Five talking points from West Brom loss at Bournemouth
Albion were not that bad at Bournemouth, but lost 2-1. Here's five talking points from the game.
1 FOSTER AT FAULT: The 34-year-old keeper had a day to forget. He flapped at Jordon Ibe’s equaliser, although there was nothing he could do about Junior Stanislas’s winner.
Those afternoons are part and parcel of being a shot-stopper and, let’s face it, it probably will not matter too much in the grand scheme of things for the Baggies – they already looked to be on their way down.
Foster seems like the type of character to acknowledge his mistake, and go and respond in the next game – against seventh-placed Burnley at The Hawthorns a week on Saturday.
2 ROD AND RON A REAL HANDFUL: Jay Rodriguez got Albion’s goal, with Salomon Rondon providing the assist. The pair worked their socks off, harrying the Bournemouth defence and making runs for countless balls over the top.
Rondon’s strength and Rodriguez’s pace kept Nathan Ake and Steve Cook firmly on their toes – and the goal seemed to be something they had worked hard on in training. Kieran Gibbs floated a cross to the far post, where Rondon headed the ball down for Rodriguez to finish from close range.
The duo will probably have a few suitors in the close season.
3 JITTERS AFTER JONNY GOES OFF: Skipper Jonny Evans returned to the starting line-up after a virus kept him out of the embarrassing 4-1 loss to Leicester the weekend prior.
The 30-year-old put in an assured display – right up until his illness meant he could not move, according to under-pressure boss Alan Pardew. Right after he went off, the Baggies conceded.
The question is, why weren’t Gareth McAuley or Ali Gabr in the squad? Maybe a like-for-like switch, instead of bringing on winger Matt Phillips for the centre-half, would have worked out better.
4 CLAUDIO COMMITTED TO THE CAUSE: We already knew about the passion of Claudio Yacob – what he lacks in flair, he more than makes up for with fiery determination.
He deserves credit, though, for carrying himself exactly the same way despite the precarious situation that Albion find themselves in.
The Championship is no walk in the park and the combative Argentinian midfielder should be exactly what the Baggies will need next term – he is ready to roll his sleeves up and will not shy away from the challenge. Yacob has been at the club since 2012 and must not be let go in the summer.
5 GRZEGORZ GIVEN A HARSH LESSON: If you are substituted, you should not refuse to shake your boss’s hand.
However, it seemed like Pardew wanted the bust-up between him and PSG loanee Grzegorz Krychowiak to blow over quickly, saying he was ‘not going to make a big deal about it’, only to fine the player and leave him as an unused sub at the Vitality Stadium – having also said his selection of the Polish midfielder would not be influenced by the incident.
The situation has understandably left fans a bit bewildered. Will Krychowiak play for Albion again?
