Striker Tolu Arokodare: Friction at Genk and Potential for Success

At KRC Genk, Wouter Vrancken and Dimitri de Condé collided over striker Tolu Arokodare. Although Arokodare has recently been in top form and plays a crucial role as a regular striker, Vrancken previously had doubts due to his physical readiness.

The striker was often unable to play full matches, which led to friction between Vrancken and the board. However, De Condé sees a lot of potential in the Nigerian and hopes that the new coach will use him more often.

Despite interest from Trabzonspor, Genk continues to rely on Arokodare, who has proven his worth in recent months with his performances and goals.

Arokodare finally at top level at Genk

Tolu Arokodare has secured a permanent starting spot and has been in top form in recent weeks. In the play-offs he started to find his niche as a target man, thanks to the excellent work and crosses of Bilal El Khannouss and Anouar Ait-El Hadj.

The new system that the then coach Wouter Vrancken required from Arokodare less physical work and fewer ‘dirty kilometers’, since his strength does not lie in pressing the opponent.

While Vrancken previously hesitated between Arokodare, Andi Zeqiri and Yira Sor as permanent number nine, he resolutely opted for the Nigerian in the striker position. Moreover, Arokodare also managed to play the full 90 minutes and is currently even the top scorer of KRC Genk.

Thomas Chatelle was impressed with Arokodare’s play and finally saw the striker Genk had hoped for when they signed him over a year ago. “If Tolu had performed at this level all season, Genk would now be at the top of the rankings.”

Arokodare was not in the top drawer of Vrancken

Tolu Arokodare was never really in the top drawer for Wouter Vrancken, mainly for physical reasons. The striker’s lack of physical readiness has been a major problem and this season the Nigerian has rarely managed to complete a full match – only 11 times in 49 games.

For example, earlier this season he could not start against KAS Eupen after he had already played 120 minutes against Servette Genève in midweek. “That makes you think. The Nigerian attacker is a piece of dynamite, but the fuse blows too often,” he said The Importance of Limburg probably earlier this season.

At the beginning of December, Tolu had to leave the field after 55 minutes against Fiorentina. Coach Wouter Vrancken responded eloquently: “It’s difficult for me to say anything about that, but if you have to ask to be substituted after 55 minutes with cramps… That’s a shame.”

It is clear that Arokodare has a demonstrable physical problem, which is reflected in the number of starting places (25) and many substitute appearances (24) this season.

Even before Zeqiri arrived, when Arokodare was the only centre-forward in Wouter Vrancken’s squad, he was never the coach’s first choice.

“Would that be a surprise to the people of Genk that he cannot handle 90 minutes?”

In the VTM-podcast’Vier-null‘There was previously extensive discussion about the worrying and apparently hopeless situation of Tolu Arokodare at KRC Genk.

The participants of the podcast, Aster Nzeyimana, Jarno Bertho, Marc Degryse and Frank Boeckx, started the discussion by asking who should be the team’s regular striker: Tolu or Andi Zeqiri.

Bertho opened the discussion by stating: “Tolu apparently cannot physically handle 90 minutes.” Nzeyimana: “We had thought that he would already be physically prepared by now. Could it be that that never comes?”

Degryse: “If you are fit, you should be able to play 90 minutes, right? Otherwise you will never start a race. If, as a trainer, you see the figures and that is really insufficient, then you should just let him go, I think.”

Boeckx: “The fact that Onuachu was called so hard to come back (last winter, ed.) will also have a lot to do with that. That he (Arokodare, ed.) may never be able to handle it physically. And because he may not be the easiest character to always have to start on the bench and to come in.”

Bertho: “Would that be a surprise to the people of Genk that he cannot handle 90 minutes?”

De Condé sees enormous potential in Tolu, Vrancken and his staff, but mainly has doubts

The relationship between Wouter Vrancken and the board of KRC Genk has reached a low point in recent weeks and months, one of the reasons being the choice of certain players.

The last news recently reported that Dimitri de Condé, Genk’s Head of Football, sees enormous potential in Tolu Arokodare. This contrasted with the doubts of Vrancken and his staff about the physical readiness of the Nigerian striker.

Now that Vrancken has left, De Condé is counting on the new coach to use Arokodare more than his predecessor.

Despite Trabzonspor’s interest in Arokodare, it does not appear that Genk will simply let him go. In January 2023, the club paid 5 million euros for the striker, while his current market value is now estimated at ‘only’ 4 million euros.

2024-05-18 16:00:00
#Vrancken #Condé #throats #striker