da betsson： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.
da dobrowin： West Bromwich Albion failed to capitalise on their chance to return to the top of the Championship table as they had to settle for just a point up at the DW Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Snapshot
The Baggies drew 1-1 with Wigan Athletic, and on another night, it would have certainly been a defeat as they were surprisingly the worse of the two sides.
Slaven Bilic’s side could only muster up six attempts at goal in comparison to the Latics’ 14 shots, per SofaScore, so it was an underwhelming night all-round.
Although the Croatian’s tactical decisions could have been the reason behind Albion spurning the opportunity to regain their throne.
Off the Bench
Four changes were made to the side that thrashed Swansea City aside with Matheus Pereira, Grady Diangana, Kieran Gibbs and Hal Robson-Kanu all absent from the starting line up.
The Baggies do have a hectic schedule ahead with three games in just over a week, but ultimately, it was the wrong call to rest so many players with Leeds United winning the night before.
Both teams have created an 11 point gap to the rest of the division with Marcelo Bielsa’s side only top through goal difference.
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In the absence of Pereira and Diangana, Albion lacked creativity and were void of any real ideas in attack. Charlie Austin had one shot all game, and that was his goal from the indirect free-kick.
West Brom could only create one big chance while Wigan, who have been struggling this season, created three.
Bilic has now handed Leeds the upper hand going into a busy festive period, whether that will have a mental effect on the players remains to be seen, but it would surely have been a confidence-booster to be sitting top of the table right now.
He could have acted more safely by resting just one or two players over the course of the next few matches rather than completely ripping up a side that have been running so well as of late.
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Meanwhile, West Brom fans have slammed one player that was handed a rare start on Wednesday night…