Vangelis Pavlidis, the Greek striker thriving at Benfica and PortuGOAL Figure of the Week | OneFootball

Evángelos ‘Vangelis’ Pavlidis is the current prime example of the perils of judging centre-forwards purely on output, in addition to the impatience of certain stakeholders when players are adjusting to new surroundings.

The naysayers were out in droves in the first half of the season, insisting the Greek striker had been the latest flop bought by Benfica, but since the turn of the year his goal record has matched the fine level of play he has demonstrated ever since signing for the Lisbon club last summer. Benfica coach Bruno Lage never lost his belief in the former AZ Alkmaar forward and has proved that patience is a virtue.

In his last 15 matches, Pavlidis has bagged 13 goals, including an unforgettable, unexpected hat-trick against FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League during the league phase. After another strong goal-scoring display on Sunday, Vangelis Pavlidis is this week’s PortuGOAL Figure of the Week. Kevin Fernandes reports.

His performance against Rio Ave summarises his season, completing one dribble, overwhelmingly dominating his ground duels and winning the penalty he dispatched in impressive fashion, demonstrating superb, audacious, close control.

The 26-year-old forward additionally missed two big chances. This lack of efficiency has often overshadowed his complete performances in other aspects of offensive play this campaign, which is unfortunate, given his undeniable quality.

The Greek international has radically improved his output in recent times and there is still room to grow as an integral cog of Benfica’s attacking game regardless.

The journey to Lisbon

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Pavlidis grew up at Bebides 2000, where he spent a decade during his formation years, before leaving for Bochum in Germany in 2015. The appearances he made for the club were sporadic, and he had loan spells at Borussia Dortmund’s reserves and Willem II to a higher degree. He eventually signed for Willem in 2019 on a permanent deal, racking up 11 goals and 3 assists in 25 Eredivisie appearances, before following that up with 12 and 5 in 34.

That was enough to convince AZ Alkmaar to come knocking, who signed Pavlidis on a four-year contract for €2.5 million – which turned out to be an incredible investment, both in financial and sporting contexts.

107 goal contributions in 137 appearances across all competitions – the numbers speak for themselves. With Pavlidis leading the attack, AZ were within inches of making the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League Final in the 2022/23 season, where he made history by becoming the first player in Eredivisie history to score in each of the first nine games of the league campaign and got nominated for the 2021 Puskás Award.

Pavlidis would also become the second player in AZ Alkmaar’s history to score 26 Eredivisie goals in a calendar year after Kees Kist, who scored 31 in 1977 and 29 in 1978. His name is firmly written into the history of the ‘De Kaasboeren’.

Benfica had seen enough, paying 18 million euros upfront for the services of the forward after the club struggled to replace Gonçalo Ramos, both in terms of goal output and his influence outside of the box.

Style of play

Pavlidis loves to drop deep and facilitate controlled build-up phases, demonstrated by the fact that he touches the ball more in the middle third (17.08 touches per 90 minutes played) than in the final third (15.58), which puts him in the 86th percentile in this metric.

Additionally, Pavlidis completes 1.87 progressive carries, 1.37 carries into the final third, and 2.24 take-ons per match, demonstrating his complete skillset linking and opening opportunities for the likes of Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Ángel Di María and Andreas Schjelderup – backed by his 2.99 shot-creating actions per 90. All these numbers place Pavlidis in the top 20% of Top 12 League forwards (via FbRef).

Often acting as a backboard forward, playing with his back to goal to bounce passes off to teammates, Pavlidis is relatively selfless for your typical goalscorer, with decent technical ability, a committed attitude and above average intelligence to create the complete focal point Benfica and the modern game currently demands.

He can clearly strike the ball very cleanly on the biggest of stages.

His ability to finish should not be underestimated or understated. The media pressures and natural phase of adaptation, adapting from (A)Z to (B)enfica can shake the strongest mentalities.

Apostolos Mastranestis was Pavlidis’ first football coach, and he has stayed in contact since, following the career of his former player. He told Greek publication Reader: “He likes to watch children’s movies, at night or before matches, to stay relaxed. He is very simple, he never looked at himself as a ‘star’.”

Humble and hard-working characteristics will lead this playing profile to success.

Make no mistake – Pavlidis has an expansive skillset, and Benfica are starting to see the whole package on a more consistent basis. As Benfica aggressively pursue their 39th Liga Portugal title and 27th Taça de Portugal to add to the Allianz Cup conquered in January, PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week might just be getting started.