Not a great result, but definitely one we can settle for.
We started off excellently, controlling the game completely, and within the first ten minutes we had two excellent chances to score (one hit the crossbar), but the rain was really coming down and less than twenty minutes into the match the pitch was flooded. Not sure if the pitch just couldn’t take it, or if the rain really was that bad, but I remember some days when I used to go to the stadium (one game against Larissa comes to mind) when the pitch would flood to the point where the ball just wouldn’t roll. Seemed like that was the case on saturday. It was quite unfortunate really since, as I mentioned, we started off quite well and had the conditions been better, I think we could have kept it up.
It was nice to see 20,000 supporters in the stands, despite the rain.
Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us aside from our game as well. Aris beat PAO today, which means we are now even with PAO in the standings (26 points), and its still only 5 points which separate us from a play off spot, something which is quite possible.
Highlights from our game available at the bottom of this link
Could’ve been worse! We managed to grab a point after Petrogol scored the equalizer late in extra time (there were about six minutes extra time I believe, a fair time considering there were four red cards given) and now, believe it or not, we’re actually third from last! Still not out of the relegation zone, but we’re slooooooooowly making our way up. All thanks to Petropoulos! (He really is starting to look like the next Libe)
I heard there were some pretty poor calls made by Kakos (surprising? Not at all if you ask me)… I’m really disappointed to see this guy still officiating high level games…
Really not sure where to start this one, but I guess Ill begin with Scocco transfer (though I’m sure most of you have heard by now). Yep, Nacho Scocco is no longer a player of AEK. And I really don’t know what to say about this… literally.
Three seasons he’s been with us and in during those three seasons he has left us with so many great memories: his two goals in the 4-4 Cup Final, his two goals against Oly to give us the win in Karaiskaki, his two goals (one of them being an outrageously beautiful shot, as were most of his goals) against Aris, his two goals against Vaslui, his fantastic shot against Panionios, a number of goals against PAO… some of his goals, a majority of them even, were game winners for us. To be honest, and I’m not simply saying this because he played for AEK, I think he was the best player in the league the past few seasons when he wanted to be. Unbelievable skills and technique, his fair share of assists, beautiful goals, he was a joy to watch. But, again, WHEN HE WANTED TO BE.
I’ve seen many AEK fans on the internet claim he was simply inconsistent as most footballers are. That, however, I cannot agree with. I loved the guy for everything he did for us, but to me, it is a fact that when there were no scouts watching or when the game wasn’t high profile, he simply didn’t show any motivation. There were so many games where he completely disappeared, where he simply refused to put any effort into the match, where he refused to assist his teamates on the pitch. And this is coming from someone who saw him live at every home game for his first two seasons with AEK. His body language for the majority of the matches he played for us suggest that he simply didn’t care about putting effort in that was required of him to help the team.
His off the pitch attitude was not much better at times, with him being extremely difficult to negotiate with whenever it came time to agreeing to new contracts. Fortunately he did agree to a “decent” contract (with a rather low sellout price) however I was never once convinced that a move to one of our rivals was ruled out of his mind.
So, I don’t know what to say about this transfer. I’m confident in saying we will not find a player like him no matter how hard we look (at least nobody within our budget or anything near it). He will not be replaced anytime soon. However, if it was up to me, I’d rather we have the team we had in the 2007-2008 season with Ribo, Zikos, Dellas, Libe, Papastathopoulos and co, a team that worked effectively as a unit, and give up Scocco, than have things the other way around. Obviously, this will never happen, but the point I’m trying to make is there have been better AEK teams before Scocco and there will certainly be better AEK teams after Scocco. Having said that though, after the departure of Djebbour (good riddance), then Blanco, and now Scocco… what attacking creativity will we have? Fine, Libe might be around for another year. But who else? Baha was a joke, and we don’t have one decent striker or attacker who is AEK material. Roger might have a good game occasionally, and Michel was solid though we probably wont even keep him. Scocco was without a doubt our most dangerous weapon, a weapon any superleague defense would fear, and now we have lost him and have no chance of replacing him. I’m not saying AEK will be far worse off without him, but without any immediate plans to boost our attack somewhat, we will only continue heading downhill as we have been for the past few seasons.
Having said that, this transfer was not something management could simply pass off. The nearly three million euros we gained from the transfer will certainly help things financially, at least for the time being.
