What has been said about Bosun Lawal’s position as Stoke summer signing prepares for take off
Bosun Lawal is hoping to kickstart his Stoke City career but there has been debate about exactly where he can make the biggest impact
There has been a debate about Bosun Lawal’s best position during the time he’s been forced to wait to make his introduction at Stoke City.
There has been talk of whether he is best as a centre-half, defensive midfielder or box-to-box midfielder, maybe even as an advanced midfielder or number 10 and Narcis Pelach thought he could be really useful as a right-back. And then the 21-year-old got his biggest run out for the first team, from the bench in the FA Cup at home against Cardiff last weekend – and he ended up leading the line as a centre-forward.
It was pretty much all down to circumstances. Mark Robins was without cup-tied Nathan Lowe and Ali Al-Hamadi Lewis Koumas and injured Sam Gallagher
,had run himself into the ground, Andre Vidigal was blowing after his first start since October and Emre Tezgel was shifted to the left on his first start since August. So it was Lawal up top, supported first by Tatsuki Seko – a deep-lying midfielder on paper – and then Wouter Burger in extra-time.
Robins knew it wasn’t a role he played often before but it sounds like he has faith and expectations in Lawal as a player and as an athlete to make an impact as he is eased into action in the Championship.
He said to Radio Stoke: “Bosun Lawal has got some minutes under his belt and you saw some bits of what he can do and what he physically possesses is incredible. As a physical specimen, a footballer, he’s got a really good touch, he can shoot, he can finish, he’s quick, he’s an athlete. He’s got every ingredient you’d want but lacks a bit of game time on the pitch and maybe also a bit of belief because of that.
“I’m looking forward to seeing a bit more of him but more of him running the way he did when he ran through and took the ball through, opening them up, because he’s capable.”
Lawal grew up in Dublin and joined Watford’s youth set-up before being snaffled by Celtic at the age of 18. He has always been highly-regarded by the Republic of Ireland scouts, teammates and coaches and he got his first taste of senior football on loan at Fleetwood Town, standing out in League One as last season went on.
He didn’t know at the time but he was playing with a stress fracture in his lower back, which was diagnosed in the medical when he went on to join Stoke from Celtic in the summer for a fee just under £1 million. The expectation was that he would be back playing within four weeks but ultimately it took three months on the sidelines before he got the green light to join back in.
He had signed a four-year contract so it was always a signing for a long-term, it was just that he and they wanted him to playing in the short-term too. Steven Schumacher spoke about his potential as an 8 as well as his versatility while Pelach spoke about his versatility and his potential as a “very good holding midfielder”.
At the moment, however – and particularly on days like last Saturday – Stoke needed someone who might score higher up the pitch.
Robins said: “I think he was signed as a centre-half. He played on loan at Fleetwood last season as a running 8 or a 10 and he scored a lot of goals. In the short time I’ve known him I can see he can finish so you want him to be higher up the pitch and closer to the goal.
“That’s why we ended up the way we ended up having lost players to injury or to cramp or whatever and you need to keep going and keep energy levels high. Being without Nathan and Ali, who were cup tied, meant we had to change things from the start of the game anyway and there was an injury to Andrew Moran. All these things are sent to test us and through the game it did that again.
“But the character we showed was fantastic, the three goals we scored were outstanding and some of the football we played was much better than we have been of late.”
Robins will still have to manage Lawal’s minutes after so long out, like he will have to do with Ben Pearson too and perhaps Million Manhoef, Sam Gallagher and the rest in turn. But there is hope – and fingers crossed – that Stoke’s squad will be getting stronger as they head towards the finish line.
