West Brom are the only team in the Premier League and EFL to have done this one thing.
Much has been made of West Bromwich Albion’s start to the Championship season, with Carlos Corberan getting the most out of his Baggies side in the early stages of the campaign.
Albion are yet to taste defeat in their opening five fixtures, with victories over Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City, Swansea City and Portsmouth, as well as a valuable draw with Leeds United.
Consistency has been the key for the Spaniard at the Hawthorns over the first few weeks of 24/25, with the availability of key personnel making all the difference for the Black Country outfit in getting those valuable results.
In fact, no other side can boast the same record as Albion, who have been able to name the same starting eleven in each of their opening five Championship matches ahead of this weekend’s clash with Plymouth Argyle.
Carlos Corberan benefits from West Bromwich Albion consistency
As the old adage goes: ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,’ and Corberan has been following that to the letter so far this season, with his faith continuing to be put into the same eleven who began the first match of the season against QPR.
Alex Palmer, Darnel Furlong, Kyle Bartley, Semi Ajayi, Torbjørn Heggem, John Swift, Jayson Molumby, Alex Mowatt, Tom Fellows, Josh Maja and Karlan Grant: Those same players have produced the goods week after week in domestic competition, with the run of games as a unit bringing out the best in one another’s games, with the Baggies seeing the result of that unchanged line up on the field.
Carlos Corberan of West Brom
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The more chance a core group of players gets to play with each other, the more they will develop a bond and relationship as a unit, which will only go to improve Albion as time goes on.
That early form has meant that summer signing Mikey Johnston has been unable to work his way into the starting line up as yet, with the reported £3 million signing from Celtic having to bide his time while Grant and Fellows produce the goods out wide.
The return of a fit and firing Maja has also been a welcome addition for Corberan, with the ex-Sunderland man rediscovering his goalscoring form after opening the majority of last season on the sidelines.
West Bromwich Albion’s start to the Championship season
Queens Park Rangers 1-3 West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Leeds United
Stoke City 1-2 West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Swansea City
Portsmouth 0-3 West Bromwich Albion
Five goals in as many Championship outings is proof of how vital the hitman can be to the Baggies over the course of the campaign to come, with all those at the Hawthorns hoping the injury troubles of his past don’t come back to haunt him.
Burnley can learn from West Bromwich Albion lineup choices
While Corberan has been able to choose the same players time and time again, it has been far from the case at a number of divisional rivals, with Scott Parker’s Burnley side right at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to player usage so far this season.
We may only be a handful of games into the season, but the Clarets have already utilised 30 players since the season got underway last month, with plenty of comings and goings at Turf Moor before the transfer window came to a close.
Scott Parker
A number of players who featured in the Lancashire side’s opening 4-1 victory over Luton Town are no longer at the club, with the likes of Wilson Odobert, Vitinho and Dara O’Shea all moving on to pastures new before the transfer window came to an end.
While Corberan may have named the same starting lineup week after week, he hasn’t been afraid to change it up when it comes to replacements, with 20 different players featuring across the campaign to date.
Only Sunderland and Coventry City have fielded fewer players so far, with the pair both putting their faith in just 19 stars so far, although no one can match the Baggies for consistency from the first whistle.
