What will Simon Adingra bring to Sunderland - #onthewhistle - video Dailymotion

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith discusses Sunderland's move for Brighton winger Simon Adingra

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00:00response was that they were potentially open to a sale, but they didn't want to lose Watson

00:05without a replacement. As you may remember, of course, there were some injury concerns around

00:08Romain Mundell at that time. And one of their solutions was to try and bring Odinga in,

00:13a player that they really, really like. And so a few months forward to be able to capture him on

00:17a permanent deal, I think is really exciting and a big signal of how far the club has come in a

00:22short space of time. Now, I've watched a lot of Odinga's clips over the last day or so, done some

00:26analysis on him. To be honest, I don't need to tell you too much about him. Just picture

00:31Sunderland's left wingers over the last couple of years and you're pretty much there. It's exactly

00:35what you would expect. Primarily, a really, really explosive player, loves to dribble,

00:41loves to cut inside off the left flank, loves to get a shot away, loves to take players on.

00:45We know, we've talked about it already in terms of the squad that Sunder will build next season.

00:50Players who are good in transition, players who have real physical strengths, who can carry the

00:54ball a long wing, make something special happen in the final third. Odinga is that player to the

00:58tee. Now, he does also, as most of Sunderland signings do, bring a bit of flexibility. He has

01:03played a reasonable amount off the right wing in his career, but very much primarily a left winger.

01:09And I think he's very much in the sort of tradition of Remain Muntal, Jack Clark. That is absolutely

01:14the kind of player that is something to recruit in here. Now, looking at his stats, this kind of

01:20bears it out. So, last season, I think it's fair to say it wasn't a great season for Odinga

01:25in terms of his career so far. But even then, his stats were still really impressive going

01:29off FBRF here. Still in the top 25% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the entire Premier

01:35League for the number of shots he was taking for 90 minutes. And if we go back to the previous

01:39season, which was a really, really impressive season for him under Roberto Deserbi, where he

01:46kind of made his breakthrough at Brighton. Played a lot of minutes. Really, really impressed. Take a

01:51look at these stats from the 2023-24 Europa League, and I think they tell you a lot about

01:56Odinga as a player. Really dynamic, a really attacking threat. So, top 9% in the Europa League

02:01for shots per 90 minutes. Top 20% for expected goals and expected assists combined. Top 10% for

02:08progressive carries. That's essentially dribbling into dangerous areas with the ball. And the top

02:12two stops 7%, sorry, for touches in the opposition penalty areas. I think that gives you a real

02:17sense of what Odinga is at his best. Now, why are Brighton happy to sell him? Why couldn't

02:23he get a lot of football? Why wasn't he at his best last year? That's obviously always

02:26a concern when you're recruiting a player. And speaking to people who followed his progress

02:30at Brighton, I think the simple answer is Matoma. I think that under Deserbi, Brighton

02:37had a lot of injuries in the 2023-24 season, Odinga really took his opportunity. Last season,

02:43change of coach came in after Deserbi's departure. Of course, he went to Marseille.

02:49I think he just simply, Matoma was fit for most of the season. Matoma is obviously a top

02:53level Premier League winger, had massive bids from Saudi Arabia, from other clubs to move

02:58on. And so, I think Odinga just found his playing time squeezed a little bit, speaking

03:03to people who kind of followed the situation and followed Odinga's progress. There were

03:07some suggestions that the new head coach felt that Odinga didn't have quite the same levels

03:11in terms of his defensive work and his physicality. Important to stress that I went and looked

03:16in, he had some really good defensive statistics last year. So, he's not someone who doesn't

03:20contribute defensively. He was actually in the top 13% for wingers in terms of tackles

03:26per 90 last season in the Premier League and the top 20% for interceptions. So, we're not

03:30talking about a player who can't press, who can't do the defensive side of the game.

03:33But yeah, suggestions that just maybe didn't quite click with the new head coach last season.

03:39And fundamentally, he just found himself behind what was an elite Premier League winger in Matoma.

03:45He can also play off the right, as I mentioned. But you may remember, of course, that Brighton

03:50signed Yukiuba Minte from Newcastle United. And he, you know, was a more natural right winger

03:54and was tended to be preferred. So, my feeling is that Sonnenfans shouldn't be too concerned

03:59about the fact that Odinger didn't play as much last season and didn't quite find his

04:04form. I think the fact that he's coming in early and he'll have a full pre-season is a

04:08big boost for Sunderland and hopefully will help him recapture his best that he showed in

04:12that 23-24 season when he looked like a really good Premier League winger. Also played a big

04:17role in Ivory Coast winning the African Cup of Nations as well. So, we are talking about a player with genuine

04:22top-tier pedigree here. It seems a little bit strange, of course. Some of the fans might be

04:27wondering why Brighton signing Watson and letting Odinger go. I think it's just a reflection of

04:32where the two clubs are at at the moment. The two very, very different stages that they're at.

04:36Brighton have Matoma. They appear increasingly confident he's going to stay this summer.

04:42That means that Odinger's playing time is potentially going to be squeezed. So, this is a real opportunity

04:47for them to recoup some decent money, which they can invest in other areas of the squad where

04:50they maybe have a bit more need. And of course, they can be a little bit more patient with Watson

04:54at a really, really different stage of his career. Watson are likely to get senior football next

04:59season. That's why he made the move. But probably at his stages of his career, Brighton believed that

05:05his potential could take him to a really, really, really high level in the next few years.

05:10And the reality is they're in a position where they can be patient with that and they can give

05:13him the time to do that. I think from Sunderland's perspective, they need players, Premier League

05:16experience who are ready to go into the team now. Odinger might not be in a

05:20able to fight his way past Matoma at Brighton, but I think he's clearly a player of Premier

05:25League pedigree. And even the Brighton head coach who didn't pick him as much last year

05:29made clear that he felt he was a Premier League standard player week in, week out. He was

05:33just, as I say, the other individuals in the squad who were maybe slightly ahead of him.

05:37So, it is a little bit odd in terms of these players swapping and what have you, but I do

05:41think this is an exciting signing for Sunderland. And I think it's good to add some genuine

05:47Premier League experience to the squad. Odinger knows what it's all about. He should have a decent

05:50chance of hitting the ground running. So, to finish...

What will Simon Adingra bring to Sunderland - #onthewhistle

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