Panathinaikos Fan

Panathinaikos - Aris 1-0

2012-04-01T18:03:00.000-04:00

It took me a while to get into this game. First, it was the game itself that lent itself to feeling like a little friendly in the first half. Panathiniakos had insane possession with about 70% or something close to that, but most of it was in front of Aris' double defensive line. We rarely did we see any good chances in front of goal besides two good shots - one for each team - and the only noteworthy events were two or three nice plays by PAO, and the Spyropoulos ejection.

Panathinaikos ended the game with better possession stats despite playing with ten players for most of the second half. That's a tastement to how bad Aris was. They didn't even have one clean shot on goal besides one in the first half hour.

Ferreira said in the end that it was too bad that the fans' weren't allowed to watch the game, but I was actually grateful that I wasn't subject to the "organized" kids' swearing and the little wars they have been playing. Of course there were a few thousand good supporters who like to watch the game, but I hope going to "personalized" tickets next season would solve the problem once and for all.

Wait... there is a solution to the violence in the stands and the Superleague won't even consider it? That's right. The one and only solution to stop the monkey business is to put a name on each ticket so there is accountability, but it won't be considered for the same reason gas stations don't want to attach their pumps to a meter that would accurately reflect their sales to the tax man.

I did a round of some soccer forums this week and noticed that the same kids that have been stomping their feet, still accuse everyone else for the club's ominous position and refuse to look in the mirror.

Why am I talking about this and not the game? It's because the game was meaningless. The title was won by Olympiakos today (officially on the table), the club has 99% chances of being banned from Europe next year since they don't have any money and they haven't paid their own players in months, and most of these players will be gone next year.

Given all that, it's a miracle that the player even played the game today with as much intensity as they did.

The players

Karnezis 9

He was steady as a rock, and saved the team on the one and only shot Aris managed to take from within the box.

Vintra 6

He had mostly good efforts on defense and did well playing as a CB once Spyropoulos was ejected and our defense played a 3-man zone.

Spyroupoulos 5

I was marveling at how well he played up until he managed to get himself ejected on a play that he should have just let go. He almost gave the game away, but Aris was not capable of taking advantage so it didn't end up costing the team.

Boumsong 7

Steady as a rock and a leader on defense. I could hear him barking orders to the other players on set pieces, and he won just about every ball that came in his area.

Kante 7

He too had a lot of work with Aris loading the front line (I counted seven players camped in our box on several plays) and lobbing the ball for a header. With few exceptions he won most of the balls that came his way.

Vitolo 8

He moved well in midfield, he defended well, and moved the ball forward smoothly.

Simao 9

I counted only one error all game long (late in the game when he tried to attack head-on and lost the ball. Besides that, he was an immovable object in midfield and spread the ball around nicely.

Quincy 7

If it weren't for the assist, I would have rated him with a 5 because most of his efforts up to that point ended up in errors. But one beautiful run down the left and one sweet assist erased every other bad play.

Lazaros 4

Besides a couple of good plays, he managed to lose the ball in every other effort up until he was replaced. He was closely guarded by two an three Aris players and whenever he saw daylight he didn't take advantage.

Zeka 8

It was unfortunate that he didn't score in the second half on a play that involved cinematic ball movement and a good clean shot-out from the six yard box.

Cleyton 6

He had some good efforts and at least one nice shot from the edge of the box, but overall he lacked the final good pass in the box.

Ninis 6

He played in the second half in Lazaros' place and did a good job helping on defense and moving the ball quickly to Quincy to start the counter-attack that won the game.

Roudolf 7

Besides the goal he didn't do much, but he won the game with a beautiful goal in the end and in general he showed that he knows how to play as a striker. He moved well in space and he scored with a simple move and shot while being marked by four Aris defenders. It kind of reminded me of the great Warzycha, but I should not say that, lest someone thing that I am comparing him to the great scorer. This was Roudolf's first goal for PAO. Unfortunately, overcame his injury too late to save this season.

Marinos 7

He was a good move to come in the game and he helped keep Aris away from our box.

