A massive amount of fans were making their point clear that they were not at all satisfied with the club’s silence in the transfer market while other teams had already begun their hunt for talented players. 2 months ago, Kerala Blasters FC broke the silence, and proved them wrong when they roped in 27-year-old Australian forward Jaushua Sotirio on a 2-year long deal from the A-League side, Newcastle Jets FC.
In this article, we try to break down Jaushua’s role inside Ivan Vukomanovic’s strategy and discuss what the Manjappada may anticipate from the Aussie.
Who is Jaushua Sotirio?
Jaushua Sotirio played for A-League outfit Newcastle Jets FC in the previous season, appearing in 24 matches, scoring 3 goals and providing 4 assists in the season. Sotirio is going to play outside Australia for the first time after playing in various divisions across his home country since debuting as a professional. He has played a total of 180 matches in the A-League since 2013, has scored 31 goals, assisted 11, and maintained a clean name in his career as he has only been sent off once to date.
Jaushua began his professional footballing career in the 2013-14 season as he was playing for Western Sydney Wanderers’ 2nd division team and was later promoted to the first team. A year later, he was lucky enough to get his hands on the first-ever silverware in his career and also appeared in the FIFA Club World Cup. Spending 4 seasons with the club until the 2019-20 season, he switched sides with Wellington Phoenix FC where he played his next three seasons.
In the 2022-23 season, he was transferred to Newcastle Jets FC and spent a season with them contributing decently, before joining the Indian Super League.
How would Jaushua Sotirio fit tactically in Ivan’s system?
As we all know, 4-4-2 is Ivan’s most preferred formation, playing two forwards upfront with the help of Adrian Luna in behind. The Dimitrios-Giannou linkup worked decently in the previous season as the duo scored 14 goals and assisted 5 for the team. As the club has officially announced the departure of Giannou, it can be considered that Jaushua is Giannou’s replacement.
When we delve into the previous season, we can see that the team was getting all kinds of help from possibly every position. But as we all know, a proper midfield controls the whole pace of the game and they had a midfield like that. Even though the midfield disappointed the fans in some games with the errors, they also delivered when they were needed the most and when they are coming with a proper midfield this forthcoming season which includes a player like Jeakson Singh, who delivered great for India, we can say that the midfield is pretty solid.
The significance of this signing for Kerala Blasters FC
Jaushua is a dynamic forward who can play on the flanks or in the middle. When playing alongside the star Greek forward Dimitrios Diamantakos in the frontline, This Greek-Aussie partnership has all they need to develop fear in the opponents’ defence. He is also good at holding the ball and passing in tight spaces, which Kerala will highly benefit from.
Leaving it all aside, as a foreign player in an Indian league, Jaushua will have an important role when it comes to the frontline of the team – if that’s either in the starting eleven or as a substitute. It will take time for him to link up with the new conditions as this is his first time outside his homeland, but sooner or later, he will be perfectly lined up and we can hopefully see his full potential.
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