Tony Pulis challenges West Brom new boy Jake Livermore to keep it up
TONY PULIS has challenged new boy Jake Livermore to keep up his imposing performances for the rest of the season.
The combative midfielder has impressed in his first four starts for the Baggies since arriving from Hull City in January for £10million and managed to cement his place in the team.
He has played, on average, more passes per game than anyone else in the team has managed this season and has also made more clearances per game than any other midfielder.
But Livermore was only given his opportunity because Claudio Yacob went to hospital with suspected appendicitis on the eve of a 1-0 victory over Stoke, and Pulis reminded the former Hull man that he has one of the club’s most reliable stalwarts waiting in the wings.
“Jake’s only played three or four games,” said Pulis. “We’ll assess how he does over half a season, that’s the important thing, the consistency that you need.
“Jake’s done fantastic, he’s become a firm favourite already with the supporters.
“But we’ve left Claudio out and Claudio’s been fantastic up until he got that illness. If he hadn’t got that illness he most probably would still be in the team.”
Yacob is ready to pounce should Livermore get complacent, but Pulis has been pleased with the new signing’s attitude, and he doubts the muscle-bound midfielder will tail off just because the adrenaline of playing for a new team has worn off.
“I’m not sure the honeymoon period will fall off,” he said. “It’s just about reminding him what he’s done well and what he needs to do to stay in the team.”
The Baggies boss has no qualms about leaving out players in form, and if anything, he would like more tough calls to make next season.
“It’s brilliant,” he added. “For the first time since I’ve been at the football club there’s actually real competition, where people are worried about getting injured or having illnesses and missing games. Jonny (Evans) went to West Ham and didn’t start. That’s important, that helps the group. If you’re talking about next year, we’ve most probably got to put a few more players in place to push others within the group.”