Sure Signs the Superlague Blows

2012-03-26T08:03:00.002-04:00

Since there is no interest on the pitch any longer, and since there is always outside-the-pitch stories that are immensely more entertaining, I decided to start a running list of the events that prove that Greek Football sucks. It's all for the entertainment of the masses anyway :)

29 March 2012
Violence associated with Greek football has gotten out of hand. A few idiot fans with no life, have managed to keep a huge body of real fans away from the stadiums. Several times we've seen death's in gang-style violence, mafia style hits on referees and other officials, and of course riots in just about every game.

This was part of a ΒΗΜΑ report today.
The clubs have huge responsibility for the violence of their fans. Club owners condone (despite what they say in public) the violent disposition of their fans and as this article mentions, they finance the organized "ultras".

This report mentions what everyone already knows, but unfortunately doesn't shed any light in the particulars. Reporters in Greece are either afraid for their lives so they are careful what they write, or they are clueless and don't really know much besides what everyone knows already.

But it's worth to remember that club officials finance a fairly expensive operation by the organized fans. Club owners pay allowances to their organized armies (errr, I mean fans), they give them tickets at rock bottom prices to scalp for their own benefit, and in many cases (like Olympiakos does) they hire them as "security".

For the kids who don't remember why Panathinaikos organized fans hate the Vardinogiannis family, it's because George Vardinogiannis vowed to close Thyra13 two decades ago. I don't know details because I don't pay that much attention to the shareholders or the asinine fan monkey business, but I remember something about creating a ΠΑΛΕΦΙΠ, and that he had no backing from the state or the other club owners, or from the league officials. He lost that battle and had to resign, landing the club in his nephew's lap to play with.

In a way, these organized fans got what they deserved: Tzigger, and since this wasn't enough punishment, now they have destroyed the club altogether. I am sure they are happy, but I hope they find some meaning in their lives.

26 March 2012
Doxa Dramas - Levadiakos game drew a whopping 37 spectators!
I don't feel sorry for the other twenty thousand that missed the super-show!
Doesn't it make you wonder how 16 superleague teams support themselves financially? Is the OPAP subsidy sufficient? I doubt it. Any other sources of income? Not really. Receipts are puny, and merchandising is smothered by the black market.
It does make you wonder when you see the exciting games end with some amazing results (2 in the first half, win by over x3 the goals in the second half - I just made up that example, it has nothing to do with friendly teams playing a game yesterday).

OFI - Panathinaikos

2012-03-24T16:13:00.001-04:00

Well, the world didn't come to an end after all.

In case you lived in a cave last month, Panathinaikos lost another title, their board and president quit en masse last week, Vgenopoulos asked for his money back, the puny loans that were front page are taken back, in a few days UEFA might announce that PAO is banned from European Leagues for lack of funds, and in case the above weren't dramatic enough, the historic club is heading steadily for bankruptcy and division-4 titles.

Despite all that, the sun rose on time, and the superleague continues as if all it's problems are solved by punishing the club for the actions of a couple hundred jerks. Despite all that, the coach and the players took the field today and managed a very attractive performance for over an hour. They won the game, missed at least four tete-a-tetes and continue their fight all on their own.

Once again, OFI fans proved that organized fans in Greece are the second worst part of the game - the worst part of course being "paragontes" like the ones in jail and the other ones who own the government and league officiating bodies. But that's another story for another day. Sufice to say that they threw a chicken (dead one) on the pitch, and interrupted the game for over ten minutes total. Now what kind of person spends his days conspiring to bring a dead chicken on the stadium to throw on the pitch could be a very entertaining study for a young psychology PHD candidate. I'd love to know what kind of trauma they've been through in life-not.

In the first half Panathinaikos played an excellent passing game that kept OFI almost exclusively in their half and culminated in a beautiful goal by Cleyton. Despite numerous changes in the lineup, the team showed cohesion and freshness as long as Ninis and Cleyton had some juice in their legs. Once Ninis and Cleyton got tired, ball circulation began lacking in crispness, and OFI moved the ball to our half without ever getting dangerous for Karnezi who handled the few long range shots with ease (most sailed wide or high anyway).

It was good to see Nini back, and also nice to see Lagos making his debut with the first team. Now that the entire squad will be gone after the season ends, we'll see a lot more of the academy kids promoted. In my book, academy prospects are not synonymous with titles, but we'll see what happens until next season.

