Puget Almeida shows another way to Mandaloo

Five league games, zero goals and zero assists for Petros Mandalo. This is undoubtedly the least productive start championship to its former captain EckSince joining its employees, that is, since the summer of 2014 until today. Of course there is an explanation:

After five Premier League matches, the 31-year-old midfielder has played just one 90 minutes, which was in the first match, against Lamia. In the next match, with Volos in Rizopoli, he was substituted in the 45th minute, while in the three that followed, he took a few minutes off the bench: the 19th minute against PAS, the 33rd minute against Panathinaikos, and the 17th minute against Panaitolikos. He didn’t learn that way…

Now, in Matias Almeida’s plans, which the coach has no reason to change, Mandalos is a key rotation player who is counted primarily as one of those who will come off the bench to help change pace or contribute to the team’s results. . Something similar applies to Noureddine Amrabat.

However, the role assigned to it is also important. In the match Greece vs Northern Ireland, Gustavo Poget used it in a situation that he also used during their time together at AEK: the left midfielder, sometimes also giving him the attacking left winger, which is what Manolo Jimenez used to do as well. Mandalos, of course, seems to respond better as a midfielder.

A good idea, an idea that Almeida will always rely on

The Argentine coach of the Federation, he watches everyone and everything, and best of all he is not a dogmatic coach or a man who would consider it offensive to take something he saw from others, if he thought it was for good. from his team. For example, the idea of ​​making Levi Garcia always on top of the attack did not “born” her.

He got it from Sokratis Ofridopoulos, who used the footballer from Trinidad and Tobago as a striker, in matches against Aris and Olympiacos, at the end of last year’s qualifiers. He saw Garcia score three times, evaluated his movements and athletic performance, and made – along with the player – a career-changing decision.

It’s not Mandalo’s goal, for which the opposing goalkeeper is also responsible, so much as it was beautiful. His overall presence on the set role, the way he moves, the spaces he’s found and his admission that he likes to compete with the wrong foot shows a way forward.

After all, the goal for AEK is not to marginalize the footballer due to the problems of previous years, but to take full advantage of his quality characteristics, even through a different approach, which is up to his sleeve that will come as a change of solution and substance.