View: ‘Different class’ West Brom loanee is surely ready for first team squad role in 20/21
West Brom loanee Alex Palmer has made quite the impression during his time with Plymouth Argyle this season.
The 23-year-old has featured in 41 games across all competitions for the League Two side, conceding 42 goals in the process.
And Pilgrims’ boss Ryan Lowe has claimed that he believes the youngster is good enough to be a part of Slaven Bilic’s first team squad next season.
Speaking to the Plymouth Herald, he said: “I had a brief chat with Alex. He has been different class and probably the best goalkeeper in League Two.
“If I’m West Brom, he ain’t coming back and we have got to be aware of that. We have got to respect that.
“Alex could find himself in West Brom’s first team squad next season, whether that’s second choice, third choice, being around it.”
But it Palmer actually good enough to displace Johnathan Bond as Bilic’s number two next season?
The stats would suggest he is ready to make the step up.
This season 3.16 saves per game, the exact same number as Bond, despite facing fewer shots on goal, as per Wyscout.
On top of that he has a reflex save ratio of 48.9%, 6.5% higher than Bond’s.
He has also conceded just 0.97 goals per game from an xG of 1.08, giving him a save surplus of 0.11 per 90 minutes.
And there was no better illustration of his shot stopping prowess than his debut for Plymouth, were he made nine save, including six with reflexes.
The visual above shows just how diverse those shots were as well.
Three of them had an xG in excess of 0.6.
These were vital saves too, with his side taking all three points in a 3-0 win.
It’s no exaggeration to suggest that on another day, they could have lost without Palmer’s interventions.
Take the image above as an example.
As the ball flashes across the face, the man on the floor has a free header into an empty net from three yards out.
He should be burying it.
And admittedly, it’s not the best effort on his part, but Palmer still does exceptionally well to get across and make the save.
His footwork is fast and neat, and his reflexes are top quality.
Even with the effort ending up relatively central, the range from which it is struck means that he has to react very quickly to stop it from going through him.
And he does, showing brilliant awareness and a strong arm to pull off a world class stop.
It would be a big ask to give him any kind of role in a Premier League match day squad next term, but we think that he’s ready for the challenge.
In other West Brom news, Local journalist has shared an update after Sky Sports claimed that WBA want this international striker
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