The Players

Karnezis 8
He did well to block the few shots that were on target, and seemed to have the rest under control. His reaction and angle to deny Mantzion on the lone clean shot that came his way was particularly difficult and well executed. Overall, this season he has shown good shot-blocking skills and good positioning. If he eliminates the few fatal moments he was shown propensity for, and his erratic decisions on high balls, he will end up a solid goalkeeper.

Vintra 6
He had no real problems defensively and didn't venture many efforts going forward. He had a few errors, but overall he was stable.

Spyropoulos 7
He did an excellent job clogging the left of our defense, and did a lot of running forward even if he never had a chance for a final cross (absent a permanent striker presence today).

Boumsong 8
Seeing how commanding Boumsong is on defense, it's tempting to think that this season would have been a lot different if he wasn't injured for such a long stretch. He handled a very crafty and sizable forward in Mantzios one way or another and bestowed much needed security and calmness in the middle of our defense.

Sariegi 6
He had no problems most of the game, but he did seem to panic a few too many times, especially toward the end.

Vitolo 7
He worked well in midfield, stealing many balls, holding and distributing with authority. He had a few errors, but he held his position well and moved the ball forward quickly or held it when it was appropriate.

Zeka 6
He played next to Vitolo until Ninis exited the game, at which time he moved in front of the two CMs (Vitolo and Lagos). He had his ups and downs but overall his performance was positive. There were moments where he held passed the ball under very tight pressing, and a few times he gave the ball away without much pressure.

Ninis 7
Despite the many errors, he was active in open space and managed to shed pressure quickly in midfield. Given that this was only the third game of the season after his injury, I was expecting the several unforced errors that seemed to be the result of being away from the space and speed of the game. He combined particularly well down the left wing with teammates and slipped past OFI's DMs many times through fakes or combination plays.

Quincy 5
He was a pain in the OFI's behind when he glided among defenders, and their joy when he gave it up easily. He had his ups and downs, with mostly downs, but in the end he managed to pull a few plays that could have netted another goal.

Lazaros 7
His performance was similar to quincy, with the big difference being that he showed more interest in helping the defense and pulled an amazing assist to Cleyton who won the game. He does need to work on his final attempt though. He lost his defenders several times only to take a bad shot, or to send a final errant pass, or to attempt an extra dribble in the box.

Cleyton 8
His moves were smooth as silk in the goal, and his overall contribution was very good in midfield. He was in the right place most of the time and sprayed the ball around very nicely for about one hour. His goal was one of the best personal efforts of the season. He received a 50-meter long ball by Lazaro in the box, he stopped it on a dime and split the two defenders in front of him as if they were orange cones in practice. His final move to round the goalkeeper and to tap the ball to the net was pure class. That's the reason I watch the games! For the few seconds of pure magic players like Cleyton pull to shadow a whole game's efforts by opponents. I do love tactics too by the way.

Lagos 4
He made his debut in the superleague in a very dificult pitch and without the benefit of skilled AMs in front (Ninis was gone and Cleyton's game was deteriorating before Karagounis came in) he looked a bit nervous for a while, but once Karagounis entered the game, he looked a lot more comfortable as a DM and actually moved well in space in the last ten minutes. Welcome to Pao football!

Karagounis and Mavrias came in the game late in the game for Cleyton and Lazaro. Karagounis helped a great deal to establish some order and possession in midfield, while Mavrias only played a couple of minutes.

Ferreira gets credit for fielding a fresh squad and for helping them bounce from the devastating three-game slide. It's a little too late for this season, but it's preferable to sliding further down the slope. I am not sure what he and the players find worth to play for, but they all seemed to try hard and to treat the game with the same intensity as if the title was on the line. Absent any other competent club officials, I'll attribute the resilience to the coach and the individual players.

There are a few games left in the season, most of which will be played without fans in OAKA. It's probably for the best because with the kind of fans PAO has in the stands it would probably be best to play an entire season in away games if we are to have a chance to win something.

Why Bother?

2012-03-18T16:35:00.002-04:00

I write this around the 80th minute of the Panathinaikos - Olympiakos game, when the fans interrupted the game for the second time.

