
"I am fully confident to play with any of the four midfielders that I have. Four for two places. Same with centre back," Corberan reasoned. "If you ask me if I'm comfortable, I am, but it doesn't mean I'm going to flip a coin - I'm going to evaluate what the team needs. They're in competition with themselves to put the best level and this competition with themselves helps to strengthen the team.
"Sometimes, some players, the competition in his position helps him to realise that they must work at the best level that they can. Some players don't need it. I like to work with the players who don't need the competition to achieve their maximum level, to help the team.This is the mentality of this group. I don't think this group is watching the possibilities to have something negative individually. They are seeing it as a positive collectively."
Corberan, meanwhile, has praised those players who haven't even found themselves in the match-day squad lately; loanee Pipa hasn't played an awful lot of football recently and indeed has made just a single league start ahead of Darnell Furlong at right-back. Erik Pieters, a stalwart at centre half last year, has also been missing out, such is the intensified competition for places.
"I have unbelievable players," Corberan added. "To have Erik Pieters is a miracle. He is someone who when he is not in the squad, is always telling you that 'I am fine. I will be ready. I will keep working hard, the only important thing is the team.' If you are watching how Pipa is working in these weeks it is unbelievable. It is very unfair to leave any of my players right now out of the squad - but that is what I want. Unfortunately, I need to make unfair decisions."
