West Brom are in a fine vein of form right now, with full-back Conor Townsend having reinstated his place in the XI.
West Brom have really cemented their place in the promotion race this season, having now won five of their last six Championship fixtures.
Carlos Corberan‘s side have beaten the likes of Hull City, Ipswich Town, and Cardiff City in recent weeks, finding themselves in 5th place of the Championship table and 10 points behind Ipswich in 2nd.
The Baggies also have a four-point cushion inside the play-off places and so things are certainly looking up.
And one player who’s played an important role in this recent, positive run of form is Townsend.
Conor Townsend back in the Baggies XI
The 30-year-old has been with West Brom for a long time now.
He joined from Scunthorpe United during the 2018/19 season and has since racked up a staggering 185 total appearances for West Brom, having featured in 17 of their opening 18 league games so far this season.
The Englishman hasn’t always been a starter. But he’s started the last four now in the left-back berth, with the Baggies lining up with a back-four.
Corberan has given Townsend and right-back Darnell Furlong more license to roam forward and it’s allowed the side to be more creative and free-flowing.
And speaking on his newfound role in the XI, Townsend told Express & Star:
“Yeah it is good and I think you see a lot of teams doing it. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] has been doing it at Liverpool where he comes into midfield, and at City they play with centre back moving into midfield.
“I’ve never done it before. I enjoy it, I feel more involved in the game and I think I can offer a lot in that position.”
A free-flowing, in form West Brom
Corberan is now well-regarded in the Football League. He’s becoming widely recognised for his tactical nouse, and rightly so.
West Brom have played some sublime football this season, doing so with a lengthy injury list and very little backing from the current owner.
Corberan then deserves a huge amount of credit, and Townsend echoed the positivity that we’re seeing on the pitch, going on to say:
“The main thing with the freedom between us we all know what we’re doing, so if I’m rolling in then someone is rolling out and vice versa.
“It is more difficult for the opposition if we are constantly moving, it is difficult for them to deal with, with who they are picking up. It gives them more headaches and problems to solve.”
West Brom are in a very good place right now; on the pitch anyway, with matters off it remaining tense. But there’s hope of a takeover going through in the New Year and that should give everyone hope for a brighter, more stable West Brom in the future.
Townsend’s recent resurgence is another credit to Corberan and a symbol of how the Spaniard finds a way to get the best out of the player’s he’s got, which is arguably the most impressive theme of his West Brom tenure so far.
Up next for the Baggies is a home game vs Leicester City this weekend.