In light of a Saturday afternoon without football due to the mass rainfall the country has endured over the past week, this led to a rare Saturday afternoon scratching my head thinking on what to do. Unable to fulfil my passion standing in the terraces watching Banbury United put on a show, instead I turned to my next passion blogging about Banbury United everywhere I go. So, I got to the drawing board in creating a new blog and with prior knowledge about Tope Obadeyi has been a teammate with two of the best goalkeepers in recent history Jack Harding and Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak I thought I would research Tope’s top XI with players he has played with. Obadeyi has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning over 15 years in England, Scotland, France, and Portugal plus having international recognition for England youth team meaning he has shared a pitch with Premier League and Champion league winners, World cup stars as well as one of the biggest flops in Sir Alex Ferguson reign. Through countless hours of looking at team sheets, and match reports, Tope’s one to XI has been moulded into a traditional 442 so let’s get the ball rolling and delve into this talented team.
GK: Jan Oblak
The pool of Goalkeepers Tope can choose from is at a very high level as he started his career playing with the Premier League 6th all time goalkeeper appearance holder Jussi Jääskeläinen before moving to Rio Ave for the 2012/13 season where the club also possessed two 19-year-old unknown quantities in the goalkeeping department. These unknown quantities have now turned into two of the world best goalkeepers in Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak and Manchester City's Ederson, thus instantly creating healthy competition for Tope’s NO.1 spot.
However, I have gone for Jan Oblak for the starting NO 1 spot for the reason Oblak and Obadeyi shared the pitch more frequently in their short stint at Rio Ave together. The pair contributed to a famous win in the Allianz Cup where Tope Obadeyi was on the scoresheet in a 3-0 Victory over Portugal Giants Sporting Lisbon. The other reason why Jan Oblak is Tope’s top keeper is because the teammates formed a good friendship of the pitch as they was two players who was not native from Portugal so the duo enjoyed time off the pitch as they both could speak English according to Yahoo sports.
Since leaving the west coast of Portugal, Oblak has become one of the most decorative goalkeepers in Spain, winning a range of personal accolades such as La Liga Zamora Trophy 5 times and La Liga goalkeeper of the year 20-21. Not only this, Jan Oblak has won the La Liga, Europa league and Super Cup, making him the perfect candidate for Tope No.1 spot.
Rb: Maxence Lacroix
In Tope Obadeyi's two seasons in France playing for FC Sochaux-Montbéliard he was fortunate to play with two young prodigies who have gone onto higher levels of the game both of which have made this XI. The first is Maxence Lacroix who is a 23-year-old versatile defender for Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg. Playing down the right-hand side the duo helped FC-Sochaux into the 3rd round of the Coupe De France where they sadly suffered a 1-0 defeat to bow out of the competition to Ligue 1 Giants Lille. Since the French youth international left FC-Sochaux, Lacroix earned a £5million move to Wolfsburg where he has featured over 100 times and has reached an estimated market value of £27 million.
Cb: Gary Cahill
In December 2008, a teenage academy prodigy Tope Obadeyi came on for Bolton Wanderers versus local rivals Wigan Athletic to make his Premier League debut. He then went onto make two more substitute appearances consecutively versus Manchester United and Arsenal where Tope shared a pitch with renowned legends of the game with Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Carlos Tevez however we are looking at his teammate during these appearances – Gary Cahill. In the 3 appearances Cahill and Obadeyi performed together they all ended in narrow 1-0 defeats to Wigan, Arsenal and Manchester United respectively. The next month Tope was loaned out to Swindon Town to gain Football League experience whilst Cahill’s successful time at Bolton helped him to make a £7 million move to Chelsea where he won 2 Premier leagues, FA CUPS and Europa leagues alongside winning the 2012 Champions League. A player this successful goes into the back without a shadow of a doubt.
