Odion Ighalo

Odion Ighalo - BBC Interview

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29896078

Watford's Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo says his seven years playing in Europe have made him a stronger person.

He left home aged 18 to play in Norway in freezing conditions.

"It changed many things about me. My friends used to call me mummy's boy. I liked being with my mum and brothers.

"Being there by myself, I realised my mum or dad weren't there. I had to work hard, I had to make my life out of what I was doing," the 25-year-old told BBC Three Counties Radio.

Born in Lagos, Ighalo joined Oslo side Lyn in 2007 and often played in harsh weather, a stark contrast to the temperatures he was used to in Africa.

Odion's blockbuster career:


Lyn (2007-08)

Udinese (2008-14)

Granada (loan, 2009-10)

Cesena (loan, 2010)

Granada (loan, 2011-14)

Watford (2014)


"Living in Nigeria, it's like 40 degrees. I went to Norway and sometimes it's like minus 23," he said.

"It was not easy going there as a young player with no family. But playing in Europe was my dream."

After a successful first season in Norway, Ighalo joined Udinese, but spent most of his six years with the Italian side on loan at Spanish club Granada.

Watford, like Udinese and Granada, are owned by the Pozzo family, and Ighalo joined the Hornets on an initial loan in July, before signing a contract until 2017 last week.

He has scored three goals in his last five games, having taken up the central striker role in recent weeks.

"It took me time to adapt. I'm improving little by little and I know when I get to my best I will do more than I am now," he said.

Amid his European travels, Ighalo has always provided financial support for his parents.

He added: "If I don't look after my mother, what am I doing here?

"After God comes my mum. I do my best to make sure she is happy. Every month I send some of my salary to my parents, because I want to take care of them like they took care of me."

 

Thought he would be the next Steve Belleck or whatever his name was when I first saw him play, but the past few times he has played he has put a real shift in!

 

Igloo sounds like a top bloke.

 

Sounds like his mind wanders on the pitch.

Get rid.

 

First time I saw him, he looked out of place, I am still not totally convinced but if he can help support our main strikers and the team benefits, then that can't be bad!

 

Third year of Pozzo ownership and people still don't give the foreign guys time to settle on and off the pitch....

 

Holds the ball up well and good at dribbling and using his body to hold off defenders.

Fair play to him for proving most of us wrong, and he is keeping Fessi out of the team.

I think he definitely has enough to make it as a rotation option with Fessi and Dyer, although I'm still very eager to see Fes, Deeney and Vydra as a front three.

 

What a complete legend, he already puts Graham Taylor before his own mother.

 

If we all sent half our salaries to Igloo's mum we could make him really happy ...

 

Just goes to show, never judge a player on their first few performances - I remember some went completely over the top and refused to believe that there would be any improvement in his game....

 

Ighalo and Paredes are rubbish. End of.

 

I was one of those. He was sobad I just couldn't possibly see a way that he could improve to anywhere near the level required. The turnaround has been amazing - hard to believe he is the same player who was so woefully out of his depth at Blackburn. Fair play to him.

 

Starting to see why he's considered a legend by Granada after just a few seasons there. People were worried about his scoring rate when he signed and I don't think he'll ever be a 20 goal a season striker but there's so much to his game.

He holds the ball up and brings other players into the game as well as anyone at the club. He's surprisingly good in the air, he works hard and gets stuck in. Seems to have a good attitude, too. Here's a quote from Anya:

[video=youtube;Nx_s5xRBnG8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx_s5xRBnG8&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

Those is some good skills , he didnt look that sort of player when he first arrived

 

Deeney didn't look like a 20 goal a season striker a few years ago, given a whole season I reckon Odion would smash 20 goals. Looks like one of the squad who could make the step up to the Prem as well.

 

Ighalo, Deeney & Fessi against Chelski please.

We need to go all out and score more than them. Trying to conceded less than them will

 

I'd start him over Vydra for now.

