There’s no doubt that Celtic had an absolute stinker on Friday night and nobody played poorer than French striker Odsonne Edouard.
The 20-year-old failed to impose himself on the match in Paisley, often looking isolated in attack even after the introduction of Leigh Griffiths.
St Mirren successfully negated his pace with deep defending and the youth international couldn’t combine with his teammates effectively enough to create the chances needed to get ahead in the match.
With the departure of Moussa Dembele, Edouard has never had as much pressure on his shoulders as right now. It’s pressure that we must give him time to grow into.
Many were critical of the player on Friday night, including some prominent Twitter accounts. One of those was ‘Agent Scotland’, who took to platform to offer a particularly harsh assessment of the player.
https://twitter.com/AgentScotland/status/1040703560588185600
It’s a take that is hard to fathom when you consider the player is only just getting back to full match fitness after missing five games in August. Why are we so quick to rush to judgement? Is it simply because of his record-breaking price tag?
Many will be quick to pose the question ‘what’s the problem with Edouard?’ over the coming months if he isn’t producing fire on a weekly basis, failing to take into account he is a young player still learning the game and feeling out his full capabilities.
With pace, skill and a quality eye for goal, there isn’t much more we could ask from a 20-year-old at this stage and hopefully Rodgers can manage him well and help him find consistency in his game.
His goals against Rangers last season and his four so far this term are evidence enough he is more than capable of being a star at this level for Celtic and it would be surprising indeed if he didn’t keep Leigh Griffiths out of the team for the majority of the season and didn’t score a healthy amount of goals.
One below par performance in Paisley doesn’t change that.
What are your thoughts on Odsonne Edouard after Friday night’s display? Have your say in the comments below…