Carlos Corberan has shared Jed Wallace made the call to drop to the bench in favour of Brandon Thomas-Asante, as he displayed to his boss why he’s the captain at West Brom with his selfless act.
The boss shared a conversation with his skipper in which he had suggested playing both Jeremy Sarmiento and Grady Diangana in a change of style, which would have meant one of Wallace and BTA dropped to the bench.
Wallace then supposedly recommended Corberan start his teammate, even though he was determined to play against his former club, as he felt it would benefit the team to play with an out-and-out striker at the head.
Speaking to Birmingham Live on 24 September, Corberan revealed: “Wallace this week has shown me and our team why he is our captain.
“When I was preparing the game, I thought it was important to have Sarmiento and Diangana in the first XI – trying to play the game that they wanted to do, to be aggressive with the playmakers. Players, who could receive the ball with their back to goal, turn and create something.
“I was talking with Wallace and Asante to explain that one would play as a number nine, and one would start on the bench. I wanted to explain to them that because both are very important players to me and to the team, and I respect them a lot.
“Wallace said to me that Asante should play, even though he was fully determined to play against Millwall. The best way for the team was to use our number nine. Wallace doesn’t like to miss any minutes, but he has a lot of value in this club and with his team behind this answer.
“Finding someone who is this self-demanding and ambitious is very difficult to find. He is someone who was thinking of the team before himself. It’s as simple as that. I am proud and pleased to have him as the captain of my team.”
If it was up to the boss, choosing between the two options would have been a hard call to make. While he could see the best option would be to start Thomas-Asante up top, dropping the captain would have been a big call to make ahead of a game he could have suited.
For Wallace to step up and volunteer to be the one to miss out, with his focus on the benefit to the team rather than his own playing time and desire to face his former club, was a display of selflessness that confirms he was the right choice for the captaincy this season.
While ultimately the game didn’t end up the way they had planned, and the striker ended up having a frustrating time in front of goal, these types of decisions and experiments need to be made to benefit the team.
It is likely Wallace will find himself back in the side for the visit to Preston next weekend, particularly after the poor performance going forward against Millwall, but he has proved he can be relied upon by his manager should he need to bounce anything off him, and that is important.