And we are brought back down to reality..

So, after our incredible win only five days earlier people were expecting similar things from last nights game. We thought we were going to get it also after building a healthy 3-1 lead with plenty of time left. The final score? 3-3

One thing was to blame for this result more than anything else. Our midfield. Kafes was out injured and Jahic was out due to cards. That left Makos, Nsaliwa, and Gentzoglou as our options for central midfield. Who did Bajevic (the hero from our derby win who is now being held as someone responsible for our result) decide to go with? Makos and Gentzoglou… big mistake.

Makos was terrible, or worse than that if it is possible. I feel bad for the guy. He tries hard, shows the passion, and clearly cares for AEK like he says, but he must not play another game for AEK. Our midfield was non-existent yesterday. At least we know Nsaliwa can handle the position good enough even though he may not be a star player. Whenever Makos got the ball he would loose it by either loosing possession or giving away the ball with lazy passing. I hate to say it  but the guy is not for AEK. He was good at Panionios but he killed us yesterday.

Gentzoglou wasn’t as bad, and at least he scored a goal. But he was not enough to make a huge impact on our midfield. Without Kafes we were clearly hurting. He isn’t the greatest midfielder Greece has ever produced but he holds the ball well and can control it until he sees a good time to get it up. He’s also a fine defender and can stop the counter attacks early, something which our midfield failed to do on many occasions.

Its a shame our midfield was so poor yesterday since our attack really was quite good. They created chances whenever they did manage to get the ball (normally due either to Scocco playing the ball up or a long ball from Manduca) and were very dangerous. Blanco stayed behind during the week to practise finishing and it payed off after he nailed in a sitter which he may actually have missed a few weeks ago. Scocco again was superb and Djebbour showed promise but I think he needs one or two more games with the team. He gets the ball alot but holds on to it too long and instead of taking the chances he gets he tries to make things harder for himself. With a couple more games we should start to see him finishing off those chances on his own.

Our defense was alright but it wasn’t as tight as we needed. Atromitos deserves credit, they do have a good offense. That 3-0 home loss to Aris would have been different had Sifakis not pulled off some incredible saves. Karabelas and Araujo both had good games and Geraldo was solid, but Majstorovic was back to his old games of passing the ball back to the keeper and waiting until the last possible second to do so. The whole defence started the passing the ball at the back for a minute before getting it up tactic which we saw so many times last year. The fans were not impressed, neither was I, but I guess that’s largely due to the fact that we didn’t have that midfield that we so badly needed in order to get the ball up.

Atromitos scored first in the game but thankfully, probably because of the win on Wednesday, the fans only started singing louder rather than booing. We scored soon after to tie things up and Scocco gave us the lead just before half time. Blanco gave us the nice 3-1 lead during the second thanks to a perfect pass from Scocco (this guy really is incredible). However, things changed quickly after that.

Firstly, check out the video below of the goals.

If you had time to watch the video you would have noticed that Atromitos were awarded a penalty. Was it a deserved call? Absolutely not! However, they were given the penalty, Atromitos scored, we lost our momentum and Atromitos scored another one a minute later. Could this all have been avoided? Easily, if the ref hadn’t awarded them a fake penalty. Funny thing is, the ref wasn’t even sure if he was awarding the penalty for Makos or Majstorovic. When asked why he gave the penalty he first he said Makos, ten minutes later he said Majstorovic. Ah, you gotta love refs in Greece.

Anyways, by this point, the damage was done. We had trouble getting back in the game, something which was certainly by Atromitos’ dirty tactics of a player falling every minute complaining of a cramp. Around seven players must have fallen resulting in breaking up our momentum and wasting time. Every substitution they made also wasted another minute as the Atromitos players took five minutes to walk off the pitch at a leisurely pace while stopping to say hello to everyone on their way out.

One other problem which seriously affected us today was our weakness in the air. Every free kick and corner we had the Atromitos defenders got their heads to the ball first, even Majstorovic couldn’t do anything. Lately that’s where we were stronger, but not yesterday, and it really hurt us since we had many chances to score from corners or free kicks just outside the box.