Organized fans are jerks. Period.

I wish they would find something else to play with (something that seems to be getting very little attention, judging from their chants and desperate antics for attention).

Panathinaikos fans have turned into the worst part of a game that's already pathetic enough.

I sat on my chair expecting to watch a game by the two best teams in Greece, only to find my eyes and intellect abused by a horrible game, and the antics of the few jerks that fancy themselves the "protectors" of the club.

Bull hickey. Most of the little organized kids (Thyra13 and the such) are the same idiots that go to all the demonstrations in hopes of breaking things with impunity. I have the pictures in my head of most of them going home, looking all pissy, saying "μαμά βάλε να φάω".

Football or not, these idiots will continue to be the zits of society, but they found a perfect home under the "organized" safety net that the unscrupolous football officials provide so they can use them to scare lawmakers, opponents, referees, and the such.

What's funny is how impotent these fans are. They boast about their violence and threaten everyone. but all they manage is to break seats, toilets, and fire extinguishers so they can boast to their friends the next day over frappé. The police handle them with ease, and the only victims of their actions are the clubs and all of us fans who want to spend a pleasant weekend watching and discussing football.

What can I write about the game? Why would anyone care? The whole superleague is a joke. I've written many times about the superleague officials, referees, and shareholders.

It's a sad way to end a really nice season for Panathinaikos' players.

Olympiakos was winning up to the moment when the fans interrupted the game for the final time. I have no idea if the game re-started, and I don't care to find out. For this fan, the game ended for good at that point and I turned off the TV. Even if PAO came back to win, it would make no difference to me.

Olympiakos wins another Greek title in a football showing that's equivalent to third world country competitions. Congratulations. They were the mildly better team on the pitch today, and managed the game with ease.

They are on their way to collect another 17 million Euro for their automatic inclusion in the Champions League groups, and on their way to make a couple "super-duper" transfers (usually worth a fraction of the collected UEFA fund, but pumped up to be "galaktikos" material), while Panathinaikos is on their way to years of lingering in obscurity with no money, no leadership, no players, and few jerks in the stands to pound their chest.

More than ten players will depart from Panathinaikos this summer, and the ones who will remain, will play with the thought that their release from contract isn't coming fast enough.

From the present squad, there are only very few players that could be certain starters in any club in this league: Boumsong, Leto, Katsouranis, and a few players that would have a shot at starting at above-mid-table clubs (Simao, Zeka, Quincy). The rest of our players, as hard as they try can't make the difference that could lead to a championship. Most are good supporting cast that have been pushed into the limelight, absent any other alternatives.

I want to thank them all, no matter who they are for their contributions this, and other seasons. No matter their objective level, they were never given the support to win a title, so I can't blame them.

The coach this season, Ferreira, worked miracles all on his own. But he too will be gone with the worst impressions from the club, it's fans, and it's prospects. I wish him best of luck wherever he goes, and I thank him for putting together an entertaining bunch for a small part of this season.

What's a fan to do besides being totally dejected and wondering why to bother with this pathetic league any longer?

For myself, I have decided to boycot all Greek sports media from now on. That's because they have been playing and escalating this game by stroking the fans' ears, and by instigating them to violence (all media, and for all club fans), in hopes they'll get more readers/audience/viewers and more revenue from their ads.

This is not the first time Greek football has fallen into turmoil. It's been going on forever, with violence, deaths, fixed games, etc. but this past decade has been beyond ridiculous. There will be a media frenzy now, with interviews and analysis of what's wrong, promises to uproot the organized cancer and to clean up the league, but in the end, everyone will forget about everything and things will fall back down in the mud in a period no longer than two weeks.

The few fat cats who have it all rigged to line their pockets will continue to provoke, the other few who can't spare a dime will bust our nuts, and life will go on like nothing happened.

That's because, really, nothing happened. A very bad entertaining product (if it were a movie, we'd be out of the theatre years ago) will continue to abuse the masses.

Well, this is one fan that decided to stop supporting this rotten construct.

Perhaps someday this silly football league will get back to being mildly exciting, but I have many alternatives and I don't need their product in my life any more. I am leaving now to go remove all my bookmarks for the few Greek sports sites I haven't deleted so far (Sport.gr, Prasina Nea, and Gazzetta.gr)

Goodnight.

