2018 Fulham Player Reviews: Sheyi Ojo

Basic Stats: 22 appearances | 18 starts | 4 substitutions | 1,402 minutes | 4 goals | 2 assists

Economics: Year-Long Loan from Liverpool | Signed: 2017 | Contract Ends in Summer 2018

Stats by Seven-Game sequences

WhoScored Rating Chart

Radar

Goals vs. Expected Goals

Transfermarket Value Chart

CC Thoughts: You can interpret Sheyi Ojo’s 2017/18 season Fulham as many things. He was either a raw 20 year-old talent that showed his potential in spurts. Or, Ojo showed that he just wasn’t cut for it as a regular starter in professional football. I would like to think of it as the latter. Either way, this was a developmental season for Ojo who garnered enough attention to receive an appearance at England’s Under-21 National Team. Along with that, he received valuable minutes with a football club that faced pressure every matchday to do what it could to claim a promotion place towards the Premier League. Every bit of that is valuable for any footballing prospect.

Sure, Ojo had plenty of growing pains. His shot selection at times was quite poor (24 shots in the penalty area, 24 outside the box) and his dislocated shoulder against QPR really didn’t help give him a chance to improve on his consistency. However, he was a willing shot tacker (3.08 per 90 minutes) and dribbler (2.05 successful attempts per 90 minutes). Along with that, he will always have his two-goal performance at Sheffield United that some say have kickstarted Fulham’s campaign towards Premier League promotion.

At his best, he is a powerful player out wide that could cut inside and deliver the killer blow. If he can be a bigger risk taker in his passing and learn to make said inside cuts against grown men more often, Ojo has what it takes to play in the Premier League. That being said, another loan spell back in the Championship seems more realistic. Whatever happens, it will be interesting to follow Ojo’s future. Just remember that when it comes to evaluating future talent, a Steven Gerrard in 1999 is completely different from a Steven Gerrard in 2009.

Key Stat: 83.1% successful passes. Among all attacking players that have played more than a quarter of the league season or better, Ojo is tied with Lucas Piazon for tops in the club in passing. That being said, Ojo only passed the ball 22.5 times per 90 minutes; which was worst among any Fulham player. When he is willing to pass, he took the conservative approach.

Whether that was due to circumstance of a lack of talent at center forward at the time or a lack of skill in that area is up for interpretation.

Your thoughts: So what say you? What is Sheyi Ojo’s ceiling? Is he a player worth giving a permanent contract to if you were in Fulham’s boardroom? What does he have to do in your eyes for him to make a marked improvement for 2018/19? Don’t be shy to leave your comments below.