Onuachu Unfolds Southampton Struggles
By Saheed Afolabi
Nigeria striker, Paul Onuachu has unburdened himself from the struggles he faced during his disappointing spell at English Premier League side, Southampton.
Onuachu failed to hit the spark at Southampton after his fantastic performance in the Belgian Pro League where he dominated the scoring chart consecutively.
The lanky striker unsealed his hardship at the club which he admitted went sour after joining the club in the winter transfer window.
“There are times in football when things don’t go well. For me, the Southampton period was like that. First of all, the transfer happened in January,” Onuachu said.
He attributed his bad form at Southampton to frequent changes in coaches and tactics which weren’t in tandem with his playing style.
“Many coaching changes and systems that didn’t suit me. I knew the team had a 50-50 chance of staying in the league or getting relegated. But sometimes you take a risk and then you see if it works. I took the risk and it didn’t work.”
Learning from his past experience, Onuachu advised players to make research about any team they intend to join in order to avoid excuses if things go wrong.
“Maybe I’m making excuses, but sometimes if you want to go to a team, you need to ask and learn very, very well about the system, how things work in the team, and everything else. That’s all.”
Despite the shortcomings, the Super Eagles forward said he doesn’t regret any of the decision he made in the past which didn’t go as planned.
“I haven’t regretted any of the decisions I’ve made, but sometimes there are questions you need to ask before signing with a team. You need to find out if their system suits you.”
Onuachu has rediscovered his form in the Turkish League where he bagged the highest goal scorer award last season with Trabzonspor after scoring 22 goals in 30 league matches. However, he shared the top-scorer title as a joint-winner with Uzbekistan striker Eldor Shomurodov of İstanbul Başakşehir, who also finished the campaign with 22 goals.
Onuachu’s achievement made him only the sixth player in Trabzonspor’s history to win the league’s top scorer award. To cap off his incredible season, he also won the Turkish Süper Lig Goal of the Season award for a spectacular mid-air bicycle kick against Fatih Karagümrük.
