Verdict: 29-year-old has transformed from West Brom scapegoat into ‘top player’ by Bilic
Jake Livermore has been one of the stand-out players at West Brom this season and his performance in the 1-0 win against Hull City on Saturday was arguably one of his best displays for the Black Country club since his January 2017 switch from Humberside.
Livermore, 29, scored what turned out to be the winning goal for West Brom in the first half when he smashed the ball past the Hull goalkeeper from outside the penalty area.
Albion’s 1-0 win meant that they kept themselves top of the Championship table going into the final international break of 2019 and remain on course for promotion to the Premier League at the second time of asking.
Even without his goal, it was a terrific shift by the former Tottenham midfielder at the KCOM Stadium and Slaven Bilic has been singing his praises of the Baggies captain since.
“It was a great goal to be fair,” Bilic said, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail. “We’d done that a little bit in training on Friday, that move. It exploits the area that they don’t cover too much, in the corners, but that was half of the job!
“It’s not a chance when you receive the ball 20 yards from goal but his strike was magnificent. Not only that, his whole performance.
“He’s a proper captain. Not only this game, but games. He’s like that. He was the same at Stoke a week ago, he’s playing that kind of football.
“He likes to pass, he’s a captain, he’s a leader. He’s a top professional, a top player, and it’s a privilege for me as a manager to have him on the pitch.”
Livermore has been fantastic for West Brom this season and credit has to go to Bilic for the way that he has transformed the midfielder from scapegoat into a fan favourite.
According to stats by WhoScored, Livermore has developed much more into a box-to-box midfielder than he was under the leadership of previous managers Tony Pulis and Darren Moore.
This season has seen Livermore averaged more shots at goal per league game [1.2] compared to last term [0.6]. He has also averaged more tackles per outing this season [2.1] than under Moore’s management in 2018/19 [1.8].
He is getting up and down the pitch remarkably well and that could be down to the way that he has slimmed down under Bilic’s leadership and looks a lot less like a midfield muscle man and more like a complete athlete.
Livermore’s leadership skills cannot be discredited too because since earning the captain’s armband he has been terrific.
Bilic has done some wonderful things in his first few months at The Hawthorns and getting the best out of someone who was much-maligned by fans last season has to be one of his best achievements so far.
In other West Brom news, Tony Pulis has also delivered his verdict on Livermore after his latest performance.