Think back to early last season. A bad Odsonne Edouard miss against Hibs had many Celtic fans on his back. He was dropped for a month and forgotten about as Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele stole the headlines.
Fast-forward 13 months later and hes looking like a hero in the making at Parkhead. Despite what Chris Sutton said last night in that he isn’t convinced by Edouard, it was, in truth, another heroic display from the Frenchman.
Already this season, Edouard has bagged himself nine goals. Nearly into double figures come Halloween isn’t bad going for such a young star. Yet, it’s not really his goals that’s the main aspect of his play.
The Frenchman has looked imperious with his hold-up play in recent times. Against Dundee last night, he bagged an assist and consistently looked to link-up play outside the box.
On occasion, sometimes his clever-looking passes and flicks just don’t come off. He’s one of the best strikers in Scotland, if not the best, and his brain can sometimes be too much for those around him.
Yet, when you look back at the early stages of last term, the ball often just bounced off Edouard. There wasn’t that same level of hold-up play to his game, and he struggled with the expectation levels at the club.
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A striker thriving
Now, however, he looks like he’s thriving with his new level of responsibility. Indeed, Edouard is beginning to seriously dominated defences in Scotland, as well as look like one of the Hoops’ only threats in Europe.
The forward has bagged four European goals this season, with two of them coming away from home. His maturity levels are developing, whilst his finishing seems to be getting better by the week.
Edouard shot himself to fame with a famous winner for 10-man Celtic at Ibrox. He followed that up with another brace against Celtic’s Glasgow rivals at Parkhead on title-winning day.
Since then, he’s grown leaps and bounds as a player. His hold-up, link-up, and finishing play is stronger than many of the strikers who were here in the past. Considering Edouard is also just 20 years of age, it’s a scary thought.
He’s become the player many believed he had no chance of becoming. Proving doubters wrong, however, shows a real strength of character.
Edouard clearly has that in abundance as well as his unlimited potential. For now, he’ll continue to grow under Brendan Rodgers, but he can be delighted with the start he’s made at Celtic Park.