Anyways, like I said, I don’t know what to say. Sure I would have liked to keep him, but I can’t imagine management passing up any offer near or over three million euros (though I think we deserve much more for him). He did say that if he ever returned to Greece, it would only be for AEK, so who knows what the future will bring… but really, who knows what the future will bring for AEK in general. Will we just end up like our basketball team? Its possible…
As of so far this summer, we have made three singings. A young centreback from Aris who is supposed to be very promising (we’ll see), Kontoes from Panionios (I’m happy with this, always liked him, and he even accepted lower wages at AEK than he was offered at Panionios, which is a nice slap to the face for Panionios and its supporters), and an attacker from Giannina, Salmas (haven’t seen much of him at all, but his goal, a fabulous one with an even better assist, his one of the possible votes for European goal of the season, so vote for it here!)
Decent singings for the future, or as possible bench players, but nothing to get excited about at all. They are Greek however, so they will likely respect the shirt they’re wearing a little more than a foreigner, but still… we need some better signings than this if we want to see an AEK that has a chance of making a difference in the league this season.
To end this post, I’d like to post some Scocco videos. I might have some negative opinions of him at times, but he has left me with some memories that I will simply never forget!
The roller coaster ride that has been AEK this season continues yet again, this time as a result of a 2-1 home loss to Aris (only the 3rd time Aris has beaten us at home).
It wasn’t all bad for me personally as I felt there were some positives to take from the game including some nice football we were playing, particularly in the first half. However, the defence, as well as Jimenez’s decisions, will probably take most of the blame for the loss.
We started with Arabatzis in nets today. I’m not sure if Saja was being given a break but I feel his absence was noticed. However, I dont feel that goalkeeping was the biggest issue considering the defense should have handled both goal scoring situations for Aris better. From individual viewpoints, I felt both Manolas and Mateos did well but our defense overall was far too unorganized and vulnerable at times. Argyriou and Dadomo (though I did feel Dadomo had a few good moments) were both simply not good enough and if you ask me I personally would still like to see Georgeas get more game time
Offensively we weren’t too bad. The ball was being moved around and off the ball movement was smooth and co-ordinated. Both Roger and Mateo impressed me at times however who stood out most on our wings was Burns. His speed was put to good use today and he was looking very strong on the ball… unfortunately, I still can’t say the same for Scocco and it seems I havent been able to say that of him ever since he signed his contract extension.
Blanco looked good when he was up front today as his goal shows however we still lack severely up front without Libe’s presence. In fact, I thing its safe to say that AEK was not the same today without Dellas and Libe on the pitch… they bring character and leadership to the when she plays, something that many of the most talented players can’t even bring to a team.
Papa Bouba, Baja, and Gentz were our substitutes today though I must say that Baja impressed me most. He looked very dangerous and I think if he gets enough game time he become quite a threat.
We managed to take control for much of the match in the first period and we were coming close on a number of occasions such as a missed header by Mateos and a good opportunity for Burns however, something gave me the feeling that if we werent to score quickly Aris would take advantage and that is exactly what they did in the 29th minute.
Blanco managed to get the score even at the 51st minute mark with a nice finish though it was not enough for us and once again, our failing to score saw us punished by Aris who scored in the 75th to put them up 2-1.
You know, the more I watch the video the more I think Arabatzis really could have done better on both goals unfortunately…
So, not sure if you saw the result of the Ira-PAO match today, but Ira were up 2-0 early in the first only to end up blowing it and losing 2-4.
What does this mean? The pressure really is on now for us to take home all three points and nothing less from our trip to Kavala tomorrow. Certainly easier said than done, but we have no other option now! The next match is a home derby against Olympiakos so six points in the next 2 games could really help us out considering after this we would have completed our derbies until the second half of the season.
Some positive news for the team is that Scocco will finally be returning. Djebbour is still recovering from an injury last I heard, and both Manolas and Dellas will be out due to their ridiculous red cards last match, so we could use all the help we could get.
I can honestly say I have no clue what to expect come tomorrow. This team so far under Manolo has shown us great performances (the 0-4 against Aris and 1-5 against Panserraikos) as well as depressing ones (most recently against PAOK as well as the match with Panionios). Having said that, the team will hopefully be looking to prove a point because if we dont turn things around soon any chances for a championships will be slipping out of reach.
