View: Moment of brilliance proves that overlooked West Brom ace should be included v Brentford
There were a few eyebrows raised among West Brom supporters when Slaven Bilic left Kamil Grosicki out of his 20-man squad to face Birmingham City at the weekend.
The Poland international has struggled for game time since arriving at The Hawthorns, but looked impressive during the Baggies’ 2-2 friendly draw against Aston Villa recently.
Nonetheless, he was left at home on Saturday, with Bilic opting to give a start to Matt Phillips instead.
The 29-year-old failed to impress, and drew widespread ire from frustrated Albion fans on social media.
With that in mind, it could be time for Bilic to reassess his pecking order in wide positions.
Obviously, Grady Diangana and Matheus Pereira are the top dogs at The Hawthorns at the moment, with Callum Robinson putting in a decent enough shift.
But Grosicki deserves more of a chance to prove himself.
As per Wyscout, so far this season he has made 0.26 more dribbles per game than Phillips, as well as having a cross accuracy rate that is 12.2% better.
He also has a higher xG and a a better shot accuracy percentage too.
And his last Championship goal for Hull City proves exactly how dangerous he can be.
As pictured above, the Pole is the player on the shoulder of the last man.
As soon as the ball is played, he is looking to use his pace to turn his man and get in behind.
That movement is difficult to teach, and shows a great natural awareness of how to trouble a defence.
When Grosicki then breaks clear he shows fantastic speed and composure to stay ahead of his man.
In this situation, it’s not uncommon for a forward to panic or fluff his lines, but full credit to the Pole, he never looks as if he is in anything other than complete control.
And he really hammers that point home with his finish.
Waiting for the keeper to commit himself and make the first move, Grosicki sees his moment and dinks a delightful shot over the stranded stopper.
It shows flair and intelligence, but isn’t just trickery for the sake of it.
We saw with his goal against Villa that the 32-year-old still has this in his locker, and there’s absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t be given a place on the bench on Friday night at the very least.
In other West Brom news, Don Goodman has been raving about Albion’s “unsung hero”.
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