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Peter Olayinka: The Perfect Hybrid

Standing at 6 feet and 2 inches tall, blessed with physical strength and an eye for goal, very few wingers in world football can boast of Peter Olayinka's attributes. The Nigerian has all it takes to be a dangerous centre forward but he's…

8 Jun 20213 min

By Tunde Young

Standing at 6 feet and 2 inches tall, blessed with physical strength and an eye for goal, very few wingers in world football can boast of Peter Olayinka's attributes. The Nigerian has all it takes to be a dangerous centre forward but he's played primarily on the left-wing for most of his time in Europe. Peter's positioning is so good it almost looks like luck. Whether he's playing down the middle or on the wing, he's more than likely to be on the end of a loose ball.

He runs the channel so well which makes him easier to find for his teammates, the same reason he scores a lot of tap-ins and easy-looking goals. Olayinka does most of his running off the ball and in behind the defenders rather than straight at them like a regular winger. He's never static, always on the move looking to provide his teammates with an extra passing option and breaking the lines (pun definitely intended) defensively.

Slavia manager, Jindřich Trpišovský prefers to utilise Peter as a winger for his versatility. He can turn a standard 4-3-3 into a 4-4-2 very quickly without altering the shape of the team drastically. Slavia Prague's fluidity in attack is dependent (to an extent) on Olayinka's ability to strategically step in-field and back out when it's needed. A prime example of his movement and the impact it has on opposition defences is the part he played in Slavia Prague's 1-1 draw in the 2019 Champions League group stage opener against Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Olayinka scored Slavia Prague's only goal of that game but his swift movement and decision-making in the phases of play leading to the goal was just as important as the goal itself. At the start of the Slavia attack, Olayinka was on the left flank making a seemingly harmless run across the Inter defence to the other side of the pitch.

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Tunde Young

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