Eagles midfielder Jacob Malakoff
Last Friday evening, when New Town Eagles found themselves 2-0 down against Glenorchy Knights after just 38 minutes, Eagles coach George Krambousanos knew it was time to call on the cavalry.
One of the three substitutions he made in and around half-time to try and pull the game out of the fire was 16-year-old midfielder Jacob Malakoff.
Malakoff settled into his midfield role like a veteran and helped his side get back into the game.
Eagles performed admirably in the second half and just lost by the odd goal at the end - 4-3.
Malakoff, a Year 11 student at The Friends School, was a southern representative at 14 and decided to join Eagles at that time, when he was in Year 9.
He played reserves for a season and a half, but is now a regular member of Eagles’ senior side.
“I think I’m going well, although it was a bit disappointing not to start on Friday,” Malakoff said.
“I think we’ll go better in our next game.”
Malakoff made his senior debut as a 15-year-old in 2007, when he came on as a substitute for 5 minutes, but he became a regular early last season.
He used to play as a right-winger and then as a defensive midfielder, but is now generally used in a central midfield role.
“I thought we were worth at least a draw against Knights,” Malakoff said.
“We just let in a couple of sloppy goals, and we’ll have to work on that.
“We need to get a good start this season and get as far away from the bottom as we can.
“If we can do that, then maybe we should try and make the top-four.
“I think we should try and get the spot behind Zebras and South Hobart, if possible.
“It’s an important year because of automatic relegation for the bottom team, so first of all, we need to get away from University and Kingborough, the sides that will probably battle things out with us.”
Krambousanos believes Malakoff has huge potential, given his self-discipline, attitude, willingness to attend training, skills and awareness on the field.
“He needs to be a little more of an extrovert on the pitch and put on some weight,” Krambousanos said.
“I rate him as a player who is going to be very good and he’s a delight to coach.”
2 comments:
hmmmm. A club fostering talented youth. Great story.
Walter, good to see the player profiles back. I like reading about players who would not necessarily get a mention or the recognition they deserve. Is this something you will be doing on a regular basis?
It's also nice to see young players given the chance to test themselved in the Premier League.
Post a Comment