Monday 27 October 2014 00:33, UK
West Brom head coach Alan Irvine says Saido Berahino can be a world beater and that he reminds him of England captain Wayne Rooney.
The striker salvaged a point with a stoppage-time penalty in Saturday's 2-2 comeback draw against Crystal Palace which was his seventh goal of the Premier League season completed the Baggies' revival after they were 2-0 down at half time.
Berahino has netted more in the league than any other Albion player scored in the whole of last term and is the top-scoring Englishman.
Irvine was at Everton when Rooney broke into the side and also worked with Ross Barkley, and believes Berahino has the same mentality as the England pair.
Saido's getting an awful lot of attention, so it is vitally important that we are there to support him and make sure that doesn't take him off track.
"If you are going to be a top player, you have to have a lot of the full package," he said.
"Everyone talks about technical, tactical, physical, psychological. You cannot be a top player unless you score highly in all of them.
"You might score more highly in a couple of areas but you can't possibly be a top player if you don't score highly in all. Saido has a lot of that package but he is still at that age where it can go one way or another.
"The last thing you can do is have anything that affects any of those areas. Of course, the biggest of all is the psychological. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with a number of very talented young players over the years. Wayne Rooney springs to mind.
"Others too - Everton had a record of getting 16-year-olds into first teams so it is very important we spend time talking to these boys and making sure everything is right."
Victor Anichebe started the Baggies' comeback after they had fallen 2-0 behind following Brede Hangeland's goal and Mile Jedinak's penalty. Berahino had a quiet afternoon but, after his eighth goal in all competitions, Irvine says his England U-21 international can become one of the elite.
"As long as he goes about his job in a way he is doing now - on the field and off it," said Irvine, who takes his team to Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday.
"As long as he keeps having this desire to improve, which he has at this moment. Then, of course, as long as he can handle the pressure of success. Some can't handle that pressure - they get distracted, so it is important he takes everything that is going on at the moment in his stride.
"Saido's getting an awful lot of attention, so it is vitally important that we are there to support him and make sure that doesn't take him off track."
