West Brom lost 2-1 at Blackburn last weekend and Cedric Kipre made an error in the build up to one of Rovers’ goals – Carlos Corberan has
challenged the defender to respond.
It was an unusual situation as we sat down with Carlos Corberan at his pre-match press conference to discuss West Bromwich Albion’s forthcoming
meeting with Swansea City at The Hawthorns – but also to reflect a week ago on the defeat to Blackburn Rovers which, at the time, the Spaniard
wasn’t able to do. It was like conducting two press conferences in one.
Having been given two yellow cards, Corberan was forced to watch the remaining 15 minutes of the match via the TV in the dressing room and wasn’t
permitted to discuss a host of topics with the press after the game – like team selection, for example. Nor was he able to offer his thoughts on how the
game had played out, or the flashpoints which led to Rovers racing into a two-goal lead in the first half.
The manner in which Albion conceded those goals were desperately disappointing for all, of course. The timing of the second, seconds after the first,
the fact that both were totally self-inflicted and avoidable – it was a manic two minutes which cost Albion all the work they’d otherwise done in the
other 88. The series of events which led to Harry Leonard doubling Blackburn’s lead came from a misplaced pass from Cedric Kipre.
It wasn’t just the pass, though, which irritated Corberan. It was the defending which followed it, and the goalkeeping; Corberan was of the belief that
Alex Palmer could still have prevented the goal after Kipre’s error. Corberan himself takes responsibility for mistakes made by his players who he
encourages to take risks, but the aim is to cut them out at source – and he’ll continue working with the entire Albion squad in order to do so.
“We are not stupid. When a mistake happens, you cannot do anything,” Corberan said. “We have to be calm, we have to analyse why it happened so
that we can help the player to reduce the mistakes. During the game the players need to be brave – that means taking responsibilities. As a team we
have to prevent mistakes.
“If you analyse the goals we conceded…in football, you can have one mistake with one action. The problem is when you have the second in a row. The
worst mistake of the game that day was the Kipre pass, but in this mistake, the worst we had, we could still manage it better – with Kipre having more
calm to manage the situation. He went too much to the ball and the player passed behind him. Still, then we have Alex to protect the goal. The finish
wasn’t in the centre corridor of the pitch.
“When in football you concede a goal, to concede it from the centre, the keeper is at a disadvantage. The next one, from the sides, they lose the angle
and the keeper can control the goal. What was the problem? We didn’t prevent or couldn’t solve the mistake – first Kipre’s position and then without
the intervention of Alex.
“I don’t want to see my players play with mistakes. That’s why we have a lot of meetings. It’s important for the players to understand the advantage –
where is it? Is it playing short, or between the lines, or playing it far? My work is to make them understand every game situation. In that moment,
they need to forget the mistakes. I take responsibilities as a coach. If we are going to be dominant, they have to take risks and I am responsible for
them. Yes.”
Corberan has now challenged Kipre to respond accordingly after that error after having a discussion with the centre half this week and to show proof
of learning from mistakes.
“I had a conversation yesterday with Kipre,” Corberan continued. “I said to him ‘is the mistake going to affect you or not? Are you able to still show
everything, that is a lot? Or are you going to be inhibited for the fact that you made this mistake?’ The big players make mistakes, show personality
and they keep going. I want to have my players with me. This is a point of how I manage the players – I will accept the mistake of Kipre, for example,
but I will not accept the lack of effort from my team.
“Kipre’s mistake has a limit in time. My mistakes as a coach have limits in time. If I continue leaving my technical area in the Championship, I cannot
coach. We need to learn from mistakes. I know the conditions and I know they’ll learn, but what I’ll never accept is the lack of effort in the team.”
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