Eric Wynalda flummoxed as to why West Brom ace Daryl Dike was not at World Cup
Former United States international Eric Wynalda was left bewildered when West Brom striker Daryl Dike did not feature in the USMNT World Cup squad.
The 53-year-old, who earned more than 100 caps for the American national side during his career, is a big fan of Dike and how effective he can be at certain stages in the game.
This meant his absence from Gregg Berhalter’s final 26-man squad was surprising to him even though the 22-year-old had not played many games for West Brom at that stage due to injury.
“I mean, it’s just one of those weird things to me. When you’re the manager of a World Cup team, your job is to put the best players on the field,” Wynalda said to MLS Soccer. “It’s not really about systems. It’s about your opponent, it’s about matchups.
“This guy [Dike] is going be a handful for anybody – anybody. Even if he wasn’t all the way there, he’s still an unbelievable option off the bench.”
Brute
No player particularly likes to be known as the battering ram that breaks down a stubborn defence but every team would love to have such a player who is also good enough to be an intricate talent at the same time.
That is the description that best fits Dike at this stage in his career and his physical presence and power often overshadow his impressive technical ability from afar.
At The Hawthorns, Carlos Corberan can use him as either a target man to aim long balls at or somebody capable of stretching a defence if balls are played in behind for him.
The ability to do both in equal measure is something very few players possess and his ability to do so makes him one of the toughest opponents to face in the Championship.
Given the United States’ lack of a focal point or first-choice striker in Qatar, maybe Berhalter should have brought him in despite his lack of games and finally got rid of Norwich City’s Josh Sargeant who has never been a goalscorer.
In other West Brom news, Jed Wallace may have accidentally broken some team news ahead of the FA Cup clash with Chesterfield when talking to the BBC.