Solely Erling Haaland has scored extra Premier League objectives than Antoine Semenyo this season. The excitement surrounding the Bournemouth winger is rising. The one shock is that it has taken so lengthy. However his path to the highest has been an uncommon one.
Rejected by various skilled golf equipment, it was Crystal Palace’s resolution that hit Semenyo hardest. Not getting by means of the door is one factor. Being given an opportunity, even having his trial prolonged, solely to be instructed that he was not ok was a bitter blow.
Semenyo didn’t go down the academy route, enjoying for his faculty on the age of 17 earlier than lastly being picked up by Bristol Metropolis. The irony is that studying soccer his manner, unencumbered by fixed instruction at a formative age, is what has made him.
In addition to worthwhile qualities comparable to resilience and dedication, it has helped Semenyo develop his personal type. Now Premier League golf equipment prize these traits. “You can have things coached out of you. Antoine is different,” Dean Holden tells Sky Sports activities.
Holden was Semenyo’s coach at Bristol Metropolis. “His parents wanted him to focus on his studies, but I just could not believe that he had not been picked up because of the size of him. He has come through the back door really. He has been able just to progress.”
That progress is now apparent.
Final season, his objectives for Bournemouth included the opener in beating Manchester Metropolis, scoring house and away in opposition to each Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, in addition to away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. A double on the final day took him to 11.
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Watch Antoine Semenyo’s finest objectives for Bournemouth within the Premier League
This season, he already has six. Two at Liverpool on the opening evening of the Premier League season and two final day trip within the win over Fulham, the Ghana worldwide additionally scored the winner in opposition to Brighton and the opener within the draw away to Leeds.
Semenyo is uncommon in that he’s not solely bodily imposing for a winger, he’s completely able to working on both flank. His minutes beneath Cherries boss Andoni Iraola have been shared virtually equally between the left wing and the appropriate wing.
Antoine Semenyo’s minutes have been cut up virtually equally between the 2 flanks
Intriguingly for his coaches, the tactical selection requires no nice adaptation for Semenyo himself as a result of he can use both foot. Take a look at his shot distribution over the previous two Premier League seasons – 71 pictures together with his left and 62 together with his proper.
And but, his match-winning penalty in opposition to Brighton was hit together with his proper. “To this day, he does not know which foot is stronger, so I do not know how anyone else would know,” says Holden. “Every player is dominant left or right. He is as good on his left as his right.”
Saul Isaksson-Hurst found that for himself this summer time. Semenyo sought out the specialist particular person coach for some one-on-one periods to organize for the approaching season. “He wanted to hit the ground running,” Isaksson-Hurst tells Sky Sports activities.
“The best do more. It is a cliché but it is a reality. The more that you put in, the more that you get out. Those marginal gains are really key. If you squeeze that few per cent out extra, it can really make a difference. He has been electric, so it has definitely worked.”
And that ball putting with each ft? “I have never seen anyone who can do that before, consistently and with power. It is an unorthodox technique. He opens his foot, almost like a knuckleball, and gets real dip. The keepers who work with me say it is unplayable.”
Isaksson-Hurst continues: “I asked him where he learned that. He just said, ‘I have been working on it.’ It is hours of refining his technique.” No academy background required, simply work. “It has given him that resilience to keep battling, to keep working hard.”
The times on mortgage at Newport County should really feel a very long time in the past now however it’s all a part of his journey, beginning out with a short lived stint at Bathtub Metropolis within the sixth tier. “Just to get the confidence, rather than going straight to a League Two club,” explains Holden.
“Brian Tinnion, the technical director at Bristol City, deserves a huge amount of credit. He is one of the best I have seen at putting young players in the right environment at the right time. He does not just stick them in.” Semenyo discovered from these experiences.
In fact, there have been areas to enhance. He was uncooked in comparison with his colleagues. He did have to study. “The other side of it is that you then need quite a bit of fine-tuning around stuff that you would probably not have done outside of an academy,” provides Holden.
Antoine Semenyo’s contact map and possibilities created for Bournemouth
Semenyo’s scanning was not on the stage, partially as a result of he was so sturdy that he didn’t all the time want it. “The smaller ones tend to be very good when receiving the ball because they have to be. Antoine was different. We worked a lot on his hold-up play.”
Holden provides: “Because I was a centre-half, I was trying to teach him the dark arts. He did not know the art of pinning. He was trying to pin too early and I was able to flip him round because I was a wily old fox. It was all about teaching him little things like that.”
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Andoni Iraola is requested whether or not Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo is price £100m
Jason Euell, who additionally coached Semenyo at Bristol Metropolis, later centered on his decision-making. “We knew that he had an eye for goal. It was just about knowing when to cross or shoot. In the Premier League, if you try to beat your man again, the chance is gone.”
At Bournemouth, beneath Iraola, particularly, he has developed right into a participant of excessive class who nonetheless retains that fireside in him, that willingness to press within the ultimate third. No participant within the Premier League gained the ball within the ultimate third greater than Semenyo this previous season.
The mix of shot quantity and excessive urgent is uncommon. It’s what the largest golf equipment are on the lookout for – and Holden is satisfied the following step wouldn’t faze him. “He could walk out at the Bernabeu with five minutes notice and just go out and play his game.”
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He provides: “His mindset is one of the biggest things that he has going for him. He is just so balanced. He does not get bogged down by missing a chance or giving the ball away. Just watch him next time you see him, his reactions to stuff. He is fantastic.
“I genuinely imply it, I feel he might go and have an effect on one of many high groups within the Premier League. He’s nonetheless younger sufficient to do it as a result of he has received all of the credentials that you just want. He can end off each ft, has tempo to burn and is without doubt one of the strongest round.”
Antoine Semenyo’s stats for Bournemouth present how extremely he charges
It’s an interesting skillset, a participant who, piece by piece, has been in a position to put collectively the psychological, the bodily, the technical and the tactical to turn out to be top-of-the-line gamers within the Premier League. And, at 25 years outdated, Semenyo’s easiest is but to come back.
“He is a Champions League player,” concludes Isaksson-Hurst. “He should be there already. It is inevitable. He is a genuine gentleman who deserves it. It has been a unique journey. Some people take a bit longer to get to the top. But, man, he is there now.”
Watch Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest stay on Sky Sports activities+ this Sunday from 12.30pm; kick-off 2pm
