Bright Osayi-Samuel joined QPR from Blackpool and made the transition from the EFL League One to Championship. Osayi-Samuel is a young player with much potential, as his tactical analysis shows; he is a player that can adjust to different scenarios. Osayi-Samuel’s talent attracted several EPL teams like Arsenal and Tottenham that were scouting him while he was playing for Blackpool. This scout report shows his role in QPR’s tactics, and this analysis shows how he acts on the field with and without the ball.
Role in the team
QPR mostly use the 4-2-3-1 formation. Bright Osayi-Samuel’s role in this tactical shape is mainly in the right flank, as a right attacking wide midfielder. Moreover, he is a player that can play as a left attacking wide midfielder and a centre forward. His physical and technical characteristics allow QPR’s manager, Mark Warburton, to rotate him among these positions.
Bright Osayi-Samuel has a crucial role in the team of QPR. He is a player that contributes with and without the ball and can manipulate the opponent when he has possession of the ball and help his teammates to regain control of it. Moreover, he comes deeper when he is needed to. In that way, he is not only giving defensive support but also supporting the offensive part of the game in the transition phase. By doing so, Bright Osayi-Samuel makes sure that he will receive the first or second ball after the ball has been regained, and he will start a counterattack.
Bright Osayi-Samuel without the ball
Osayi-Samuel is a player who fits with the team’s tactics. He is patient while defending in the opponent’s half, and waits for the right moment to put higher pressure on the carrier of the ball. When the ball arrives at the correct player, then he ups the tempo and puts pressure on them. That makes the situation more difficult for the player that has the ball and if he does not have the right support, he will try a long ball, which is good for QPR, as the opponent cannot build up the game from the back, or he will try to win sometime, but this could be risky, as Osayi-Samuel is putting more pressure on and in a tight area.
If the opponent was coming deeper in the field, Osayi-Samuel was taking a deeper position, as well. That was a way for him to support the defensive part of QPR’s game. Moreover, he was helping in the compact shape of the team while defending, by keeping a short distance between the lines. In that way, Osayi-Samuel could be the receiver of the ball when it was changing possession. Moreover, he could regain possession of the ball and start an instant counterattack for his team. That was a great advantage for QPR because the team had a player with exceptional technical skills, who has speed and is a very strong opponent in the 1 vs 1 situations. Moreover, in a transition game from defence to attack, Osayi-Samuel is a player that knows how to take advantage of the open field and create the right opportunities for him and his teammates.
QPR try to take advantage of Osayi-Samuel’s abilities at every moment of the game. For that reason, Osayi-Samuel, while the team is defending set-pieces, is the only player that holds a higher position in the field. Set-pieces are a great opportunity for counterattacking, as most of the times the opponent’s centre backs are higher up the field. Osayi-Samuel could take advantage of a direct long ball/interception, either from the goalkeeper, or one of the players that are defending in the specific set-piece. QPR could take advantage of this scenario not only because Osayi-Samuel will receive the ball but also because he finds the opponent’s defence unorganised and a situation with an open field, where he can show his technical and physical abilities.
Bright Osayi-Samuel when QPR has possession
Bright Osayi-Samuel is a good decision-maker. That is something that we can understand from the fact that he is not overusing his ability on 1 vs 1. When he has no free space to take advantage of his speed and technique, he prefers to play safe. In that way, he makes sure that QPR retain control of the ball. Moreover, despite that he is not the biggest player on the field, Osayi-Samuel has shown several times that he is a player who can protect the ball with his body. For a player who receives a lot of passes and is a key player in the transition and transfer of possession to the opponent’s half, that ability is crucial. By knowing to protect the ball in the right way, he makes sure that he can gain precious time until one of his teammates approaches and provides support. Moreover, by protecting the ball with his body, a player can win some fouls. This is something that makes the team win metres on the field and gives them a chance to get the ball into the opponent’s box.
