Carlos Corberan has selection problem he has never had before with West Brom: View | OneFootball

Carlos Corberan has a serious amount of depth and quality in his attacking ranks with West Brom this season.

Carlos Corberan and West Brom have started the 2024/25 campaign in impressive form, with many EFL fans and pundits alike wondering if they can go one better this term and secure promotion to the Premier League.

West Brom suffered heartbreak when they were beaten by Southampton in last season's play-off semi-finals, but they have made an excellent start to the new campaign. The Baggies secured their fourth victory in five league games with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Sunday.

It was a hectic summer for Albion prior to that, but they sit top of the Championship table at present, and their start to the season is particularly impressive given that they were operating under an EFL-imposed business plan during the summer in order to avoid a breach of the league's financial rules.

Albion cashed in on Brandon Thomas-Asante, Conor Townsend, and Okay Yokuslu this summer. When considering the volume of experience and also the number of minutes those players covered last season, it means that the Baggies are going to be a new-look side this year. It's necessary squad churn but difficult circumstances to build on.

West Brom's 2024/25 squad

Corberan's side will be looking to build on their 2023/24 campaign which saw them reach the play-offs, and with the league looking more open this season, there's no reason why they can't challenge for promotion if they were to make the right additions.

West Brom completed the signings of Torbjorn Heggem, Devante Cole, Joe Wildsmith, Gianluca Frabotta, Lewis Dobbin, Paddy McNair, Ousmane Diakité, Uroš Račić, Callum Styles, Mason Holgate, and Mikey Johnston this summer.

As mentioned, some of it was perhaps necessitated by sales and also with the Baggies perhaps needing one or two younger players within their ranks to move into their next squad cycle under Corberan. He is perhaps their biggest asset and has already improved the side both in and out of possession, whilst also showing signs of evolving into an even more possession-dominant side.

If any manager knows how to get the best out of a group of players in the Championship, then it is West Brom's Spanish miracle worker. Corberan has proven himself to be a brilliant coach at this level, which stretches back to his work at Huddersfield, who he took to a play-off final against all odds.

Even with Albion, he inherited a group in the relegation zone, and the transformation in the past two years has been remarkable in how much of a tune he has managed to get out of them. Last year, he built a solid, reliable team, who have shown they can mix it up to get results.

That’s why many will fancy them to be in the mix for a play-off place, at least, this season. While the Baggies did reach the play-offs last season, the lack of depth in the squad was evident at times, but that is not a problem that Corberan faces this time around after incredible recruitment by himself and the recruitment team.

In 2023/24, they had decent enough depth in defensive areas, and certainly plenty of midfield options; however, there was nowhere near enough firepower throughout the course of the campaign. Only Johnston reliably added to their ranks late on in the season.

West Brom brought in no fewer than 11 new signings, but Johnston may be the most exciting and popular of all. He had a spell-binding impact on loan at Albion in the second half of the 2023/24 season, scoring seven Championship goals to help propel Carlos Corberan's side into a play-off spot, with Tom Fellows giving them another dynamic and tricky option down the opposing flank.

However, now, despite the EFL's aforementioned business plan, the Baggies have ended the window with more attacking depth than they have had in previous years. The competition for places is a welcome dilemma for Corberan.

Has he ever had a centre-forward of the quality and calibre of Josh Maja if he can stay fit? Has this version of Fellows been seen previously, or has his development gone up another gear in 2024/25? That combination has already been proven to be fruitful as it is, and that is without mentioning the supporting cast around them.

Given his strong performances during his loan spell last season, many Albion supporters would have expected Johnston to go straight back into the team, but Corberan is facing a dilemma over whether to start the Republic of Ireland international or stick with Karlan Grant.

He is likely to be their star man on the left in time, and will take over from Grant, although he himself has surprised many fans with impressive early season performances. That's without mentioning Daryl Dike and Devante Cole. The likes of John Swift, Jed Wallace, Lewis Dobbin, and Grady Diangana make up the rest of their attacking unit.

There is a blend of speed, creativity, goals, technical quality, and physicality to provide options and solutions dependent on the opponent or game state, as well as enough depth to make substitutes to impact games in a new way.

Most crucially, perhaps, they have strength to deal with the inevitability of the long winter months when injuries start to pile up and the grind of the season begins with fixtures coming thick and fast.

It's a far cry from the hand Corberan was served up last season, with West Brom far better prepared to make an assault on the Championship's summit, especially with Corberan at the helm, and it is particularly impressive in the circumstances of their ongoing financial situation and the EFL's involvement.

Depth is a wonderful problem to have, and is something Corberan has never had in his forward line to the extent of this season. The sky is the limit for him and his team this season.