Super Eagles striker Tolu Arokodare delivered a statement performance on his first start for Ajax, scoring twice in the Dutch giants’ 5-3 victory over FC Sion and earning the club’s Player of the Match award.
The 25-year-old was handed his first start for the Amsterdam giants last night and repaid coach Míchel Sánchez’s faith with two goals before being substituted after an hour.
The Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee scored off a ricochet just before half-time before adding a second in the 51st minute after a very brilliant build-up.
Arokodare finished the game with a 9.0 rating from FotMob, the highest recorded by an Ajax player on the night. He also hit the crossbar as Ajax completed a 9-5 aggregate victory to book their place in the UEFA Conference League league phase.
Arokodare’s numbers only tell part of the story. His physical presence was another major feature of his performance.
Standing at 1.97m, the former Genk striker gave Sion’s defenders a difficult problem to solve, combining his size with movement rather than simply waiting inside the penalty area.
That attribute was what impressed ESPN analysts Kees Kwakman and Hedwiges Maduro after the match.
“You’d be crazy not to put him in,” Kwakman said in quotes revealed by ESPN Netherlands, arguing that Arokodare’s performance was more than scoring goals.
“He’s playing a great game today. Not just the goal he scores. He wins a duel and the rest anticipate that. I love this type of striker,” the former Augsburg defender continued.
Maduro highlighted the Nigerian’s ability to contribute in different phases of Ajax’s attacking play.
“He’s super strong, he’s pretty good at holding the ball up around the goal, but also in open play. He’s tying up players, and he’s also scoring.”
The comments underline why Arokodare’s performance was so significant, and he was handed Ajax’s Player of the Match award.
Tolu Arokodare forcing his way into Ajax’s plans
Arokodare’s first start was notable because Ajax have been rotating their options in attack, with Marcos Leonardo and Kasper Dolberg also competing for the centre-forward position.
Kwakman revealed that the analysts had already been calling for Arokodare to start regularly.
“We’ve been saying that for a few weeks. Maybe it had something to do with his condition.”
Arokodare missed a large part of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ pre-season preparations after the English club froze him out of the first-team training and wanted him to leave, meaning his fitness wasn’t up to par.
However, analyst Thijs Zwagerman suggested there may have been another reason for his delayed introduction into the starting XI, particularly because of the transfer fee Ajax spent on Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo.
Still, Kwakman believes Arokodare’s latest performance may have changed the situation.
“But it now seems that Tolu is just going to be Ajax’s striker. You’d be crazy if you didn’t put him in.”
“He also varies in his actions. He’s not static. With one of the goals, he also comes to the side to ask for the ball and bounce.”
Maduro also believes the Nigerian’s profile will be useful against opponents who defend deep.
“If you are often around the 16 metres of an opponent, it is nice to have such a player. You can play him in, you can get under the ball from him holding it up, you can give advances on him.”
“At first glance, you do think that it is mainly brute strength and length, but also his timing is good.”
For a striker who had been waiting for his opportunity to start, Arokodare’s performance against FC Sion has put him in pole position to continue as Ajax’s main man.
