The extent of Carlos Corberan’s tactical flexibility can be summed up in just one sentence. According to Football Critic, his Huddersfield Town side lined up in eight different formations throughout 2021/22; a campaign in which they punched massively above their weight while coming within 90 minutes of a Premier League return.
Corberan’s Terriers switched from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-3-3. From a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2. An expert in adapting his approach depending on the nature of the opposition, West Bromwich Albion can expect similar pliability and attention to detail should he take over at the Hawthorns.
“Carlos is a good colleague, I have found that,” former Elland Road mentor Marcelo Bielsa told the Yorkshire Evening Post of the 39-year-old Spaniard during their time together at Leeds United. “He is very talented. I listen more to his opinion than I give mine to him.”
Some statement. Especially when you consider that Bielsa remains one of the most influential tacticians of the last 20 or 30 years. Whether the student goes on to emulate master remains to be seen. But Corberan, who The Mirror say is likely to be approached by West Brom regarding a quick return to the Championship, would certainly represent a dramatic and welcome change from the stupefying Steve Bruce era.
Steve Bruce out, Carlos Corberan in at West Brom?
Bruce’s West Brom, like Bruce’s Newcastle, often looked like a side devoid of ideas or a consistent game-plan. Such a statement is in stark contrast to the way Huddersfield performed under Corberan; the former goalkeeper turning pre-season relegation candidates into promotion contenders while coaxing career-best performances out of Danny Ward, Lewis O’Brien, Sorba Thomas, Harry Toffolo and co.
West Brom, under Bruce, have operated almost exclusively with a back-four this term. It remains to be seen whether Darnell Furlong and Conor Townsend are capable of thriving as attack-minded wing-backs should Corberan employ the system that worked so well at Huddersfield. One suspects the latter would do rather better than the former. Don’t be surprised to see Wallace, a superb crosser of the ball, re-imagined as a right-sided wing-back, a la Sorba Thomas. The one-time West Ham youngster set up 16 goals from that role in 2021/22.
Daryl Dike, if he can stay fit, could lead the line in a manner similar to that of Ward at Huddersfield. Ward hit double-figures for the first time since 2016/17 under Corberan, and £7 million USA international Dike can be equally prolific at this level if given the right service. Service that should arrive from three of the most naturally talented creators in the division; John Swift, Jed Wallace and Grady Diangana.
Karlan Grant, meanwhile, looks a good fit for an inverted forward role, feeding off Dike.
A new style and a new system
It remains to be seen whether Corberan would favour a possession-based approach at West Brom or a more counter-attacking one. He shifted from one approach to the other at Huddersfield; their average possession dropping from 54 per cent in 2020/21 to 47 per cent in 2021/22. Another indication of Corberan’s flexibility as a coach.
One area where West Brom are almost certain to improve should Corberan take over, meanwhile, is in the intensity department. Per The Guardian, Corberan’s training sessions are particularly gruelling; the Spaniard taking BIelsa’s dreaded ‘Murderball’ teaching with him down the M62.
“The first year back in the Championship (at Huddersfield) had been difficult. We needed to change that mentality. To try to stop the players accepting defeat,” Corberan would tell The Athletic.
Only Bournemouth, Fulham and Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, scored more Championship goals than Huddersfield in 2021/22. Wallace, Swift, Dike, Diangana and Karlan Grant are all capable of reaching double figures at this level. Dike, meanwhile, could use his physicality to open up space for his more technical team-mates, a la Ward at Huddersfield.
The mercurial Swift, however, will be under immediate pressure to increase his work-rate and stop allowing games to pass him by. Especially with the all-action Jayson Molumby and Taylor Gardner-Hickman looking more like natural solutions for the two-man central midfield Corberan often utilised at Huddersfield; O’Brien and Jonathan Hogg setting the tone at the heart of one of the league’s finest engine rooms.
Unfinished business
“For me, it is really important that the club makes the right decision about which coach they want. Which style they want, what is the vision of the club,” Corberan tells Sky Sports, making it clear that he still has unfinished business in the Championship.
“My job was not finished (at Huddersfield). When you are really close, when you are at Wembley and have 90 minutes to achieve something very important, when you finish the game, my feeling was clear; I want to come back and achieve.
“This is what I want. The feeling that I did not finish my job here in England. It was the aim to put a team in the Premier League (from) the Championship.”
“What we love to do is to coach. The worst moment for a coach is when you are without a team,” Corberan adds. “Because of the energy you have to improve your players, to help your club, to develop their resources. To go to the game and make your fans feel proud of the team…
“The feeling you have when you achieve this is the best thing that you can feel.”
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