Second Season Syndrome, Part 2 of 4: Abraham Odoh

The area of focus for this series of articles is the players entering their second season at the club- namely Chris Conn-Clarke, Abraham Odoh, Oscar Wallin, and Cian Hayes.

Photo Credit - Joe Dent / Peterborough United

Gustav Lindgren and Carl Johnston are not included - with less than a full season under their belt, their circumstances are different to the others. George Nevett did not make enough appearances to qualify.

What can they do to kick on in their second season at Peterborough United?

Next up: Abraham 'Ibi' Odoh

‘Ibi’ had a debut Posh season that is difficult to summarise.

For some, he was symbolic of Posh’s decline in 24/25; a player who is simply not good enough to ever be a League One-level winger.

For others, they saw flashes of brilliance, particularly in front of goal, that suggest in time he could develop into a real asset at London Road.

It might be argued that no ‘bad’ player is capable of the performance he put in away at Crawley: a near-flawless display in which he scored a hat-trick and won a penalty in the dying seconds of the match.

Great finishing was not just contained to the Crawley game. He converted chances, in the games against Charlton at home and Rotherham away respectively, that were similar in technique and demonstrated his ability to cut inside, open up his body, and guide the ball into the far corner.

Nevertheless, outside of these flashes (along with an excellent assist at Exeter early in the season), Odoh lacked consistent quality across a number of areas of his game.

In this series of articles, the depth of improvements needed is greater here than for any other player covered. Let's get into them.

Focus on getting the ball more

When digging into the stats on the players covered in these articles, it stood out just how little Odoh gets on the ball.

Over three-quarters of wingers in the league get more touches per 90 minutes than he does.

When considering the way Odoh plays, this is perhaps not surprising. Odoh leans heavily on his dribbling ability, and to maximise the chances of success, he hugs the touchline waiting to receive the ball in space, before taking on the opposition full-back. Unable to get separation from his marker often enough, many games simply passed him by.

When he did start an attack, he often ran into his marker. On some occasions, he ran the ball out of play entirely, for example at Bristol Rovers, in arguably the worst performance of any Posh player last term. Additionally, he was not always easy to find, as mentioned above.

High quality defenders would find ways of marking him out of the game. This limited the options for Posh’s midfield and put additional pressure on those trying to progress the play into the final third.

For Odoh to kick on, he must find ways to make himself more available. Whether that means coming inside, or feigning runs to make the defender hesitate, he should work at getting many more touches per 90 minutes than he did last year. Altering his positioning off the ball may help.

Odoh lacked consistent quality across a number of areas last season

Less dribbling, more playmaking

Leading on from the previous point, Odoh should look to make the game easier for himself once he is on the ball. Too many times last season he was rapidly closed down having received the ball near the edge of the pitch. When starting so wide, it was obvious that he was going to attempt a direct dribble at his marker. Often, there was little Posh’s supporting full back could do to help him.

He did break out of this routine on occasion, and showed glimpses of good playmaking ability. As mentioned earlier, his assist for Malik Mothersille at Exeter was excellent. This came from him taking up a much narrower spot on the pitch to receive the ball, and he successfully jinxed around the Exeter defender, allowing him to feed Mothersille for the goal.

To create easier chances for himself, he should focus on short playmaking actions ahead of direct dribbles. That is not to say he should remove dribbles from his game entirely, but given his skill set, he would serve the team better by playing more like an inside forward than a traditional winger.

Keep supporting the defence

To Ibi’s credit, his attitude towards defensive work is very positive. He is willing to apply pressure and attempt duels to try and disrupt the opposition regularly. Anyone who watches him live can see that.

Odoh scores very highly among wingers for Duels won % and Interceptions per 90 minutes

His duel success rate of 48% puts him right towards the top of League One for wingers, as does his average 1 interception per game.

Odoh will likely find he has more opportunities to get on the ball by continuing to develop his defensive work.

If he can find the right balance between playmaking and defending, with fewer direct dribbling attempts, his performances will likely be much more consistent.

Verdict

There could well be a player in Abraham Odoh, yet. But there remains a doubt whether a Championship-level winger is going to emerge if he continues to rely on direct dribbling.

He lacks the explosiveness and touch to be able to penetrate defences consistently.

If he is willing to adjust his game to focus on build-up, playmaking, and opposition disruption, he could significantly improve this year.