In the second interruption of the championship, due to the matches of the national team in the Nations League, the possibility of the departure of yet another former coach of Panathinaikos, Giannis Alafouzou, is wide open as a failure. The “greens” in six matches in Super League 1 have two defeats, two draws and just two wins. In other words, they have lost ten points and are in 8th place with a collection of eight points, as a result of which they have a gap of six points from the leader AEK. And if they don’t beat Olympiakos today in the “eternal” derby at OAKA (8:30 p.m.), the most likely scenario is that Diego Alonso will find himself on the exit door.
According to the specialized website transfermarkt, Panathinaikos has the most expensive roster in its history. By general admission, it also has the most complete soul potential, with players such as Ioannidis, Tete, Onahi, Pelistri, Bakasetas, Arao, Ingason, Maksimovic, Dragovski. Despite all that, his Uruguayan coach has not yet managed to find the right chemistry and that’s why his team in the league was defeated by Asteras and AEK while drawing with Kallithea. X with PAOK in Toumba was not a failure, but in this match the “clover” “threw” an entire half, the first, in which there was no beginning and no end to his game. The same happened in both European games against Ajax and Lance, as well as against AEK at the OPAP Arena. What did Panathinaikos achieve in these games in the first 45 minutes? Zero goals! And it wasn’t just those races. The “greens” did not beat Levadeiakos, Athens Kallithea or Panserraikos in the first 45 minutes!
Suicidal tendencies
The “greens” were in front of the score at half-time (1-0) in last Thursday’s match against Borac, but they could not raise their heads even in Bosnia. The 1-1 final was unscheduled in the Conference League against a team with many weaknesses. The “greens” committed suicide and the draw brings them back to the hunt for qualification.
Panathinaikos is problematic at home and abroad and as long as the situation is not corrected and improved, Alonso will hardly finish the season on the team’s bench. The coach usually pays for the broken ones, whether he is responsible or not. In the case of the Uruguayan, it is clear that he is responsible for the fact that his team is struggling.
Panathinaikos has so far not found the mechanisms to circulate the ball in a rational and efficient way when its opponent presses and pushes it high. For this reason, Dragovski or the defenders are looking for days for Tete, Ioannidis or Pelistri.
But this is football of another era, which has fixed the “clover” in the championship. And it is logical that he cannot recover competitively when his best player last season, Fotis Ioannidis, has not yet scored in the Super League! The international forward is forced to turn towards the center of the field in order to get the ball and then two or three opponents fall on him and neutralize him with relative ease.
ultimate “rule”
The derby with Olympiakos is the last “rule” that Diego Alonso has to save… his life on the “clover” bench. “I am here to advance a project. Projects don’t start and finish in three months. We have to work, solve the problems and implement the project. Titles are won in May and June, not now…” the 49-year-old coach said before the game against Borac. He is right, however his team has been dragging for a quarter and showing no sign of improvement. So something has to be done to change the facts.
“We have to improve because a lot of bad results have happened in a very short period of time and we don’t feel good,” Tasos Bakasetas said after the thrashing in Bosnia, and team-mate Adam Cerin added: “We’re in a difficult situation. Confidence comes when you play well and even more so when you win.”
In the event that Panathinaikos fails in today’s derby as well, it must forget the title case and its goal should be how to save the year, because one bad thing brings another.
The presidential environment is working on various solutions for the matter of the coach, but the last reason belongs to the one who pays, G. Alafuzos, who does not learn from his unanswered lessons in football, while he is also unpredictable in his decisions. Several big names of coaches have already been proposed to PAE and one of them is Leonardo Jardim who has passed the bench of Olympiakos. But before Alonso’s “funeral” takes place, we have to wait for Panathinaikos’ reaction to the “eternal” derby. A win with a good performance can turn things upside down and we’ve seen this play out before.
Looking for the big double
In the first three matches of the championship, Olympiacos achieved three victories against subordinate opponents (Volos, Kallithea, Lamia) without, however, impressing with its performance and slowly the murmuring of its fans began about the transfers that were not made or failed to be made, for the K19 youngsters who stopped being used although they impressed in the preparation. They were still talking about the mistakes of Mendiliber and reminiscing about Fortune, Pontense and Horta. Logical, someone will say, since in Piraeus, management and fans are not famous for their patience…
When the streak of bad results didn’t start, leveling criticism shot up. Gela at home to Panaitolikos, a loss to Aris and soon after a – almost uncontested – loss to Lyon in the Europa League group stage opener set the stage for introspection at Limani, with the team’s fans throwing punches and they ask for players’ heads, to discuss a possible return of Fortounis, to want more transfers and to ask for change from the coach who brought Olympiacos to last year’s huge success by winning the Conference League.
Mouzakitis stifled the grumble
And suddenly last Sunday when Olympiacos showed significant signs of improvement and defeated Atromitos (2-0) the grumbling stopped. Mendiliber made important changes, put the 17-year-old Mouzakitis in the lineup, moved Costinia (last season’s top right-back in the Portuguese league) to the right end of the defense bearing in mind that he suffers at the ends… of the attack. This is how the explosive Rodiney moved to the right winger position, Ciquinho picked up the pace, last year’s top scorer of the Conference League Ayoub El Kaabi woke up and the “red and whites” recalled last year’s suffocating pressing that suffocated the opponent in Greece and Europe. With their first and best defender… El Kaabi, who doesn’t leave the opposing defenders alone or even the opposing goalkeeper with the pressure he exerts on them. At the same time, Retsos and Karmos found their steps again and Olympiacos returned to last year’s factory settings in Mendiliber, changing the whole climate inside and outside the team within five days. Convincing victory over Atromitos and taking off with 3-0 over Braga!
But, as we all know, in a “eternal” derby whoever loses feels lost. What if the Greens haven’t found their rhythm yet and are coming off a failed run in Europe? The tradition in recent years has turned for good on the side of Panathinaikos, as in the last 14 league games (regular season and playoffs) the Piraeus have just one win (in the playoffs in May 2023 with 1-0 at “G. Karaiskakis”)! At the same time, they have seven defeats and six draws. The last victory of the “red and white” away from home against their eternal rival dates back to the final of the playoffs of the 202021 season at Leoforos with 1-4.
For psychology and… candles
If Olympiacos comes through OAKA unscathed, it will also gain the mentality to claim the championship in its 100-year anniversary year and win back its grumpy fans who believe that their team should win all matches home and away with amazing performances. If he loses, he will go into introversion again, as always happens with the loser of the “eternal” derbies.
“Tonight we played very good football” Mendiliber said after the victory over Braga and made sure to clarify to everyone that “the fact that we played very well today does not mean that we can say that we will play better in the next match and the day after even better. It always depends on who your opponent is. Maybe in the next match we won’t get what we have planned, as they did tonight. The positive thing is that the world has understood what kind of football we can play and how we want to play.” Even if he has understood it, he will hardly be able to digest a second defeat in the first seven matches, especially against the “eternal”.
Read also
Mimis Plessas has passed away
Greece bare again in the thorn of debt – The “bells” are ringing for the Greek economy
Mitsotakis from Rigillis: Some want a “small, clustered” faction – Eichmes through… “paying prices” in Karmanli – Samara
Message of unity from Karystianou: “Niko, Sofia, Dimitri, Martha… we are in the same pain”
#Super #League #Panathinaikos #Olympiacos #green #charcoal #red #white #with.. #Braga
