West Brom boss Valerien Ismael has spoken about what Daryl Dike needs to work on since joining the club.

Dike, 21, arrived at his new club this January for a reported fee of £7 million. However, due to arriving from MLS, which is currently on its off-season, he has had no pre-season.

Ismael revealed he discussed Dike’s role in the squad and that he now just needs to work on his fitness before getting into the starting side on a consistent basis. 

“The good thing when he arrived, I said to him ‘do you remember the principles?’ and he told me straight away what he had to do in possession, out of possession,” said Ismael, via Express and Star.

“I said ‘brilliant’. He hasn’t forgot. It’s all about fitness now – it’s not about tactics.

“He knows the principles, it’s just about getting him 100 per cent fit.”

 

 

Dike made his debut off the bench during the Baggies 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers last weekend. He was unable to make a difference, with West Brom losing out to one of their promotion rivals in a crunch clash. 

It could be a few weeks before we see Dike complete a full 90 minutes, but the American may start this weekend as Ismael’s side welcome the visit of Peterborough to the Hawthorns. 

The two sides face off on January 22, with Peterborough currently in the relegation zone.

West Brom are fifth in the Championship, seven points adrift of the automatic promotion places. 

The Verdict

Managing Dike’s minutes now could come good near the end of the season. Forcing him into the side now when he’s not ready could lead to an injury which would be a disaster.

While it is unfortunate that such an expensive addition to the side can’t just be thrown straight into the team, that is the risk a club takes when they sign from a club not currently in the middle of their season as well. 

Ismael knows Dike well from their time together at Barnsley last season, so this won’t be the first time he’s had to ease the player into a new side. 

Unfortunately, given West Brom’s latest form, it could be too late for the team to earn automatic promotion by the time he is firing on all cylinders, but he could prove the difference if the Baggies make the play-offs.