Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard has today been bigged up in a feature written by French media outlet France Football.
Edouard is currently on international duty with France under-21s and is preparing for a crucial game against Switzerland this evening. Both sides have already qualified for the 2021 UEFA Euro under-21 Championships next March, but France will want to prove a point after losing 3-1 to the Swiss in their first meeting.
Celtic superstar Edouard scored in that one and also featured during France’s 5-0 win in Liechtenstein on Thursday. Now, he’ll be looking to avenge their previous loss to Switzerland in tonight’s 8pm kickoff.
And ahead of the game, France Football journalist Benoit Desaint has showered Edouard with some glowing remarks, as he outlined his importance to the team:
“Odsonne Edouard has made himself indispensable in the eyes of Sylvain Ripoll (France under-21s manager). Whilst waiting for selection into the A squad, the Celtic player continues to write his story in the youth categories of the France team.
“When selected by Sylvain Ripoll, the Celtic player has scored 13 goals in nine games, thus contributing to the qualification for the next European Championships acquired at the end of the meeting against Liechtenstein.
“Excellent in finishing, the right-footer is also excellent in creation. He is a real poison for defences. The Scottish champion also has a nice burst of speed which allows him to offer solutions on the counter-attack. Edouard thus has a profile that could lead him to evolve even higher whether at club or international level.”
A bigger meeting tonight that you might think
It’s difficult not to acknowledge the fact that Edouard didn’t score in that 5-0 mauling of Lichtenstein last week. Given his poor form this season, you can’t help but think it was more than just an off game.
Tonight’s contest against the Swiss is big when it comes to pride. The French don’t like finishing second to anyone – regardless of the competition or the age levels. There’s an arrogance there that serves them well, and that will ensure they’re going all out to nab top spot this evening.
A goal in this one, therefore, could be exactly what Edouard needs to start finding his feet again. It hasn’t been mentioned much, but Odsonne has only scored one goal in his last seven Premiership games for Celtic (Transfermarkt). That’s not the kind of figures we’ve come to expect from him, and we desperately need him to find his spark from somewhere.
It’s clear he’s ranked highly back in his homeland, regardless of his poor start to the campaign. That’s good. He shouldn’t be feeling too much pressure tonight when he (most likely) starts against the Swiss. Getting on his back could be the worst thing we could do.
For a player like Edouard, it’s important that we don’t get too frustrated with him. He’ll come into form in time, as the quality that a player such as him has always comes to the fore. But it’s all about whether we can get him to shoot himself back into peak form before it’s too late.
That’s what makes tonight so important. His reputation has been built on bouncing back from poor spells in the past. Now, we desperately need him to do the same as soon as possible.
In other news, Celtic appear to have been fortunate once again as they avoided another Covid scare today.
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