Balogun's killer pace: what his old coach sees
By Laurent Duval, MonacoViews Editorial
A former Reims assistant coach has broken down what makes Folarin Balogun so dangerous for AS Monaco, with 19 goals already to his name this season.
Nineteen goals into the current campaign, Folarin Balogun has become one of the most reliable finishers in Ligue 1, and those who worked with him before his move to the Principality are not surprised. Samba Diawara, who served as assistant coach at Stade de Reims during Balogun's time in the Marne, has been watching the American striker's progress at AS Monaco with a keen eye.
Diawara has analysed three of Balogun's goals this season and identified pace of execution as the quality that sets him apart. That ability to make decisions and finish in fractions of a second, he argues, is what has improved most markedly since the two worked together.
For supporters at the Stade Louis II, the numbers speak for themselves. Balogun's return this season has made him central to Monaco's attacking ambitions, and the assessment from someone who coached him at an earlier stage of his development suggests the striker still has room to grow further.