The Rapid Rise of Efthimis Koulouris
Efthimis Koulouris has had a thunderous start to the Greek SuperLeague season with Atromitos, leading his club to top spot after seven rounds. AGONAsport investigates.
Atromitos took the Super League by storm last season, putting teams to the sword and punching well above their weight against Greece’s top clubs. New manager Damir Canadi made several great signings along the way, none better than Amr Warda on loan from PAOK.
The Egyptian returned to his parent club in the summer after appearing at the FIFA World Cup. Questions surfaced as to whether or not the Peristeri club could replicate their 207-18 season as several key departures left major holes. Canadi managed to keep a solid core in defence but goals were supposed to be a problem.
Enter Efthimis Koulouris. On the 4th of July, the 22 year old joined Atromitos on loan from PAOK, just like Warda a year ago. He was going to find it hard to break into the PAOK first team with Aleksandar Prijovic being the prized asset, and Nikos Karelis and Chuba Akpom joining.
In the space of a few months, Koulouris has gone from being a peripheral figure at PAOK to the being the best signing of the Super League in season 2018-19. His form has been so great that many have called for him to lead the line for the Ethniki!
Many believe that the Ethniki lacks a striker that can impose himself on the game and do ‘a bit of everything’. This is something Koulouris can do. Many were in disbelief that he was only given a cameo appearance by Michael Skibbe in Ethniki colours in the October UEFA Nations League games, such has been his rapid rise under Canadi at Atromitos.
Koulouris has never been an important first team player, however, he has taken the opportunity with open arms. A respectable personal target in terms of goals would have been reaching double digits at senior level for the first time in his blossoming career. He is set to smash that, already finding the back of the net on 6 occasions in the League. Keeping in mind that the season is not even one third old.
He made a positive first impression scoring in the club’s UEFA Europa League qualifier in Belarus against Dynamo Brest. This was undoubtedly a confidence booster and he proved to be the match winner in the opening round win away at Panetolikos, scoring a brace. He was the match winner once again, when Atromitos defeated Lamia 1-0 courtesy of a Koulouris goal. This recurring theme of being a match winner proved to be correct again, as he scored the only goal of the game in a win against PAS Giannina.
Things then went from good to great for the youngster in last week’s 3-2 drama-packed win over Asteras Tripolis. He was easily the man of the match, scoring his second brace of the season, which included a memorable 87th minute winner. This kept Atromitos level on points with PAOK at the top of the League on 19 points after the first seven rounds of the season.
Atromitos are well on their way to matching (if not bettering) last season’s efforts and Koulouris is the first name on the team sheet. They have scored 11 goals in 7 games and Koulouris has scored 6 - in other words, over half of the team’s goals. It may be somewhat of a simplistic view, but 9 out of the 19 points accrued to date by the Peristeri club are directly down to Koulouris. No other new signing has made such a vital contribution this season. As a result, Canadi has cleverly built the team around Koulouris.
En route to opening up a 6 point gap between title hopefuls AEK and Olympiakos, Koulouris is scoring at a rate of 1:4.2 shots. His 25 chances are a League high, but he is not a player who requires a bucket-load of chances to score. Strikers are ultimately judged on their goal return and his finishing is arguably his greatest strength.
As demonstrated by his goals, he is not over-reliant on one trait. He has a bit of everything in his arsenal. His goals include brilliant strikes from distance to headers to poacher’s goals in the box with intelligent runs. However, his aerial presence and ability to play back to goal is another real standout. Ironically, this is a criticism levelled at the incumbent Ethniki striker Kostas Mitroglou.
It is also no coincidence Mitroglou himself also enjoyed a successful spell on loan at Atromitos. He scored 16 goals in his one season at Peristeri and 4 in his first 7 games. Consequently, “Koulou” has made a better start in his stint in Athens. With the EPO opting for a change in direction at the Ethniki helm in the form of Angelos Anastasiadis, it may not be beyond the realms of possibility to see Koulouris cement his place in the team, should he continue his amazing season to date.
