‘I can’t understand’ – Exclusive: Phillips baffled by some WBA fans who slammed ace v Sheff Weds
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Matheus Pereira was not at his best on Wednesday night despite scoring two goals as West Brom beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0, but according to Kevin Phillips, results matter way moe than performances at this stage of the season.
A number of Albion fans took to Twitter during the match at Hillsborough to slate Pereira, 24, for his performance against the Owls.
He definitely struggled up until he scored his first goal just before the hour-mark but once he headed home to make it 2-0 to the Baggies, there was no looking back for the Brazilian before he chipped in with a second towards the end.
Phillips cannot understand why some fans would be so critical of Pereira’s performance when he has done the most important job of them all and helped the Baggies secure all three-points.
“No, not at this stage of the season,” Phillips told West Brom News when asked if Pereira’s overall performance actually mattered. “It’s all about getting a result.
“Everyone wants perfect performances week in and week out, playing well for 90 minutes but what Pereira has done is not have a great game but go and do something else – i.e. score goals.
“There’s no way I’ll criticise the player. He scored a great header last night and then his second one, he gets half a yard and bang, it’s a goal.
“I can’t understand why you’d be criticising any of the players at this stage of the season – certainly when they’re chipping in with two goals.”
Everyone has an opinion in football and our opinion is that Pereira has not looked entirely himself since the Championship resumed.
It could be a fitness issue, it could be a form issue or it could just be that we’re being too harsh on what is our best player.
But there’s no denying that he came up with the goods when it mattered most on Wednesday night and as a result, West Brom are five points clear of Brentford once more and are only one point behind leaders Leeds.
In other West Brom news, Alan McInally hailed this “brilliant” Albion player on Wednesday night.
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