By Ewah Chika.
"If you arrived at Melwood to see Jordan Ibe train and you didn't know who he was 'you'd swear he was Spanish or Portuguese. He's so unfazed," were the words of former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers while referring to youngster Jordan Ibe who was billed as the next big thing from Andield.
By this time last year , Jordan Ibe was preparing for the 2015/2016 season in the Far East with
Liverpool . That season was meant to be his breakthrough season after the exit of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City for £49 million. The youngster had been impressive in his cameo appearance with his debut standing out after he assisted Philippe Coutinho for the only goal of the game against Queens Park Rangers in May 2013. Shortly after that the Nigerian born English winger had successful loan spells at both Birmingham City and Derby County before returning to Liverpool in the winter of 2015 where he won the Man-of-the-Match award against Everton in his first start for the club.
Last season, Ibe got limited game time in the new season as Rodgers quickly ditched him for Roberto Firmino in the right flank after playing the English man in the first game against Stoke. As if that wasn't enough, the youngster could not even get a starting role for Gareth Southgate's England U-21 . Things looked better when Rodgers was sacked and Jurgen Klopp appointed his successor. Like the other time, Ibe scored the only goal as Liverpool beat Rubin Kazan in Russia in the Europa League and this was seen as his stepping stone to greater heights. Under Klopp, Ibe found it even harder as the German preferred Daniel Sturridge upfront with Roberto Firmino slightly behind him while Adam Llalana played on the right flank and Philipe Coutinho on the left flank. This meant the English man had no place in the team as James Milner moved right from his deep central position whenever Llalana was injured or rested. The decision to sell Ibe was made immediately Klopp realised he (Ibe) could not fully succeed in his high tempo energy pressing philosophy hence his sale to Eddie Howe's Bournemouth for £15 million this summer. All through last season, Ibe's form was inconsistent like the British weather and it was glaring even though it was early to conclude , he needed a new environment to continue his development.
"I like the philosophy the manager has got here and there are a lot of good, young players so it's a good place for me to kick on and do well.
"I can bring pace and power and hopefully some goals. I want to be skilful and help the team to do well," the youngster said shortly after signing for Bournemouth.
The winger is blessed with pace, physical strength , unpredictability and skills which are needed to succeed in football top flight but he will have to improve his reading of the game. Also one thing that might have played a big role in his regression is the fact that might have been in a big club with so much pressure and responsibility which might be too much for a player of his age (20). At Bournemouth , Ibe will have enough game time and patience to make mistakes and grow from them. He is also going to play under Eddie Howe who is one of the best coaches when it comes to nurturing of young talents. Howe also sets his team to play in an attacking style and this will not only help Ibe but also offer him the stage to showcase his quality . Examples abound of players who failed in big clubs but gradually built their game from smaller clubs like Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea to Everton) , Nemanja Matic (Chesea to Benfica back to Chelsea) , Danny Drinkwater (Manchester United to Leicester City) and Ryan Shawcross (Manchester United to Stoke City) . The youngster's main problem is his mind as he is sure lacking confidence. Ibe must also fight the temptation to showcase some skill and dribble in impossible areas as this has slowed down his game. He rather has to be more direct and should work on his shooting which is still a long way to that a finished article.
If all these are done, then one can be sure Eddie Howe has a world beater in his South Coast team .,
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