Greece's New First Choice Central Attacking Midfielder?
Greece's New First Choice Central Attacking Midfielder?
Why these numbers you may ask?
Because he was unnecessarily played in multiple positions.
When last season concluded, a move to Turkish club Alanyaspor beckoned, and as it turns out, this was the best move he could have made to resurrect his career, why? Because firstly, his new coach Erol Bulut stuck him in attacking midfield and left him there, rather than shifting him to a wing, where he does not thrive for club and country.
And with eleven goals and seven assists from thirty- six matches in all competitions to show for it, and with matches still to play, it's clear that Central Attacking Midfield is where he belongs.
Now turning to his Ethniki appearances, when I first was able to watch Greece properly again, which was our away trip to Hungary for a UEFA Nations League encounter, I saw Bakasetas line up on the right wing that day and on other occasions, and more often than not, his positive impact for our team in that position would be almost non-existent.
Ignorant me at the time didn't even consider that he was being played out of position by Michael Skibbe and for a brief period, Angelos Anastasiadis.
Until I read Bakasetas himself implying that being played in his preferred position in attacking midfield by current Ethniki Coach John van't Schip was doing wonders for his confidence and ability. So, our current coach gets a big thumbs up from me for playing his part in reinstating some confidence into the performances of Bakasetas.
So, now that Bakasetas has been re-born as a player, would it be safe to say that he should be Greece's first choice central attacking midfielder? Ahead of the wonderfully talented Kostas Fortounis and Petros Mantalos? Right now, you can't make a case against it.
Firstly, van't Schip seems to prefer playing Mantalos on the left side of midfield, and he like many others is thriving in his current position under van’t Schip so there's no need to move Mantalos from left midfield, yet.
Secondly, Bakasetas' form at present is better, for club and country when comparing him to Kostas Fortounis, having said that, Fortounis can be forgiven somewhat in both regards given that he's had the dreaded Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury recovery to deal with for the best part of twelve months.
But now that he has fully recovered, the onus is firmly on Fortounis to earn his spot as Greece's first choice Central Attacking Midfielder back off of Bakasetas and let me tell you, that's not going to be an easy task.
Thirdly, in the absence of Fortounis, Bakasetas has stepped up and done a job, and was a big contributor to the trio of victories that Greece had to close out their UEFA Euro 2020 campaign, so why would you want to change that?
Finally, John van't Schip has preached non-stop that attitude is of high importance to him. Before the second leg of Olympiakos' UEFA Europa League Tie against Arsenal, Kostas Fortounis was involved in a spat with Olympiakos' Manager Pedro Martins. When asked about the incident, Martins' used the following words "No one is above Olympiakos", which could suggest that Fortounis put his own needs above the club's needs.
Now I don't know what John van't Schip thought about that incident, or if he had an opinion on it at all, but it could be seen as a safe bet that if he is aware of what happened, he probably wouldn't have liked it, and by extension, it's potentially another reason why
Bakasetas os ahead of Fortounis in the Ethniki pecking order at the moment, as there have been no reported attitude problems that Bakasetas has had with any of his superiors.
Let me finish by saying that I think Kostas Fortounis is a more skillful player than Anastasios Bakasetas on the pitch, but the latter currently has better domestic form, and the Ethniki is currently thriving by having Bakasetas playing the Central Attacking Midfield role.
So, I ask you again, right now, why would you want to change that?
Hellas Football
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