Right Now, No Douvikas? No Problem
Right Now, No Douvikas? No Problem
Let me start by saying you can't scoff at twenty-two goals and four assists in thirty-eight games in all competitions last season. By any definition, those numbers are elite, and he rightfully earned a move to a superior footballing country where his current record is one you can't label as bad at all.
For the national team, and he's not alone in that category by any stretch of the imagination. The same very least similar level of performance has yet to be consistently replicated in his fifteen caps thus far. The games against Kosovo and Sweden, when John can't Schip's tenure started to reach its conclusion, stood out as, at the time, outputs that would've had many of us fans very hopeful that we had another dependable striker in our ranks.
Since then, he hasn't been able to impose himself as a threat when given the chance. The away game in Cyprus in the most recent Nations League campaign was a great example, with a golden first-half chance missed, unfortunately, springing to mind as the obvious error that day.
What's also not helping his case one bit for a recall is the stellar domestic and solid international (mainly two of the three more recently) form of our current three consistently-picked strikers in Fotis Ioannidis, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Vangelis Pavlidis.
Let's start with arguably the key cog for Panathinaikos' quest for silverware this season in Ioannidis. Who's just gone from strength to strength week in and week out. His numbers in terms of goals and assists speak for themselves, not to mention how much of an intense work-rate we've seen on the park for the Ethniki lately. He's been a genuine menace for opposing centre-backs with expert ball-shielding, manic pressing, and tricky movement. On top of that, his first senior goal against France only points to the need to further his development. I'd go as far as to say that, at present, he's the first-choice striker for this team.
Next, there's the imposing Giakoumakis. Like Dimitrios Kourbelis in midfield, Giakoumakis almost deserves a free pass because he's the only striker of his kind this team has. Like Ioannidis, the numbers he's putting up domestically ooze quality, and for Greece, he's currently displaced Pavlidis for a higher place in the striker's pecking order due to a terrific impact off the bench against Gibraltar and the towering header a month later in Dublin, fully justifying the faith Gus Poyet had in him when selected the starting eleven that day. He thrives on elite service, much like the other man in Douvikas' way.
It's bonkers to say this man is third on the podium when selecting who starts up front (formation-dependent, but that's another story). That's the current reality for Vangelis Pavlidis. As long as the goals fly in for AZ Alkmaar from him (or hopefully a club of greater stature soon), he will be selected for this squad, and deservedly so, but like Douvikas, more recent performances at the international level haven't been impressive, The total of zero goals for eighteen months is not all his doing, we need to adapt to his strengths like AZ Alkmaar does so well. Though it's a team effort, he has to add more to his game that suits his teammates at the international level.
Above, I used the words "formation dependant". If we have to play five at the back, feel free to see Giorgos Masouras high up in striker preferences. It was clear how well he worked with Ioannidis against France as another pressing animal, and say what you like about the opposition he's found the net against. Masouras knows how to do it for this team, and that's what matters.
All in all, Anastasios Douvikas has his work cut out for him if he wants to return as a mainstay in this squad, and do I want to see that immediately? No.
@Crazy_Ethnic
Hellas Football
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