3 things we clearly learnt about West Brom after their 0-0 draw at Bristol City | OneFootball

Highlights

West Brom drew 0-0 at Bristol City on Saturday to continue what has been an underwhelming start to the season for Carlos Corberan’s side.

The Spaniard did a superb job after inheriting a Baggies side struggling at the bottom when he took over in the previous campaign. Therefore, despite off-field issues restricting what Corberan could do in the transfer market, there are still hopes about what this season can bring.

Yet, Albion haven’t really got going just yet, although they picked up another point at Ashton Gate, after playing out a goalless draw.

The visitors were particularly poor in the first half, where they failed to lay a glove on the Robins, and whilst they improved after the break, they didn’t do enough to get the win.

3 Improvements are required

It seems harsh to be overly negative about the Baggies, as they haven’t had a terrible start, with eight points from six games a decent return.

Nevertheless, it still feels as though they have much more to offer. The first 45 minutes against Bristol City was nowhere near good enough, and it shouldn’t take Corberan shouting at them at half-time to get a response.

Of course, the manager isn’t blameless, and in all departments it seems Albion need to improve that little bit if they are to seriously push for the play-offs this season.

2 Corberan still doesn’t know his best XI

Following on from that, it still feels as if Corberan doesn’t know his best side.

There have been formation tweaks already this season, and key players like Jed Wallace and Okay Yokuslu haven’t hit their highest level just yet.

Grady Diangana and Jeremy Sarmiento are two players who could flourish at this level, and you would imagine they will force their way into the team over the coming months.

There’s no need for Albion to panic just yet, but Corberan needs to settle on an approach that gets the best out of the attacking talent he has at his disposal. The run of games coming up means all players will get a chance over the next few weeks, and it's down to the individuals to make sure they cement a place in the team.

1 Josh Maja injury concern

One of the positives from the draw at Bristol City was the performance of Josh Maja, who came on and made a real difference with his direct style, movement and pace.

So, it was a huge worry when the former Sunderland striker was struggling with an injury at the end, and he did leave the ground in a protective boot.

Corberan has been managing Maja carefully since his arrival, and it seemed he was ready to make his mark, so they will all be hoping that the issue isn’t a serious one, and he can get back out on the pitch as soon as possible.