Super Eagles hopeful Ademola Lookman, eager to lay his nightmare moments at Leipzig to rest, put in a performance yesterday for Fulham that was as compelling as it fascinating to watch.
It will not be a stretch to go as far as saying Lookman altered the complexion of the game when he came on with 23 minutes to go with his convincing take-ons, incisive passes, eloquent hold-up play and pristine interactions which were all laced in vigor, vitality and zest.
If he goes on like this, England will definitely look to have Lookman back, no doubt about it.
As of the time of typing this, I am still watching the highlights of the match with the commentator showering encomiums on Lookman’ performances stating that he had been colossal for Fulham since coming on.
Lookman’s great close controls, ability to wriggle out of tight spaces, stubborness to stand his ground and shrug off multiple attempts at wresting the ball off him were all on display against a resolute Wolves yesterday and all these outputs were not lost to the commentator (who was clearly enjoying commenting on such a precocious talent).
As a neutral football observer, I fail to spot any negatives from Lookman’s game against Wolves. If I am hard pressed to come up with a negative for sake of ‘balanced reporting’ I will say perhaps he should dribble less.
But even at that Lookman still had control of himself when he failed to take on his man leading to helping Fulham retain possession and alternatively giving a simple pass to nearest team mate (as a viable plan’ b’ to the failure of his take-on).
That is what Eberechi Eze needs to add to his game as he tends to lose the ball more often when his dribble attempts fail.
Lookman was powerful, precise and prestine every time he pushed, probed and pressed into dangerous areas for the time he was on the pitch.
Whilst I appreciate that Nigeria has a lot of wingers at the moment, it is my firm belief – based on what I just saw – that there is a place for Lookman in the Super Eagles.
The only caveat to this is if Lookman fails to sustain the sort of performances he produced against Wolves yesterday. In football, you are as good as your last game (which I know is a harsh reality).
But I repeat, replication of the sort of showings displayed by Lookman yesterday should lead to a Super Eagles invitation.
If not, Nigeria might witness losing yet again another rathe-ripe talent to England. And it will be such a pity.
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