There was some tension between the fans and Donis. Donis didn’t understand why the AEK fans were treating him so poorly (mmm, maybe because we saw some of the worst football in the history of the club and if it wasn’t for Dusan we wouldn’t have ended up where we did last season?) and he was saying beer cans were being thrown at him. The reporter on the radio, however, said there wasn’t one can thrown on the pitch.

Despite all that was mentioned above, AEK got what they deserved. Atromitos hit the post and had that went in things would have been different. At the end of they day though, we didn’t play our greatest game possible. I don’t know if the players were too cocky after our last match, or the midfield was really our weakness but its a shame, no matter what the reason was. The fans showed up, 15,000 of them. Not a huge crowd but much better than it normally would have been. It was a cold night yet the atmosphere from the AEK fans was still great, the best I remember since last season. 15,00 fans sounded like 40,000. They supported the team well but in the end we left with memories of why this is our worst season yet, rather than memories of the remarkable victory they pulled off five days earlier.

AEK 3-0 Vaslui

First off, enjoy the video.

Well I posted my review in the comments section of the previous post by AEKBaltimore, but here it is again.

I was nervous about this one before it started but still I had the feeling we would get the win. And we did.

Firstly, as for the game, the team played wonderful football, especially compared to what we were seeing just last week. Things really turned around.

Our defence did a fine job, and our centre backs had no trouble even without Kyrgiakos. Their defending was almost solid throughout the match.
Our newest right back, Araujo, played fantastic football. His defending capabilities are incredible, and hardly anyone could get past him. He won every challenge. His ball control was also good and he managed to carry the ball up quite far.
Juanfran played fine. Not fantastic, but it was not a poor display at all. He was solid, but a little reluctant to move the ball up at times.

I was not pleased at how our defence kept playing the ball back. However, Vaslui were playing with almost every player playing back before AEK scored making it almost impossible for us to penetrate deeper into their territory.

From our midfield, Leonardo stood out most. He chased the ball and had a decent game, but at times he lost the ball and wasted some passes. None the less, he didnt give up and was dangerous throughout.

Kafes juts got back from an injury and so was not in top form. Makos was also not in top form and in fact he still hasnt shown very much yet. However, they both still played an alright game and were not dissapointing. I just hope Makos shows more and contributes more to the game as he begins playing more with us.

Scocco was incredible. There is nothing else that can be said. And this was just after coming back from an injury. He was so dangerous with the ball, nobody could stop him when he wanted to move up. He was always running, always moving the ball around and he scored two goals.
We must hold on to Scocco, no matter what. He will be one of the best players in the superleague this season.

Manduca also had a fantastic game. He made many strong and fast runs, scored the opening goal, and was overall a threat to the opposition. Hopefully we will continue to see good things from him.

Blanco could have played better, and still hasnt shown much so far this summer. Hopefully things will start to turn around for him. I must say that overall he was the most dissapointing player today. He played alright but I always expect more from him, at least a goal. He tends to pass too much rather than taking a chance every now and then. Im not saying hold the ball like Djebbour until you loose it, but its alright to take some shots or threaten a bit rather than pass all the time. Despite that though, he set up some nice chances for Scocco and Manduca.

Tachtsidis was one of out substitutes. He played well and showed how his huge form gives him a huge advantage. He also made some nice passes. I really think we should hold on to him, but use him as a sub, rather than a starter.

Nsaliwa came on as a sub and also played a good game, especially defensively. Karabelas was our third sub and played midfield, just to add more defensive security once we had three goals.

I was glad to see that Bajevic didnt wait untill the 89th minute to make changes.

Saja saved us a couple of times, and as for almost every game he’s played, he was solid.

Overall, we played some nice football. Now bearing this in mind, I can only imagine how strong we will be once we get a few more singings. Roger Guerreiro has singed for us officially. Unfortunately though, since he played for his previous team already in Europe this season he cannot play for us in Europa League. Nonetheless, he is a great player who should offer alot to our club.

