"Splits a lot of opinion" - West Brom man urged to improve performances ASAP | OneFootball

Grady Diangana has been picked out as the Baggies most opinion-splitting player

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Grady Diangana has been identified as a player that divides opinion among West Brom fans amid his tough start to the Championship season so far.

The tricky winger is into his sixth season at The Hawthorns, and fifth as a permanent Baggies player, since his initial arrival on loan from West Ham United in the summer of 2019.

He has been a thorn in the side of many Championship teams over the years in blue and white, but his form has taken a dip since the start of this campaign, despite Albion being firmly in the race for promotion to the top-flight.

Grady Diangana urged to improve West Brom performances

The 26-year-old enjoyed his best season at The Hawthorns to date last term, with seven goals and eight assists in 36 Championship appearances as Carlos Corberan's side finished fifth, but were beaten in the play-offs by Southampton.

He has not lived up to those expectations so far in 2024/25, with just five starts in 12 appearances in the league, and no goals or assists to his name as yet, amid tough competition for places from the likes of Tom Fellows, Mikey Johnston and Karlan Grant.

As a result of his less-than-impressive performances compared to last season, FLW's Albion fan pundit, Callum Burgess, named Diangana when we asked him for a player that always seems to divide opinion among Baggies supporters.

“Particularly on social media, Grady Diangana is a player that splits a lot of opinion,” Callum told FLW.

“He’s not really hit the heights that he was able to in his first season at the club when he was on loan at the club under Slaven Bilic, where he was one of the most exciting players in the division, getting a lot of goals and assists.

“Since then, there has been a lot of discourse online about whether or not he is making enough of a contribution to the team. So far this season he has not managed to register a goal or assist.

“I think last season he showed in the number ten role, when he got seven goals and eight assists, that he can still be a player that provides good output.

“I think it’s the standards that he set for himself that makes it so frustrating.

“I’m still a fan of Grady Diangana, but I know he needs to turn it up a gear.

“We know there is an exciting player in there, but he has set the bar so high, that when he doesn’t quite reach that level, supporters have every right to be frustrated with him.

“I’m probably on the side of being in favour of Grady Diangana, and keeping him in and around the squad and giving him plenty of opportunities to prove that he can be a top Championship player, but I can see why some supporters are frustrated with him.”

Grady Diangana is not the only West Brom player struggling in attack

The Baggies may well occupy fifth place in the Championship as it stands, but their form has been inconsistent, and they have drawn more games than they have won so far this season.

Corberan has arguably been lucky that his main striker, Josh Maja, has been so clinical when chances have fallen to him, as his nine goals this season make him the league's second-top scorer, despite the Baggies netting just 16 times as a team, meaning they are 17th compared to the rest of the teams in that regard.

West Brom have flattered to deceive in numerous attacking metrics compared to the rest of the Championship, and are 20th for shots on target per game, 12th for big chances created, and 15th for successful dribbles per game using FotMob, so improvement is clearly needed if they are serious about promotion this season.

Diangana has certainly struggled to aid their attacking misfortunes, but the fact that the team is underperforming as a whole will surely offer him some slight solace going forward into a busy Christmas period, where they need to get better in the final third or risk slipping down the table.

Corberan called the Congolese international an "electric ten" who has an "unbelievable" work ethic for an attacking player last month, so with the backing of his boss still evident, Diangana will hope to get on the board soon and try to nail down a place in his starting eleven.