With EURO 2016 in full swing the opportunity for players to advertise themselves is one of the best they’ll get.
With the 24-team format, we are seeing teams with players that we might otherwise not have. One such nation is Slovakia who, in Marek Hamsik, have someone who is a top class player.
Hamsik already has some reputation given his club career at Napoli, but it’s with Slovakia at international tournaments where a wider audience can observe his talent, his status is growing.
His goal against Russia in his team’s 2-1 win only further underlined his mercurial talent and it made us all wonder: ‘why haven’t more clubs been interested in his services?’
We’ve seen the likes of Liverpool chase Mario Gotze to no avail and completely overlook the Napoli star when actually he may even be the better option.
Here at FootballFanCast we’ve been looking over the two attacking midfielders and here are FIVE reasons that highlight why Hamsik might be a better option than Gotze for Liverpool…
Goals
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Hamsik scored more goals than Gotze last season and as we’ve seen at the EUROs he’s a real threat, even from less than straight forward positions. His goal against Russia was a world class effort and clearly the man is in form.
Compared to Gotze, who had an on/off season at Bayern Munich, it makes sense that the Reds go for the Napoli man.
Key passes
The Slovakian completed far more key passes than Mario Gotze last season and this highlights his eye for a killer ball.
With Liverpool already boasting great creative players like Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, Hamsik would only make their attack even more frightening.
Liverpool became high goalscorers under Jurgen Klopp and Hamsik would on,y boost their potency
Injury record
Since Gotze won the World Cup in 2014, he has failed to kick on and that has been partly due to his injury record.
Can Liverpool afford another attacking star with fitness issues on their books when they already have players like Sturridge close to the edge?
In contrast Hamsik was ever present for the Naples side last season as they pushed Juventus close for the Serie A title.
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Assists
Hamsik recorded an impressive 11 assists last season compared to Gotze’s four and this goes to again show how good around the box he is with his final ball.
Liverpool were one of the best for creating chances they just didn’t have the best conversion rate in the Premier League last time out but with the Slovakian in their side laying the ball on the plate surely the Reds’ frontline can’t misfire.
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Successful take ons
Hamsik isn’t just a creative force, he can glide past players, too. Typically you’d expect Gotze to come out on top for this stat but the German only beat his man 39% of the time last season. Then, looking at Hamsik, who doesn’t have the reputation of taking on defenders, we see a success rate of 67%.
Combine that with Klopp’s high intensity style the opposition won’t know what’s hit them with the Reds attacking players flying up top.
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