West Bromwich Albion’s recent form in the Championship makes for some worrying reading, having now gone five games without a win in the division, which is way off what Carlos Corberan will want from his side.
From those five games, the Baggies have also frustratingly drawn blanks in three of them, as Josh Maja now struggles to find the back of the net on a regular basis after opening the campaign with a ridiculous record of seven goals from seven clashes.
Corberan will pray his side can get back on the horse and pick up some positive results soon, away from this serious blow to their confidence, knowing that there is a quality core at the heart of his squad that are homegrown and will be desperate to kick on for their boyhood club.
West Brom's homegrown stars
The first name that immediately springs to mind as being nurtured at the Hawthorns from a young age and is now blossoming into a top performer in the Championship is Tom Fellows, who had really come into his own at the start of the campaign in the men’s game.
The young right winger has a seriously impressive number of assists already in the division, picking up five assists from 11 contests in the second tier to date, and will no doubt be one that the West Midlands club are overjoyed with when it comes to how far he’s managed to develop in such a short span of time.
There is also Alex Palmer in-between the sticks for the Baggies that’s been in and around the Championship club since lining up for the U21s numerous times, before his big senior break.
Now, the confident shot-stopper is Corberan’s first choice week in week out, keeping six clean sheets from the same amount of league clashes Fellows has been present for, only leaking seven goals along the way.
There is obvious pride when it comes to getting the best out of your own pool of players, seen in both Palmer and Fellows, yet other academy talents are plucked before they’ve even had a proper chance to turn out at senior level.
West Brom will no doubt be tearing their hair out over this example, with one academy graduate having been poached from the youth set-up at the Hawthorns, but is now shining in the Premier League for a near neighbour and rival to the Baggies.
Morgan Rogers' value at Aston Villa
Despite his obvious talent, few at West Brom would have anticipated that Morgan Rogers – who is still only 22 years of age – would be dazzling in the Champions League just five years on from his Hawthorns exit, but that is exactly what he is doing.
Rogers was even described as putting in a “box office” performance against Bologna for Unai Emery’s men by Sky Sports journalist David Reed, and it’s hard to argue against that when looking at his sublime numbers from the 2-0 win.
Stat
Rogers
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
0
Assists
1
Touches
59
Shots
4
Accurate passes
28/34 (82%)
Key passes
4
Big chances created
1
Successful dribbles
7/11
Duels won
9/17
Just scanning at the table above briefly gives you a glimpse as to how spellbinding the Villa attacking midfielder was against their Serie A opponents, notching up a ridiculous count of seven successful dribbles when regularly wreaking havoc on the Bologna defence, alongside also setting up Jhon Duran for the contest’s game-clinching second strike.
It now looks very justified from the end of the Premier League titans as to why they forked out £16m for Rogers in January, with West Brom left to lament on what could have been, with a young Rogers allowed to leave West Brom for a reported fee of ‘just’ £4m in 2019 after being picked up by Manchester City.
The rising star – who contributed nine goals and assists in 15 games for the club’s U21 side – had actually made a solitary senior outing for the Baggies back in 2019, coming on as a late substitute at the age of just 16 in an FA Cup clash with Brighton. As can be seen below, he’s blossomed since then…
Rogers' record since leaving West Brom
Fast forward to the present day, Rogers has a promising two goals and two assists next to his name back in league action too, with there a real possibility that the Villa number 27 – who is now valued at €22m (£18m) by Transfermarkt – will only get better with time, to further add insult to injury for the Baggies.
The two teams could face off against each other next season in the top flight if the likes of Fellows and Palmer can come up trumps for their boyhood side, away from a decline in performances.
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