 

Only thing is, Chelsea are susceptible to pace, so Vydra might be more effective against them. Be a bit harsh to drop him though.

 

Wow.

I had no idea that he had such good feet. Lovely skill there.

I'll also add that I love the fact that Anya has publicly said what a good professional Ighalo is. That alone is enough for me to back him to get more game time here.

 

I first saw him play for Watford in the friendly against Udinese and I was very impressed with his close ball control in tight positions. In subsequent displays he did look a little lightweight and I wasn't sure if he would really make any sort of impact in the Championship, but he's worked very hard on his game and has adapted very well.

Now he looks like a real player. He has very good skills with the ball at his feet, but I've also been very impressed with his ability in the air. He's not the tallest striker, but he is technically excellent at making a good connection with the ball on his head. That's almost a dying art these days.

For me, he's not a clinical finisher like Vydra or Deeney and he will miss good chances, a bit like Foresteiri, but the other parts of his game are very good, especially as he is using his body strength to a much better affect these days.

Deeney, Vydra, Forestieri and Ighalo......that's an awesome line-up for any Championship side.......and I would consider that to be almost Premiership quality.

 

Whilst I accept it will be considered heresy to most of you, I don't think it would be an absolute disaster if Deeney went in this window, if Leicester or someone else bids £10m again. I am increasingly impressed with Ighalo as he plays more regularly.

Provided that ALL of the transfer fee was reinvested predominately in British players, I feel the strength of the overall squad could be improved. A central defender, attacking midfielder and another wing back who has better defensive skills. Also a Le Fondre type who could come off the bench and provide something different if the main strikers are misfiring.

I await the abuse.

 

It's lovely to see a player develop and improve as the season progresses.

Who else do you guys think fits that catagory this season?

 

If Danny Ings and Ashley Barnes are helping Burnley pick up points in the Premiership then those 4 are more than good enough.

 

Cathcart has surprised us I think. Been solid.

 

Ighalo is always has a spark on the field. At the moment he is what we need more than Vydra. When the team is playing well Vydra will come back into his own.

 

I want to see Vydra and Ighalo play together. I have a feeling it could be wonderful.

 

eeeeew

 

Trust your mind to be in the gutter!

 

Scared me for a second. I read it as "Been sold"

 

My early impression of Ighalo was that he was trying far too hard and snatching at opportunities as a result (I think Nando suffers from this same problem).

It's seems like Ighalo cares deeply about doing his best for both himself and the fans. I suspect this was hampering his initial appearances for us.

 

Thought he looked clueless when he first came. I wrote him off.

So so happy he's proved me wrong.

 

Can I be the first to say you ****ing numbskull idiot?

I had the exact same thought when I wrote my comment on the Guediora thread about Palace possibly offering him to us with money for Deeney this January. Ighalo will definitely improve on the pitch and, in time, will get to the 20 goal season mark (possibly next season if we're still in this league). However the problem with replacing Deeney with Ighalo is that we're losing a captain and a person who is very well respected by all in the camp. Ighalo sounds like a good player with a very good and professional attitude, but I don't think he would be able to do all of Deeney's roles at this club this season if Troy were to leave. However, I certainly wouldn't mind it if he replaced Deeney next season.

I want to equate him to Rudy Gestede and I hope he can make the same impact for us that Gestede made for Blackburn last year. Ironically, Rudy ended up playing a secondary striker role for Rhodes and I feel that would be the best position for Ighalo, supplying Deeney with goals.

 

So you don't agree with him?

 

Nah I don't, but I see where he's coming from because I shared the same idea a couple of days ago.

 

I didn't suggest selling Deeney, I simply said that it might not be a disaster if it happened provided that the proceeds were properly invested in the weaker areas of the team. I would use Southampton as an example. Last year people thought that the Saints had sold all their crown jewels, but they reinvested in new players wisely and arguably have a better team now.

Isn't this the Pozzo way?