Corberan ease Phillips blow by unleashing West Brom’s “versatile” £15k-p/w gem

West Bromwich Albion have recovered from an inconsistent start in the Championship this season and are convincingly fighting for promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since being relegated from the top flight three campaigns ago.

Head coach Carlos Corberan has made the Baggies competitive once more and his side currently boast the third-best defensive record in the division and have the seventh-best attack. However, three defeats in their last five league outings have shown that there are still some frailties in the squad, particularly following the loss of star attacker Matt Phillips.

With the ex-Queens Park Rangers winger set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, the Spanish coach will be looking to permanently replace him in the starting lineup and has hinted at one interesting potential change.

West Brom injury news – Matt Phillips

Phillips has been one of the first names on Corberan’s teamsheet this season.

The Scotland international has made 19 appearances in the Championship this term for the West Midlands club and has managed to score three goals and record five assists. Furthermore, the 32-year-old has been in the starting lineup for 90% of West Brom’s games so far, according to Transfermarkt.

In addition, only Brandon Thomas-Asante and John Swift have managed more goal contributions this season for West Brom than Phillips.

Unfortunately, in a recent 2-1 defeat at home to league leaders Leicester City, Phillips pulled up with a hamstring problem while chasing down a clearance and Corberan has since admitted that the attacker will be “out of the team for the next four months”, having damaged the tendon in his hamstring.

This is a significant blow for the manager and the team. Phillips has shown throughout his time under the Spaniard that he can play several positions on the pitch, including on both flanks as well as a centre-forward role at times and even as a wingback. Nevertheless, the manager does have another positionally flexible player in his ranks that could fill Phillips’ boots.

Pipa’s stats this season

Having featured under Corberan at Huddersfield Town and latterly Olympiacos, Gonzalo Ávila Gordón, more commonly known as Pipa, moved to the Hawthorns on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day from Bulgarian side Ludogorets and is currently earning £15k-per-week, making him the ninth-lowest paid player at the club this season.

Despite featuring for Corberan at two other teams, Pipa has struggled for game-time with the Baggies, featuring just five times for the club which has been spread across merely 114 minutes of action.

In West Brom’s first game without Phillips, which came away at Sunderland on Saturday, the head coach decided to deploy Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Jeremy Sarmiento on the left in Phillips’ place but Pipa came on fifteen minutes from time for John Swift.

In his quarter of an hour on the pitch, the Spaniard made the assist for Brandon Thomas-Asante’s consolation goal with a tremendous cross from the left as the side fell to a 2-1 defeat at the Stadium of Light.

In his post-match interview, Corberan hinted that Pipa could start featuring more on the wings due to his “versatile” nature.

“He’s [Pipa] not natural to play as a winger, but when you don’t have more possibilities he is one player that has a level of versatility that can help the team in different circumstances.”

Despite his limited minutes on the pitch, the 25-year-old does boast a 100% crossing accuracy with West Brom, as well as a 100% dribble success rate and has even won 66.7% of his duels so far, showcasing his array of attributes both in and out of possession.

After his exciting cameo on Saturday, Corberan could certainly look to Pipa to fill in for Phillips in his absence.