Source: SKY_Sports
Hawthorns horror show
West Brom 2-3 NewcastleSoccer Saturday analysis[LNB] Shambolic. Dreadful. Horrific.[LNB]Those are just three of the words Phil Thompson used to describe the performances of West Brom centre-backs Leon Barnett and Abdoulaye Meite following their 3-2 defeat to Newcastle.[LNB]Damien Duff, Peter Lovenkrands and Steven Taylor capitalised on a series of defensive lapses to bag the goals in Newcastle's win and a brace from Marc-Antoine Fortune proved to be in vain for the Baggies.[LNB]But Thompson was left reeling by Albion's defensive horror show - which began right at the start of the game.[LNB]"It was a brilliant start to the game with three goals in nine minutes," he said on Soccer Saturday.[LNB]"Newcastle took the lead after 64 seconds following the first mistake by a West Brom defender.[LNB]"The defending from the two West Brom centre-backs Barnett and Meite was absolutely shambolic to say the least, just dreadful.[LNB]"But they got back in it through Fortune, who was really impressive. He was good at holding the ball up and scored a left-footer to put it back on level terms.[LNB]"He looked the part but for West Brom it was mistake after mistake and the frustration in the West Brom fans was boiling over.[LNB]"It was elementary mistakes all the while and Newcastle sensed this and started to get hold of the ball."[LNB]ChangesWith West Brom trailing at half time, Tony Mowbray threw on Roman Bednar and Filipe Teixeira and while they had a positive influence on the match, they were unable to disguise their defender's problems.[LNB]"They did make a stirring comeback," Thompson continued.[LNB]"Tony Mowbray did make two changes at halt time - Bednar came on and Teixeira came on.[LNB]"Teixeira was very influential in the midfield because some of the West Brom players really didn't want the ball. He seemed to have the confidence and threaded the ball through for the second goal for Fortune. It wasn't enough though.[LNB]"They've given themselves a chance of survival, but I just look at the goals they conceded and the way they conceded them.[LNB]"If those two defenders are the best two they've got then my goodness...[LNB]"I know I keep pinpointing these two guys but it was a horrific performance by the pair of them, all kinds of errors all over the pitch."[LNB]
