West Brom News speaking to Kevin Phillips

Thu 26 August 2021 13:41, UK

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…

Kevin Phillips has defended Kenneth Zohore’s performance for West Brom on Wednesday night after the striker was booed off at The Hawthorns.

Zohore, 27, has consistently struggled for the Baggies despite being the most expensive signing they have ever made outside of the Premier League when Slaven Bilic splashed out £8million on him in 2019.

On Wednesday, Valerien Ismael started the Dane for the first time but within minutes of the 6-0 defeat to Arsenal, he was limping around the pitch after a collision with an away player.

Zohore continued but visibly frustrated his team-mates with an inept performance that was already made difficult by the sheer number of Under-23s players in the side.

Phillips didn’t rate Zohore’s display against Arsenal’s strong side but he has some sympathy towards the ex-Cardiff striker due to the knock he sustained early on.

Speaking to West Brom News, Phillips said: “It was a great opportunity for him to come in and show the fans what he hasn’t shown. But it’s hard to judge him because he went in for a tackle after five minutes and hurt his knee.

“You could clearly see he was uncomfortable as he was limping around but that’s from over-enthusiasm and the way Ismael wants his players to press I’m going to give him the slight benefit of the doubt because he was carrying a knock for most of the game.

“You could tell he wanted to carry on and was desperate to do well. He ran around and put himself about but it just didn’t happen for him.

“It’s difficult to judge him when he’s playing with the Under-23s against that Arsenal team.

“Overall, his performance wasn’t what we have seen from him over the years so I can understand why supporters were disappointed.”

Zohore was substituted off by Ismael in the 65th minute and there were audible boos around The Hawthorns when that happened.

Phillips understands the frustration but doesn’t want to see his old fanbase doing that.

“You don’t want to see that,” said Phillips.

“I completely and utterly get it, he came with a reputation and hasn’t done it. There’s always going to be a section that’s not happy and I can sympathise with that.”

Since joining West Brom, Zohore has scored five goals in 23 appearances across all competitions and spent last season on loan at Millwall, where he netted three times in 19 outings.

In other West Brom news, talkSPORT reporters have blasted the club for a “disgrace” they noticed against Arsenal.

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