Getting to know Ollie Bassett: An analysis of his career so far
Oliver Jacob Bassett hasn’t had a conventional or straightforward career in football up to this point, but then again not many do. His journey to finally arrive in Canada with his newest club, Pacific FC is no exception. Now settled in Victoria, B.C. Ollie is hoping to find stability with the west-coast club of Canada’s 1st tier league, the Canadian Premier League. That stability is something that has been hard to come by for the 23-year-old Northern Ireland International. Here is a list of Ollie’s stops in senior football so far in his career before Pacific FC:
Yeovil Town, League Two, England (Youngest player to debut in the EFL for Yeovil Town)
2 Appearances
On Loan: Dorchester Town, Southern Premier League, England
18 Appearances, 3 Goals
Coalville Town FC, Southern Premier League, England
13 Appearances
Gresley, Midland League Premier Division, England
15 Appearances, 4 Goals
Waitakere United, New Zealand Premiership, New Zealand
18 Appearances, 4 Goals, 1 Assist
Team Wellington, New Zealand Premiership, New Zealand
10 Appearances, 6 Goals, 8 Assists
St. Alban’s saints, NPL, Australia
5 Appearances, 2 Goals
Nuneaton Borough FC, Southern League Premier Division
4 Appearances, 1 Goal
- Totals: 85 Appearances, 20 Goals, 9 Assists
What can Pacific FC and the club’s supporters expect from Ollie Bassett?
Ollie’s a player that fits the mold of a traditional #10. From a physical standpoint, he fits the prototype, from a technical ability standpoint, he fits and from a production standpoint, at least in recent years, he definitely fits.
According to InStat, on a per 90-minute scale, Ollie attempted 5.5 dribbles at a blistering success-rate of 56%. He is truly a unique player; the Aston Villa academy product has a football upbringing that was influenced by futsal and you can see that with his dribbling techniques. His feet are quick and his touch is tidy as it gets.
Positionally, while Ollie is primarily comfortable in a #10 role, he also loves to drift out on the left side and can play as inverted winger, which could be a great option for Pacific FC in their front 3. He has shown that he is a dangerous threat from the edge of the 18-yard-box coming from the left-side where he can cut onto his favored right-foot and curl one to the far post with an impressive amount of bend on it.
Lastly, Ollie’s end product in the final 3rd showed tremendous growth in the 2020 season with Team Wellington. Not just because he scored 6 times and added 8 assists in just 10 matches, but because his efficiency levels were also above the mean. He managed to finish on 6/15 chances putting him at a clip at 40%. According to Instat, Robert Lewandowski is converting his chances at a 37% rate by comparison. This is to say that while a 40% chance conversion rate might not sound impressive, it really is. Now on the flip side, let’s look at his playmaking; Ollie completed 8/14 key passes in the 2020 season. His completion rate there is 57% and not coincidentally, all 8 of those completed key passes ended up as assists.