We are looking at a couple more signings, including Oleguer, who would be a fantastic singing. We are also looking at Jonas. If these two last signings happen we will be looking at a very strong team. And with Bajevic at the helm, the future is bright.

20,000 attendance tonight. Not bad for a week night, and still many people are away on holidays. I believe we will see some good home attendances this season, definately an improvement over last season.

For now, I dont know what else to say. I’m still really happy and pleased. I know it was only a qualifier for Europa League but still, this is a huge win for us and we all needed it desperately.

The players at the end of the match went to throw their shirts to the fans today. The fan support really was fantastic.

I must say that Vaslui played dirty football. They tackled and hacked at our players throughout the entire match. I just hope we dont read the news tomorrow and find out someone valuable is injured.

If I think of more to say (and Im sure there is more) I will pst it in the comments section. As for now, I think thats all.

Over all a great win allowing AEK fans to sleep well and relaxed tonight. Now, our first Superleague game this weekend, against Atromitos. Hopefully our good form will continue and we will get a strong result against Donis’ team.

First match review available here.

AEK News (Alot of it)

So, AEK has been on the news all day, and everyday, for the past few days. The reason why? It looks like two Cypriot investors (the identities have not yet been revealed) are going to invest a large sum of money. I can’t remember the exact details but I believe one of the Cypriot investors will be investing seven million euros, another will invest two million, and the shareholders already with AEK will add another six million, meaning that overall, fifteen million euros will be invested into the team. Of course, this could all change, but as of right now thats how things look. It has also been confirmed on AEK’s site, but only in Greek.

That is definately good news, seeing as financial stability is something we haven’t seen at our beloved team in many years. What will be done with this money has not been confirmed. It could go to stabilize the team’s finances, or perhaps some of it could go towards a singing or two. We’ll have to wait for more news. A number of possibilites as to who the investors could be but some have denied it already. We should learn more soon.

Another important bit of news is, LEONARDO WILL SIGN! Even though we thought a few days ago that everything was done for now with Leonardo it turns out he will sign afterall. Perhpas the president of Levadeiakos realized that they would get nothing for him in January so they might as well sell him now. Good news, especially since we dont have to worry as much about money for the time being.

In other news, AEK drew their first friendly with Cluj, 1-1. AEK’s goal came from Blanco, after a quick free kick was taken by Scocco. The team looked alright, but more friendlys will be required before we can begin to make judgments on how the team looks. All I hope for is that we are prepared for Europa League, which I think we could do quite well in. Seeing as Bejevic has plenty of European experiecompared to Donis), Im sure if the team is ready than we could be a strong team in the tournament.

Some news to report about Olympiakos. Derbyshire will be out for a while due to an injury, and he probably wont be ready for the match against AEK. Great news for us, horrible for them, seeing as he has been theyre best striker lately. Afterall, Diogo hasn’t scored a goal for months, and has not been looking in form. Another critical injury to report for Olympiakos is that Torosodis will be out for six months (and other sources are saying he will be out for only a month). Again, good news for us, not for them, if he is actually out for the the game against us.

Since Seitaridis never replied to AEK we are now looking at Paulo Ferrari, a defender who currently plays for River Plate. Seeing as we could probably afford him now, this could be a good move. Afterall, we do need to strengthen our defense.

AEK News

Vassilis Pliatsikas, who received some play time with Donis but little with Bajevic is no longer with AEK. Schalke have signed him for a price within the range of 300,000-400,000 euros. Its a good move for him, assuming he manages to impress and therefore earn some playing time. Greeks often seem to play quite well in Germany (Gekas, Liberopoulos, and many others) so hopefully he will play well there as well. He played some decent games with AEK but we never really got to see very much of him. I thought he might have improved well with Bajevic as coach but I guess Bajevic didn’t see him as part of his immediate plans. We do, afterall, have quite a few good players in his position (at least the position he was playing AEK) such as Makos, Kafes, Nsaliwa, and others. It would have been quite hard for him to get much playing time and I doubt he would want to spend a season as a backup in Grece rather than go to Germany, where he would have a chance of playing, or at least being a backup in a world class league. Im sure all of us at AEKArchives, including all the readers, wish him the best of luck for the rest of his career.

