These days, most football fans are very impatient. Unwilling to give players time, it’s either instant success or out the door you go.
A player can go from world class to below average in the space of a week. One game he’ll have a man of the match performance, the next he’ll be seen as not good enough.
As a Liverpool fan, I’ve seen this happen many times with our players. Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and Emre Can are just a few of these who were written off but then become fan favourites in a short space of time. In the case of Henderson and Can, it gets quite extreme. Henderson went from great player to needing to be sold to being essential to the team’s success in just a year.
Can went from the future of the club to being criticized for not earning a new content to fans begging for him so sign that new deal in just a few months.
The latest player on the chopping block is Divock Origi. Coming off a good first season at Anfield where the Belgian was integral to the club reaching the Europa League final, he was a bit hit and miss last season.
After a run of scoring a goal in five consecutive games in December, Origi only scored four goals in the next five months. Off the back of this poor run of form, many fans are now claiming that Origi isn’t good enough to play for Liverpool, but just a few months ago he was seen as a fantastic young striker with a very promising future.
Of course, I’m not trying to hide the fact that Origi wasn’t great last season, but fans seem to always forget that every player goes through a tough spell, especially young ones. Origi has shown enough in his first two seasons at Anfield to earn the time he needs to become a top striker.
In the 2015/16 season, Origi averaged 0.67 goals every 90 mins in the league and without his goals and all-round great play in the Europa League, a final may not have been possible.
During those five games earlier this season where he scored five goals, Origi was great as he was a consistent nuisance for defenders, never giving them a minutes peace. Always looking to link up play and run in behind, that is what Origi can do when given a decent run of games.
If fans were to be listened to, the likes of Henderson, Lallana, Can, Karius along with Origi would have been sold by now. Players can’t be written off too quickly and have to be given the time and support to reach their potential.
I’ve also seen fans wave off the argument that he should be given time because he is young, comparing him with Spurs striker Harry Kane who is 23 years old while Origi is 22. All players develop at different speeds so to suggest that Origi isn’t good enough because he isn’t at Kane’s level is quite unfair.
Throughout his two seasons at Liverpool, Origi has shown enough spells of brilliance to earn the trust and patience of the fans. Young players dip in and out of form all the time and Origi has shown when inform that he is good enough to play for Liverpool. Many players in the current Liverpool squad have been written off to then prove everyone wrong and I’m sure Origi can and will do the same.
