Who is Divock Origi?
Origi, a young Belgian forward caught most people’s eye at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when he scored the only goal for Belgium to defeat Russia in the group stages. However, firstly let’s discuss Origi before he received spotlight, attracting interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Origi has many motives to become better – the first being his family – his Kenyan father, Mike Origi, is a former professional footballer and his cousin is Kenyan international Arnold Origi. It is clear that football has been a main element of the Origi family, and so far Divock is living up to the expectations.
He began his footballing career at Belgian side Genk’s youth academy. During his nine year stay – from 2001 – 2010 – he trained and played within Genk’s state of the art youth centre situated next to their Stadium. Throughout these years, Origi played within the same academy with other well – known players who were at their development stage. To name a few, Steven Defour (Anderlecht), Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg) and Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea). Being in an academy and possibly the same team with some of these players, it is clear that Origi developed at a positive rate in order for him to be where he is now.
Talent Radar Accolades
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Named in 100 to Watch in 2015 feature
Origi’s qualities clearly shone when playing at Genk, as he signed for French side Lille OSC in 2013. During his three years at Lille OSC, Origi scored fourteen goals in seventy three games. Obviously, this isn’t a very good ratio for a player who has great qualities to play as an out and out striker, but Origi mostly played out wide to fit into the team’s playing structure.
Showing some good performances throughout the 2013/2014 season and the 2014 World Cup, Origi was signed by Liverpool FC for a fee of ten million pounds. He was then immediately sent back out on loan to Lille to gain more firs team experience.
Source: GSN Index
SRC (Soccer related characteristics): Evaluation & characteristics (30+) which are essential for players
+/- statistic: Based on performance data, players receive + and – scores for their actions on the field
Potential: Modified economic and financial algorithms which show how a player will develop in the future
Level of Play: The system rates and analyses every match a player has played in his entire career.
Style of play, strengths, and weaknesses
As previously discussed, Origi has the credentials to play both as a wide player or a striker. However, when playing in either of the two positions strength contributes to his performance.
As a wide player, Origi has the ability to beat players when in a one versus one situation and create space for himself. As this space is created, his range of shooting with both feet can help his side score goals. Along with positivity when against a single defender, his close control of the football is vital for his team to keep possession. If Origi fails to beat the defender as there is limited space or a defender is providing good cover, he has the ability to bring the ball back and on the safe side from the defender to release it to a team mate, therefore keeping possession in a dangerous area of the pitch.
Throughout the 2014/2015 season for Lille OSC, Origi was used in more of a forward role, scoring eight goals in the process – started sixteen – which isn’t too bad playing for a team who finished eight and only scored forty – three goals. One main threat Origi possesses is his height, standing at six feet and one inch, his aerial ability is an attacking principle Lille OSC could have used more often to score goals. His ability to jump high and his good upper body strength gives him the advantage over defenders who don’t seem as strong.
In terms of weaknesses (areas to improve on) Origi has many years to develop them. One in particular is his consistency. Throughout the 2014/2015 season for Lille, Origi went through a six month goal drought, and for a striker this is a long period of time to not be scoring goals. However, he does make an impact when he does – scoring on both his international and competitive debut as well as scoring a hat – trick to end his tedious goal drought.
Origi’s inability to score goals on a more frequent basis can come down to many things: lack of confidence, poor positional awareness and poor assistance from fellow team mates. Only being twenty years old supports the fact that all of the above are reasons he isn’t a star player just yet.
What does the future hold?
Having recently transferred from Lille OSC to Liverpool FC, Origi has a lot to live up to. His performances may not have been analysed and criticised as much in France, but they will be in England due to the size of the media. How will he fit into Liverpool’s team? One way he might is due to the fact that Liverpool have recently signed Origi’s strike partner for Belgium, Christian Benteke. These two may cause a spark for Liverpool, possibly creating a deadly partnership up front.
In terms of international football, since the 2014 World Cup, Origi has scored a further two goals. He may not be scoring a lot for his international side, but playing alongside top class players such as Hazard and De Bruyne can only benefit him in the long – term.
