Bodo/Glimt defender Marius Hoibraten has labelled Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis a “fox in the box” ahead of tomorrow night’s clash in Norway.
Giakoumakis came on in the second half of last week’s 3-1 loss to Bodo at Celtic Park. The towering Greek failed to make much of an impact on the night, but did cause a couple of problems without getting any real glimpses of goal.
Since then, the former VVV-Venlo man has bagged a hat-trick in the 3-2 win over Dundee at Parkhead on Sunday. Finally showing his finishing ability at its maximum potential, Giakoumakis now looks a cert to start the second leg of our Europa Conference League tie tomorrow night.
If he does, he’ll be up against Norwegian stalwart Hoibraten once more. And it’s clear after their last tussle that the Bodo star thinks well of the Celtic man.
As quoted by the Daily Record, he said: “Celtic plays really good attacking football. It’s demanding to defend against. I think we did it good in the first leg and we are up for the task on Thursday.
“When Giakoumakis came on, he was a bit of a different striker to Daizen Maeda who began the game. He had a bit more muscles, was stronger and a bit of a fox in the box. Hopefully we are ready to take care of him.”
Giorgos Giakoumakis hopefully saved some goals for tomorrow
The only downside to Giakoumakis getting a hat-trick at the weekend is that Bodo/Glimt will now be aware of his full potential. They’ll now know what he’s truly capable of when it comes to his movement and they’ll likely do their damnest to mark him out of the game.
Even if Maeda got on the scoresheet last week, it looks more likely that Giakoumakis will be leading the line. You can’t not give him the opportunity to shine in Norway after what he produced. He deserves a chance and hopefully, Ange will provide him with it.
If he can get a goal or 2 in Europe to add to his current domestic collection, it’ll stand him in good stead moving forward. You still feel this is a level he needs to prove himself at, even if he’s shone for us in Scotland in the early stages of 2022.
Of course, it’s not that Giakoumakis didn’t impress last week. He was getting into the right areas and looking for decent service. That’s where he was let down. We didn’t get the ball anywhere near him for the most part. That’s why he cut an isolated figure at times.
Giakoumakis is the kind of centre-forward that thrives on service. He likes to hit his efforts first-time and try to make the most of his clever movement. But if that service isn’t accurate then you’re going to struggle to get anything out of him.
Hopefully, our creative players turn up in Norway and give them something to think about. There’s still an opportunity here, albeit a small one. If we can get the service right for the Greek forward, well, we saw what can happen on Sunday.
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