Manousos puts injury troubles behind him
When Giorgos Manousos signed for Atromitos on the 27th of May, 2017, he never would have expected his luck to be so rotten (in terms of injuries), however, his dedication, application, hard work, commitment, and strong attitude has seen him come out of the adversity on the other side.
It all started back on the 4th of November, 2017 when Atromitos faced Panionios and the striker was the recipient of a nasty knee injury. This injury was grossly underestimated by both the player and club alike as the plan was to return to playing action as soon as possible. However, this did not eventuate and the pains did not disappear. This led to Manousos undergoing knee surgery in February 2018 and missing the remainder of the 2017/18 season.
A footballer’s worst nightmare is recovering from a serious injury. The psychological impact it has, let alone the physical effects, is enough to turn anyone away. Manousos feared the worst and at one point contemplated if he would ever play again, but he soldiered on with the rehabilitation over the summer and turned it around.
In Manousos’ case, the goal was to return to playing action by the start of the 2018/19 season. This was achieved thanks to the hard work he put in, as well as a considerable amount of support from both his family and Atromitos. He was given reassurances by boss Damir Canadi that he would be part of his plans moving forward.
The Mytilene-born forward completed the summer training camp in Austria and was a central figure in the team’s matches against Belarusian club Dynamo Brest in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. He scored in both matches (home and away), however, this was not enough to prevent the Peristeri club from crashing out of the competition at the first hurdle. It may have been a disaster for the club, but for Manousos on a personal note, one can only imagine how satisfying it would have been.
It appeared the tide was turning and the worst was behind him, after he started the opening two Super League matches. However, as luck would have it, the 31-year-old then received another nasty leg injury and would be forced to sit a further two months out.
It was at this point where Manousos really began to question things. Whilst the recovery time was shorter, naturally the trauma of a long-term injury is difficult to erase from the memory and he had to do it all over again.
With his family and Atromitos by his side (vital as he was released in controversial circumstances by previous club Platanias), he again battled on and came back. Only this time, the experienced striker received the ultimate reward for his efforts - vindication that his hard work and ‘never say die’ attitude were warranted. He scored an amazing left-footed goal against Larissa in last weekend’s tough away fixture in the league which Atromitos emerged victorious 0:2. This sparked wild celebrations and rightly so.
Although it has been quite ‘stop-start’ so far at Peristeri, the rest of the season presents a great opportunity for Manousos to build his confidence and a partnership with young gun Efthimis Koulouris as the club cements another European berth.
