Team Focus: Boring Boring Baggies Overlook Berahino Despite Attacking Woes
Last time out, and for the fourth time this season, West Brom didn't to have a single shot on target in a Premier League match. The fact that their failure to test the keeper last weekend came in a match against local rivals and bottom club Aston Villa was even more depressing for the home support at the Hawthorns.
Only seven teams have failed to hit the target in a game this season, with Newcastle, Swansea and Watford the only other three to do so more than once. With the Baggies doing so twice as often as any other team, however, their fans have had to endure some pretty turgid football.
Of course, they'd rather be in their current position than that of their previous opponents but there is growing unrest that the side aren't playing the sort of football that will encourage the fans to return week-in, week-out.
When the club hired Tony Pulis they knew what they were getting. West Brom are unlikely to go down under the former Stoke boss, which remains the primary aim for each season, but while football is a results business at management and board level it's still an entertainment business to the fans, just ask Manchester United's unsatisfied supporters.
West Brom foot the table for both shots (9.7) and shots on target per game (3.3). They average fewer short passes per game than any other Premier League team (260) and the least possession in the top-flight (42.4%). While they sit comfortably above the drop zone that will matter little to the club's hierarchy, who are unlikely to take any action against such lowly statistics. However, there will come a time, like there did at Stoke, where the fans demanding a more attractive brand of football will grow in number.
Going forwards West Brom are a side lacking a creative spark. The likes of James McClean, Craig Gardner and James Morrison are often fielded in the wide positions and while the former in particular can have an impact in the final third, Pulis continues to opt for work rate over raw ability in every position. Stephane Sessegnon has returned to the side of late but elsewhere the likes of Serge Gnabry, who has returned to Arsenal having played 12 minutes of action, Callum McManaman, who has started just twice, and Saido Berahino have been left out time and again.
Of course there is more to the Berahino situation than merely his unwillingness to get to grips with his manager's demands. The youngster has marginalised himself with comments off the field and expressing a desire to leave is never going to sit well with the manager or the fans. However, the case remains that West Brom's most exciting prospect is being overlooked at a time when the supporters have had very little to get excited about.
It's turned into a nightmare situation for everyone involved. Not long ago considered one of the brightest prospects in the league, Berahino's reputation has turned him into a player that no-one seems to want, despite continued links to some of England's biggest clubs. West Brom claim they want the 22-year old to stay but he hasn't started a game in any competition since October. The fact that he remains the club's joint leading goalscorer (3 goals) despite not netting in that time is relatively embarrassing.
Despite Pulis having repeatedly claimed the young forward is a ‘smashing lad', or words to that effect, he tends to follow such praise by criticising his character, so something doesn't quite add up there. While the manager refuses to reintegrate Berahino into the team no club will stump up the sort of fee that the striker once commanded, and the Baggies seem unwilling to buckle.
With goals in short supply on the pitch but sitting there on the bench every week, the club need to come to a decision. Since the youngster broke into the first team he has scored at least 15 more league goals than any other West Brom player (22). That no other player has registered double figures for the club over two and a half seasons is quite remarkable.
It's never nice for player power to be so abundantly clear in a situation such as this but if Pulis isn't going to let Berahino prove his worth then it's only going to become more toxic and a distraction to the rest of the squad. The time has arguably come drop his lofty valuation and use what would still likely be a considerable fee to replenish a squad severely lacking in attacking positions.
West Brom should avoid the drop with or without Berahino purely based on their defensive organisation after all and it's clear that moving on without the youngster looks to be the only way this particular story will pan out. Focusing on replacing the striker's goals and giving the fans reason for cheer needs to be the number one priority now.
With Berahino looking unlikely to feature much if at all between now and the end of the season if he doesn’t secure a move this month then he is worth selling in the season market for as little as £1.00.
You can trade the values of a number of West Brom players with Buabook, the first player trading exchange based on detailed statistics