Tomorrow will be Jimenez’ first test, and it comes at a pretty critical time. Playing Aris away is NEVER an easy outing. We need the three points more than anything else right now and, though it’s still early, I hope the team and staff is ready. Libe will miss this one due to injury, and it sounds like Eder may get the start over Burns (I’ve liked what Burns has done for us so far but I wouldn’t mind seeing Eder get some time considering how promising he looked during pre-season friendlies). Diop will probably also start in the middle with Kafes.
Both Oly (Xanthi 0-3 Olympiakos) and PAO (PAO 1-0 PAOK) got wins today which means anything less than three points will not help us at all. Of course, its easier said than done, but I still think we have a chance. Either way, I hope Jimenez has managed to work some of his magic already!
Not a brilliant result, but considering the circumstances and the opposition, I think we’ll take it and move on. Xanthi are rarely a pushover, but 3 points is what we needed most here and we got it.
I have only seen Leonardo’s goal so far (I’m not sure if its on youtube yet however it is uploaded on http://www.goal4replay.net) and it was quite the goal! Beautifully taken shot, nice control and set up leading to the goal, brilliant. However, I will hopefully watch the match, or at least some general highlights later on so I can comment. From what I heard it was an average game at best, and while we may have been alright in the first half it sounds like our second half performance was far from anything special.
Adamidis was at OAKA by the 20th minute after returning from Spain and it seems like he brought some great news with him. Nothing is anywhere near confirmed but the talks with Jimenez seem very promising! Hopefully more updates will follow shortly… I just hope we are not dissapointed, we really do deserve some good news (it seems we haven’t had any since the tournament in Sydney).
AEK face Panserraikos tomorrow in Rizoupoli. The game is sold out (not surprisingly considering season tickets are almost as many as the stadium’s capacity) which should make for a great atmosphere in a football friendly stadium… assuming we get the result we desperately need! Both Olympiakos (2-0 against Kerkyra in a closed doors Karaiskaki) and PAO (1-0 away to Aris) won this weekend meaning we have a tough hurdle to overcome if we want to stay near the top (if we lose that is). A nice three points will keep us in a good position, despite it being early in the season.
Patsatsoglou will most likely start, along with Nasuti. Arabatzis is likely to be keeper, while the rest of the lineup is said to remain similar to what we’ve seen so far this season (Manolas, Lagos, Kafes, Leonardo, Scocco, Libe, and Djebbour).
I left this game for so late because, well, I don’t really feel like talking about it. We played terrible, like a bunch of amateurs. It was obvious PAOK weren’t putting all their effort into the match yet they still out played us. We played with no direction, no passion. We had Scocco waste a penalty shot which was saved by their keeper.
Anyways, thats really enough about that match if you dont mind. Now, thankfully for us, Olympiakos drew to Aris, 0-0 in Karaiskaki. Fortunately for us Olympiakos also looked quite terrible. And, even better, they have fourteen (!) players out on injury. Nikopolidis, Derbyshire, Torosidis, Dudu, Lua Lua, Leonardo, and, unless things have changed recently, many others. Great news for us, it pretty much means Olympiakos will play their B- team. This means that if AEK play this match the way they did at the 4-2 with Aris I firmly believe we can get a very comfortable win. Of course, this is not a guarantee, but it’s quite likely in my opinion.
The winner of tomorrow’s match finishes second in the playoffs, which means more time to prepare for Europa League Qualifiers and easier qualifying groups. A draw however would mean Olympiakos would finish second. The ideal result after tomorrow for me would be a win for AEK (obviously) and a win for Aris which would mean Olympiakos finishes last in the playoffs. I cannot describe in words the joy I would have at seeing that happen (we all know, afterall, that playoffs were made for teams like Olympiakos and Pao).
Djebbour will not play tomorrow since the Algeria coach wanted the entire team to start World Cup preparations and would not let anybody be late. I believe Majstorovic will not be playing but Kafes should which will help things for us in the middle of the pitch.
So, we drew to PAOK and Lost to Oly. Things were looking very bad and people were wondering “what’s wrong with the players???”. Well, I don’t know what was wrong with them but yesterday’s 4-2 win against Aris saw a completely different team on the pitch. Sure, a little late to start playing some football but better late than never and to be honest we still have a chance of getting something worthwhile out of these playoffs if we keep this up.
