Edozie embodies brave new Saints

Popular buzzwords from the manager include “bravery” and “courage”. In days gone by, such words may have meant something different in footballing terms, as the mind instinctively wanders to last-ditch blocks and thundering into tackles.

As the game has evolved, so too has its terminology. Nowadays bravery and courage more often translate to taking risks, sticking to the plan under pressure and making the right choice in possession – not just the easy one.

That might mean Gavin Bazunu passing to a marked defender who is facing his own goal, when a predetermined pattern of play can beat the opposition press and create more space for Saints’ forward players to create opportunities to score.

In attacking areas, bravery and courage can refer to being prepared to lose the ball in order to have a greater chance of scoring a goal.

In last season’s Premier League, Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane were among the most dispossessed players, yet they all ranked in the top four for combined goals and assists at the end of the campaign, along with the record-breaking goalscoring anomaly, Erling Haaland.

Samuel Edozie's bravery with the ball embodies the courageous mindset Russell Martin wants in his players

To score you need the courage to shoot. To assist you often need to play a difficult pass. To take on your man and pull another opponent out of position to create space for a teammate, you need to be brave.

One of the players who embodies this in Martin’s squad is Samuel Edozie. Quick, direct and a natural ball carrier, Edozie is one of Saints’ regular risk takers.

Perhaps that’s why, despite signing eight new players in the summer, Martin started the 20-year-old winger in each of Saints’ first seven league matches.

The youngster responded by scoring the first two goals of his career, in back-to-back home games against QPR and Leicester.

“It was a big weight off my shoulders to get my first one,” he smiles. “It was a very big moment. I had my family in the crowd, so it meant a lot to me – I think my celebration showed that!

“Everyone’s told me, ‘once you get the first one the rest will follow’, so I’ve already had another one after. Let’s see how many I can get.”

“I had my family in the crowd, so it meant a lot to me – I think my celebration showed that!” – Edozie on scoring his first career goal

Edozie has made no secret of his desire to add numbers – goals and assists – to his exciting dribbles, and points to a more mature mindset in his game at the start of his second season as a Saint.

“I think, before, when I first came into men’s football, for me it was more about just getting at players and trying to take them on – I didn’t think too much about what to do after,” he admits.

“But I think now, playing more games and getting a little bit more experience, it’s also about that end product.

“If I can play a game and have four or five shots and only one or two dribbles, I’ll be happy with that because that’s an end product. I think it’s just about maturing and trying to improve that.”

Edozie insists he will never compromise his natural instinct to run with the ball. Bamboozling full-backs is an old pastime he’s not prepared to give up just yet, but he reveals conversations with the manager are helping him make better decisions.

“We’ve got a great relationship,” he says. “He’s tough on me, but I think I need that. He wants the best for me, so he’s going to ask a lot from me.

"He’s very encouraging and shows he trusts me by playing me in most of the games this season, so I can’t complain and I’m willing to work for him.

“He’s on to me about mistakes because he doesn’t want me making them. The less mistakes in your game, the better player you’re going to become – that’s pretty obvious.

“A manager that’s going to be on to me with the small things, the small details, trying to get the best out of me, is definitely someone that I need.”

Edozie describes the Sky Bet Championship as “more physical” than the Premier League and “very end to end, quite basketball-like – it’s attack v defence constantly”.

“It’s exciting for players like me, who get to attack quite a lot,” he adds, helped by Saints averaging a whopping 63.4 per cent possession this season. Like all the attackers, Edozie is finding himself on the ball more often, and closer to the opposition goal.

The final step, he says, is mastering what comes next.

“It’s everything – when to dribble, when to pass the ball, when to shoot, or run behind or come short,” he explains. “It’s different things.

“Sometimes I’ll get the ball and instead of shooting I’ll try to take on a man, and then the chance goes, so he (the manager) will be on to me about that and he’ll show me what I need to do next time; get the ball here, shift it and shoot.

“I think that’s what you need. The more times I’ll be getting into those situations, I’ll remember what he said and put into practice what he said. Sometimes you get the ball and play off the cuff, which he’s always encouraged me to do, so I’m very happy with that. He’s always encouraged me to have that in my game.

“He wants his wingers to be high and wide. Sometimes it can be frustrating when all of the play is going through the middle and you’re not seeing much of the ball, but he wants you to be patient, stay out wide, and sooner or later the ball’s going to come to you. When it does, you go and make the difference.”

Martin was very aware in the early weeks of his reign that he had walked into a club that had been through tough times, and that last season’s relegation was the result of a longer-term decline and an abundance of change, on and off the field.

As a consequence of that, St Mary’s has, at times, become anxious, further demanding the need for bravery and courage in his players.

The manager has favoured the fit-again Kamaldeen Sulemana from the start in the last three matches, but, in Edozie, he has another winger who never retreats into his shell, always wants the ball and always tries to play forward, even in a high-pressured environment. It’s an impressive strength of character in someone so young that does not go unnoticed.

“I always feel confident in myself,” he insists. "Even when things haven’t been going the best for me, I still feel confident in myself and my ability because I know what I can do. I work hard every day, so I know that, given the chance, I can take it.

“I feel like I’ve never been the type of player who feels too much pressure. I love the game, I love playing football, so I don’t feel pressure when I’m trying to take someone on – I’m just thinking about how I can beat them. If it doesn’t work, I’ll go again and try again, try and create things for the team.

“I feel like if everyone was to play safe, we wouldn’t actually create much, so sometimes players have to play off the cuff and try and create things for the team. That’s what I’ll always try to do, no matter the situation.”