West Brom striker Daryl Dike could lose starting spot after shocker v Birmingham City
West Brom striker Daryl Dike could quickly lose his starting spot in Carlos Corberan’s starting XI, with Brandon Thomas-Asante available again, after his shocking performance in the 2-0 defeat to Birmingham City.
On-loan Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri scored the first and laid on the second as Birmingham City comfortably beat Corberan’s men at St Andrew’s on Friday night [10 February].
The Baggies failed to create goalscoring opportunities and rarely threatened John Ruddy’s goal in what was drab showing, losing ground on the Championship playoff places.
After the match, Corberan didn’t hold back in the criticism of his players.
He said [WBA Official Site, 10 February]: “I think that our way to attack today couldn’t beat the way they were defending.
“They were how they were when attacking, they created some problems, maybe not to create enough chances but to make the game the way they wanted to. They interrupted the game with a lot of challenges, a lot of second balls and I think it was one game that it takes some time to adapt to, and they surprised us in the first minutes.
“We couldn’t adapt to the intensity of the game. After the surprise of the goal, it created some lack of good management of the game.
“In the Championship we know that we always need to play with a high level of intensity, and today it’s true that we didn’t find the way to attack well enough.”
The Spaniard was certainly disappointed with his side’s abject showing and one man who may have lost the trust of his manager after a disappointing run of form in recent weeks is Dyke.
The 22-year-old started off the calendar year in fine form scoring in the wins over Reading and Luton Town earlier last month, but since then he has tailed off dramatically.
His performance against Birmingham was yet another uneventful showing in which he struggled to hold the ball up and lead the line for his team. The former Barnsley striker only registered ten accurate passes, had one shot off target, lost possession of the ball 12 times and failed to win any of his four ground duels.
When things aren’t going for strikers in front of goal, they are expected to work hard for the team in other areas, and the American ace simply failed to show up when Corberan needed him most.
He certainly wasn’t the only one who failed to deliver, with fellow attackers Grady Diangana, Jed Wallace and Marc Albrighton struggling to pull up trees for the team.
With Thomas-Asante back from suspension and waiting on the bench for his opportunity, Dyke may well find his starting spot in serious jeopardy when the Baggies entertain promotion rivals Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday [15 February].
In other West Brom news, Carlos Corberan opens up on the future of winger Karlan Grant after his Swansea January transfer collapsed on deadline day.