Former PSV defender Jan Wuytens has offered high praise for Super Eagles striker Tolu Arokodare, highlighting why the Nigerian striker has successfully found his rhythm and started making waves at Ajax.
Following a difficult spell in the English Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arokodare secured a loan move to Amsterdam.
Reflecting on his time working with the forward in Belgium, Wuytens in a chat with ajax1, explained that unlocking the 25-year-old’s full potential comes down to playing directly to his physical strengths.
Read Also:Durosinmi Draws Osimhen Comparisons
Wuytens pointed out that when teams lean into Arokodare’s unique physical profile, specifically by flooding the box with crosses, he becomes virtually unstoppable in the air.
Beyond his aerial threat and pace, Arokodare’s exceptional ability to hold up the ball allows midfielders and wingers to join the attack, making him a central focal point for Ajax’s system.
“Tolu has a very special profile, he is a unique boy”, Wuytens began.
“When he came, he had to get used to our way of playing. We played a kind of Ajax football, with high pressure. He had a really hard time with that at the beginning: constantly making those sprint meters in pressing.
“But in his second season, Tolu really got loose at Genk, also because we started using him much more in his power.
“We started training more on crosses, throwing balls in the box. There Tolu is just unstoppable. He is very good in air, and also quite fast, then you have to bring him into his strength.
“He himself also adapted better and better, especially to the pace of the game, because there are a lot of transition moments in Belgian football.
Read Also:Busari: WAFU B U-17 Cup Vital for Flamingos’ World Cup Build-Up
“He’s a special boy. He has a kind of magic, that he can win everyone over at certain clubs. As a trainer, you really have to hit the right string with him, the perfect string, and you have to keep hitting it, to get him consistent. If you do that, you will get a killer on the field.
“That’s the game you have to play with him: you want to bring him into a certain structure, in which he can also be himself. That’s interesting. With us there have never been problems with being late or things like that. And in the end he really got going. He started scoring more and more, and we started using him better and better.
“He is holding the ball so strong that the rest can join. If you feed him with crosses, and people walking around him, he is a very interesting player”, Wuytens concluded.
2 Comments
Well, it’s the same thing with Onuachu.
With tall, powerful strikers like Arokodare and Onuachu, you have to play to their strengths.
I said this countless times in the past.
Playing to their strengths means crosses into the box, and allowing them to hold up the ball, which gives wingers and midfielders opportunities to run into space. As Wuytens said, frequent good crosses into the box is what these type of strikers need. They are both very dominant in the air, and will overwhelm most defenders.
Alas, with Nigeria, instead of crosses into he box, what Onuachu was getting was the ball being pushed ahead of him to chase. As if he’s a Yekini, or an Aghagowa.
Onuachu who is not pacy was being asked to chase balls, and to press like Osimhen. That is not his game! If you ask Arokodare to do that too, he will struggle.
However, play to their strengths, and they will get you goals!
Tolu is something else i have watched him in Ajax colours and believe me what these guys are saying is very true. He is unplayable and very good on the ball that I almost weep why we don’t play to his strength by just giving him more of the ball to do his thing. Nigeria is blessed if you watch this boy closely and the fact that he is humble but confident made me like him more.