Sam Allardyce: West Brom have given Matheus Pereira chance to shine

The Brazilian was outstanding for the Baggies as they won promotion to the Premier League last season. And since the turn of the year he has started to reproduce those displays in the top flight.

Pereira scored just once in the first four months of the season.

But he has scored nine times in the four months that have followed.

Albion, too, have also seen their performances improve in that time – with new recruits Robert Snodgrass, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Okay Yokuslu and Mbaye Diagne all having a big impact.

And Allardyce believes the arrival of those players has made Albion more solid and, in turn, given Pereira a better platform to showcase his talent.

“I think in the early stages he (Pereira) looked lost,” the boss said. “Most of the players looked lost because their level of performance wasn’t high enough to compete in the Premier League.

“As time has grown, all the hard work behind the scenes – not just from me but from all the staff – we have tried to change and get the team in a better position both attacking wise and defensively.

“And we’ve seen Matheus grow.

“I would say that growth started when we finished buying in January.

“The players that came in helped us get better and helped Matheus to flourish. He didn’t have to spend as much time chasing back to defend against the opposition.

“He has improved by the fact we’ve enabled him to have more space, we’ve enabled him to play further up the pitch, we’ve given him better service and he’s benefited from that.

“He’s certainly our most skilful player, he’s someone who can do something unexpected. That is something you always need – particularly in the final third in the Premier League.

“So long may it continue that he performs like he is doing at the moment.

“And there is still more to come I think.”

Back in March, Allardyce said Pereira must move the ball quicker if he wants to truly realise his potential in the Premier League. And the boss says that is something the Brazilian is now doing.

“Yes, he has started to do that,” Allardyce added. “You can’t get hung up on the perception of our game and wanting to make 50-60 passes. To do that you have to have a squad like Manchester City’s – Manchester City’s squad is capable of that. Our squad in the Premier League isn’t. That is no disrespect to them – it’s a fact. Our way forward is it to play through the lines, play forward as early as possible. We have to try to maximise our possession. And the only way we can do that is by drilling into the players the best way forward for us – not what Man City, Man United or Chelsea do. The perfect way we did that was against Chelsea – and they could be in the Champions League final.”