Independent Leyton Orient Forum

Lifelongfan wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 10:44 am Not as good as we/he thought

Real Al wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 10:51 am Don't forget he also does a lot of work off the ball. He's not just a one trick dribbling pony, so even if that part of his game isn't working so well, he still contributes a lot.

Rich Tea Wellin wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 10:17 am Combination of:
- he’s young, he’s going to have dips in form, it’s natural
- he’s played a lot. It’s been an intense start to the season I imagine that mentally he’s drained.
- teams have scouted him and know he loves to come in on his left so are showing him outside
- teams are doubling up on him.
- our system the last few games haven’t suited him. We haven’t had loads of the ball and he’s been played narrow with his back to goal.

He’ll have to adapt and get used to it. I think he needs a rest Saturday and then he needs to play on the wing. Might even start him on the left so he can just run at players

Fellowo wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2026 11:09 am Can only use one foot and just tries to cut in every time he gets the ball, which just means he runs into trouble. All the opposition have to do is stick another man on him and we might as well play with 10 men.

Qin wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 10:12 am First half dozen games, he looked unbelievable.... Last 4 games he's been dog s**t

I can't believe I'm watching the same player. He can't seem to run now, he can't beat a player, he is a different player

Anyone throw some light on this?

E10quence wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 10:56 am

Real Al wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2026 10:51 am Don't forget he also does a lot of work off the ball. He's not just a one trick dribbling pony, so even if that part of his game isn't working so well, he still contributes a lot.

I like Yusuf a lot but I'm not sure that's true. He's been pretty anonymous last few games - both defensively and offensively. Not his entirely his fault - he's being played out-of-position in a system that isn't creating much - but let's not kid ourselves.

EliotNes wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2026 3:04 pm Perhaps natural skill and confidence coached out of him by being told to do certain things and not go off script ?? That's only my opinion, I don't really understand what's happened.