This season, Gift Orban is experiencing major problems at KAA Gent, resulting in significantly reduced playing time and goals. Hein Vanhaezebrouck emphasizes energetic and high-intensity football, and it seems that the Nigerian striker no longer fits the team’s new direction.
Orban is only the third striker in the pecking order, partly due to his limited defensive contribution and pressing intensity.
In terms of defensive duels, he is the striker in the Jupiler Pro League who does the least defensive work. In comparison, Hugo Cuypers, for example, has more than three times as many defensive duels per match.
In addition, Orban averages only 15 duels per match, with only the static targetman Alfreð Finnbogason (KAS Eupen) entering fewer duels than him among all strikers in the Belgian league.
This season, Gift Orban clearly seems to be in a bad spot, and several factors are contributing to his disappointing performances and fewer playing minutes.
He receives fewer quality passes compared to last season, he is often put on the bench or replaced prematurely by Hein Vanhaezebrouck and he suffered from physical discomfort.
Moreover, his goals average and efficiency have decreased significantly this season compared to last season.
It is also striking that Orban struggles to score goals even in training.
“It’s a strange situation. We think so too,” Hein Vanhaezebrouck said earlier. Orban had a period in which everything worked and he enjoyed the interest of Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
“Those who play really well in training always play. But things are also going less well in training,” Vanhaezebrouck said earlier this season. “If everything runs smoothly, you can afford not to do many extras.”
Orban realized that in this difficult phase of his career he had to make an extra effort and do something extra to be able to function well in the team again.
“No club or coach can break my career,” he responded after starting a few matches on the bench.
But the Nigerian understood that he had to fight for his place, and he said that Vanhaezebrouck “is a great coach.”
He already showed himself to be more ball-resistant and combative compared to the start of the season. Orban created danger, showed himself eager and committed himself well, even during attacks.
Hein Vanhaezebrouck has Gent play fresh and dynamic football this season, characterized by a lot of energy and intensity.
This new approach had major consequences for the team’s purchasing policy, with the focus shifting more to attracting energetic football players.
Vanhaezebrouck emphasized that Gent can only compete with the top clubs in Belgium again if they play more energetic football.
“What we see in the data is an exponential increase in the number of high-intensity efforts. High intensity is very tasking, so you need robust football players,” said Stijn Matthys, the physical coach of Gent, recently in the club magazine Wigwam .
This change of course meant that some players who did not fit within the new plans had to leave the club. Last summer, the club said goodbye to many players who did not have the required capabilities to deliver Vanhaezebrouck’s energetic football.
Gift Orban was signed in the winter transfer window as a scouting discovery, at the time under Samuel Cardenas, while Vanhaezebrouck actually thought the striker was too expensive for a player who might end up on the bench.
Orban was far from an ideal striker to deliver the coach’s intended high-intensity football.
Gift Orban is an emotional and unpredictable striker who relies on his intuition and instinct. He is not a great running pro and his work rate is less than that of his direct rivals Hugo Cuypers and Tarik Tissoudali.
They work harder when they lose the ball, enter into more duels, perform more defensive actions and also more duels. It is therefore certainly no surprise that Orban is today only the third striker in the pecking order at Gent, who strive on high-intensity football.
Vanhaezebrouck makes absolutely no secret of the fact that he does not consider Orban to be of great added value in his team plan.
“Do you think we will create four chances from the pressing with Orban on the field?” asked the coach after the match against Union SG last weekend.
Orban was then only substituted for eight minutes, even though Cuypers was having a bad match.
“I didn’t think Hugo was bad. He was good at recovering and putting pressure,” Vanhaezebrouck defended delicately.
“No team can afford an attacker who is only there to shoot the balls in. You have to be able to do much more. And especially in these types of matches.”
“To be honest, I was waiting for Orban to step in. And the supporters as well, I had the impression,” Marc Degryse told Het Laatste Nieuws .
“What did he get as a substitute? Hope and all for eight minutes. If, as a coach, you feel that you have lost control of the match and you cannot really force anything, then you need players who can create something from nothing. Orban is such a person.”
It is very clear that Gift Orban is no longer in the top drawer of Hein Vanhaezebrouck.
Despite the fact that the Nigerian attacker is able to score goals with ease, his profile no longer fits the team’s new vision
By Voetbal.be