First of all, I want to say that in three years and over 60+ games that I’ve never missed at OAKA these past seasons I cannot remember even one game where I’ve experienced these many emotions in the span of 90 minutes. There were four red cards throughout the game, a number of yellows, questionable referring, AEK taking the lead, losing it, evening things up, and taking the lead once again. I’m telling you, it was fantastic.
Now enough of that, lets talk about the players. I cannot think of one game this season where we saw our guys go out there with so much passion, not even the win against Oly (though it is a different experience watching on TV and live). I don’t know what happened but these players have woken up, finally realized what shirt they’re wearing, finally realized what exactly is at stake here. We played with passion, we had direction to our play (something that we had sorely been missing the past few matches), we saw a dangerous offense and some phenomenal goal tending, we saw our players do everything they had to to win. Now, I must say Aris were nothing special. In fact, they were terrible, though they still managed to create some very dangerous counter attacks on a number of occasion. However, if AEK had played this way from the start of the playoffs without a doubt we would be in a much different situation right now.
So, the match itself. One could tell from the start it was going to be a rather exciting game. Aris created the first dangerous chance very early on however there was alot of back and forth play between the two teams from the get-go though AEK managed to take control of most of the passion with Aris looking quite weak on the ball. After a number of decent chances for AEK we finally went up with a superb shot from none other than Rafik Djebbour after Scocco’s pass deflected off an Aris defender. The crowd erupted after the goal (though it was a terribly small crowd at OAKA that night the atmosphere was fantastic for the most part) however cheering soon turned to booing after less than ten minutes later Jahic was kicked out for his second yellow. I’ll let you make your own decision from the video below. He is pushed, as he said he was, but it also looks like he intended on having his hand there so its a tricky decision.
Three minutes later the players were even again as Calvo received a red card as well. Again, some say the red was not required, so I personally don’t know. Either way, a yellow was needed since he kicked the ball for no reason. I just can’t remember if that was his second card.
So half time came and went and at the start of the second we were up 1-0. Things changed shortly later however as Saja received a red card for taking down Campora when in reality in was not necessary. Campora scored the penalty and the score was even once again. Regardless, our players never gave up their attack but failing to quickly restore the lead punished them as Aris’ American forward scored another for them to put them up 2-1. Well, by this point tension was building up again in the crowd but once again the fans were up and cheering when Leonardo scored only three minutes later. Two more goals followed, a penalty by Scocco and a header by Leonardo, giving AEK three goals in nine minutes and a 4-2 lead.
So, a few players in particular deserve credit (actually, pretty much almost the whole team). Firstly, Gentzoglou! Wow, the kid is still young but, as is the case with Manolas (who didn’t play today because of an injury of some sort), he plays like someone with ten years experience at this level. He has a great vision, and holds up the ball expertly.
Saja and Arabatzis. Both of these guys had great games yesterday. Saja, until he got kicked out, was solid, but Arabatzis was just incredible! Made a number of critical and phenomenal saves to keep AEK in the game.
Leonardo. Now, I know this guy hasn’t been a star this season, but yesterday was a fantastic performance from him. Aside from his two goals he was fighting with passion and was dangerous when on the ball.
Scocco, who scored and had two assists yesterday, and Djebbour, both played very good games. I was surprised to see the level of passion coming from Scocco, but it seems even he wanted nothing less than a win. Djebbour scored a goal and played a killer pass for Kafes to set up Leonardo. The guy’s technical skills are among the best in the league and it would be a terrible loss if we got rid of him this summer. I hope management acknowledge this fact.
Aside from these select players, I want to give credit to the whole team for playing hard despite the heat and being down two players for quite a while. I also want to give Dusan credit since he clearly knew what he was doing when he put Leonardo in and I can’t complain about any of his choices yesterday considering the absence of Manolas and the number of cards the players received.
Okay, so we got a fantastic win and one much needed for the players and the fans. Will we keep up this level of play? I hope so, because of we do we can definately get second place in the playoffs and quite possibly first if we have a little luck and PAOK loses where they should.
As of right now the standings are PAOK with 10 points, Oly with 7, AEK with 5, and Aris with 3.
