Believe it or not, we’ve had four wins from our last five games. And we’re only one point behind PAO. And only five behind a playoff spot.
There would’ve been a time when seeing all of this happen would not be a surprise for AEK… if anything, it would be expected. But we all know times are rough, so well done to the team and management for turning things around like this.
I didn’t manage to watch to the Kerkyra game, but I did see our 1-0 win against Panionios two weeks ago, and the quality of the football we were playing was night and day compared to what I saw before the holidays. We managed to control the game, control the tempo, pass with what seemed like little effort, and we created chances.
Considering the situation we’re in, I can definitely say we’re heading in the right direction. Just a few more wins and a playoff spot could very well be ours. How great would it be if we get in the playoffs and not PAO?
We play PAOK this weekend. Not gonna be an easy game, just because these derbies rarely are. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we get the three points. I’m hoping for a decent crowd, and I’m sure regardless of how many supporters are there, the atmosphere will be great.
Ah Levadeiakos… one of those teams, along with Panionios, Volou, and Xanthi, that I just love seeing AEK beat.
Couldnt watch the game because I had to work, but hey, we got the three points. Highlights from what Ive heard/seen: Sialmas’ goalara, good keeping by Konstantopoulos, and a well reffed match (aside from the unnecessary to Sialmas).
Too bad Sialmas couldn’t have been in form against Doxa as well (to be fair, he played a great game, but just could not find the target), but I still cant get over his goal. Pure class on every level. Got out of a tight position on the sidelines, nice run, confidence, great shot, everything that makes a classic goal. Hopefully he keeps scoring from now on… he’s done everything right this season aside from actually scoring, so maybe this game will help with that.
Apparently our defense wasn’t all that great but from what Ive heard, Konstantopoulos made up for it which is great to hear. Again, hopefully he can keep it up. Unlike with Sialmas, I have not been impressed AT ALL from what Ive seen from him so far this season, but he has time to turn it around. Lets face it, we’re stuck with him afterall and we wont be seeing anyone better for quite a while.
Four points so far in 2012. Too bad we couldn’t have the six like we should have, but it sounds like the last game was definitely an improvement, so lets hope things continue to improve like they were before Christmas.
And by the way, for those who didnt see gtmanleg’s comment, Oly tied 0-0 with Doxa Drama today as well… beautiful stuff.
So, a lot has happened since my last post, and not much of it was good.
Before talking briefly about today’s match, Ill mention the other two we played this week, even though Id much rather not.
So, PAOK-AEK in Toumba. Of all the derbies we play each season, the PAOK one rarely gives as much trouble as others. Even Toumba, despite being filled with incredibly intimidating and passionate PAOK supporters, is a stadium AEK always seems to have a chance in. I cant seem to figure it out, but our record there these past few years has been quite good.
Things did change last weekend when we lost 3-0. Ill be honest with all of you, this was the first time I closed the computer early during an AEK match. Things weren’t looking good right from the start, our defence was terrible, we were lacking creativity, and as soon as PAOK went one up as a result of some terrible man marking (or lack of, rather), I gave up. I knew we had no chance of getting back in the game. We didn’t have Roger playing (the man responsible for assisting two of our four goals against Xanthi a few days before) and we were creating nothing, going nowehere. PAOK on the other hand, who have got off to a very good start this season and are playing some attractive football, clearly seemed the better team, and I couldn’t see them giving up their lead. And seeing as I had other stuff to do at home, I figured it wasn’t worth watching the rest, so I listened on the radio. As I expected, things only got worse.
Aside from our terrible defending, it was so clear in this game, as it was the next, and especially today’s match with Panionios, that we lack creativity. Despite his attitude and on-and-off performances, I would give anything to have someone like Scocco, and even Manduca, back in our squad. Roger can certainly create, but he isn’t enough, we need someone who can get the ball forward on his own, someone who can pull defenders out and then ease past them, and someone who can score after doing all this work. Scocco was someone who could do this, and even when he didn’t score, he was a nightmare for defenders.