Serbian Goalkeeper Milan Lukac has singed officially with AEK. I believe this is a good move for us, with Macho leaving, and he being considered one of the best keepers in Serbia. Hopefully he will prove to a reliable keeper similar to Saja, rather than the unreliable keepers we have seen in the past (Sorrentino, Morreto).

Speaking of Sorrentino, Roma and Genoa (if I remember correctly) are interested in him which would mean that we would recieve 600,000 euros if he were to sign with one of the two because of a clause in his contract.

Preseason training has begun in Athens with numerous health tests taking place. Some pictures can be seen at AEK’s site.

AEK part ways with Giorgos Donis

AEK’s management decided late last night to part ways with manager Giorgos Donis after AEK’s 0-0 draw at home against Panserraikos. The decision was reached by mutual agreement between Donis and AEK management. Its unfortunate that this happened to a young Greek coach with such high ambitions but unfortunately, under his management, AEK was not getting the results that were expected.

Currently, a highly possible replacement to Donis is former AEK player and manager Nikos Kostenoglou who just last year helped AEK to come within two points of the championship and who was in control of AEK during some memorable performances including a 4-0 win over rivals Olympiakos. Another possible replacement is another former AEK player and manager, Dusan Bajevic. He was a great player for AEK and one of the best managers the club ever had however, he is now hated by many fans after he went to manage Olympiakos.

Official confirmation of a replacement is expected some time this week or next.

Reports here and here

AEK 0-0 Panserraikos

Well, not much can be said about today’s result. A 0-0 draw at home for AEK against recently promoted Panserraikos was all AEK was able to get away with from this match. Although AEK had many chances throughout the match none managed to get into the net and the performance overall by the home team showed little promise. The defence was not at its best and had difficulty controlling Panserraikos on the counter attacks. The midfield was unorganized and only Basinas and Kafes seemed to be aware of what they were meant to be doing. The offense did not have much help from the midfield and had to rely heavily on set pieces in order to get good chances on goal.

Goal.com review here.

Ilisiakos 1-2 AEK (Yet another close call)

Well it was a close one, again. Two nice goals, one from Blanco and the other from Kafes both in extra time allowed AEK to advance to the next round of the Greek Cup. Although AEK had many chances to score throughout the match as with many previous AEK games the ball just wouldn’t go in the net. Donis’ starting 11 was questionable, however sufficient chances were still created up front. Scocco, who has played almost every mnute this season played, along with Jurgen Macho who has not seen any game time in an official match for AEK this season.

After 90 minutes the score was still 0-0 therfore forcing the match into extra time. Early in extra time Ismael Blanco put AEK ahead only for Ilisiakos to score and tie the game at 1-1. Thankfully, a low shot by Kafes out of reach of the Ilisiakos keeper put AEK up 2-1 and the score remained that way untill the end of extra time.

Match review here.

Xanthi 1-1 AEK

AEK have yet to win away from home this season as they finished with a 1-1 draw Saturday evening against Xanthi. Overall, 1 point is allright from a game against a team that has the potential to win these kinds of matches. Basinas played in this match for AEK after coming back from injury.

Greeksoccer.com has the match report here.

Tonight Panathinaikos play Olympiakos in what should be an exciting match. A draw from this match at this point would be the ideal result for AEK.

Kanellopoulos and Koulis to take over temporary charge of AEK

As expected, Takis Kanellopoulos and Nikos Koulis will take over, temporarily, as presidents of AEK. They will remain as presidents for a month when, after this period, a permanent replacement wil be decided upon.

Greeksoccer.com has a report here.

Greeksoccer.com has another interesting article here about what progress needs to be done for AEK from this point on.

AEK-Tripolis Report

Greeksoccer.com has a review of the AEK-Tripolis Match Here.

Antonis Rikka will be out for five months and will require surgery after a knee injury.