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West Brom in advanced talks with preferred choice as replacement for Carlos Corberan

West Brom are in advanced talks with preferred choice Raphael Wicky as replacement for Carlos Corberan and could be appointed in coming days.

Rene Hake has held two rounds of interviews with Albion hierarchy in London. Raphael Wicky has also been in the capital, having held talks with the club.

Raphael Wicky is thought to have moved ahead of Rene Hake and John Heitinga to become the new West Brom head coach.

The former Basel boss is now the ‘preferred choice’, after having held detailed discussions with Albion’s board in meetings this week.

Wicky, a former Switzerland international with a notable coaching career, has been successful in managing teams like Young Boys, where he won the Swiss league and cup double in the 2022/23 season.

His experience also includes stints with Basel and Chicago Fire, showcasing his ability to manage at both domestic and international levels.

This potential appointment comes after Carlos Corberan’s departure to Valencia, with West Brom looking for a new head coach to lead them in their promotion bid in the Championship.

John Percy tweeted: #wba are in advanced talks with Raphaël Wicky as they move closer to appointing a new head coach. Former Young Boys manager Wicky is West Brom’s preferred choice and while negotiations are ongoing his arrival could be confirmed in days

The92Analysis have posted a thread on Twitter about Wicky…

Coaching career 👔

Raphaël’s coaching career began in 2009 where he coached the youth teams of Thun. He coached the youth teams of Servette before departing to Basel in 2013 where he coached their u18s and u21s. In April, 2017 he became the manager of Basels senior squad.

Wicky won the Swiss league in his first season with Basel, also claiming the Swiss cup. After a bad spell and getting eliminated from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, Raphaël and Basel part ways in 2018. He would then go on to manage USA under 17s where he would place.

An impressive second place. During that campaign the goal scoring ratio was 28-5. After this impressive campaign, MLS side Chicago Fire would hire Wicky. This wasn’t the most impressive of jobs as they would narrowly miss the MLS playoffs with an average of 1 point per game.

He was sacked in September 2021. After this stint, he would later return to the Swiss league to take the reins of BSC Young Boys in 2022. In his first season, he won the double winning the league and claiming the cup. However, after a poor campaign in the UCL he was sacked.

Tactical overview 🔍

Throughout his coaching career, Wicky has utilised the 4-4-2 diamond formation. Sometimes he would shake things up by using 4-1-3-2 and 4-3-1-2. Raphaël would dominate the league with the 4-4-2 diamond formation set up.

Out of possession is where this formation is most utilised. As you can see in the image below, per ‘http://totalfootballanalysis.com’ the diamond shape in the Wicky’s midfield really causes problems for the opposition as it’s very hard to break down. It shuts down many passing routes.

And if the pass is complete, it will immediately contract to put lots of pressure on the opposition. Wicky’s teams love a counterattack. This is caused by the high amount of ball recoveries he averages. In the 22-23 season, his team registered 299 high regains.

Working with young players 👦

Due to his experience with youth teams etc, Wicky has been praised for his ability to work with young players. West Brom’s star player Tom Fellows came from the academy, can Wicky develop another homegrown star like him?

Potential Signings ✍️

Although it’s hard to predict who Wicky could sign if he becomes the West Bromwich manager, fans can be excited by the prospect of possible European signings due to the fact he has managed out there for his whole career.

Due to the fact that Raphaël has played with 2 strikers for his managerial career, could fans see a striker signing if he was to be hired?. With Daryl Dike out injured and Devante Cole underperforming this could be the situation. Could turn around Cole’s WBA career?

Fans reacted as reports confirm that West Brom are in advanced talks with their preferred choice Raphaël Wicky as replacement for Carlos Corberan…

@JackSimms1991: Sticky Wickys’s barmy army #wba

@BeefyBaggie1965: Oh wicky your so fine your so fine hey wicky, hey wicky….

@wbaIiam: Sensational, champions league manager in the championship 🔥🔥

@BEmoryASU18: No clue how he’ll do but either way Patel clearly cast a very wide net and looked for managers of all sorts of different backgrounds as opposed to just going with the same recycled EFL managers. And that I can support 👍 #wba

@Luis__C11: Baggies are back 🇨🇭

@uber_foods: This appointment excites me more than Hake #wba

@WBA_CR98: HMS get the play offs is back on ⛴️

@liamjackjones: Excited #WBA

@jackdavies167: Get in 😍😍

@Jordan_Brown29: Fucking beautiful 😍

@BrownSlices: Win win for West Brom fans, they get a decent coach and they get to comb through our fans’ research on him

@shanehagan24: #SAFC interesting that West Brom and Plymouth are both going for coaches we (Sunderland) were heavily linked to in the summer

@Carpenterdf: I don’t know why but there is something about Wicky that just excites me. Maybe it’s because he was a seasoned international or he’s Swiss and handsome or what, but there is just something a little bit exciting about him. Also. And not to hammer home a point. Assuming Wicky IS appointed, when was the last time we had a head coach/manager who was quite so handsome? #wba

@LJB1501: Hey Wicky you’re so fine you’re so fine you blow my mind Hey Wicky #wba

@Tomwba98: Interesting and exciting appointment – would’ve been my choice from the names mentioned #wba

@gavin_poulton: Fucking in there! 👏

@taga_bird33: So glad it’s someone with a decent record rather than the assistant bloke! Here’s to a new era! #wba

@MattS_121098: We’re actually going up

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