Sure, Leonardo has played great this season, but he isn’t nearly the same level. Jose Carlos has the potential, but I havent seen too much from him yet. Sialmas wont get us anywhere. Belleck works hard and has some speed, but still cannot move with the ball the way Scocco could. Gudjonsen is way too old, and has done nothing in my opinion to warrant the money we pay him.
We have nobody going forward that can open up defenders, create plays and opportunities, someone who will get the ball up there, and will get it in the net. Its quite sad really to see how low AEK has fallen, considering even last year we had a player Like Scocco. Before then we had a Blanco who could score anything, and a young Libe, with Rivaldo pulling the strings. Go further back and we had players like Nikolaidis, Tsiartas, Mavros, Papaioannou. Sure, these players all play different positions, but the point Im trying to make is AEK has always been blessed with great attacking talent… these days, we simply dont have that. Yes, Leonardo is a fine player, Belleck has potential, but aside from these guys, we have nobody. Libe is too old, and can only be used a sub these days, Gudjonsen can’t really do too much.
No matter who we have as coach, until we have a team that can be dangerous up front, we wont be getting the results we want. Sure, Manolo is to blame for our poor results this season and last, more so maybe than our players. But I think it was especially obvious from our game today against Panionios, that this AEK team cannot go far. We have a good group of players with young talents like Leo and Manolas, experience in Dellas and Libe, but we need more. Desperately.
So, I’ve gotten a bit off topic by now. Maybe its because I dont quite feel like talking about our match against Sturm, but I guess I will.
First game of the season with fans in oaka. We didn’t get a good result against PAOK a few days earlier, but we were hoping for something here, and with Carlos’ goal early in the second half, we thought we’d clinched the three points. But, thanks to a pointless red card for Dellas, we let our lead slip away as well as all three points. I’m not going to talk too much about the game, but I would like to say that its incredibly disappointing to lose a game like this, in this way. We were the better team, we dominated throughout the first half. I would even go as far as saying that Sturm was the worst European team Ive seen AEK play in a while. They were nowhere, they could not create a chance, their defending was terrible. A stronger AEK team, such as our team of 07-08, would have taken this game with a 3-0 scoreline. And thats what disappoints me the most. AEK should not be losing these games, these games should be a fairly easy three points. Even the away match to Anderlecht. A previous AEK team with a better defense could have comfortably gotten at least a draw.
So, I wont say anymore about that match. We’re pretty much out of Europe already and its only the second day of October. Wonderful…
And finally, Ill mention our game today against Panionios. Poor match, terrible match rather, but the result was great. Panionios has given us a hard time lately, especially in Nea Smyrni. And to get a win like this, in the 92nd minute, feels just wonderful. We played terribly (Ive heard people mention it was the worst game from AEK they can recall seeing), only created one or two chances, but we got the three points away from home. And thanks to Oly beating PAOK today, we’re tied for first (though Oly have played a game less). I know its still early and I can’t see us staying first for much longer, but hey, at least its something.
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!
So, I know its a bit late, but I figured I’d get a short review of the season up (even though its a season, one of many, that I would ultimately like to forget about)..
I guess it would be most appropriate to start from the beginning though in all honesty, I can barely remember much from the first half of the season! Pre-season started well for us, with a trip to Australia where we took part in a small football tournament. The friendly tournament consisted of AEK, Rangers (Scotland), Blackburn (England), and Sydney FC (Australia), three respectable opponents. I must admit that, after the positive results of the tournament (AEK scored five goals in her first match and ultimately ended up winning the tournament after beating all three teams), I had very high expectations of the team. Despite having very little time to adjust to the jet lag, AEK played some very impressive attacking football at times (I remember Libe, Leo, and Burns all standing out for me in those games) and things were looking good early on. The team was clearly gelling well together.
Unfortunately, it was not long after that until we were brought back down to earth with the reality of Greek football. At a friendly in Athens some time in August, Bajevic was attacked by a bunch of AEK supporters (though there were thankfully just as many, if not more, defending him).
