West Brom Season Preview

Roster Moves

In: James McClean, James Chester

Out: Graham Dorrans, Chris Baird, Jason Davidson, Youssouf Mulumbu, Donervon Daniels, Georgios Samaras, Sebastián Blanco (loan), Alex Palmer, Wesley Atkinson

The Baggies have a pretty thin squad given where we are with respect to the start of the season. There is still a chance that Saido Berahino will leave with Spurs rumored to be preparing a bid for the 14-goal man from last season. At the same time, the Baggies are sort on options all over the pitch with Tony Pulis seeming to have no time for recognized outside backs like Sebastien Pocognoli and Christian Gamboa. That leaves Lescott, Dawson, McAuley, Olsson and the newly arrived Chester as the only real options at the back and all are more center backs than anything else. In midfield things are a bit better but beyond Chris Brunt there isn’t really a proven creator or a consistent goal-scorer. At forward, Victor Anichebe and Brown Ideye are Tony Pulis-type forwards but neither has proven that they are consistent goal-scorers. The Baggies are still in the transfer mix but you’d like to see them add at least one substantial player at each position group.

Goalkeepers – Ben Foster, Boaz Myhill, Wayne Hennessey

With Ben Foster out until around the start of 2016, Boaz Myhill is in prime position to be a great fantasy bargain. Listed and thought of exclusively as a reserve his numbers were very compelling after taking over for Foster last season. Great potential value here as Tony Pulis typically makes stars of his goalkeepers and defenders with his physical, close-to-the-vest style.

Defenders – Craig Dawson, Joleon Lescott, James Chester, Gareth McAuley, Jonas Olsson, Sebastien Pocognoli, Liam O’Neil, Christian Gamboa

Those nil-nil draws may not be pretty to watch but they are music to fantasy managers’ ears, especially when they come with lots of tackles won, blocked shots, aerial duals won and passes intercepted. The best feature of the current squad is that there are at least three guaranteed starters when healthy in Dawson, Lescott and McAuley. It's hard to imagine that Chester won't be a starter as well now that he's arrived from Hull City. Jonas Olsson is probably now the fifth defender with with Pocognoli or Gamboa on the outskirts of the defensive group unless one or both grows in Pulis’ esteem. Guaranteed starters are fantastic in the eyes of fantasy managers and Lescott, Chester, Dawson and McAuley seem to be pretty solid heading into the season.

Midfielders – Craig Gardner, Darren Fletcher, James Morrison, Chris Brunt, James McClean, Callum McManaman, Claudio Yacob, Stephane Sessegnon

Chris Brunt is the star of this group by some distance. He takes kicks and creates chances and will likely be a top 10 to top 15 midfielder based on his productivity and his guaranteed spot in the Baggies line-up. James Morrison flashes premium talent but neither plays often enough nor is consistent enough to merit a pick in the top half of a draft. The unknowns in the Baggies midfield are James McClean and Callum McManaman, both have Premier League experience but neither have had enough of a run for us to know exactly what we should expect of them. Neither is likely to merit drafting.

Forwards – Victor Anichebe, Saido Berahino, Brown Ideye, Adil Nabi

Perhaps the only person who can stop Saido Berahino from scoring is Tony Pulis. Berahino is young and improving but he isn’t exactly the prototype of the Tony Pulis forward. Whether his goal-scoring is enough to overcome his lack of conformity to the Pulis standard remains to be seen. That is the only thing that should keep you from drafting Berahino pretty high in your draft. Anichebe has all the physical talent in the world and he has struggled mightily with injury and can’t be counted on. Brown Ideye had a brief spell of competence shortly after Tony Pulis arrived at the Hawthorns but there’s nothing to lead anyone to believe that he is going to turn things around this season. There is definitely room for a new forward at West Brom and there’s still a month left for that to happen.

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