by Gregors Spricis
Modou Saidy’s performance in the RFS opener against Ogre United pleased Viktors Morozs, as the Latvian head coach praised the young Gambian in the press conference.
Saidy was the most surprising face after Kingsley Emenike (who had signed just a few days prior) in the RFS announced starting XI an hour before the kick off of the new Virsliga season. Instead of Strahinja Rakič, Rasid Njie, or the new signing Matheus Clemente, it was the 20-year-old Gambian midfielder who spent the second half of last season on loan at Daugavpils who started alongside Stefan Panič.
At Daugavpils, his primary position was on the right wing, a position he had also occupied in some of the RFS pre-season friendlies. However, his position on the pitch against Ogre was the complete opposite.
Saidy played in a double pivot with the experienced Panič, posing a new kind of challenge and a point to prove to head coach Viktors Morozs, who chose to reward his hard work in pre-season by keeping him at the club instead of loaning him out to a fellow Virsliga side.
“He (Saidy) is one of the players who, before the season, not knowing whether he would stay or go out on loan, showed that he is capable of even playing in the starting XI. I am very happy for him.”
Morozs’ praise of Saidy was fair, as Panič’s more defensive-minded role let Saidy play higher up the field chasing recoveries and playing balls in between the lines.
Here is Saidy pressing higher up the field than Panič.
He recovers the ball and straight away plays it in for Jānis Ikaunieks in between the lines.
In result, RFS have a great goalscoring opportunity as Ikaunieks can either shoot himself or pass it to Emenike. He opts to shoot, but the shot is too weak and straight into the keeper’s hands.
Saidy had 11 recoveries in total, adding to the three times he was fouled when on the ball. Overall, he had an impressive performance, and there are parallels to be drawn with the RFS former player Adam Marhiev, who also had a rapid start to his career at RFS once given a chance.
Saidy made himself available to his teammates throughout the whole match before being substituted in added time for Mor Talla.
In the press conference after the match, Morozs even slightly compared him with the former RFS captain Tomislav Šarič.
“Saidy had a very good game; he did well for us. He is very different from our former midfielders. In terms of his head and mentality, he could be compared to Šarič. He is very delicate with the ball.”
The young midfielder is definitely one to keep an eye on this season, but you can’t escape the fact that his place in the starting XI was partly because Strahinja Rakič was not present in the training camp in Turkey after suffering an injury in the match before against Vilnius Žalgiris, as well as a micro injury for Rasid Njie.
Both of these players most likely would have started ahead of him due to their experience and the potential to sell them for big money if it weren’t for their unavailability. RFS had already received a €1.5m offer for Rakič in winter from an undisclosed MLS team, while Njie previously had an interest from the Belgian side Anderlecht.
However, Saidy now has a great opportunity to continue to earn Morozs’ trust and fight for a place in the starting XI while his compatriots are waiting to return to action. Another great performance against Liepāja on Friday would be a big step forward.
