The Premier League’s midweek action is something that West Brom fans will be desperately hoping they can take part in next season, but for that to happen the Baggies need to arrest their recent slump in form and get back to winning ways to maintain their spot at the top of the Championship.
The goals at The Hawthorns have been shared around the squad quite well. The Baggies have got three players tied for the in-club top goalscorer, but those three players, Charlie Austin, Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu, have only got seven goals each.
There is then a group of players behind that trio in Grady Diangana, Matheus Pereira, Semi Ajayi and Kenneth Zohore who have got five, five, four and three strikes each (WhoScored), yet the Baggies lack an out and out goalscorer like they had last season.
That’s what they’re missing, and one man in particular who they could really do with is a man who they allowed to leave over the summer for Burnley. That man, as you will have guessed, is Jay Rodriguez, and the striker scored a wondergoal at Old Trafford on Wednesday night in a famous 2-0 win.
Obviously, the Baggies know exactly what Jay-Rod is capable of. Last season for them in the Championship he scored a miraculous 22 goals in 45 games in the division (Transfermarkt), and having an out and out goalscorer who can be relied upon like Rodriguez goes a very long way for most top teams.
Is Rodriguez missed this season?
Yes
No
Only time will tell if the Baggies have enough in the tank to get promotion this season, and if they don’t you’d have to question whether the lack of a Rodriguez type striker who lives and breathes goals is the reason why they don’t go up, hopefully, though, the question doesn’t need to be asked.