It was not long after the events in Athens that AEK traveled to Scotland to take on Dundee in the first leg of the Europa League Qualifiers. Our record against Scottish opposition before the game was fantastic (two victories against both Hearts and Rangers, both in official European games) and Dundee did not seem to pose much of a threat to us. Thankfully, we left Scotland with a 0-1 away win, putting us in a fantastic position for the return leg.
Things were not looking good for AEK, however. Repair work going on at OAKA meant the stadium was not available for us to use. After looking for other solutions, the team decided the match would be played in Panionios’ stadium. Of course, with this being Greece, and AEK, things did not work out as smoothly as we would have liked. The Panionios supporters seemed to have a problem with AEK playing the match in their stadium (pity for them, as I can hardly see their scum team playing another European match in that stadium for a very long time…) and they thought it would be a good idea to vandalize the stadium to the point where it would not be usable for the match. After damaging goal posts, spraying graffiti, and tearing up half the grass on the pitch, the stadium was in fact deemed not usable and AEK were again forced to find another location to host the match.
Again, as I mentioned before, things are never easy for AEK. Eventually, we managed to secure Karaiskaki stadium for the match. However, due to the location of the stadium, right in the heart of enemy territory, AEK fans were not allowed to attend the match (so yes, Dundee ultimately ended up playing two home matches as only their supporters were allowed in). The match ended 1-1, which meant AEK were through thanks to our away goal in Scotland.
So, thats all I can remember from the pre-season, but feel free to add whatever I may have missed in the comments section below.
I could go through the entire season, but it was a rather depressing one to be honest. Sure, we had some good results (derby wins against PAO and Oly, as well as a fantastic 0-4 away win against Aris) but it also saw us end up with some of our worst results in history. A 0-4 home loss to Olympiakos Volou, and a 6-0 away loss against Olympiakos (both matches were with Jimenez as coach) showed that the situation with our club and the current team we have are clearly not up to the standards they need to be. I didn’t watch the 0-4 loss, but I certainly will put some of the blame for our 6-0 loss on the ref, and other circumstances, however, it was clear in that match that we were badly outplayed at times.
Overall, it was a dreadful championship for us. After the playoffs, we ended up fourth in the league. Throughout the championship, whether we had Bajevic or Jimenez as coach, we struggled against teams which AEK should NEVER struggle against, teams such as Kerkyra, Olympiakos Volou, Panionios, etc… We were painfully inconsistent, playing beautiful football one match, sloppy the next… as a supporter I must say that this AEK team was the most difficult to follow that I can remember. Especially when I compare the current team to the Championship winning team we had four years ago (lets face it, a team like we have right now will never compare to a team with Papastathopoulos, a younger Dellas and Libe, Zikos and Ribo controlling the midfield, a Blanco who could score anything). Sure, this past season we had some hard working Greeks like Georgeas, Kafes, and Makos, as well as Dellas and Libe. And sure, we had a solid keeper in Saja, and a fantastic player in Scocco, but overall as a team, we have been lacking greatly these past couple of years.
Anyways, as dreadful as the championship was, the Cup did manage to bring us some happiness. We knocked out some tough opposition on the way to the final including PAO (thanks to a wonder goal from Michel), and PAOK (thanks to the one and only Traianos Dellas), and we ended up winning the final 3-0 against Atromitos. Above all, the greatest moment of this season for me was seeing Libe raise the trophy. Its a pity that great men and players like Libe can end up going their entire career without ever raising a trophy, while teams like Oly end up buying their way to Championship after Championship… thats the reality of Greek football, and to be honest, I don’t ever see it changing, as it is also the reality of Greek life in general. However, for us, AEK is a sickness, something we can never leave, never abandon, and despite all the obstacles she will face in the future, we will always support her. I really do not see next season being any better than the last one. If anything, it will only be worse (I simply can no longer see the hope that others might see). Our management is slowly abandoning us, and like our basketball club, things will only get worse if something does not change. The supporters club has a good idea set up with its current plan. How long it will last, and what difference it will make, only time will tell. Until then, we will all still forever support our club.
