West Bromwich Albion are on course for a return to the Premier League after two years away from the English top-flight. The West-Midlands club currently sit top of the Championship four points adrift of their closes rivals Leeds United, with a swift return to the big time well in their sights.
Slaven Bilic’s side are enjoying a very fruitful season with much of the campaign spent at the pinnacle of the league table. Barring a dramatic fall from grace, perhaps the former West Ham and Croatia coach can look forward to building his squad for the Premier League come August.
It seems as though West Bromwich are wasting no time in achieving that goal with the club poised to complete the £8.25million signing of on loan Sporting Lisbon midfielder and star man Matheus Pereira.
The Brazilian will complete his permanent move once he passes 30 Championship appearances. The winger, often deployed as Bilic’s sole creator this season has been a revelation becoming an influential figure in attack for West Brom.
Pereira’s been so good that fans are declaring he is close to becoming the best they’ve ever seen to grace the Hawthorns.
Statements such as those may be a bit controversial considering the sort of players that have set the whole stadium alight over the last 10-15 years. Club legends Robert Earnshaw, Darren Moore and Neil Clement may have a lot to say about that Matheus Pereira declaration. But this is a player swiftly placing his name amongst club folklore.
6 goals and 12 assists in 29 Championship appearances is no small feat. A tricky Brazilian that possesses eye-catching skills and a low centre of gravity – Pereira has effortlessly found his feet in the Championship after two previous loan spells with Chaves and FC Nurnberg respectively. The Brazilian is the most fouled player in the whole division (2.9 times fouled per game), a testament to his remarkable technical attributes. As soon as he steps onto the field, defensive midfielders automatically know they’re in for a tough ride.
2.3 shots per game, 2.4 key passes, 1.6 dribbles and 70 chances created so far this season means the Brazilian is the main orchestrator of almost every West Brom attack [WhoScored]. Slaven Bilic has often opted with a 4-3-3 shape, especially against teams who he feels can hurt his side, otherwise he lines up usually in a customary 4-2-3-1. Whichever of these systems he chooses, Matheus Pereira is given the license to roam without any defensive shackles nullifying his influence further up the field.
Against Nottingham Forest, Pereira lined up on the right wing alongside Hal Robson-Kanu and Callum Robinson. A front-three filled with much fluidity in movement, pace and trickery, and Pereira’s knack of cutting infield almost as an inside-forward, or inverted-winger means he is allowed the freedom to roam within areas in the final third where he feels he can become most effective. His positional understanding, work ethic along with his awe-inspiring skill-sets makes him the complete package.
Just because he’s given such freedom from Bilic, however, doesn’t mean he neglects his defensive duties behind him or more importantly when pressing his opponents off the ball. His assist for West Brom’s first goal in their 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest explicitly highlighted his importance to Slaven Bilic. Forest midfielder Samba Sow got caught napping in possession by Pereira, he then drove at the Forest back-line before expertly picking out Callum Robinson to put West Brom in front. The weight of pass was perfect for one which looked harder than it was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln-KjjbUrl8
The Brazilian was also well involved in their second, Callum Robinson on the counter, picked up the ball on the left before playing Pereira infield, he then caressed a lovely lofted ball with his left foot over to Filip Krovinovic who picked out Jake Livermore to force an own goal. The Brazilian was remarkably fouled four times throughout the whole game, once again indicating how much of a threat Nottingham Forest knew he would pose.
His understanding of being in the right places at the right time and also his impressive decision making – knowing when to pass, and knowing when not to – makes him arguably one of the most productive attacking outlets in the whole division. His stats tell its own story.
Matheus Pereira is simply deadly with the ball at his feet, particularly in set-piece situations too. He is Bilic’s assigned dead ball specialist and rightly so, his sweet left foot an effective weapon in itself.
His free-kick in the 4-1 win over Bristol City back in November, an absolute peach. Right on the edge of the penalty box, he held the technical acumen and accuracy to perfectly lift the ball over the wall and into the top corner despite the close distance to goal. Unstoppable.
Now that West Brom have more or less guaranteed his future at the Hawthorns, the onus is on Matheus Pereira to maintain a level of consistency to become a household favourite not just for his club but also on the grandest stage, the Barclays Premier League providing the club secure their status as champions.
Many players become victims of their Championship success when making the step up to the English top-flight. On the evidence the whole campaign, Matheus Pereira holds all the tools necessary to avoid being one of those unfortunate statistics.
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