Ange Postecoglou has credited Giorgos Giakoumakis’ one-touch Celtic finishes and stated that it’s down to his positioning.
Giakoumakis has been in fine form in 2022 as he put on the afterburners to his Celtic career. So far this year, the big Greek has fired home 11 goals. His form has seen him become the outstanding striker in Kyogo Furuhashi’s absence, whilst he’s also been called up to the Greek squad.
The former VVV-Venlo man, however, has a unique trait in his locker. All 12 of his Celtic goals have incredible come fro one-touch finishes. Indeed, Giakoumakis hasn’t had to control the ball before getting his efforts away in what’s an incredible stat that shows just how good his technique is.
Ange was asked about it on Celtic TV in an interview published today, and it’s fair to say he has his own take on why this is the case:
“It’s not unique, it’s the way we play. I think you’ll find most of our strikers and the kind of goals they score – it’s the way we play our football so you look for players with those attributes.
“I think what’s more important than how he’s finishing is getting him into the areas we need to get him into. The reason he can finish with one touch is because he’s in the areas we need him to hit when we’re delivering balls in there. We’re working a lot on that a lot as a team.”
Giorgos Giakoumakis showing tremendous technique to make his mark at Celtic
There’s been something quite scrappy about many of Giakoumakis’ goals. His finishes at Tannadice for example were certainly not overly-pleasing on the eye. However, as well as that, you have plenty of other top efforts to choose from.
2 of his 3 goals against Dundee were top-class finishes. The same goes for his goals against Ross County on Saturday. His early efforts against St Johnstone and Alloa Athletic weren’t too shabby either. Or the back-heel flick at Tynecastle.
But whether scrappy or pretty, they’ve all got one common denominator – they were all taken with 1 touch. All taken with real class, composure, and without a moment’s thought.
That’s not something a player can put on. The kind of trait is just striker’s instinct. It’s knowing where the ball is going to be and being ready to pull the trigger immediately. And Ange is spot on to point towards Giakoumakis’ movement as the main reason for his success.
He’s finding space in the box regularly despite being our main goal threat. Some of his runs have been perfectly timed and that’s something that’s improving in his game.
Eventually his run of one-goal finishes will stop. But as things stand, it’s a helluva trait to have, and something Celtic are benefiting from massively.
In other news, Kyogo details his pre-Celtic conversation with Shunsuke Nakamura
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