And before I end this post, I want to once more bring our attention to the handball club, and team of guys who have all but dedicated their lives to AEK. The results in the championship, cup, and European tournaments, all show what a team can do when they put all their energy into playing for the love of your club rather than simply awaiting the next paycheck… MANY players from our football club could learn a thing or two from them.
Alright, so I’m not sure whether I should start with the positives, or the negatives from this match. Either way, I’m sure most of you have read about yesterday’s events by now.
So, the big day had come. For months I had been waiting for it, as I’m certain you all have also, and slowly the hours passed by, one by one, until it was time to finally head off to OAKA for my first time in almost five months. To be honest with you, I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about AEK match, possibly one of the derbies with Olympiakos from last season. Either way, we finally reached the stadium and things were looking good. Two hours before the game and already a very large crowd of AEK fans were there, with many more coming by the minute. Soon enough, both sections started to fill, ours with AEK fans, and the Atromitos one with their own fans who had arrived slower than us since they were forced to make their way to OAKA by organized busses. The atmosphere was fantastic from the start and I was feeling more pumped up than I ever had… however, the incidents began early. First it started with two AEK fans running to the Atromitos section to steal a banner (which they managed to do). Of course, Atromitos supports refused to sit back and let them get away with it, so some of their fans made their way onto the track surrounding the pitch. By this time however, a number of AEK supporters made their way to the Atromitos section and sure if enough some fighting occured, forcing the cops to get involved.
It wasn’t a pretty sight, however, who can say they weren’t expecting it. My father even said what we saw at the beginning wasn’t even close to what was experienced at AEK-OLY cup final a couple years ago…
Alright, so a few fights, flares (some being shot from flare guns) being thrown by each set of fans, however, eventually, the situation was brought under control and the game was allowed to start. The rest of the match (which I’ll discuss later) went on without too much trouble from what I remember. Sure, a couple minor incidents here and there I may have forgotten about, but before the end, the only incident worth mentioning that I can recall was the stoppage of the match for a few minutes due to flare smoke. Again, this was to be expected, its happened before, and if this was the only thing that happened, I would not have even considered it a big deal. Kakos eventually allowed the match to continue (possibly a little too soon in my opinion as the smoke obviously still managed to cause trouble for our guys in defence), and again, we managed to see some more football without too much trouble.
However, and this where the worst of it all began, towards the end a few fans (I prefer to refer to these guys as hooligans but fans is simply involves less writing) began making their way onto the pitch yet again. Why the cops sat by and let them walk around I do not know. Of course, these few fans were joined by others, and before we knew it, 50, 75, maybe 100 had made their way onto the track without even allowing the match to finish. And, knowing the trouble these guys have caused before (as well as similar thugs from pao, oly, paok, panionios… any team in this country for the most part), its safe to say a handful of them weren’t simply waiting to celebrate. Now, the match was stopped with around 5 or so minutes of extra time left to play, though I can’t remember if riots had started before the match had finished, or Kakos simply felt it wasn’t safe to play with so many fans so near to the pitch (by this time it was considerably above 100 fans, and many were literally on the pitch). So, Kakos blew his whistle, fans stormed the pitch (they were bound to any second now regardless of if Kakos had blown or not), some went to cheer on the players, some attacked police, some attacked Atromitos players, other attacked Atromitos fans, and from what I heard, many were attacking members of the Atromitos vips (though, I didn’t see this from where I was sitting… doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, my attention was just elsewhere at the time). Nobody was really sure if the match was called for fulltime, or if Kakos had intended for the players to return to the pitch to finish the remaining few minutes of extra time… either way, the pitch was no longer able to played on, adverts along the side and camera equipment was destroyed, and the nets had been completely torn off, so eventually the match was finally called, and AEK was awarded the cup…
Yes, we were awarded the cup, but by the end of the match I was in no way pleased or happy with what had happened. Even when we went to Nea Filadelfia after the match to join in with the celebrations, I simply couldn’t. Having said that, I often have to take a step back and consider everything else. Yes, some embarassing events took place, probably the worst I have ever witnessed, but we came a long way to reach this cup final, beating Larissa, PAOK, and PAO on the way here. Our players, especially guys like Georgeas, Dellas, Kafes, others, and, most importantly, LIBE, also deserved this cup. I know we had a terrible season, but some of these players have been with us for a while. Some were with us when our championship was taken away in ’08, others were with us when the Cup which was so close to being ours was snatched from our hands in ’09… nobody deserved some silverware more than some of these players.
