Transfer Updates

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!

 

Another Season Finished…

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.

The Colossus is back (and the new kit is “revealled”)

Traianos Dellas has once again returned to AEK, and it’s official. I’m sure there will be many mixed opinions about this, and perhaps rightfully so, but as of right now I’m pleased with this (it is thankfully only a one year deal). I know its been repeated many times on here but guys like Dellas and Libe back in our change rooms will hopefully bring unity, calm, dedication, and many other desirable traits to the rest of the players. These players know the fans, they understand what the badge means and they know just how much a match against, say, Olympiakos means. Despite their age, they will (at least Libe) give 100% each match and hopefully some of that will wear off onto other players around.

Also, the singing of Dellas comes as news has gotten out that Majstorovic has been told to search for offers from other teams. Majstro is being payed more than most players on the team at the moment and normally I would not complain, but his performances this season on average were below average. He was careless, arrogant with the ball, and sloppy. I suppose I still like him and don’t exactly wish for him to leave yet but if he can bring in a good offer it really must be considered by the board (assuming we can find a suitable replacement because I don’t see Dellas playing 90 minutes each match). Shame we got rid of Papastathopoulos. Having him as well as Manolas and Dellas as our options for centre-back would have been extremely reassuring.

Below are some pictures from yesterday showing Dellas with our new tops which technically makes it “official”.

I personally like the kit, very sharp looking. No Eagle watermark on the shoulder as were hoping but all hope is not yet lost; as was pointed out on greeksoccer.com forums, the new Sporting Puma kit has a lion watermark so we shall see….

Olympiacos 2-0 AEK

Olympiacos beat an offensively weak AEK yesterday in the second main Athens Derby of the season. This was the first week in the Superleague where AEK did not gain a point (AEK had two draws and two wins up to this point).

Fortunately for AEK, its still early in the season, and there is still time for Donis to clean things up. Defensively, AEK played well and controlled the balls in the air with relative ease. Georgeas played in place of Ramos and this proved to be a good choice by Donis. Midfield wise, AEK were allright, but this was mainly thanks to Pelletieri, who played hard, didnt stop running, and helped distribute the ball when we could. Basinas however was slow, and allthough he made some good passes and defencive moves, his crosses were weak and off target.

The offence was the problem for AEK last night. We could not penetrate far into Olympiacos territory with ease and when we could players were out of position and could not get many serious scoring opportunities (Scocco missed a nice shot when he hit the post and Kyrgiakos had a couple of chances to score from headers on set plays).

Fortunately, it is early in the season and the games for AEK from now on should be easier for AEK untill the start of the second half of the superleague season.

There are some match reviews here, here, and here. Here are the results from the other superleague macthes this weekend.

Other AEK news, Sokrates Papastathopoulos scored for Genoa and recieved a red card. Pantelis Kapetanos scored for Steaua late in the game for Steaua to clinch a late 1-1 draw.

Papastathopoulos Makes Second Start in a Row

Sokrates Papastathopoulos has made his second appearance in a row for Genoa in their 2-1 victory over Ravenna.

Papastathopoulos starts for Genoa!

Sokratis Papastathopoulos, former AEK centre back, has made his Serie A debut with Genoa today. Genoa are playing Fiorentina and are currently tied 0-0 early in the second half. Papastathopoulos has apparently been playing a great game and has been marking and closing down dangerous Fiorentina striker Mutu.

Forza Genoa!

Papastathopoulos goes to Genoa

The young and talented Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has signed for Genoa, a team in Italy which currently plays in the Serie A. Many people have been expecting the move for a while but it was finalized just last night. The defender had been previously linked with Wigan but nothing ever came through with that deal.

The defender was a critical part of AEK’s defence last year, which had conceded the fewest goals of any other team in the league. He is fast defender who has a bright future ahead of him. His place is being replaced by experienced central defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos. Below is a video showcasing Papastatopoulos’ talent.

Here is a goal.com link about the transfer.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=801313

AEK-Greuther Furth 2-2

AEK ended their second friendly of the preseason against German Second Division team Greuther Furth in a 2-2 draw. AEK went down early on in the first minute and by the end of the scond half they were down 0-2. Two goals however, in the 83rd and 85th minutes of the game allowed AEK to catch up and come out with a score of 2-2. The first goal for AEK was, according to AEK’s website an own goal and the second goal was scored by Pliatsikas off of a cross from Georgeas. It was a hard and low shot out of the keepers reach.

Apparently the second half was a much better performance than the first.

The lineup was Fisekis, Ramos (64′ Koutromanos), Perez (who was on trial for Donis to see) (46′ Georgeas), Majstorovic (74′ Alexopoulos), Papastathopoulos (61′ Geraldo), Nsaliwa (46′ Rivaldo), Kafes (75′ Pliatsikas), Kone (46′ Hetemaj), Lagos (46′ Zorbas), Burns (46′ Pavlis), Blanco (Tachtsidis).

AEK Open Practise

Yesterday evening, AEK held a practise which was open to the fans to go and watch. The team practised for about two hours. They first did various exercises such as heading the ball and ball control exercises. They then did a passing exercise for about twenty minutes. At the end, for about half an hour the team played a small scrimmage. Everyone on the team seemed fit and happy to be training with Donis which was a huge relief to see. I wasnt sure how the team would react under new management but the transition seemed to be smooth. Everyone was working hard, including Alexopoulos who seemed to be fully recovered from his injury.

Many of the players that had been on teams during the EURO were not present including Lyberopoulos,Dellas,Majstorovic, and Macho.

Donis seemed to be happy and relaxed which shows that he has no fear or worries for the upcoming season. He joked around with fans and stayed behind long after the players left to talk with fans and take pictures.

During the scrimmage much of the focus seemed to be on scoring goals from headers off of corners from the side with Rivaldo and Edinho in charge of setting up the plays and Blanco and Lagos scoring the goals. Ball control was superb throughout much of the practise and the players seemed confident in themeselves and their coach.

Overall, the team seemed to be in good spirits and working well together, a good sign for the new season.

Squad for AEK match against Panionios

PAO is currently tied 0-0 with Aris in the 38th minute. A draw for Aris against PAO and a win for AEK against PAO this wednesday at home for AEK will be enough to ensure that AEK finish first in the Playoffs and can therefore qualify for Champions League.

The squad for AEK’s away match against Panionios will consist of many regulars such as Lyberopoulos, Rivaldo, Ramos, Lagos, Blanco, and Manduca (who is back from injury).

Alexopoulos who has recently recovered from injury will also be going along with Kapetanos, Kafes, Kone, Azcarate, Arabatzis, Moretto, Bourbos, Tatzidis, Geraldo, Pliatsikas, and Pavlis.

Papastathopoulos, Nsaliwa, and Edinho will are not allowed to play due to cards accumulated.

Dellas, Kallon, Macho, and Georgeas are all injured or feeling discomfort.