At the end of his stay in the modest Norwegian Tippeligaen club, Lillestrøm, it appeared at times Ujah could do no wrong in front of goal! In some sense this was to lead to unrealistic expectations and comparisons to the departing Andre Schurrle, in his new club FSV Mainz 05, and undue pressure on a player who had just over one season in European football.
His misadventure at Mainz and the lack of support from the manager, Thomas Tuschel was to erode much of the confidence of the player and the loan move to FC Koln has been a career saver.
Today, the player has rediscovered some of the form that earned him near cult status at Lillestrom, but not nearly enough. At the end of his stay in Norway, he had increasingly improved his overall game outside the penalty area, dropping into midfield as well as in recieving and holding up play with back to goal, or in playing over the shoulder of the last defender, as well as in his lateral movement.
At Koln however, he has had to somewhat adapt his game, especially with the limitations of the team's midfield, and is today more a vertical striker, whose tremendous vertical leap makes him a constant threat at the end of a deep cross. The result is that his overall game is yet to hit the heights it did at the end of his stay at Lillestrom. His best games, in terms of overall contribution to offense this season, has often come when Adil Chihi has been in the Koln lineup....
I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect he is not quite ready for the Super Eagles, and would need the active support of the national team handlers to incrementally wean him into the team and put him in the best position to enhance his abilities.
For starters, the Super Eagles handlers would need to be more creative in the design of the attacking game to avoid some of the constraints Obafemi Martins had in the match against Kenya. In this regard, the delivery from midfield should look to more balls to his feet, in space, which would ultimately enhance the unpredictability and effectiveness of the long balls when he plays at the shoulder of the last defender.
Overall, this is a player whose game is based on movement, but yet retains considerable aerial threat in the penalty area with his vertical leap. On the defensive side, he is very good at high pressing...
Technically, he has a better rounded skills set, as a mobile striker, than Ideye Brown or Emenike and would most probably work better with Brown than the latter. Out wide, his best starting position would be on the left, which enables him run diagonally to arrive in the penalty area on his stronger right foot. His close control and ability in tight spaces is however not as good as Brown or Emenike.
A fluid, high tempo attacking game, involving movement with ball in space and constant switching amongst the attacking trio would most suit his talents.
