View: Huge Bilic dilemma on the horizon as West Brom ramp up restart preparations
West Brom have entered Phase Two of the EFL’s safety protocols as they ramp up their preparations for the Championship season resuming later this month.
Albion announced on their official website on Wednesday that the next step will be them being able to return to full-contact training “shortly” with the first round of second-tier matches set to be held on June 20.
West Brom are likely to play Birmingham behind closed doors at The Hawthorns in their first game back and Slaven Bilic is bound to have a major headache when it comes to selecting his team.
Before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, West Brom were on a good run of form with Callum Robinson having a huge impact on the left-wing since his January arrival on loan from Sheffield United.
Robinson, 25, was brought in by Bilic to stand in for the injured Grady Diangana but the 22-year-old West Ham loanee is now back to full fitness and it begs the question, who will start on the left-wing once the season resumes?
Diangana has made just two short appearances for West Brom since Christmas and it remains to be seen what sort of form he will be in after not playing for so long.
But stats by WhoScored show that the West Ham loanee averaged more dribbles, won more fouls, was dispossessed less often and made fewer bad touches of the ball per league appearance than Robinson.
However Robinson’s stats also impress with the ex-Preston winger averaging more shots at goal and key passes per game than Diangana.
Robinson and Diangana seem to be able to offer something different to the West Brom attack.
In Robinson, you have a winger who cuts inside, plays in his team-mates more often and his advanced role sees him getting to fire more shots at goal.
Diangana, on the other hand, loves to have the ball at his feet, using his pace and technique to beat defenders, win set-pieces and help Albion retain possession in the attack.
It is going to be a tough call for Bilic but if we had to guess who will start in the first match back, we would say Robinson.
We love Diangana and want Albion to sign him permanently from West Ham if they can but it has been almost six months since he last played a full 90 minutes and Robinson really doesn’t deserve to be dropped.
In other West Brom news, David Prutton has been raving about this “phenomenal” striker after he was linked with Albion.
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