And us fans, who have seen our team come so close to winning a trophy many times the past two decades, we also deserved this. But we deserved to enjoy it under better circumstances, without having a few thugs ruin it for the rest of us. I know its hard for me to feel completely satisfied with this Cup, though Im sure in a few days my anger at what happened will die down and I’ll be able to appreciate it more. Also, I do apologize for the fans who were more excited about it then I am, sorry to be so depressed about it all
Now, I said I’d talk about the match itself a bit, so I will do so. It wasn’t a great game of football by any means. Both teams took their time to make any impression, neither team seemed to want to risk much early on, and it was a while before the match developed any sort of pace. Despite a few chances being created, it wasn’t until later in the first half that the first goal was score by none other than the one and only, LIBEROPOULOS. A perfect cross from Scocco (left foot as well) leaving Libe with a perfect ball to head in to the net. Nothing made me happier than seeing this man, who has given everything for AEK, score the opener. There was talk of offside after the game… firstly, as if I care. With the number of onside goals we’ve had called for offside, with the number of favourable offside calls the reds (sure, others teams also, but we all know its mostly for the reds) have received, see if I care if its offside or not. This league is a joke, and now these reds, the biggest bandwaggon hypocrites to ever exist in the history of sport, have the nerve to call us out on this one goal? I have some words to say to them but I wont do so here.
Either way, offside or not, AEK were always clear favourites, despite what others may say. Sure, this is football. Its a beautiful sport where anything can happen, but all AEK needed to do was come out and play some decent football against a mediocre opponent and the result would take care of itself. And thats exactly what happened. Two goals, one from Baja and a beauty from Kafes, clinched the victory for us later in the second half. And had AEK came out stronger, and played the beautiful football we’ve seen her play in the past, the score would have been an embarrassment for Atromitos. Regardless, fair play to Atromitos (lets not get started on their coach though). They had to go just as far as we did to make it to the final, and for that alone they deserve some respect. They also came out and weren’t afraid to risk a bit during the game… there were certainly a few moments when they came very close to scoring.
Anyways, thats all I have to say. We won the Cup. We deserve it, even though I really can’t enjoy it as much as I’d like to. Ill post some videos and pictures later on. Please leave any comments in the comments section, I’d love to heard what all of you have to say for the game.
AEK has beaten the locals courtesy of goals from Manolas and two from Lagos.Unfortunately,I didn’t watch the game,but highlights can be found on this link….
I hope AEKMAN74 won’t mind me adding to his post, but I figured I’d just add to his rather than post a new entry. I only managed to find a decent stream in time for the second half so that’s all I can comment on, but I still won’t say much. To be honest, we really should have scored at least another two goals in the final 45 minutes, with the chances we had. However, credit to Larissa, they managed to claw their way back. Also, credit for the their second goal, it was some very nice football indeed on their part.
The fact that we managed to let Larissa get within one goal of drawing the match however, after having a 3-0 lead from so early on, is a fairly scary thought considering we have the playoffs and a Cup Final coming up.
I won’t say much more about the game, I missed quite a bit of it. It is a shame, however, to see Larissa drop to the second division. I know alot of people may be happy about it, but I personally would much rather see teams like Panionios, Xanthi, and Volou out of our league as soon as possible. Larissa are a club with a brand new and very attractive stadium, supporters who managed to create an impressive atmosphere on Sunday, a side who recently won the cup and also had an impressive run in the UEFA Cup a few years back. These are the teams who should be staying up in order to benefit our league in general, rather than clubs run and operated by scum like Panionios, Volou, and Kavala (as well as many others… ).
