‘Brilliant’ – West Brom boss Valerien Ismael hails Grady Diangana
West Brom boss Valerien Ismael hopes that Grady Diangana can build on his ‘brilliant’ performance against Peterborough on Saturday (January 22).
The winger comfortably slotted the ball into the far corner to make it 3-0 to the Baggies, earning a crucial three points in their fight for promotion.
Diangana has failed to continue the form he showed whilst on loan from West Ham since penning a permanent contract at the Hawthorns -potentially worth £18million.
“It wasn’t just the goal he scored, even before the goal his impact against Peterborough was brilliant,” Ismael told Express & Star.
“He just got the reward with the goal, it wasn’t an easy one. It was a great feeling. We spoke last Friday and we said we know his quality, we know he can be a decisive player for us.
“Against Peterborough that was the case. But now he must keep going after this breakthrough and make sure that he can stay at that level.”
He added: “If we are able to have 18 players every game at a high level we will look much better, we will win more games and we will be back in the race.”
Risk worth the reward?
Ismael singling out Diangana publicly last week was a very risky move from the Frenchman.
It could have easily resulted in the 23-year-old’s performance levels dropping even lower as he suffers with confidence and tries to find form.
It is an outdated method of dealing with poor performers, one that rarely works in the modern game but that can’t be applied to the winger.
He played much better than he has done in previous weeks and even scored a goal so his bosses comments, for now, seem to have given him that extra motivation.
It’s about time he starts putting in the performances that we saw so regularly whilst on loan.
That is what earned him a permanent place in Ismael’s squad but whether it’s the pressure or lack of need to impress, he just hasn’t looked the same player this season.
Hopefully, he can build on this weekend’s performance along with the rest of the team.
In other Baggies news, Ismael hopes West Brom can build on momentum after Peterborough win.