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Odion Ighalo Nigeria flag

2019-20 Performances

View full 2019-20 profile

6.0 Season Average Rating
Appearances
19
Goals
5
Assists
1
Yellow cards
0
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I had this imperfect memory of him as an off the shoulder nippy striker, hadn't realized he was closer to a targetman with a real physical side to his game, with the added bonus of poachers instincts.

Can anyone with a clearer memory of him at Watford recall if he played in this fashion there as well?

Either way he has been a pleasant surprise, far from making up numbers, looks a viable option to start.
 
I'm especially pleased with our new signings this season.

Wan-Bissaka has been phenomenal and his attacking output should only get better.

Harry Maguire has been a calming influence on the backline regardless of his other shortcomings.

Dan James had a blistering start and he's still developing. Not the finished product yet but has still done his bit for us this season.

Bruno...what can I say? In England for the first time and already one of the best PL players (at least the POTM nominations list agrees with me)

Odion has done much better than I expected. I've watched him closely for the national team and what I can commend the manager for is sticking to his mantra of only signing players with strong mentalities.

After the 2018 world cup when Nigeria crashed out at the group stage (thanks to a Marcos Rojo late winner), Ighalo was Nigeria's enemy number one figure. He missed a sitter that would probably have sealed a place in the knockout stages and predictably, Nigerians (who are football crazy) singled him out for abuse. The poor soul received death threats and allegedly had some of his properties vandalized.

To be able to recover from that and top the scorers chart in AFCON 2018 amidst top players like Mane, Mahrez and Ziyech is really impressive both on footballing and psychological levels.
 
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Bobski said:
I had this imperfect memory of him as an off the shoulder nippy striker, hadn't realized he was closer to a targetman with a real physical side to his game, with the added bonus of poachers instincts.

Can anyone with a clearer memory of him at Watford recall if he played in this fashion there as well?

Either way he has been a pleasant surprise, far from making up numbers, looks a viable option to start.
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He was quite good at Watford and would have made the step up to an Everton level side if he did not go to China for ridiculous money. There was a reason LvG was after him when United last had a striker injury crisis.
 
Bobski said:
I had this imperfect memory of him as an off the shoulder nippy striker, hadn't realized he was closer to a targetman with a real physical side to his game, with the added bonus of poachers instincts.

Can anyone with a clearer memory of him at Watford recall if he played in this fashion there as well?

Either way he has been a pleasant surprise, far from making up numbers, looks a viable option to start.
Click to expand...
That’s what I thought I saw too
 
While he has been okay, people have actually forgot how a decent striker with a good touch looks like. Especially now that we have a team slowly building up, it's not really surprising.
 
Might not be the general consensus that he is as good as Martial but he nits the front line together with being an actual striker, who moves like a striker and I find that to be way more valuable to the collective. Proud of his efforts so far since he's come in, impressive if he can translate that into Premier League form.
 
ghaliboy said:
Might not be the general consensus that he is as good as Martial but he nits the front line together with being an actual striker, who moves like a striker and I find that to be way more valuable to the collective. Proud of his efforts so far since he's come in, impressive if he can translate that into Premier League form.
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Agreed. Berba was a better footballer than Drogba. But I know which one I want to lead the line.
 
Reminds me so much of Andy Cole in movement and touch around the box. I'd sign him on loan for another season if he keeps up this form.
 
He plays well with his back to goal. We haven't had a striker like that for a long time.
 
United58 said:
To be fair Drogba had phenomenal technique, frightening player
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Not the greatest goal scorer but one of the best strikers I’ve ever seen. Nightmare for defenders and hold up play was phenomenal in getting the wingers involved. Mourinho though Lukaku could do that for us and failed
 
How the feck is he so strong? He looks like he's rooted to ground in any challenge
 
amazing for him as a United fan that he's got his own chant going already
 
Isotope said:
I don't think he had "phenomenal" technique.
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I don’t know how it can be disputed. The way he would move into space and also his finishing. I felt like every game i caught with him at a certain point he scored. Can’t forget that goal in the champions league as well. But i know what you mean at the fact he wasn’t so graceful - he was more about strength (even though he did have trickery.). It may sound weird but rewatching some of his goals he reminds me a bit of Lukaku in a way. Just more speed and work rate. Made a lot of sense why Jose wanted Lukaku and the hopes he had for him. If you ask me the game has just changed so much a striker like that is less effective. Either that or Lukaku just for some reason was found out so much in the “big games”
 
TheRedHearted said:
I don’t know how it can be disputed. The way he would move into space and also his finishing. I felt like every game i caught with him at a certain point he scored. Can’t forget that goal in the champions league as well. But i know what you mean at the fact he wasn’t so graceful - he was more about strength (even though he did have trickery.). It may sound weird but rewatching some of his goals he reminds me a bit of Lukaku in a way. Just more speed and work rate. Made a lot of sense why Jose wanted Lukaku and the hopes he had for him. If you ask me the game has just changed so much a striker like that is less effective. Either that or Lukaku just for some reason was found out so much in the “big games”
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Drogba could hold off ANY CB, and be a nuisance to the opponent entire backline by himself. He also had big game mentality, wouldn't squirm against any opponent in any occasion. Lukaku, I rarely seen him outstrength any centerback. His record on big games were appalling.
 
Devil81 said:
Reminds me so much of Andy Cole in movement and touch around the box. I'd sign him on loan for another season if he keeps up this form.
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I would imagine the Chinese league would have re-opened by then. We will have to buy him to keep him for a year or two.
 
WR10 said:
How the feck is he so strong? He looks like he's rooted to ground in any challenge
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If you look at the training he did at the British Taekwondo training centre when everyone was in Spain, you will see how.
 
TheRedHearted said:
I don’t know how it can be disputed. The way he would move into space and also his finishing. I felt like every game i caught with him at a certain point he scored. Can’t forget that goal in the champions league as well. But i know what you mean at the fact he wasn’t so graceful - he was more about strength (even though he did have trickery.). It may sound weird but rewatching some of his goals he reminds me a bit of Lukaku in a way. Just more speed and work rate. Made a lot of sense why Jose wanted Lukaku and the hopes he had for him. If you ask me the game has just changed so much a striker like that is less effective. Either that or Lukaku just for some reason was found out so much in the “big games”
Click to expand...
Lukaku was a completely different type of player than Drogba. With his size it looks like he should be that type of player and we tried to use him that way, but in reality his game is more similar to someone like Chicharito. More about finding holes and space rather than really using his size and power to create opportunities and hold the ball up to bring the rest of his team into play.
 
Man Utd 2:0 Man City
Best sub appearance from someone coming on in the 87th minute that I've seen. Beast
 
The feck was that backheel on like the 92nd minute? Was absolutely sick
 
This guy is so much better than given credit for. Looks very composed and his hold up play is very good.
 
Shows the importance of having an experienced striker in the squad. Amazing it's taken this long to replace Zlatan
 
Amazing first touches to go along with his ability to shield the ball and unleashing on-rushing team mates on the counter
 
Don't think he did anything wrong. Brilliant hold up play and his touch was perfect.
 
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