No goals – but selfless Sal’s still having impact
IF there’s one reservation about West Bromwich Albion’s excellent current form, it would be a lack of goals from the frontman.
Salomon Rondon has now gone nine games without a goal, though his lean spell has been masked by contributions from James Morrison, Chris Brunt and Matt Phillips.
That equals Rondon’s longest drought since joining from Zenit St Petersburg for a then club-record £12 million in August 2015.
But the big man is still putting in a shift and his work-rate in the 1-0 win over Stoke last Saturday was exceptional, according to teammate Gareth McAuley.
“The work he does for us is unquestionable and we really appreciate it all,” McAuley said.
“He always gives the opposition defenders a game. They know they’ve been in a game when they play against Salomon.
“Things are not quite falling for him. He’s a little bit frustrated himself, but the goals will come.
“He’s showing his qualities and can score goals. If he gets in the right positions hopefully he can notch a few for us.”
Rondon’s stats against Stoke would definitely back up McAuley’s assessment of the Venezuelan’s overall contribution.
His physical presence and tireless running for the team led to him winning more attacking challenges (19) than any other Premier League player over the weekend.
It also helped West Brom win a higher percentage (52) of attacking challenges than any other top flight team in game week 24.
In terms of just standard challenges, Rondon won 22 and was second only to Burnley’s highly-rated defender Michael Keane.
No Premier League player earned more fouls (six) than Rondon, borne out of the huge pressure he placed on Stoke’s centre-backs Ryan Shawcross and Bruno Martins Indi.
And Rondon would have had an assist had Jake Livermore been a lit- tle more ruthless when the pair counter-attacked a break-neck speed in the final moments of the match.
He might not be scoring, but Rondon is still incredibly important to the Baggies cause.