AEK - Panathinaikos 2-0

2012-03-11T16:51:00.002-04:00

Just like that, in a short period of two weeks we kissed another title goodbye.

This was a good game for AEK who showed and won this game on elevated intensity alone. Their players contested every single ball with more passion than PAO players, they risked more on their personal battles, and as a result had a lot more chances and open shots than Panathinaikos players had.

In some sort of way it was surreal to watch the AEK fans rejoice when AEK scored their second goal to put the game away. It was nice to see them finally having something to cheer about, and at the same time, showed me the near future for us PAO fans. We can look forward to several years of whining and suffering with the occasional consolation win against AEK, PAOK, and Olympiakos to give us some much needed boost of hopeless exuberance. It's funny how our plight is the direct result of what brought AEK to this position: horrible shareholders that quibble with "entitlement" fans.

This was the second game the team looked flat, and failed to score in OAKA. Worst, Panathinaikos looked unable to move the ball without errors when two and three AEK players pressed the ball carrier in midfield and on our defense. This is bad news because next week we are playing Olympiakos who is the best in the league at pressing the ball carrier in the front third of the pitch. But that's another game, and like they say in the stock market, past performance is not guaranteed of future gains, so we'll wait to write our epitaph or our consolation eulogy next weekend.

AEK won the game fairly and squarely, despite several officiating blunders. Overall, the ref will get good marks from his superiors, but four plays sum up how bad officiating is in Greece.

First, AEK's first goal should have been disallowed as offside. Kafes jumped for the header (played the ball) and distracted Karnezi enough to make him concede another silly goal. Kafes was offside when the freekick was taken.

Second, Lazaros was clearly pulled from behind as he was heading the ball in the six yard box. Do you remember PAOK's penalty last week? Exactly!

Mind as well ammend FIFA's rules to include that PAO's opponents are allowed to push and pull anyone with a green shirt in the box. This way we will all know that it's not really a penalty. Do you remember last week's first minutes Sariegi's disrobing by Tsirilo in the box? Exactly!

Third, the play in 89' when Cleyton managed to shake a player and was just about to enter AEK's box with control of the ball. Koukoulakis rushed to call the foul on the preceding tackle, thus denying PAO the advantage on that play. It wasn't a game-changing call like the previous ones I mentioned, but indicative of how ref's in Greece have been skinning PAO one little piece at a time. Compare that play with the countless ones he correctly allowed AEK the advantage in previous plays. See a pattern? Exactly.

Fourth, did you watch Koukoulakis running toward Vargas with his hand ready to pull the yellow in midfield, only to change his mind when he realized the AEK player had already been booked. Not a big deal, but again, another play that referees in Greece call what they think "should be called" based on some sort of pre-determined outcome of how the game should go. In other words, ref's in Greece don't call what they see and they don't interpet the rules based on some reasonable judgement, but have in mind what the papers will write next day and how their business and personal safety will be affected.

I won't mention Marinos' booking that was plain wrong.

Don't get me wrong, Panathinaikos deserved to lose, and AEK deserved to win despite the officiating boo-boos, but they should have allowed a better chance.

The bigest problem this game was our midfield defense. Lyberopoulos in his old age looked like Socrates (the Brazillian one - not the ancient philosopher) receiving and distributing the ball beautifully in open space and with barely a green shirt in sight. Simao had a good game, and Zeka was energetic, but Katsouranis and Quincy weren't really fitting well into the defensive puzzle, and with Lazaros busy being the second forward the middle of the field was gifted to AEK to do as they pleased. AEK players exploited the weakness well, and risked forward runs that ended up in many dangerous plays for our goal.

Scoring for AEK looked inevitable after the first ten minutes. To the contrary, I was racking my brain to find a little light in the dark tunnel that was Panathinaikos' offensive development. Besides Marinos' runs on the right and a few Zeka runs down the middle, everything else looked soft. This includes Katsouranis' through-balls that have become more than predictable for defenders all over Greece by now. As soon as he hunches his shoulders and straighten both knees it's "through ball" time. Just look at the two holes ahead (just like foosball when we were kids) and plug them. Simple as pie.

