With no West Ham game on Saturday afternoon, I decided to pay Brisbane Road a visit for Leyton Orient’s game against Scunthorpe.
A lacklustre O’s performance saw them comfortably beaten 3-1 by relegation candidates Scunthorpe. In a boring tie with very little spark, especially from Orient, there was one player who stood out and that 19 year old Moses Odubajo.
The fast, skilful number 17 is best suited to playing on the right of midfield but was used at right back by O’s boss Russell Slade. Odubajo showed why promotion chasing Leicester City and Middlesbrough in the Championship are keeping a close eye on the teenager, with pace and skill in abundance, versatile Odubajo presented the main threat for Orient and when pushed forward was the only player who looked like provoking any type of attack on the Scunthorpe goal.
Now, it isn’t a challenge to stick out in a poor side if you are a real talent, but Odubajo went further than that for me. Arguably the best player on the pitch by far, Moses showed a much older head than the 19 year old one on his shoulders. Vision, tactical awareness, pace and the ability to beat a defender on the wing all contributed to his star performance.
With a depleted squad due to several injuries and the January transfer window fast approaching I feel Big Sam could do a lot worse than to sign the Englishman, it is clear that we are lacking something on the right hand side, and given that it wouldn’t take a lot of money to lure him across East London Odubajo could well prove to be a clever signing, for the future, and to bolster the squad for the likes of Manchester United and Spurs at home.
As an O’s fan I’ve seen Odujabo a few times. He’s certainly got talent but the step up to the Premiership would be a bit much for him at this stage IMO. Best you’d have is a bench warmer, which would then set back his progress.
Come along in another year and you might be right.
Agree that the step might be a bit much but we’re seriously lacking on the right hand side and I do rate him very highly, well what I’ve seen anyway.
Cheers for the comment though, very helpful 🙂
Far to much of a jump up to the prem if you ask me. Might be worth it if he was loaned out to a championship side for a season first but still a gamble not worth taking really. As the previous post from the O’s fan has already stated coming to WHU now would halt his progress as he’d be shoved into the development squad and never seen. Iv heard a few promising things about him and would like to see him move upto the championship and see if he can cope there but nowhere near ready for the Prem
If this lad is the talent that he appears to be & BFS feels that this is the case, then why not make an offer for him & if successful, loan him back to the O’s or to a Championship club for a season or so.
There can’t be too many like him around so why not go for it. He might be just the type of player WHU are looking for.
What would be wrong with him playing for our under 21’s? It is my belief that this development league would be a step up from where he is now and the championship! Where better to learn your trade than at the academy of football? Even if it was just to give him a wee polish surely it can only benefit the boy and the irons! He is still a young lad and has plenty of time to make it big. West ham would see to it that if he made it to the first team he would be ready! COYI
Have you watched how he has developed in the last 9 months. He would be a very good investment being a young English player and a hot talent