West Brom need Josh Maja to find his feet after early performances show weakness
It looked like Josh Maja had got his West Brom career up and running against Huddersfield, only for his 96th-minute effort to be saved by Lee Nicholls and ensure he headed into the international break without a Baggies goal.
What quickly followed was a counter-attack from Neil Warnock’s side that ended with Jack Rudoni scoring the winner on Saturday (2 September) and the manner of the defeat left Carlos Corberan pulling his hair out on the sidelines.
After the match, the Baggies boss was left to rue the missed opportunity and told the Express and Star (2 September): “We could have won the game, and after they have the opportunity, because we didn’t manage well not just the chance but also the counter-attack.”
Maja was one of only three additions made at the Hawthorns this summer, alongside Jeremy Sarmiento and Pipa, with the lack of investment in Corberan’s side limiting him to loan deals and free agents. But Maja was viewed as a bit of a steal to land without spending a transfer fee.
So far the 24-year-old has been limited to substitute appearances as he builds up his fitness from the bench. In his four cameos, he has played 67 minutes and has never been on the field for longer than 25 minutes as he attempts to find his feet.
What is worrying is the fact in those four matches, Maja has only managed to have one shot, that being the wasted opportunity at the Hawthorns against Huddersfield and he never looked particularly confident in finding the net when taking that chance.
The Nigerian international is more than capable of being a genuine scorer, last season he managed to find the net 16 times in Ligue 2 with Bordeaux, but seven of those came from the penalty spot with only nine from open play.
But even with his respectable goal return in France, Maja missed 16 big chances (Fotmob) as Bordeaux finished third in the French second tier, an indicator that he isn’t necessarily the most consistent finisher when under pressure.
Baggies need goals
There aren’t many striking options currently in place at the Hawthorns, with Brandon Thomas-Asante the usually trusted to lead the frontline, while Jed Wallace is an able deputy at times despite not being a consistent goal scorer.
Last season Thomas-Asante only managed to score seven goals in 33 appearances for West Brom, while Wallace only scored six times, so Maja had been signed with the hopes of finally providing the goals that could make the Baggies a competitive play-off side.
Nigeria do play in the international break but Maja would be best served in staying with the Baggies to build his fitness in the hope that he can rediscover the goal-scoring threat that made him such a success last year in Ligue 2.
Hopefully, with two more weeks of training in his legs, the 24-year-old can find that clinical edge Corberan and West Brom need this season.
In other West Brom news, Corberan was left baffled by some of the Baggies defending against Huddersfield