Bilic names West Brom rookie who was ‘one of the reasons’ he didn’t strengthen defence in summer
Although a few long-serving players remain at The Hawthorns, West Brom do not look much like the team they were at the end of last season.
Slaven Bilic transformed the Baggies after taking charge in the summer, saying goodbye to the likes of Boaz Myhill, Craig Dawson, James Morrison, Jay Rodriguez, Salomon Rondon and Allan Nyom while welcoming a spate of new faces from near and afar.
But, despite Ahmed Hegazi undergoing surgery in the summer to rule him out of the first few months of the season, Dawson being sold to Watford and Tosin Adarabioyo’s loan ending, Bilic only signed one new centre-back in the summer when Semi Ajayi was snapped up from Rotherham.
It was a bold decision based on Kyle Bartley’s underwhelming debut season at The Hawthorns and the fact that Albion would be without Hegazi for a while.
Dara O’Shea was the next centre-back in Bilic’s pecking order and after his impressive league debut on Saturday in the 1-1 draw with Brentford, Bilic’s decision is looking as though it has been the correct one.
“From last season we lost numbers as well as quality in the centre-back area, but one of the reasons I didn’t want to sign another centre-back was Dara,” Bilic said, as quoted by the Express & Star.
O’Shea was brilliant after he came off the bench to replace the injured Bartley on Saturday.
According to stats by WhoScored, the 20-year-old completed 89 per cent of his passes in his time on the pitch and no other West Brom player had better.
He also made four clearances to help keep Brentford at bay and earn a vital point for West Brom to move themselves three points clear at the top of the Championship table.
If Hegazi is still unavailable on Boxing Day and Bartley is not fit enough for the trip to Barnsley, then at least Albion have a good young player in O’Shea who seems ready for the step up.
In other West Brom news, Albion are in pursuit of a £4million-value player from Ligue 1.