Imanol is changing Olympiacos midfield’s job: Freuler and Puerta are being asked to attack the box

Ninety-six shots. Seventeen big chances. 8.96 expected goals. Four actual league goals. Yesterday, the numbers explained why Imanol Alguacil has turned this international break into an attacking intervention.

Today, we have been given one of his proposed solutions.

Send the midfielders forward. According to reporting from Rentis, Imanol is demanding significantly greater attacking involvement from Olympiacos’ central midfielders. Remo Freuler and Gustavo Puerta are specifically being encouraged to make forward runs, attack empty spaces and arrive inside the penalty area rather than limiting themselves to circulation and structural balance.

It potentially changes the geometry of Olympiacos’ entire attack.

Olympiacos have been attacking with a predictable final line

The problem has not necessarily been reaching the final third. Olympiacos are producing shots. They are producing expected goals. They are reaching positions from which goals should eventually arrive but attacking a low block is not simply about accumulating bodies around the penalty area. It is about when those bodies arrive.

A striker already standing between two center-backs is relatively easy to account for. A winger receiving against a set full-back is relatively easy to identify. Chiquinho operating between midfield and defense becomes another obvious reference point. The more interesting problem for a defense is the player who was not there two seconds earlier.

That is where Freuler and Puerta enter the equation.

The second wave is difficult to defend

Imagine Olympiacos attacking down the right. The winger receives wide. The center-forward occupies the near center-back. Chiquinho drifts toward the ball and attracts a midfielder. The full-back overlaps. The defending team begins shifting toward that side. Then Puerta arrives. Not standing in the penalty area waiting for the attack. Arriving into it.

A midfielder running from deeper positions is considerably more difficult to assign than a stationary forward.

Who follows him? If an opposition midfielder tracks the run, space opens behind him. If the center-back steps toward him, the striker becomes freer. If the full-back narrows, the winger gains space. If nobody follows him, Puerta receives inside the box. One run can force several defensive decisions simultaneously.

Freuler may be particularly interesting

Freuler is naturally associated with control. Positioning. Ball circulation. Reading transitions. Providing the passing option that allows a possession to continue. Those qualities are valuable precisely because they make his forward movement less predictable. If a winger constantly attacks the penalty area, defenders expect it.

If the midfielder responsible for maintaining structure suddenly chooses the correct moment to continue his run beyond the ball, the defense has to recognize the threat much later.

That does not mean Imanol wants Freuler abandoning midfield. Quite the opposite. The skill is deciding when structural responsibility can temporarily become attacking responsibility. Elite midfield play is often about recognizing that moment.

Puerta offers a different profile

Puerta's athleticism potentially makes these instructions even more natural. He can cover ground. He can attack space. He can carry momentum into the final third. That gives Olympiacos the possibility of creating verticality without requiring the winger to beat a defender every time.

It also means an attacking move does not necessarily finish when the first cross or cutback is cleared.

If Puerta has followed the action forward, Olympiacos retain another player around the edge of the box capable of attacking the second ball. That can create sustained pressure which is often how low blocks eventually fracture.

This could also help Leon Bailey

Bailey's integration remains one of the most important attacking projects of the break. He continues an individualized program and is expected to increase his workload next week. His most obvious weapon is acceleration but that becomes considerably more dangerous when the defense has competing problems.

If Bailey isolates a full-back while every other Olympiacos player remains static, the opponent can provide help.

If Bailey attacks while Puerta is bursting through the inside channel and a full-back overlaps outside, the defender's decision becomes much harder. The question is no longer simply: Can I stop Bailey? It becomes:

Which threat am I supposed to stop?

There is a risk

Sending midfielders forward has consequences. Someone must remain behind the ball. Olympiacos cannot improve penalty-area occupation by destroying their rest defense. This is particularly important against opponents prepared to defend deep and counterattack. If both central midfielders advance simultaneously, one turnover can expose the center-backs to enormous spaces.

So Imanol's instruction is unlikely to mean unrestricted forward movement. It should instead mean coordinated occupation. One midfielder goes. Another protects. A full-back adjusts. The remaining players form the structure required to immediately counterpress if possession is lost. Those relationships are where the coaching work becomes important.

And there is another reason this development matters

Olympiacos increasingly appear willing to solve their remaining problems internally rather than through another transfer. Sport-FM reports that despite recent discussion about another attacking midfielder or right-back, the club currently shows little inclination to make an additional signing unless an exceptional opportunity appears before the free-agent deadline. Olympiacos are also distancing themselves from the recent Raphaël Guerreiro and Adnan Januzaj speculation.

That is a meaningful evolution from the previous position. Imanol was given time to evaluate the roster.

Now the early indications suggest the answer may not be another player. It may be extracting different behavior from the players already there.

That is often the more interesting form of squad improvement

Transfer windows encourage a simple response to every weakness. Not enough goals? Buy an attacker.

Not enough creativity? Buy a No. 10. Not enough progression? Buy another midfielder. Sometimes that is necessary.

Coaching exists to create additional solutions without changing personnel. If Freuler and Puerta can add another attacking wave, Olympiacos suddenly possess another source of penalty-area occupation without signing anyone. If Bailey reaches full fitness, they gain another one-versus-one threat. If Gustavo Sá returns as expected and gradually rejoins team training next week, Imanol receives another internal option. None requires another transfer.

The next matches should reveal whether the idea is working

Watch the midfielders when Olympiacos enter the final third. Not the player with the ball. Look behind him.

Does Puerta continue his run? Does Freuler appear around the penalty spot? Does one midfielder arrive while the other remains behind the attack? Does the winger's movement open an inside lane? And when the ball is lost, can Olympiacos still control the transition? Those details will tell us far more about Imanol's developing Olympiacos than the nominal formation. Because yesterday we learned that he wants more goals.

Today we learned something more important: where he intends the extra attacker to come from.