I suppose before I discuss Jimenez’s return to AEK for a third stint, its worth backing up to our match against PAOK over the weekend since that was most likely the deciding factor which led to Ouzounidiz’s departure from the club.
Safe to say a 1-1 draw against PAOK, at home, wasn’t what any of us were hoping for. Not that it would have really mattered considering the title race is all but over but regardless, any opportunity to beat PAOK is one worth taking and the opportunity we were presented with on Sunday was as good as any. PAOK were forced to play over a half with a player less after a red card to Leo Jaba and for much of the second half they had no choice but to sit back and defend while we dictated the pace of the game. Despite this, we weren’t able to find a way to score until the 74th minute when Ponce scored yet again for AEK, salvaging a point for us but not much more.
As was often the case earlier in the season, Ouzounidis made some questionable calls which could very well have played a role in the final result. For example, Livaja was having a rather quiet game. Bakasetas on the other hand was playing quite well and was managing to get involved in a number of plays. For one reason or another though, Ouzounidis decided to sub off Bakasetas instead of Livaja despite the fact that the contribution from Bakasetas until then had been far more noticeable.
Unfortunately, too many of our games this season were overshadowed by poor decision making by Ouzounidis, even though he seemed to start figuring things out as the new year got started. The PAOK game suggested that hes still quite error prone and a change was most likely needed if we are to have any chance of at least winning the Cup (something which Jimenez succeeded at during his first stint).
Its hard to predict how much better off we’ll be with Jimenez in charge, but can it really get much worse? At least we know Jimenez has been able to get results in the past. The contract he will be singing is supposed to be a 1.5 year one, giving him the chance to start fresh again next season once this season comes to a close.
On top of the news of Jimenez’s return, it was also announced the Simoes had singed a new contract with AEK, a contract which sees him remain with the team until 2023. This is huge news as far as I’m concerned as we’ve really missed his contributions on the pitch lately. Hopefully he returns to the pitch with the same kind of performances as we were used to seeing from him. That, paired with the return of Jimenez, might just be what we need if we want to have a chance at winning the Cup.
AEK Archives 