CB: Harry Soutarr
16/17 season saw Tope thrive in the coastal city of Dundee for the tangerines. With 11 goal contributions in 25 games fabricated Tope to be a major threat in the forward positions. In the first round of the Scottish League cup a 17-Year-old Harry Souttar starred with Obadeyi as Dundee United secured a placed in the 2nd round ultimately creating a cup run which came to a halt in the quarter finals. Soutarr left Dundee in 2016 to Championship side Stoke City where his performances excelled so much the Potters ruled a £15 Million transfer fee to Leicester City. Alongside this, Harry has had international recognition for Australia as his performances in the 2022 World Cup was widely perceived as a success. A player so important for the Socceroos’ can jump into Tope’s Top XI.
Lb: Danny Rose
Featuring just once together but with the potential to have shared the pitch more frequently as the usually ever informative transfermarkt have ‘no information available’ on the other 6 games Tope featured in for the England u19s/20. The only documented game where both players were present was during their time with the England U19s, where they experienced a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Czech Republic. This loss ultimately led to England's elimination from Group B of the U19 European Championships on goals scored.
5 Months later Tope earnt his Premier League debut, but Danny Rose had to wait 21 Months later to make his debut at Spurs. Despite the wait it took no time for the youngster to assert an instant impact as Rose scored one off the goals off the season against fierce London rivals Arsenal after just 10 minutes. From there the left back's career went strength to strength as he has earned 29 England caps, featured for Great Britain in the home Olympics as well as make 202 Premier League appearances.
Rm: Bebe
Sir Alex Ferguson broke his own rule to sign Bebe in the summer of 2010 as it was the first and only time Ferguson bought a player without seeing him play. This proved not to be one of Fergusons genius signings as he was so use to pulling off as Bebe was brandish as one of the worst signings in the Fergie era. However, despite his unsuccessful spell in Manchester, Bebe showed promise elsewhere and one of those places was at Rio Ave in 2012. This is where the paths of Obadeyi and Bebe crossed but Bebe's arrival made it tougher for Tope to get minutes in western Portugal. However, the attackers, performed together in a 2-1 away win to Coimbra as Rio Ave maintained their top 5 position on matchday 18. Bebe career is still going at the age of 33 and he is currently starring at Rayo Vallecano. However, I may have done a Fergie here as I haven't seen him play for a while but his stats with Rayo Vallecano stand out that there was always a good player in there.
Cm: Greg Taylor
Not usually a midfielder by trade but has operated there for Celtic on the odd occasion is former Kilmarnock youngster Greg Taylor. Taylor a Celtic regular since joining the hoops 4 seasons ago after impressing for 'Killie'. During the 15/16 season a 18 year old Taylor was on the peripheral of the first team whilst Tope was continually flourishing during his second season at the club. The left sided duo first game together was where they dominated the left hand side as Kilmarnock ran away 4-0 winners versus Falkirk. Despite regular action for Obadeyi, Taylor had to wait to the last game of the season to get his chance again in which saw Kilmarnock score 4 again but this time Tope Obadeyi was on the scoresheet against his soon become new side Dundee United.
CM: Lucien Agoumé
The second player to feature from Tope's time in France is Lucien Agoumé. Agoumé made history by becoming the youngest player to debut for Sochaux, coming on as a second-half substitute in a game against Troyes. Tope Obadeyi, on the other hand, was an unused substitute in that match. 3 Games later the duo was lining up alongside each other on the pitch as the team experience a mixed set of results. Agoumé impressive performances caught the attention of several European giants, yet Inter Milan won the race for his signature. Since leaving France for Italy, Agoume has only played 4 times for Inter Milan as he has had loan spells in the Seria A with Spezia and a loan spell returning him back to his native France with Brests. A player only 21 and featuring heavily in the squads of the Italian giants this season, Agoume's potential is touted to be a ‘major talent’ for Nerazzurri senior team in the coming seasons.
