Mavropanos is a happy man
Konstantinos Mavropanos is a happy man and certainly played his part in the Freiburg victory but is probably likely to be back in the bench against Wolves tomorrow (Sun) with the likely return of Kurt Zouma to the side. However, he is enjoying life at the club and despite a couple of errors in games has looked a decent addition to the squad.
He was delighted with the Irons performance as we ensured the No 1 priority of heading the group and reaching the last 16. For the Greece defender, sealing first place and avoiding February’s knockout play-off round was a case of job done.
He said: “It was a really good performance. I think we were really good with the ball defensively as well, and we finished the group stages strongly to go through to the knockout games.
“It was important to top the group because it means you’re in a better position when it comes to the knockout stages.
“Freiburg are strong, but I think t we had it under control. We held the ball quite well, we moved in-between the lines in midfield and we kept a clean sheet, so I think it was really impressive.”
Mavropanos had an excellent view of the first half goals which sealed victory, too, as Álvarez laid on Kudus’ opener and then the Mexican exchanged passes with Jarrod Bowen to finish himself.
The No15 feels the flowing football that led to those strikes will help build the team’s confidence further as the hectic winter schedule continues.
“The goals were really good from the beginning to the end and it was nice to score twice in the first half,” he added. “That gave us more confidence for the second half as well.
“The movement in midfield was really good and helped us to build up from the back, creating spaces between the lines.
“We have really important games coming up and we have to look after ourselves because we have many games [in this spell]. We have to be prepared.”