Who Is Samu Omorodion?

As we approach the end of 2023 and the start of 2024, football has reached something of a saturation point.

The easy access to leagues from around the world, accelerated by the investment in the Saudi Pro League, has meant that there are simply fewer hidden gems in the game than there were 10 or even 20 years ago.

I remember a point when the World Cup would come around, and squads would be filled with players that you had not only never seen play but never even heard of.

As someone who works in recruitment, the easy access to footage and information on players from all around the world makes my job easier, but it has taken away the fairytale element of football to an extent.

Well, that was until the start of the 2023/24 season in La Liga, where the 19-year-old Spanish striker Samu Omorodion had a moment that was straight out of the pages of Roy of the Rovers.

To add some context, I have been aware of Omorodion for some time.

Last season, I was working as the chief scout for Velez CF, a club in the 4th tier of Spanish football, and in our group, we had Recre Granada, one of the feeder teams for Granada.

From the very start of the season, a certain Samu Omorodion was at the top of all of our lists of strikers.

The young (18, at the time) striker was a work in progress, but his physical attributes and eye for goal made him stand out at that level.

In the end, Recre Granada were promoted to the third tier, and Omorodion simply moved out of reach.

For all that we liked Omorodion, however, there was absolutely no way that I had anticipated what would happen at the start of 23/24.

Granada started their La Liga campaign away to Atlético Madrid, and Omorodion was in the starting lineup.

In the 61st minute, the ball flashed across the Atleti box, and the young striker was the first to react as he reached out and finished low and with power past Jan Oblak.

Granada lost the match 3-1, but Omorodion had made an impression on their opponents.

Within days, Atleti had triggered the reported £6m release clause in the young forward’s contract to take him from Granada.

For all that he impressed on his debut in La Liga, however, Omorodion still has a lot of developing to do.

As such, Atleti sent him out on loan to Alaves for the 23/24 season; from that point, Omorodion has not looked back.

In this article, we will break down Samu Omorodion style of play and explain from a tactical perspective why we believe he will be one of the players to watch in 2024.

Samu Omorodion Style Of Play

So far this season, Omorodion has played 634 minutes in La Liga for Alaves, as they sit 15th in the table; the young Spanish striker has been one of the most impressive young forwards in the league.

His actual end output, however, has yet to quite match his expected output; he is in the 39th percentile for goal contributions per 90 and the 64th percentile for expected goal contributions per 90.

As such, we would actually expect his output to increase across the second half of the season to be more in line with his expected outputs.

If we drill down further into his attacking outputs, then he is also in the 89th percentile for shots per 90 and the 76th percentile for touches in the opposition area per 90.

All of these attacking outputs are pointing us towards the fact that Omorodion will continue to develop and make improvements.

Samu Omorodion In front of goal

We can see from Omordion’s shot map so far this season that he is a striker who gets into extremely dangerous areas and takes shots that generate high xG chances.

At the time of writing, he scored five league games from an xG of 5.79, but you can see from the map that he takes his shots from central areas deep into the penalty area.

The fact that we have already seen that Omorodion has a clear tendency to take his shots from central areas deep into the penalty area simply tells us that he is a young forward with good movement and anticipation skills.

Forwards at the top level today must understand how to create separation from defenders with their movement and timing unless they have absolutely top-tier explosiveness and pace.

Omorodion is not a striker who is blessed with top pace, so his movement and anticipation make the difference for him.

We can see an example of this here: Alaves work the ball down the near side to create a crossing situation.

As the ball moves outside, we see that Omorodion is initially moving towards the edge of the area.

The timing and power of his run make the difference, and as the cross comes into the area, the young Spanish striker is the first one to the ball as he finishes comfortably.

We see a similar situation here, albeit from the opposite side of the pitch, as Alaves work the ball down the near side; in the match against Barcelona, we already see that Omorodion’s movement has already created space and separation and, as such as soon as the ball comes through into the edge of the six-yard box, he is in position to finish the chance.

As Omorodion continues to develop as a striker, we expect him to become a far more consistent goalscorer.

Samu Omorodion Defensive work rate

Samou Omorodion is listed on Transfermarkt at 193cm | 6’4” and has an athletic and powerful build.

He uses this effectively as he looks to disrupt the opposition as they are in their build-up play by pressing and counterpressing across the width of the pitch.

For all that Omorodion is tall and powerful, he is also deceptively quick, especially over the first 5 yards, and as such, he can get back and defend comfortably.

In this example, we see Omorodion use his pace and intense nature to get back to defend after the ball has been played beyond his starting position.

The opposition central defender looks to play a fairly comfortable pass into the midfield, where the receiving player should have time to take possession and turn.

Instead, we see Omorodion burst back to engage and initiate contact with the player receiving the pass before they can comfortably take possession and turn into the midfield.

He not only engages and disrupts the play but wins possession and initiates an immediate counterattack.

In the initial section of this article, we discussed the anticipation and movement of Omorodion, and in fact he also displays these traits in the defensive phase of the game.

Here, we see the opposition player lose concentration as he comes under pressure, and when he looks to play the ball back, he puts the ball wide of the receiving player.

If Omorodion was not reading the possibility and was already moving to engage the ball, then the defender would likely have been able to recover possession.

Instead, Omorodion is first to the loose ball and takes a touch to drive towards the opposition’s goal.

Samu Omorodion Disruptive movement

As a striker who is big and powerful, Samu Omorodion can also provide threat in the final third when he takes possession and moves towards the opposition penalty area.

He is not a typical dribbling attacker who will make quick cuts and changes of direction as he moves forward in possession.

Instead, he relies on power and momentum as he moves with the ball, but as he does so, he is very difficult to stop without conceding a foul.

This example shows how difficult it can be to defend effectively against a striker with Omorodion’s frame.

As he receives the ball in the half-space, with his back to goal, he takes the pressure from the defender and spins in possession to move centrally.

As he does so, his stride and power in possession allow him to quickly move to space and then attack the space behind the defensive line.

If a defender stands off as he receives, then Omorodion can turn, but if they get too tight, he will still roll the defender and move into space.

This time, we see a clear example of how dangerous Samu Omorodion is when he moves and attacks space while facing forward and in possession of the ball.

He takes possession initially wide on the right-hand side of the field, and he is able to get faced up to goal quickly.

As he starts to move he ends up knocking one defender, who tries to challenge for the ball, over as he drives towards the centre.

This type of powerful movement creates threat and space for teammates.

Conclusion

Samu Omorodion is a young striker who has enjoyed something of a meteoric rise to this point in his career.

Having moved so quickly from the 4th tier to the 1st tier of Spanish football, he has now also represented Spain at U21 level.

His blend of football intelligence and physical strength makes him a fearsome forward for defenders to face, and we believe that he will continue to develop and add to his game throughout 2024.