View: West Brom summer signing has gone off the boil, response needed v Stoke
OPINION
Grady Diangana’s last two performances for West Brom have been a bit of a concern.
The 21-year-old has been one of the stars at the season at The Hawthorns since his summer arrival, but the on-loan West Ham winger has been a bit of a letdown in the 2-2 draws against Barnsley and Charlton last week.
According to stats by WhoScored, Diangana has been one of the best players on the ball in the Black Country this term.
He has averaged 2.6 dribbles per league match, which is more than any other Albion player and ranks him fourth overall in the Championship.
Diangana has also averaged 1.8 key passes in each of his appearances – only Matheus Pereira [2.3] boasts more at West Brom – while he has also scored four goals and supplied three assists in all competitions.
Diangana’s form at West Brom has led to concerns that West Ham could recall the youngster in the January transfer window due to a clause in his loan deal at The Hawthorns.
While that is a worrying thought that will hang over supporters’ minds until the clause expires halfway through January, the immediate concern about Diangana should be his last two displays.
In the 2-2 draw with Barnsley last week, Diangana completed just one key pass – the fewest key passes he had completed since the 1-1 draw at Fulham in mid-September.
When he got on the ball, it did not seem as though he knew too much about what to do with it before Slaven Bilic ended up substituted him off while Albion were 2-0 down. Almost as soon as Diangana exited the field, West Brom scored their first goal before going on to earn a point.
Diangana’s display against Charlton was the worst though.
Stats by WhoScored show that the winger failed to complete a dribble or key pass in his 88 minutes on the pitch.
West Brom play against Stoke next Monday in their next Championship fixture.
Diangana needs to rediscover his form in that game or else Albion will continue to struggle to extend their lead at the top of the Championship table.
In other West Brom news, Albion have made a decision on Nathan Ferguson’s red card.