Oh well, the league is pretty much done for the season aside from one more game. Now we have the playoffs and Cup final to look forward to. What will happen after that, come the start of next season, none of us will know. However, the team has a great chance now to win a cup and book a place in the qualifying rounds for Champions League. Its all I can hope for right now…
I seriously wonder sometimes… if it wasn’t for what our badge stands for and some of the legends that have worn our shirt, why would any of us bother even paying the slightest attention to this joke of a league. I’m referring specifically to yesterday’s derby between Oly and PAO though also our match today as well as yesterday’s match between Tripolis and Kerkyra. Its been a while since such a clear reminder of how much of a joke our league really is has been sent to us fans (at least those not with red glasses distorting their view). There has even been talk of PAO considering leaving the league, or forming a league of their own and I for one would be completely for such a move (however unrealistic and unlikely it may be at the moment). Aside from Oly’s B teams (Panionios, Xanthi, Oly Volou), many teams would benefit from such a move since it is clear as day that NOTHING will ever change with our league as long as pigs such as Marinakis are still involved.
Yesterday’s match was a disgrace with a handball from Torosidis in the box not given as a penalty, a perfectly legit goal to give PAO a 2-1 lead ruled for offside, and an illegal goal in many ways scored by that other pig Djebbour in extra time giving Oly the win and sealing their championship. In addition, a number of Oly supporters stormed the pitch and physically attacked a number of PAO players including Cisse and Simao. At half time and after the match, more hooligan like behavior witnessed, this time coming right from Superleague PRESIDENT, Marinakis (less than a week after Beos’ pathetic comments towards Larissa). How will our league ever advance in any way with thugs such as Marinakis, Beos, Psomiadis, and Co running things… whether its their unbelievably obvious influence they have off the pitch or their incredibly childlike attitude, it is obvious that no progress will ever be made towards improving our league… if anything, this weekend has confirmed the worst, and it will only be a matter of time before things get worse, and quickly.
Now, I mentioned yesterday’s match between Kerkyra and Tripolis. Why I mention it was because of the following video. Even for those who don’t understand much Greek, or any at all, the confusion coming from the commentator’s voice is painfully obvious.
Right… so the Kerkyra player gets taken down in the box and it should be awarded a penalty, correct? The Tripolis keeper receives a yellow card, yet the ref goes on to give a yellow to the Kerkyra player (his second of the match in fact, leading to his red). Why? Diving? Yet the ref still awards the penalty… even the commentator is left wondering who recieved the cards and for what reason…
Now, as many of you have noticed, neither myself or AEKMAN74 commented on our 3-1 loss to PAO last weekend. It was a terrible match in every way. A terrible offside was given on Blanco with the score 2-1 in PAO’s favour. However, Blanco was onside considerably and had the offside not been called he would have been 1 0n 1 with the PAO keeper. Now, aside from poor officiating, AEK simply looked terrible at the match. We played with no intent at all (aside from a brief 20 minute spell in the second where we applied considerable pressure) and our defending was atrocious at times.
As for today’s match… again, we looked terrible. We managed to score a goal late in the first half thanks to Libe (again, what will we do once he retires at the end of the season?) however the goal was canceled out almost 45 minutes later when, Mitroglou of all people, score the equalizer with very little time remaining (and, of course, the assist came from another player on loan from Olympiakos, Galitsios). Riera should have been sent off after he pushed Kafes from behind (when neither had the ball near them if I remember correctly), yet apparently all four officials, including the linesman who should have been near the two at the time, happened to miss it? I find it quite unlikely, but who knows anymore…
Aside from poor officiating though (also, Ill remind you that this match was played behind closed doors), as I said, we looked terrible. No attacking intent at all for the entire first half, we could not get plays together, there was very little sense of structure within the team, and we simply could not create. Also, Im starting to get very tired of seeing Scocco play, ever since his contract extension was signed. I much rather would have seen Leo or Burns start today… what they lack in skill compared to Scocco they would have made up for today with their speed or… simply trying to do something, anything, to get an attack together.
