Bas Dost has seemingly begun the resurrection of his career after having a very underwhelming stint in Germany so far. This tall centre forward scored an impressive 32 league goals to top the scoring chart in the Netherlands just a few seasons ago. However, he has had a very difficult time playing in the Bundesliga as Rion Rodgers explains…

The Rise

It was in the summer of 2008 that a lanky Bas Dost moved to Heracles Almelo as a young prodigious striker from FC Emmen, and his stay at the home of the Polman Stadion showed sporadic flashes of brilliance and quality. He spent two seasons in Almelo and after using his first season to get acclimatised to the top flight, he was able to score 14 league goals in his second season.

After just two seasons with Heracles, he was on the move to SC Heerenveen where he showed his prolific goal scoring abilities by scoring 13 goals in his first season and a massive 32 goals in his second season. His style of play was that of the “old fashioned” centre forward who is tall and strong, and transforms into a goal scoring predator whenever he gets into the 18 yard box. Fantastic heading skills and a good first touch were some of the attributes he displayed on a weekly basis. He also showed pretty decent movement and linkup play, which  could be attributed to his experience of playing in the midfield a lot during his youth career. By the end of his second season at SC Heerenveen he had the full attention of Dutch fans. He unquestionably declared himself to be a reliable attacker who could no doubt become useful for the senior Dutch team.

The Fall

Inevitably, in accordance with the prevailing European football trend, a team from a big European league came calling for the giant striker in the summer of 2012. And expectedly, Dost was gone from the Eredivisie to fulfil his dreams and aspirations at VfL Wolfsburg.

His first season in the Bundesliga saw him scoring only 8 goals. His second season was even more dismal, as he scored only 4 league goals and made less than 15 league appearances as a result of persistent injuries and being benched a lot.

The current season started much like the previous one ended with Dost being marginalised by his club, troubled by injuries and his form being sorrowful. With the progression of the first half of the season, things just continued to look more hopeless for the striker. It seemed his career in Germany was destined to end unceremoniously. He was failing miserably and it didn’t appear the club, coach or fans were going to afford him the time to get fit and regain his form.

The Resurgence

Then in the last league game prior to the Christmas break, Dost made a rare appearance in the starting lineup and scored his second league goal of the season. In hindsight, that goal was the spark that lit the fire, because he unexpectedly followed up that goal with two beautiful ones against the table toppers, Buyern Munich, in the first game after the winter break. The second goal was especially impressive as it was scored from almost the half way line with an effort that seemed to poignantly turn a new page for the forgotten Dutch striker.  Such a shot showed outright confidence from a centre forward who has fleetingly showed real self belief or moments of such high quality, over the last few seasons. Since that game against Buyern Munich, he has went on to start the next two league games for Wolfsburg and scored one more goal.

It might be woefully premature or outright ridiculous to think that merely scoring four goals in the last four games could signal that this man’s career is rising from the abyss. However, the fact is that he is now the first choice centre forward for the team that currently sits second in the Bundesliga. Also, he is now fully fit and his current form is such that he has scored 5 league goals in just nine appearances. Taking all of these positives into consideration, it is clear that his career is finally showing signs of life once more.

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