Manchester United suffered heartbreak in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup against Aston Villa on Monday with the home side emerging triumphant after the game went to penalties.
Adam Lawrence decided to change his team from the epic quarter-final win against Arsenal by bringing Chido Obi back into the U18 fold after his cameos with the senior team.
The 17-year-old played the full game but could not find the back of the net and looked rusty for the most part. But the U18 coach was full of praise for the ex-Arsenal starlet.
When asked to describe what sort of a striker the Dane is, Lawrence told The Athletic, “He’s horrible to play against. He’s got that lovely way about him where he backs himself.
Chido praise
“That healthy arrogance where he’s like, ‘I want to play at the top, get better and improve’. He’s definitely brought that to the group.”
Despite the temporary setback, Chido Obi has already impressed pundits and former players during his substitute appearances with the senior team, especially in the FA Cup against Fulham.
That arrogance has been on show with the striker knowing how to use his physicality to good effect during duels with opposition defenders.
He has four senior caps already and if not for the Villa game, Ruben Amorim would have likely called him up to the matchday squad for the Premier League game against Nottingham Forest.
Onto bigger things
The Denmark U21 international has 12 goals this season already for the various age group sides and has been described as a “natural goalscorer“.
Amorim has been full of praise for Chido Obi as well, claiming he has that something that all great strikers have inside the box.
“But you felt that, inside the box, he wants the ball – something the strikers have and he has.”
Hopefully, the Danish wonderkid can get this loss out of system really quickly and he can go on to finishing the season on a strong note for the senior side.
It will be pre-season when he must impress Amorim enough to become a bonafide first-teamer. With Rasmus Hojlund struggling and United yet to identify a striker in the market, Chido Obi certainly has the chance to make his mark.
Feature image Lewis Storey via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
