Peter Odemwingie who was inches away from joining Marseille on loan from Stoke City yesterday is firmly focused on their game against Manchester United tomorrow despite the transfer madness of 24 hours ago.
Odemwingie reportedly travelled to Marseille in France thinking his loan deal has been agreed only to be ordered back by manager Mark Hughes a situation which is reminisce of his act in 2013 when he turned up at QPR thinking his loan deal from West Brom has been agreed but he is putting all of that behind him ahead of tomorrow’s game.
He believes Manchester United are no longer the feared force in the English Premier League unlike the past where opponents are scared of facing them.
“”They are not the club they were – they don’t have the names and the quality they used to have,” says Odemwingie.
“They themselves look more shy than usual, they don’t take as much risk as we know them to do, so people take advantage of that and go for it when they play against them now.
“It’s a turning point for a big club like that. They have all the resources, they just need to do the right recruitment probably and go through this difficult stage and get back to the heights they are used to.
“There was a lot more quality there, they had real leaders on the team. Now they’ve lost that. Many teams go through that. When you lose a generation of players it’s hard to then get a new set that will produce the same way. I think the process they are going through is rebuilding.
“You still give them the respect, they are still good players, but not in the times when they had the likes of Rio (Ferdinand), Roy Keane, Ronaldo, (David) Beckham and great finishers like (Ruud) van Nistelrooy, so it’s a bit of a different time for them now. ”
Odemwingie will be hoping for a place on the bench against United after a rare start on Saturday at Crystal Palace.
