Former Udinese and Juventus star Emanuele Belardi has identified a key aspect of Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye‘s game that needs improvement, Footynaija.com reports.
Belardi shared his thoughts while recently reflecting on Udinese’s narrow Serie A defeat to a Luciano Spalletti-led Juventus side at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine over the weekend.
Maduka Okoye was particularly impressive in that game, with the Nigeria international racking up seven saves to singlehandedly keep Udinese in the contest and deny the Old Lady a wider score margin.
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Okoye’s efforts on Saturday earned him praise from Balardi, who described him as an excellent goalkeeper. However, the former shot-stopper believes there’s still plenty of room for improvement for Okoye, especially in the aspect of game management.
“Okoye is now an excellent goalkeeper,” Belardi said, per quotes revealed via Udinese Calcio. “He just needs to improve his game management, because sometimes he plays too instinctively, but he’s making progress. You can see that there’s a lot of work behind him and that he’s matured a lot.”
Okoye has re-established himself as Udinese’s first choice goalkeeper since returning from a betting ban earlier in the season. He has featured in 21 Serie A games from which he’s recorded 69% save percentage and kept five clean sheets.
At 26 years old, the Nigeria international still likely has his best years between the sticks ahead of him. He’ll be looking to close out the season strongly as Udinese continue to chase a top half finish in Serie A this season.
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