Pardew wrong to sub Krychowiak, but should drop West Brom loanee

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Alan Pardew made an incredibly questionable decision during West Bromwich Albion’s defeat at the weekend.

It has not been uncommon since Alan Pardew arrived at The Hawthorns for the manager to make a decision that has left the West Brom supporters baffled and confused. And the latest one came at the weekend when Leicester City were in town.

With the score at 1-1 with just over half an hour to go, the Baggies appeared to be in with a decent chance of bagging a vital three points that would leave them with a glimmer of hope in their battle for survival at the bottom of the Premier League.

However, Pardew made the bizarre decision to take loanee Grzegorz Krychowiak off and replace him with Sam Field. Despite the fans wanting Field to get more chances in the first-team, it seems highly unlikely that they would have brought him on at that moment and for that player given that Krychowiak was arguably West Brom’s best midfielder on the day and has been for a little while.

Field is not to blame, but the decision backfired massively on the Baggies as Leicester went on to score three times in that final half hour to leave West Brom eight points off safety and licking their wounds from their seventh successive defeat.

It did not make sense to replace Krychowiak, but perhaps now it is fair to suggest that it is time to drop the Poland international from the first-team lineup – or at least consider it while relegation is yet to be confirmed.

It would be one of the most surprising deals in history if West Brom managed to keep Krychowiak for another season – even if they managed to stay up this term – so it is perhaps the right move to consider using the players who are likely to be at The Hawthorns next season as they begin to plan for life probably in the Championship.

With relegation yet to be confirmed, it would be a gamble for Pardew to drop their most impressive midfielder of late. But chances for Krychowiak should not come at the expense of the likes of Field who could become an extremely important player for the club next season.