Furthermore, Osayi-Samuel is trying to take advantage of his speed. He is a player with great pace and his speed could be characterised electrically. For that reason, Osayi-Samuel is playing plenty of times during the match on the shoulder of the last defender. In that way, he is offering the option to his teammates to play a short or long pass into the free space at the back of the opponent’s defensive line. His teammates know that if he receives the ball in the open field he could be very dangerous, as Osayi-Samuel is a player that is tough to stop. Additionally, Osayi-Samuel is trying to take advantage of the free space that the centre forward is creating. The centre forward several times is coming deeper in the field to support the possession game. In that way, he is creating free space in his back to take advantage of. The reason why a situation like this is difficult for the defenders to face is that they are trying to deal with two different players (the centre forward and Osayi-Samuel) that are moving in the opposite direction. Furthermore, a player that is coming from a distance, and has the pace of Osayi-Samuel, is difficult to catch.
Another characteristic of Osayi-Samuel’s game is that he stays wide on the pitch. This is a way for him to win more space for himself. Moreover, the whole team is working in the same direction. QPR’s players let Osayi-Samuel go wider on the field and “isolate” himself. That way, they can overload an area of the field, and then they can transfer the ball to the other side, where Osayi-Samuel is waiting to receive the ball. When this is going to happen, Osayi-Samuel will receive the ball, after he has stretched the opponent’s defence. That action will give him more free space: free space in football means more time, and given more time, a player with Osayi-Samuel’s characteristics could be dangerous for the opposition.
The characteristic that makes the difference in Osayi-Samuel’s game is dribbling. His ability in dribbling is exceptional. QPR has taken advantage of this several times. The fact that Osayi-Samuel is a player with good technical ability makes him dangerous for the opponent. For that reason, we notice many times that Osayi-Samuel has to face in his offensive duels not only one player but two, three or sometimes he is surrounded by four or five players. This is a great advantage for QPR: Osayi-Samuel, by dragging that amount of opponents out of the box, gives his teammates the chance to take a better position in it, and with fewer opponents. Osayi-Samuel’s problem is how is he going to transfer the ball into the box? The first option for him is to deliver the ball into the box directly. This choice could be difficult sometimes because of the number of opponents that he has to face. The second option is to deliver it through a second player supporting him. If Osayi-Samuel manages to deliver the ball into the box the possibilities for a chance are higher, as his teammates are facing a man-to-man situation and they are not outnumbered.
Bright Osayi-Samuel’s statistics and areas of improvement
Bright Osayi-Samuel has so far been involved in 12 goals this season, with six goals scored and six assists. If we break down his statistics further we will see that he is overperforming, as he has six goals and his xG rating is 4.06. The same is happening with his assists. He has six assists and his xA rating is 5.04. This is good for him and his team, as we can see his invaluable help during the season. Moreover, Osayi-Samuel is winning 28.97% of the offensive duels in every QPR game. QPR has 26.33 offensive duels per 90 minutes and from them, 7.63 are won by Osayi-Samuel. Furthermore, QPR, as a team, has 4.54 successful crosses per 90 minutes. From those, Osayi-Samuel has around half, with 2.23 successful crosses per 90 minutes. From those statistics, we can see the contribution of Osayi-Samuel to the offensive part of QPR’s game.
An area of improvement for Osayi-Samuel could be his finishing ability. Despite that he is overperforming, he gets chances that he could have scored, and could have even more goals. By doing so, he will help his team even more, because he is a player that contributes to general in the offensive and defensive part of the game. Osayi-Samuel scores 0.2 goals per 90 minutes, while QPR scores 1.55 goals per 90. If Osayi-Samuel works on that weakness, he could be even more useful for his team and will help to gain more points and claim a higher position in the EFL Championship league table. Osayi-Samuel had several chances from a very advantageous position that he gave away because he rushed them. When he takes a step before scoring his decision making is affected, and he is not the same player as on the rest of the field.
Conclusion
Bright Osayi-Samuel is a technically gifted player with good physical characteristics. He is a very strong opponent in 1 vs 1 situations, and his pace and speed make him a winger that can make the opposing full-back’s life tough for 90 minutes. He is a player that with these kinds of characteristics can go further and play at a higher level. He only has to keep working hard to remain at the same technical and physical level, and also improve his weaknesses.
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