West Bromwich Albion, managed by Ryan Mason, had a rocky start to the Championship, but that continued in the previous round with an away game against Watford.
The Baggies played well at home to Preston North End last time out, winning 2-1, but immediately after that home win they traveled to the Hornets, and Javi Gracia’s hosts ran out 2-1 winners, suffering a disappointing fourth league defeat of the season.
The two missed strikes at Vicarage Road mean West Brom have conceded more goals than they have scored so far this season, leaving them with just 12 goals behind the 13 they conceded in the league.
Unfortunately, expensive summer signing Aone Heggebo has not been able to fit into the gears as the Baggies’ main marksman, and the £4.75 million spent on the Scandinavian striker’s services is already being seen as a reckless use of cash.
Assessing Hegebo’s poor start at West Brom
Hegebo, who had been lighting up his native Norway alongside Brann for some time, as evidenced by his impressive 51 goals in 146 games, would have been confident in his ability to make immediate success on English shores.
However, it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing for Heggebo since arriving in the West Midlands, with his aforementioned bulk attack against Middlesbrough opening his Championship account this season.
But since the repechage upset Rob Edwards’ men, it has been five consecutive games in the second tier, and his performance against Watford stands out as quite passive in retrospect.
Heggebo vs Watford | |
|---|---|
status | record |
Play time (minutes) | 70 |
Number of points | 0 |
assist | 0 |
touch | 14 |
failed touch | 2 |
shot | 0 |
exact path | 4/4 |
loss of ownership | 5 times |
Total number of duels won | 2/13 |
Statistics by Sofa Score | |
Amazingly, despite being on the pitch for a long 70 minutes, the Bergen-born forward failed to register a single shot on Watford’s goal.
To make matters worse, Heggebo lost possession an alarming five times with a minimal 14 touches, and the 6ft 1in striker ended up losing 11 of his 13 duels as he sliced through isolated figures up top.
Josh Maja has also been in poor form in recent weeks, with the former Sunderland man going goalless throughout October. Mason may therefore be tempted to bring in this other option against Ipswich Town later today as he looks to get back into the scoring flow.
Mason could unleash West Brom’s ‘natural goalscorer’
Of course, both Maja and Hegebo will have the chance to impress again as the season progresses, while Daryl Dyche is still building up to what is expected of him in the Championship after another long injury spell.
But while Dike regains his fitness, it might be the right time for Mason to give another forgotten Baggies attacker, Karlan Grant, some more time. The former Huddersfield Town star has been described by former Terriers manager Jan Siewert as a “natural goalscorer” due to his incredible form in the second division.
Indeed, Grant, hailed as a “all-rounder” by former West Brom player Carlton Palmer, has a very impressive back catalog in the EFL’s elite league, scoring 54 goals in 227 career appearances at the same level, 28 of which came in the Baggies’ blue and white shirt.
Twenty-two of those came from Grant’s centre-forward position on the pitch, even though he is used to a lower wing position, and Heggebo, and perhaps even Maja, feared that Mason would quickly roll the dice on getting the 28-year-old back to their Championship best form and reinvigorating his goal-shy side.
After all, seven of those goals came just last season, when Grant was given continued chances to make an impression, even though it seemed certain at one point that Grant would leave the Hawthorns.
If Mason takes the hot and cold No. 10 into his arms and starts him as a key player, there’s a good chance they’ll find their confident goal-scoring hero again, and it could even lead to Grant scoring and West Brom overcoming their frustrating inconsistency.