Scout Report: Kostas Tsimikas
Another Scout Report, this one a little different as it seems this player’s destination is already settled. Here’s my report into soon to be Liverpool’s new full-back Kostas Tsimikas.
Tsimikas, due to join the reds for £11.75 million within the coming days, has had a promising season for Greek Champions Olympiacos, playing all their games of the 19/20 season, chipping in with 2 assists.
Though domestic stats for the left sided defender were hard to come by, his statistics from his European appearances start to show a picture of why Jurgen Klopp and his staff decided to bring the Greek to Merseyside. Defensively is where Tsimikas has excelled in recent times, in Olympiacos’s Europa League campaign, he pressured the ball 62 times in 4 games allowing for a 32% win rate for winning the ball back for his team, he also committed 10 tackles at 58.8% success rate during the campaign, showing off his talent when tracking the ball back and winning it back for his team. That’s an average of 4.3 tackles per game and to add to that he committed 2.5 interceptions per 90 on top.
Another area where Tsimikas has excelled this year is his passing, though his passing range will need work, he attempted 211 passes at a an 82.46% succession rate, he made 50 long passes at a 72% succession rate, though the majority of these were direct and down the line, so despite the fact he has the ability to make long passes, it is not yet evident he can make the types of passes and cross field balls it would take to back up either of Liverpool’s two current full-backs. Crosses are also an area Tsimikas can improve on, making less than 4 completed crosses per 90, the ability is there, but the player will need to be moulded into the LFC system.
The young Greek is also a rather successful dribbler, making 8 dribbles at 50% success rate during this campaign, a player used to bring the ball out from the back, over half of his touches come within the midfield area of the park.
Overall Tsimikas could be a good defensive addition for Liverpool and at 24, has more than enough time to improve. He has the ability to commit to a bigger passing range, as he has shown his success with his current range, defensively he has a good tackle ratio and knows how to retrieve the ball under pressure. He may need to learn more about going forward but is more than capable of bringing the ball up from the back and moving the team forward, this along with his play in the final third are areas for improvement, but if Tsimikas can find his role and learn, he could be a good back up player for the current Premier League Champions.
*All stats from Olympiacos’s 2019/20 Europa League Campaign.
