Things are not well

Things are not well at AEK Athens Football Club.  We started the season strong, six wins, six clean sheets.  We were proud of our former FIFA player of the year, Rivaldo, our promising new striker, Blanco, and our new, quality left back, Arruabarrena.

Then we stumbled a bit, losing to lowly Iraklis. The warning signs were all there. In our loss to Iraklis, Ramos Silva demonstrated that for all his speed and hustle, he was error-prone as a defender. Yet, Ferrer kept starting him at right back until he was sacked two weeks ago. Lyberopoulos missed a sitter and showed himself to be in poor form in nearly every other game in which he played, yet Ferrer kept starting him. Manu was useless against Iraklis, had been useless since the starts of the season, and continued to be useless in future games, yet Ferrer remained fascinated with this speed demon with no ball control. But, the day after the Iraklis loss, one could be forgiven for ignoring the warning signs. After all, it was just a hiccup, a single loss for a team with an otherwise unblemished record.

But we lost our very next league match, getting hammered by derby rival Panathinaikos. More warning signs. Our defense was not perfect after all. Alves showed that he was prone to excessive fouling and slopping clearances. We looked old and slow. Zikos, Lyberopoulos, Rivaldo and Cesar were no match for the younger Panathinaikos. But just when you thought the team was due for some changes, the ship righted itself.

First, we destroyed OFI Crete 4-0. Then we tied Italian side Fiorentino 1-1 in the UEFA Cup. Next, we managed to snare a win from a very strong Aris 0-1. Then, we had a really good UEFA Cup game, deservedly beating Mlada Boleslav 0-1. Then, we thumped Apollon Kalamarias 4-0.  Things are fine we told ourselves.

Then two more loses.  Neither was unexpected.  Losing 1-0 in Olympiacos’s house surprised no-one.  Neither did losing to Villareal 1-2, though warning signs were starting to emerge again (Ramos Silva on defense, Lyberopoulos not able to finish). Still, end of the year wins against Ergotelis and PAOK allowed us to finish the year feeling pretty good.

January 2008 started badly, starting with losses to Asteras Tripolis and then Skoda Xanthi (a game that knocked us out of the Greek Cup), punctuated with a not-particularly-meaningful 5-1 thumping of Veria, a narrow win over Atromitos and ending with a decisive 3-0 win over Levadiakos. To anyone paying attention, January looked troubling. We were inconsistent, making sloppy errors. Still, Asteras Tripolis were Giant Killers and had already taken down PAO and OLY, and Xanthi had Radzinski, so nothing to worry about, right?

Wrong.  February killed our dreams. First, we dropped three points against Panionios. Then three more to Larisa.

By now it was apparent that something was really wrong.  We had lost more games than we had won in 2008. So we sacked our gaffer.  But last night’s result, our 0-3 loss to Getafe, showed that what is wrong with our team extends well beyond Ferrer.  There is a poison in AEK and removing Ferrer has proved an insufficient antidote.  There are rumors that some of the older Greeks, like Lyberopoulos, Dellas and Zikos, ousted Ferrer in a whispering campaign.  I hope this isn’t true because, frankly, all three of these players have performed well below average this season.  Still, Ferrer is not blameless.  It’s been confusing and frustrating watching him rely on players who were clearly out of form, players like Lyberopoulos and Manu.

Kostenoglou came in and instituted some immediate changes, among them choosing to start Blanco on the bench (both games Kostenoglou has managed so far), putting Nsaliwa in at right back  and moving Ramos Silva to the midfield flank.  It wasn’t enough to beat Getafe.  Heck, it wasn’t even enough to draw with them.  Hell, it wasn’t even enough to keep the score low.  Still, new formations take time.  The players need time to adjust to their new roles.  I’d like the believe that, but this team just doesn’t show any spark.  There is no drive to win.  Something is really wrong.  A negativity has taken hold, and only some very strong leadership will pull them out of this fog.  So far, no one at this team, either on the pitch or in management, has shown the kind of leadership this is required to rescue this season.

We are out of the Greek Cup, we are out of the UEFA Cup and we are languishing third in the Super League.  Is there any hope?  Sure, but barely.  Kallon looked good for stretches of the game yesterday. Papastathopoulos is always reliable.  Moretto and Blanco play with heart and seem to genuinely care about winning.  Lagos has potential but is still very inconsistent.  But that is it, and, frankly, its not enough.  We’ll finish third.  We can only hope that there are some serious changes made this coming Summer.

ESPN coverage of the Getafe loss here.

Sky Sports coverage here.

We play Iraklis Sunday at 12 noon East Coast time.  This is a game we should win.  Let’s hope we can use it start a redemption of sorts.  Things are bad, but the season is not over yet.  Onward AEK.