It seems as though we want O’Riley quite a lot!
He looks to be quite different to WBG in that he appears to play further forward and has a lot more influence over goal scoring with fantastic stats in both hitting the net and assisting.
A comparison with Moder is surely a better indicator though. Moder has played in an advanced midfielder role for both Potter and RDZ. His goal scoring and assist stats are poor. O’Riley appears to be a similar size but is left footed and has really has smashed the MTL hard. But assists against Lazio and Athletico in the CL hint that he could step-up to the EPL.
Oddly, Moder passes the eye test as a footballer. Fast, strong & good technique. There is just something missing. Something that gave Potter and RDZ little confidence to play him as a CM or CDM. Something that meant his contributions to goals were almost non-existent. I imagine it’s his vision, passing, positioning and shooting?
Hopefully we get our £10m back for him now Naylor has declared he is surplus to requirements. He is the sort of player who could ‘switch’ and have a fantastic season somewhere but for Hürzeler, I’m guessing the passing is not good enough for the ‘Wieffer’ role and his history of passing and assisting does not stack up enough for him to play the ‘Hartley’ character. He seems to be a ‘bottom half of the Premier League’ type player. Hopefully he can find a good home with some team like Leicester or Southampton.
