da blaze casino： West Brom are still waiting for their first win of the 2020/21 season but Slaven Bilic can take plenty of positives following their 0-0 draw with Burnley on Monday night.
da doce： There was an elusive clean sheet at long last, there was also a debut for latest arrival Karlan Grant and there were encouraging signs of things to come.
None more so than loan starlet Conor Gallagher, who looked a breath of fresh air in the Baggies’ engine room as he was a surprise starter over Bilic favourite Romaine Sawyers.
It was his first-ever appearance in the Premier League after an impressive maiden campaign in the Championship last term, where he delivered six goals and eight assists for both Charlton Athletic and Swansea City.
At the Hawthorns this week, the 20-year-old pulled the strings alongside fellow summer signing Filip Krovinovic – per SofaScore, Gallagher recorded four tackles, two key passes and won eight duels. He also made 92% of his 39 passing attempts and managed a 100% accuracy rate from four long balls.
BirminghamLive graded the young maestro with a 7/10 rating and said: “Immediately you can see what Gallagher brings to the table – and if you were an opposing midfielder you’d hate playing against him. The loanee was a nuisance, pestering and harrying yellow shirts on the ball. On the occasions that he was able to look up and pick a pass, he did so in impressive fashion. Real energy and legs right until the very end.”
The Chelsea prospect will surely now become a frequent presence amongst Bilic’s starting XI – at least until he warrants a change.
Albion have enjoyed many a loan sensation over the past few years. It was Grady Diangana and Matheus Pereira last season and luckily for the Midlands outfit, both players turned those temporary switches into permanent deals.
However, that’s not always been the case – remember Harvey Barnes?
The Leicester ace scored nine goals and provided six assists, and also averaged 3.4 shots, 1.7 dribbles and 1.5 key passes per game, via WhoScored, before being recalled early to take a place in the senior set-up.
Blues boss Frank Lampard hasn’t been afraid to trust his academy players with Reece James, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham all first-team regulars at Stamford Bridge.
If Gallagher continues to impress, a recall to west London can’t be completely ruled out as this is effectively his acid test for the big time.
Dubbed a “jewel” who is “impossible to replace” by Addicks boss Lee Bowyer, the Baggies could find themselves in an all too familiar spot of bother.
Only time will tell.
AND in other news, Invisible West Brom ace who won ONLY 41% duels was ANONYMOUS vs Burnley…