5-5, and a game which embodied a team
readying for a pivotal pre-season.
Steve Clarke’s West Bromwich Albion fought
back from two three-goal deficits to haul back a point against the
newly-crowned champions, Manchester United.
A sensational second-half hat-trick from
on-loan striker, resident powerhouse and heir to Didier Drogba’s Chelsea throne Romelu Lukaku tied the game and shared the spoils on the final day of the
2012/13 season.
United accelerated to a 3-0 lead against a
faltering Baggies side. Clarke’s men were being pulled around and the axis of
Mulumbu, Yacob, McAuley and Olsson were straying from the usual dominant
position in front of goal, in a Gandalf-esque ‘You shall not pass’ kind of
defensive defiance.
Outside of the protection afforded by bulk and sheer size inside
and in front of the 18-yard box, Olsson and McAuley, the former especially,
suffered greatly at the hands of United’s sublime movement.
Shipping five goals to Shinji Kagawa, Alexander
Büttner, Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez – and, in a microcosm of his
post-Christmas season, an Olsson own goal, will be worrying for Clarke, despite
the great comeback.
For, as great as the spectacle and, indeed,
scoring five against the champions was, a team prided on defensive solidarity
conceding five is worrying.
Even more worrying, however, is the
superman heroics performed by Lukaku will more than likely be reserved for
pastures greener, or certainly more internationally-based pastures. Whether
with Chelsea or, as seems likely, Swansea City, it is doubtful that Lukaku will
stay and ply his 17-goal haul – largely from substitute appearances – at The
Hawthorns next season.
Adding to his departure, with the impending
loss of stalwarts Zoltán Gera, Marc-Antoine Fortuné, Jerome Thomas and
15-goal-a-season man Peter Odemwingie, it could be a defining season for the
Albion.
Jonas Olsson, too, is making admiring glances to
London in an effort to push through a move. Why, other than landing at QPR,
Charlton Atletic or the cavalcade of lower-league London clubs, Olsson thinks
his performances over the last six months have been deserving of a lucrative
move south, one can only wonder.
The outstretched leg, lashing a driven
Antonio Valencia driven cross from the right past Ben Foster, summed up a
dreadful latter half of the season for Olsson.
Slack defensive performances were not
reserved for those seeking moves away from West Bromwich’s scenery, either. McAuley, two-year deal in the bag, was not much better and was
nearly the hapless protagonist in a second own goal. Foster’s agility only
saved Albion further embarrassment.
Having pulled a, what seemed, consolation
goal as the first half was drawing to a close through Morrison’s flick after a
vibrant move, Clarke gambled and replaced Ridgewell with Lukaku, pushing
skipper Chris Brunt to left back.
And that was it, WBA’s trump card was
played. It delivered, too. If, indeed, Lukaku was to be a card he would surely
be the Jack. Just inside the realms of royalty, but potent against lesser
lights and with scope to contest at the top, Lukaku, too, has scope to ascend
Europe’s hights.
There lies the problem.
After yesterday, it is feared Clarke will
not have a trump card left to play.
WBA made a barnstorming start to the
season, sitting in fourth after 14 games with 26 points. By the turn of the
year, Albion sat seventh: 20 played and 33 points attained.
Fast forward to the end of the campaign and
Clarke’s men have only picked up another 16 points. 16 points in 18 games is,
unfortunately, relegation form.
It must be said that eighth is a fantastic
achievement, but if it were not for Swansea’s mirroring of WBA since their own
League Cup triumph, we could have finished ninth.
At the end of it all, only 10 points clear
of Sunderland Athletic in 17th and eight points clear of Midlands
rivals Aston Villa, who for the most part would have been deemed as enduring a
terrible season.
Next season WBA are set to have a squad of:
GKs: Ben Foster, Boaz Myhill, Luke Daniels;
Defenders: Jonas Olsson, Gareth McAuley,
Craig Dawson, Gabriel Tamas, Liam Ridgewell, Billy Jones, Gonzalo Jara;
Midfielders: Claudio Yacob, Youssuf
Mulumbu, George Thorne, Graham Dorrans, Chris Brunt, Scott Allan,
James Morrison;
And strikers: Markus Rosenberg, Shane Long;
- if current speculation and lack
of news on new deals be taken as truth.
And that’s without anyone currently
unexpected transfers.
Like it seemed last season, the summer
before the 2013/14 campaign could be pivotal for WBA. Steve Clarke has used his
Chelsea connections to bring in a gem this season, albeit on loan. Let’s see if
the same transfer ingenuity can stem a bad end to, otherwise, a great campaign.
Clarke is eyeing a selection of relegatees,
if reports are to be believed…
