Sydney FC playmaker Alex Baumjohann sets his sights on becoming the A-League’s best player
He controversially switched from Western Sydney Wanderers to their great rivals Sydney FC and now playmaker Alex Baumjohann has declared he wants to become the A-League’s premier player with the Sky Blues.
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He’s the Western Sydney defector thriving at the Sky Blues and now Alex Baumjohann has set his sights on becoming the best player in the A-League.
Goals, goals goals. That’s how Baumjohann believes he can get there.
The German midfielder, who made headlines a couple of months ago when he accused his former club the Wanderers of giving up early last season, turned in another stellar performance for Sydney FC in a 1-0 win over Central Coast on Saturday.
He jinked his way past the Mariners midfield, was confident in his passing and slick in his movement, in defence and attack.
Baumjohann’s defensive capabilities were on show against the Mariners, often picking up the ball and turning inside his own half after tracking back.
But despite his impact in his first season at Sydney FC, Baumjohann thinks adding goals to his game is a sure-fire way to earn a place as one of the A-League’s best.
“My own expectation is to be the best player in the league,” said Baumjohann. “For this I have to score some goals.”
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The 32 year-old is creating an average of two chances per game and is joint-top of the assists charts with four alongside Sydney teammate Brandon O’Neill.
The German, who was rumoured to have had a rift with Wanderers manager Markus Babbel, credits Sky Blues coach Steve Corica for changing his game alongside Milos Ninkovic.
“It’s a new position for me I’ve never played like this,” said Baumjohann.
“Normally I always played alone as a number 10, but in this system we play as two 10s, it’s a little bit more sometimes on the wing and defensively (it’s) lots of work to defend the left fullback.
“When you play alone in the middle you just play against the other six, it’s no problem for me I feel good in this position and it’s a lot of fun.”
The German’s best assist haul in his career was in 2013 with 10 assists and five goals for FC Kaiserslautern in the German second division.
Originally published as Sydney FC playmaker Alex Baumjohann sets his sights on becoming the A-League’s best player