I know we can complain about the officiating today, however I would like to point out that both Manolas and Karabelas were lucky not to recieve more than just a yellow card today. They were both involved in some very dangerous plays a number of times, and while I dont mind seeing that, I think they got off easier than they could have.
Overall, its a shame we couldn’t get the 3 points today. To be honest, I dont care how ugly it would have been, I just wanted a win to help keep Panionios close to the relegation zone and us as high as we can in time for the play offs. I believe it is now for games in which we have not won a match at home, and if I understood correctly, the last time we have beaten Panionios was 2009? I could be wrong, but thats disgusting if true.
I do apologize for the unorganized post, but Im simply starting to lose my patience with everything going on, either with AEK or the league in general.
Also, some more terrible news for us AEK supporters. It seems our Basketball team, a team which was once the team that made Greece most proud, the first Greek team to win a European trophy, will be playing next season in the 2nd divisioin. Words simply cannot describe what a shame this is to see.
We NEEDED a win and thankfully that’s just what we got! Now, before we get too confident, this was Panserraikos we played. An AEK team that we the fans want should beat this team EVERY match, home and away, and comfortably, rather than having us threaten the team not to return if they lose. Yes, we got the win, but let’s not forget the fact that we still have many problems which need to be resolved, ASAP.
Ok, back to the game. All I can say is there was definitely an improvement from our last match (and thankfully so considering Kafes and Diop were out). I did miss the first thirty minutes of the match but the rest which I did manage to see showed an AEK who was able to take control of the game and make their point. Alot more confidence to our game today, the players seemed to be playing with more intent (and to be fair, we did manage to create plenty of chances last match but we were lacking elsewhere).
For the players, Ill start from the back and work my way up. Saja had a very fine game today. Was forced to be much more involved than against Kerkyra, and aside from letting in one goal (a fantastic goal, may I add), dealt with everything that came his way in a necessary manner. Dealt with one on one’s, reflex saves, and was collected in front of the goal when required.
Our defense had a little more to deal with than against Kerkyra but they also did they’re job for the most part. We were pretty secure down the wings today from what I noticed (Georgeas on the right and Karabelas on the left) and it seemed that both right back and left back defended a little more aggressively which payed off in the end. Karabelas also had another good game in terms of attacking and was very involved in plays from the left wing and his cross resulted in Libe’s goal to make it 2-0 for AEK. Manolas also defended very well and Im starting to wonder if this guy will ever have a poor game. As hard as I try I can’t remember the last time he wasn’t solid… pretty exceptional when one considers he’s only 19 years old (even I’m gonna be 19 in less than half a year!).
One weakness I did notice however was the Panserraikos came very close to scoring on at least two set pieces. There may have been more which I missed, but for some reason we let them slip by and it resulted in two goal scoring opportunities for the host… fortunately they failed to convert either.
Our midfield was able to control the match pretty well. From what I saw it seemed Makos was looking to play the ball forward whenever he had the chance rather than backwards as he tends to, and while he may not be the next Rivaldo (not that he even plays a similar position) it was certainly nice to see him play with more attacking intent. Scocco was also pretty busy in the middle of the pitch and helped out with distributing the ball and Lagos had a very good game.
Roger was alot tighter in my opinion. Less wasting around with the ball at his feet, more playing for the benefit of the team. He also took some nice free kicks and it was his which Blanco latched on to for the first goal. Still not sure if we’ve seen enough of him, but I’m sure we all know he must be capable of good things. He had some very strong games earlier in the season and a fantastic EURO in 2008 from what I read and heard… surely we can expect more? Not sure if I can say the same for Eder though who was useless the last match and didn’t come on today until very late in the game.
