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This article is part of Football FanCast's The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...
West Brom have started the season unbeaten, so on the face of it there shouldn’t be many concerns.
They are eighth in the table, tied on points with Fulham in fifth and only four points off Leeds United at the top – though, it is still very early days.
Underneath their three draws and two victories, there is a concerning problem beginning to simmer.
The Baggies have been rather toothless in front of the opposition goal, having scored just seven goals in five matches.
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Though Slaven Bilic’s men rank fourth for shots per game, averaging 15.6, only 3.6 of those are on target (13th best in the league).
Just 0.6 of those shots come from inside the six-yard box, which is in the bottom five in the league, whilst Leeds are second in that statistic at 1.8 per game (per WhoScored), showing the top teams in the division are creating more chances closer to goal.
On the chalkboard
One possible solution to Bilic's side's woes in front of goal could be to change the system up and play with two strikers.
This is something that the Croatian has hinted at recently, saying: “It’s an option definitely, depending on the opponent, depending on our form, depending on the game.
“You don’t have to start with it, you can finish like that.
“The players we’ve got here gives us an option to play various systems.”
On the face of it, a partnership of Kenneth Zohore and Charlie Austin doesn’t seem like the perfect balance, but it might just work.
The former Cardiff striker performs better with his back to goal, recording pass success rates of 94.1%, 100% and 72.2% in his last three matches, while Austin has always been a predator in the box, as this xG diagram below shows, dating back to the 2014/15 season (per Understat).
Just two of his 34 goals since that time have come from outside the penalty area, with a big concentration coming from inside the six-yard box.
Bilic has been unable to test two up front since Austin still isn’t up to match fitness having not had much of a pre-season at all, Zohore has been dealing with a calf strain and Hal Robson-Kanu has been out through injury.
So, when two of his three strikers are fit at the same time, he should give a tweak to the system a try.
The formation would sacrifice one of their three key midfield men – Romaine Sawyers, Jake Livermore, and Filip Krovinovic, who have all impressed this season by registering passing success rates of 91.8%, 86.1% and 87.5%, per WhoScored.
While the Croatian may not want to risk the loss of midfield control just yet with his side still unbeaten, he simply must consider switching things up if the goalscoring woes continue.
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