On loan Liverpool Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi isn’t getting enough games at Dutch side NEC Nijmegen as the forward is yet to get proper football education according to coach Peter Hyballa.
Awoniyi joined Liverpool two summers ago after starring for the Nigeria U20 and 23 team, and was immediately farmed out on loan to German side FSV Frankfurt. Where he spent a season but failed to save them from relegation to the third division.
At the start of this season, he was loaned out to Dutch side NEC Nijmegen, where he has struggled to get games after a fine start to life in the Netherlands, he failed to add goals to his game, and it cost him his spot in the team.
Recently, he won back the trust of the coach and started in their last two games, but he is yet to find the back of the net, and there is every chance he could suffer another relegation as the team are currently battling to stay in the top division in Holland.
Eric Schipper of Field Of Anfield Road (FOAR) met with the coach who revealed the Nigerian forward is some way away from reaching his potentials due to some basic skills which he lacks.
“So when Taiwo left, I “bumped into” Peter Hyballa as mentioned before. And we had a bit of a talk with him. Hyballa gave us a great insight in Taiwo, both as a player and a person. Technically Taiwo’s ability on the ball is the thing he needs to work on the most. Peter basically told us he’s a very young lad who lacked a proper football education and he’s getting one now. Which can only be a good thing for Taiwo.
As said before, Taiwo is a special kid. He works extremely hard and is fully focussed on football. Hyballa had to admit that perhaps it’s too much as you need to relax and let it all hang loose once in a while. For Taiwo it’s football and religion. Peter couldn’t really remember how the transfer went down, whether LFC approached NEC or the other way around, but Hyballa had seen Taiwo play for Frankfurt and liked what he saw”.
Daniel Martins