We were pretty sharp up front which nice to see after that dreadful performance against Kerkyra. Blanco, who missed all those chances last match, scored a stunning header, perfectly placed and one of his more memorable goals of recent memory as far as I can remember. Libe scored our second one, a close range, one time volley in front of the net. Nicely shot, down low and with enough power that the keeper had very little he could do to stop it. A great finish to a nice play inside their box.
Panserraikos evened things up before the half with a stunning goal, a perfectly placed volley from outside the box with enough of a downward curve and power that Saja could do little to stop it from the position he was caught in. Libe had a chance later in the match to make it 3-1 after a nice run led to Blanco feeding him inside the box, however he was called offside (and rightfully so in my opinion though it was very close). However, Libe did finally manage to seal the deal after scoring a penalty which was a result of Georgeas being brought down in the box (in my opinion it was a very soft penalty but there was not ball contact at all and it was a tough angle for the ref).
Overall, a much improved performance and a badly needed (and well deserved) three points, even if it was against lowly opposition. Hopefully we build on the momentum now! By the way, Jimenez proudly showed off his Serres Original21 shirt he promised he would wear. Awesome stuff to see, especially from a foreign coach who only started coaching in Greece this season! Let’s not get rid of this guy!
Also, some other news from this weekend. Panionios lost at home! (The quicker we get these guys in 2nd division the better!) and the Original club house in Kerkyra was attacked by about 10 olympiakos supporters. Some of them were caught and apparently charges will be laid.
So, I watched most of the first half and parts of the second, but one thing was obvious today. We didn’t deserve even a point today looking at how we played. PAO tied 1-1 at home against Larissa, yet for the second week in a row we fail to capitalize on a great opportunity and instead of being that much closer to first we now sit in fourth place (with three teams playing tomorrow who could catch up to us).
We had very little organization and could not gain any control of the game. We started with Djebbour and Blanco but many feel that Libe should have gotten the start. I know he only recently returned from injury but I think he could have made a difference. However, to add to our injury problems, Djebbour seems to have injured his shoulder, an injury which has bothered him in the past as well. I’m not sure the details yet, but things are starting to look tough again. Both Manolas (completely undeserved) and Dellas (who was on the bench!) received red cards meaning our options on the pitch are starting to look thin once again.
PAOK today were average at best, and had we showed up and played some football I am confident we could have seen even all three points. It’s a shame really since PAOK has seemed to become that team lately that we can always count on for points. Afterall, the last time they beat us in the league was 2007.
Our shots on net statistic for the match is pretty frightening… only 3 in the entire 90 minutes! And our one goal came from a penalty. Things really aren’t looking good, and we have some critical matches coming up in both the league and Europe… hopefully we can turn things around but it does seem like we’ve been saying that for a while.
Alot happened during and after the game, and I’m still confused around many of the details. Firstly, there were a couple incidents on the bench. One main one involved Dellas and a PAOK fan who threw a 1.5 liter bottle at the players (I am not sure if the bottle was thrown at the bench or Dellas specifically). Dellas threw the bottle back resulting in a red card. I’ve heard that Dellas is looking into taking legal action against the fan, so we’ll see. However, this is not nearly the first time incidents like this have happened at Toumba. You would figure they would look into resolving the the problems, maybe by making moderations to the stadium? I hate to see that happen, but its clear that fans like these cannot be given all the privileges of other fans. I know all teams in Greece has fans who cause trouble, and AEK certainly has many. However, this sort of thing is pretty much your average occurrence for a PAOK game.
It doesn’t end there though! Remember the incidents involving fans AEK players after the Panionios match? Well, 50 PAOK fans were outside the AEK change rooms yelling at Dellas, Dimitriadis, and co… only in Greece does stuff like this happen! How 50 fans can get there in the first place, let alone stay without being forced away immediately, I will never understand.
If anyone watched the match, please leave a comment. I would like to comment more on our actual performance but I was distracted at the time of the game. Thanks!
