Following a move from Pacific to Atletico Ottawa ahead of the 2022 season, Ollie Bassett has been regarded by many to be one of the Canadian Premier League’s most prized assets. His stunning 2022 campaign ended with 11 goal contributions to his name in 30 appearances from central midfield; not to mention a league title, and the division’s MVP award. This season, Bassett’s been just as influential, already matching his 8 goal, 3 assist tally from 2022 in fewer appearances (18).
Anyone watching Bassett and the CPL week in and week out knows just how smart, impactful, and tidy the Brit is on a football pitch. But if you looked purely at his stats, you wouldn’t find much remarkable beyond his goal output. If you rank all the central midfielders in the league based on important data percentages, Bassett’s destined to come out toward the bottom. In fact, we’ve done exactly that in scouting for clubs in the league. None of the noteworthy ‘Box to Box Midfielders’ in the CPL rank below his data. So what is so special about Ollie Bassett that goes beyond the stats?
SPATIAL AWARENESS & MOVEMENT OFF THE BALL
Ollie Bassett is a master when it comes to spatial perceptions on the pitch, always picking up spaces to receive, work his magic, and hammer home a finish. In that right-half-space role, he links up brilliantly with Atletico’s right-winger and right-striker, often Jean-Aniel Assi and Samuel Salter. He’s cool under pressure, swift with his decision making processes, and always on the move.
But he’s also easily susceptible to being shouldered off the ball, not the best long passer, and lacks the physicality to dominate 1v1 duels across the board. That doesn’t always mean much for attacking players. David Silva never had much physicality, but as Joe Hart said – “nobody could touch him.”
Ollie Bassett makes up for his size with intelligence of movement, and the quickness at which he knows his next action even before receiving the ball. He’s a smart and frequent scanner of the field, and uses that information to position himself for the betterment of his mates.
That allows Bassett to get into all kinds of great scoring positions, where he’s proven to be one of the smartest finishers in the league two seasons running now. But it also allows the Atletico man to better select his passing options, and pull off the surprise pass even in pressurized moments. His progressive passing is the other element of his game that stands out both on the eye and statistically, where he’s completed 82.3% of his progressive passes this season, right up there with the likes of Manny Aparicio and Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé.
FINAL THIRD BRILLIANCE
Ollie Bassett’s smart perceptions of space also allow him to be a smart passer of the ball, often picking out nice through passes into space for the counter attacking exploits of Atletico. He built a wonderful relationship with the dynamic Ballou Tabla last campaign, and has a similar understanding with his right-sided partner in Jean-Aniel Assi this time around.
But with Samuel Salter as more of a back-to-goal striker, we’ve perhaps seen less of Bassett’s brilliant brain spraying forward and through passes into space this season. Atletico have also kept the ball a little more this campaign, where we’ve seen more of his short-passing and close connections come to life with Salter’s link-up.
Throughout that time, Bassett’s eye for goal has never dissipated. He scores all kinds of goals, from free kicks, to blasts from range, to penalty box poacher-esque finishes, to even out-pacing speedy centre-backs on counter attacks.
His favourite type of goal to score would easily be drifting into space up the right-half-spaces unmarked, and this is where Atletico scored one of my favourite goals of last season against Forge.
No midfielder has scored more goals (0.43 per 90) or accumulated more xG (0.29 per 90) than the 25-year-old, making Bassett a true diamond in the rough inside the CPL. There may be some elements of his game that could make him limited in a different side, particularly his low amount of defensive actions and lack of physical strength. But for his ability to seek out space in the opposition’s half and bang the ball into the back of the net, Ollie Bassett remains one of the best players in the CPL.
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