LM: Marc Albrighton
Another former England youth international but this time not featuring in the defeat to Czech Republic at U19 level but playing together in a 2-0 Victory over Italy. Again, similar to the Danny Rose situation, Tope Obadeyi could of featured more times with the one time Premiee League winner Marc Albrighton but the information on the England u19 playing squads is very sparse. Marc Albrighton forged a very successful career by being a solid and reliable wide midfielder in a world where flair and skill is transforming that area of the pitch. Marc was one of the most consistent performers in Leicester's 5000/1 Premier League winning season making him a shoe in for Tope's top XI. He has made his 'Marc' in Premier league history so he comes in on the left hand side.
St: Daniel Sturridge
Born in Birmingham and having studied at Four Dwellings High School, Obadeyi formed a formidable strike partnership with former England star, Daniel Sturridge, during their teenage years. Tope talents caught the attention of Bolton Wanderers whilst Sturridge was signed at Manchester City. But being school teammates wasn’t the only time they were teammates again as the strikers reunited at Bolton Wanderers whilst D Studge was on loan from Chelsea.
But being teammates didn’t stop there. from being teammates in school football to professional football, Tope and Daniel also represented England at the U19 European championships as Daniel also featured in the 2-0 defeat to Czech Republic. In a victory over Italy at u20 level, Tope replaced school friend Daniel Sturridge in the 82nd minute as the three lions came away 2-0 winners. Tope and Daniel have mutual respect for eachother for the careers they have fashioned and when Obadeyi was north of the border with Kilmarnock he quoted to the Daily Record about his former strike partner “He’s an inspiration to me. We’re the same age but I look up to him because I know where he has come from and the level he’s reached. It’s great to see someone you know doing so well for themselves.” Daniel was a prolific goal scorer for some of the biggest clubs in England but is now a player retired so maybe it will be a good idea to pay homage to their old school and make it the fourth dwelling in their football journey together by Reuniting at Banbury United.
TOPE if you’re reading this you know what to do…
St Rodrigo
The young Spaniard joined Bolton on a season long loan from Benfica in the 2010-11 season. Despite being signed on loan, the striker found minutes sporadically which led him to play for Bolton wanderers Reserves on a few occasions. This is where Tope and Rodrigo first featured together but in there first game it wasn’t the player who held a 6 million transfer fee to his name to open the scoring against Blackburn Rovers reserves, it was the now Banbury striker Tope Obadeyi. But the next game they played together Rodrigo announced himself to the reserve scene and showed his quality and scored 2 goals in a 3-0 victory over Blackpool. Since there time together at Bolton, Rodrigo has proved his worth performing in the La Liga, Premier league and on the international stage with Spain helping them become the current Nations league champions.
Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo
The former Valencia, Porto, Wolves and Spurs boss started his managerial career at Portuguese side Rio Ave. Taking over the club who almost encountered relegation the season prior, Nuno set a mission to find young talented players to propel the club up the league. He did this by recruiting Jan Oblak and Ederson in the goalkeeping department, Diego Lopes in midfield but one of his first signings was 22-Year-Old Tope Obadeyi. Not only did Nuno nurtured Tope's talent on the pitch but Nuno paid special attention to his young winger off the pitch too, as he made sure he settled in his new surroundings and felt comfortable. Reflecting on his time working with Nuno, Tope explained to Yahoo Sports “I would say he is one of the best managers I’ve worked with in terms of drills and coaching sessions, which were always well thought through, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.” Overall, the one season Tope spent in Portugal was a mixed success as his playing minutes shortened as the season went by but he was a contributing factor in helping the club finish 7th and learnt off a manager who has installed success at an array of clubs most notably at Wolverhampton wanderers.
Conclusion
Overall, Tope’s career has took him to 4 different countries, 15 different clubs and has now dropped into the reality of non-league football showing that he still possesses that love of football. His journey has proved different to most and the reward of challenging himself abroad has helped him rub shoulders with some of the finest players in the modern day game. Tope Top XI is glittered in success with a combined 4 Premier League titles, 5 European trophies, 1 Nation Leagues winner and countless international appearances thus highlighting that Tope has had a career he can be proud of.
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