I was sitting next to a bloke at the Reading game last night. He was on his own, I had his accent down as somewhere around greater Manchester. He knew his football, nice fella, and at one point he turned to me and asked "What IS it with this Sasu guy? So much ability, so much raw natural talent, pace to burn and yet he struggles to get into the game?".
Whether he was a scout, a fan or a neutral I don't know. I've never seen him at any of our games before, but if it WAS the first time he's seen us play, he got straight to the nub of a really baffling connundrum. If he was a scout (and many have beaten a path to our door to watch this kid), he'll have left with the same conclusion as no doubt they all did before him. Why can't this kid crack it? So much natural ability and yet yada yada yada.
From my perspective last night I couldn't really give him an answer. I totally agree with him that this kid is absolutely chocker block full of natural ability, he's probably the most potentially exciting youngster I've ever seen play for us and I include the likes of Ayoub Assal & Jack Rudoni in that statement. He has searing pace, a physique which will become monster, a lovely touch, goes both ways, hits it cleanly off both feet and has enough tricks to make himself a pre match nightmare for opponents. It seems mad saying it, but I suspect he's a good finisher too. Sure he hasn't scored a goal yet, but he doesn't snatch at opportunities nor scuff them, with better luck he could easily have two or three goals to his name.
But but but. He at best shows up in the briefest of flashes, at worst like last night be becomes a footballing chameleon, turning himself green and disappearing from view. So how can it be? How can this young boy with SO much ability be SO ineffectual?
Obviously by now there are now quite a few of our fans who doubt that the much talked about ability it actually there at all. They are wrong, but there it is. They've heard people bang on about him and that ability so much that they've frankly got sick of hearing about it. Those people have gone from "When I see it I'll believe it" to "There's fuck all there, bin him off to the Isthmian league".
It's such a shame, and as I watched the boy from behind the goal last night I really felt for him. Like a kid in a playground who hasn't got any friends, he kind of tried to make himself look busy as everyone ignored him. He tried his best to look like he was involved in the game when really he wasn't. He shouted for the ball even when there was somebody standing in between him and the passer, he was on his heels whenever it came near him. Either nobody has ever explained to him when and where to run (extremely unlikely) or he's just not taken the information in. He is completely lost, it's a sad sight. (At this point I should say he did OK at full back. He will never though be a full back while he has a hole in his arse in my opinion, he is in my eyes 100% a striker).
So what to do? Well firstly I think the boy has to realize what he's got, and to understand that his battle in football matches is to engineer situations where he can use it. The defenders job is to absolutely avoid those situations occurring. For example EVERY defender Aron comes up against won't want him running at them at speed with the ball. Stating the obvious I know, but the kid goes both ways, can hit it off both sides and has leapord like pace (Or is it a cheetah? My minds going). So the defenders (in this case full backs) principal concern will be ensuring that if he DOES receive the ball, there isn't a gap for him to fire up the turbo charger before engagement. It therefore follows, that I quite like it (if I'm the left full back) if Aron on the odd occasion he gets it, does so with his back to goal and quite central. As long as my left sided midfielder is doing his job picking up any full back runners, I'm cushtie. I've got loads of support around me, there's no space to run and I can even dig the kid from behind as he lays it off. So, I LIKE IT AS THE FULL BACK WHEN ARON PLAYS WITH HIS BACK TO GOAL AND SITS NARROW. He's not even on the half turn or he wasn't last night, and he's ALWAYS in my line of sight. That is to say I can see him and the football at the same time, I have the cigar out.
If on the other hand (and this never happened once last night), from that inside position Araon makes to dart inside but then when I cover it quickly backpedals ten paces, two things happen. One, I can't see him and the ball at the same time anymore and I have to quickly adjust to get closer to him. Two, if he receives the ball he can go at me quick or even worse, the ball inside me is now on. Aron has at this point done what I call "opened the door for the pass".
Now this is but one move out of a number that good strikers use to make defenders very uncomfortable. I know, I played against them while they were doing it and I was NEVER comfortable. They go into areas just when you don't want them to, they do things which are absolutely what you don't want them to.
Now I never played against anyone anywhere near the ability of Aron Sasu, if I had Id have been skinned alive. BUT, not if he didn't run in the awkward places, NOT if he sat square in front of me with his back to goal and was never available to receive the ball. He's miles quicker than I ever was, but if he doesn't run nor give himself the opportunity to run it doesn't matter.
At the moment this kid is a wasted talent. I love him as a footballer and think he can go right to the very top, he literally has everything. He needs a rethink right now though, a reset, maybe even a re-coach. I know he has it in him, it's time to give himself the chance to show it.
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