Erik Pieters hobbled off the pitch in the 77th minute of West Brom’s 0-0 draw with Millwall on Saturday (23 September), and any injury to him may be terrible news for The Hawthorns following what occurred the last time he was absent.
Carlos Corberan has now stated that it was only a tight muscle, yet he likened it to Josh Maja’s injury, indicating that he, too, did not anticipate it to be as serious as it finally was.
Pieters is likely to return next week when the Baggies play three games in seven days on Saturday, Tuesday, and Friday, although the nature of his injury is unknown.
Corberan told Birmingham Live after the game, “No, he’s tight, the muscle is very tight.”
“He couldn’t play any longer.” It doesn’t appear to be an injury, but I’m not sure – I didn’t anticipate Maja to be injured and my striker to be out for eight weeks.
“Hopefully, none of our players are injured, because we have a week to prepare for the next game, but then it’s Saturday, Tuesday, and Friday.” It’s the busiest week we’ve ever had.”
Pieters has played all but two of the Baggies’ Championship games this season, demonstrating his significance to Corberan’s system, with his experience and talent both playing a part in the position he plays on the left side of a back three.
The previous time Pieters was forced to miss a game was against Huddersfield at The Hawthorns, when the visitors scored a last-minute winner. Corberan had somewhat altered his strategy to compensate for Pieters’ absence, which contributed to their dismal result.
Pieters and Ajayi both played 90 minutes on either side of a strong back three in their previous game, a 4-2 triumph against Middlesbrough at The Hawthorns, allowing Darnell Furlong and Matt Phillips to push forward as wing-backs and create higher up the field.
The absence of both players appeared to be the impetus for Carlos Corberan’s decision to switch to a back four, with the aforementioned wing-backs dropping deeper as full-backs and Conor Townsend replacing Phillips in that position, limiting their influence in the attacking phase of play.
If this is the method the manager deems fit to compensate for the absence of his chosen left-sided defender, it might bode disaster for next week’s match against
