' The curious case of Sheyi Ojo '

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' The curious case of Sheyi Ojo '

Postby Forever Blue » Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:28 am

The curious case of Sheyi Ojo, the Cardiff City star whose red-hot start cooled to a simmer ahead of pivotal Liverpool decision



The Liverpool winger began life brightly in the Welsh capital, however he has been used sparingly under Mick McCarthy and his influence has diminished


The three loan players look likely not to be returning next season, McCarthy has virtually said this.


Thursday 15th April 2021


By Glen Williams


Sheyi Ojo's career has followed an unerringly familiar pattern.



Ever since his first loan away from Liverpool in 2015, the winger has spent year-long stints away from Anfield, bouncing from England to France and even from Scotland to Wales.

At 23 years of age, one would think he is desperate to find a home, settle down and really kick on with his career.

Because the fact of the matter is Jurgen Klopp is inevitably going to decide that Ojo will leave the Merseyside club this summer. Despite his promise, he is never going to muscle his way into contention owing to the abundance of attacking players Liverpool have at their disposal. He is even behind Harry Wilson, who will also certainly leave the club in the upcoming window.

The logic behind Cardiff's decision to sign Ojo was that Neil Harris was desperate for a left-footed winger. He wanted to change how the side played and wanted inverted wingers to give him more headroom to change things up, rather than just hitting the byline and crossing to Kieffer Moore.

That tactic, over time, didn't work. But for Ojo himself, he appeared to have found his groove. In his first 15 games he registered three goals and four assists. He looked dangerous on the counter and cool under pressure in front of goal.

He looked a real find for City, one of the few positives from a rather bleak beginning to the season.


Once Mick McCarthy took over, Ojo immediately impressed. McCarthy said he looked "different class" in training and was selected for the manager's first game up in Barnsley, a game in which he scored during a comeback from 2-0 down to draw.

A week later there was another assist in the Severnside derby win over Bristol City, followed by a goal three days later against Rotherham. It prompted this writer to suggest that City should go all out to sign him from Liverpool in the summer if it proved financially viable.

He has hit a brick wall since then, though, unfortunately.

In fact, curiously, he has started just two of the subsequent 13 games since that Rotherham win, notching just one more assist to his tally in the meantime.

His red-hot start has cooled to a simmer, with McCarthy favouring the likes of Josh Murphy, Leandro Bacuna, Wilson and even Jonny Williams in the positions in which Ojo flourished earlier in the campaign.

The winger's impact from the bench has been minimal at best, wholly disappointing at its worst.

Now City are enduring another relatively poor run, Ojo isn't the sparkling diamond in the rough he was at the beginning of the campaign and his star has waned a little. Although lack of opportunities will no doubt have played some part in that.

Perhaps we should not be surprised, though. To revert back to the pattern of Ojo's career, this is a typical season for him.

He has never scored more than five goals in a campaign and never registered more than seven assists in a single campaign. He did both last year at Rangers and has the same tally this term, albeit with three more games already under his belt than he had last season.

They are decent numbers, but by no means groundbreaking. It is why this cyclical pattern continues year after year. Liverpool know there is a player in there and are desperate for him to hit his straps, but he continues to churn out good seasons without really setting the world alight.

It is probably why all roads seem to lead to Liverpool wanting to cut ties this summer.

Ojo is a good Championship winger, of that there is little doubt, but the kind of price tag Liverpool will demand will be off-putting to so many clubs, especially in this financial climate.

Liverpool have a good track record of getting top-end prices for youngsters who have only flirted with the first team; see Ki-Jana Hoever's almost incredible £10m transfer to Wolves or even the £20m price tag they slapped on Wilson last summer.

The point is, even if City were interested in bringing him back, Liverpool would want at least a few million for him and that is a fortune. It is a fortune anyway, but it is exacerbated further given the current financial landscape and the prospect of full-capacity stadiums still a way off.

And McCarthy himself has already appeared to swat away any suggestion the three loan players - Ojo, Wilson and Jordi Osei-Tutu - would be back next term.

"I've been here nearly two months so you're always evaluating it and calculating what you need, what's not going to be here," he said.

"We've got players on loan who are very unlikely they'll be coming back and we will be losing a bit of quality there."





If Ojo was handed to City on a plate, free of charge, you bet they would snap Liverpool's hand off, but that's not going to be the case.

There has been a growing sense of frustration among a section of supporters in recent months aimed at Ojo's lack of contribution, be it off the bench or when he has been handed a rare opportunity from the off. Whether that is overly harsh or not is debatable.

But it bears striking similarities with how many feel about Murphy, another mercurial talent who can so often frustrate but has the capacity to produce.

Both are pacey, tricky with the ball at their feet and can find a cutting pass or trouble the keeper, but blow hot and cold so often.

That inconsistency is also a source of frustration for the coaching staff, too. So you have to ask yourself, can this Cardiff City squad accommodate both Murphy and Ojo next season? Probably not, especially when McCarthy rarely, if ever, plays with conventional wingers.

And that's the nature of the game. One managerial change, a tweak in personnel or formation and suddenly you are knocked down a rung or two on the ladder, back of the queue waiting for your next shot.

It all started so brightly for Ojo, though, and there were genuine hopes this was going to be his breakthrough season, particularly after the manner in which he started. But, with just five games to go, it appears to be just another decent loan year under his belt.

Let's hope this summer he can find a permanent home, wherever that may be, and he can really kick on and prove what he can bring to the party, because there is most certainly a player in there waiting to be unleashed.
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' The curious case of Sheyi Ojo '

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Re: ' The curious case of Sheyi Ojo '

Postby Crayfish » Thu Apr 15, 2021 1:05 pm

He was exactly the same at Rangers started off really well then the performances started to tail off to such an extent he started getting dropped and coming on as a sub where he hardly influenced the game at all. In the end Steven Gerrard sent him back to Liverpool before hi loan peroid ended. To be honest even if he was available for £500,000 which we probably haven't got the money could be better spent elsewhere
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Re: ' The curious case of Sheyi Ojo '

Postby bluebirdoct1962 » Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:26 pm

Crayfish wrote:He was exactly the same at Rangers started off really well then the performances started to tail off to such an extent he started getting dropped and coming on as a sub where he hardly influenced the game at all. In the end Steven Gerrard sent him back to Liverpool before hi loan peroid ended. To be honest even if he was available for £500,000 which we probably haven't got the money could be better spent elsewhere

Have to agree. Put in a few good performances and can put in a great cross tbf but no impact at all now.
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Re: ' The curious case of Sheyi Ojo '

Postby llan bluebird » Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:54 pm

I think he'd make a championship career in the 90's. IMO he is a 442 left winger, doesn't have the pace for 433 or 4231. Probably make a wing back but i am not sure he think like a defender

I don't understand why we don't try 442
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Re: ' The curious case of Sheyi Ojo '

Postby skidemin » Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:29 am

Crayfish wrote:He was exactly the same at Rangers started off really well then the performances started to tail off to such an extent he started getting dropped and coming on as a sub where he hardly influenced the game at all. In the end Steven Gerrard sent him back to Liverpool before hi loan peroid ended. To be honest even if he was available for £500,000 which we probably haven't got the money could be better spent elsewhere



Rangers final game in the 2019/20 season was in March due to covid...and although he wasnt getting many minutes towards the end of his stay ...Ojo went back to Liverpool end of May when his loan ended...
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