AEK had the two PAO most dangerous players marked well, and it helped them enormously that both showed a propensity to come up with a solution while looking for a problem whenever they got the ball. Quincy and Lazaros are the two players I have in mind. Both over-complicated even the simplest of plays and most of the time they lost or gifted the ball.

Add to this ball gifting the fact that the CMs and the defense were always just too far from the subsequent forward pass, and you have the making of many-many plays where our defenders were backpedaling one on one.

Despite all that, PAO showed some glimmers of hope with a few shots here and there, but conceding a completely unacceptable goal by our goalkeeper, and a second one during a player shift after a substitution, and the game was over before we knew it.

All the pressure PAO put AEK under after the 2-0 was too little, too late against a team that had every reason to just sit back and watch us sweat in panic.

Congratulations to AEK for their win, and a big thanks to our players and coach for lasting as long as they lasted in the title race, giving us a few games of pure bliss up to Christmas.

Once it became clear that winning the title was within reach, the structural support from the shareholders to make it happen wasn't there so, again, I don't want to blame them.

Watch now how some "shareholders" and the "protecting the club" fans will become the protagonists for the remainder of this season and beyond; in three...two...one...

THE PLAYERS

Karnezis 0
He did have a few saves, but he looked like an 80-year old man whose cane gave way under him on the first goal. This goal made the whole game insurmountable at a point when it looked like we were actually beginning to take charge. I was about to give him a 5 for winning a tet-a-tete the dying moments and a couple of other plays, but I remembered that I always expect (having been spoiled by PAO goalkeepers for 40 years) that our number one will pull two and three of these saves per game. The zero is not for the person - he looks like a good guy - but for just this one game that was given away on that one play.

Marinos 7
I thought he had an excellent game and was surprised that he was subbed just before we conceded a second goal that originated on the spot he had just vacated. Zeka was supposed to be on the spot according to the announcer, but I have the feeling that Ferreira was asking for just three on defense with Zeka as RM and Bjarsmur sliding to the right. Whatever the case, there was a mix up that allowed AEK open space for one moment that proved lethal.

Spyropoulos 7
Spyropoulos had a good game despite being exposed constantly on defense. I've been critical of some games in the past, but today he was solid defensively while he worked well down the wing.

Bjarsmyr 4
He had tons of problems and could not move the ball from defense to midfield without giving me heart attacks. Perhaps he would have been a better candidate to be subbed instead of Marinos, but I can see how Ferreira wanted to keep at least two tall players on defense for freekicks and the such.

Kante 6
He too had problems moving the ball out of defense (perhaps the reason Sariegi was preferred up to now), but he didn't lose his marker as easily as Bjarsmyr did today.

Simao 6
AEK had a very active and energetic CM duo, and without help from the other midfielders they made him look exposed in front of our CBs. Even so, he had a good game and many positive plays.

Katsouranis 4
He had his best plays moving forward, but I think he was the reason AEK had so much space in front of our defenders. The whole point of having Katsourani in the game is to tighten our first defensive line with a CM who can defend and also move the ball forward. Today he did neither well, although he was at his best when he found open field in the front third of the pitch. He looked very lax in his defensive duties, and that defeated the purpose of his use in the starting lineup. If we need an exclusively offensive CM, we have a couple of others who can play that spot better but can't defend (Ninis, Lazaros, and Cleyton)

Quincy 1
Nothing much from Quincy who once again failed to show the required intensity for such a game. I didn't expect more intensity for quincy to be honest, but I did expect him to spread panic in the several plays he got the ball with open field in front. But he didn't deliver in that respect either, so I can't find any positive contributions.

Zeka 7
He looked nimble and had many good plays despite having to overcome two and three defenders at at time. He was at his best when he merged inward on the right with Marions providing beautiful support. He also helped a great deal defensively on the right and in the middle.

Totse 6
He fought hard and had many positive efforts in (mostly) and outside the box. But he didn't see any clean passes so every play he saw the ball came with a couple of defenders between him and the goal. Sure PAO should have a CF who can overcome such handicaps once or twice per game, but that's not his fault and with the little support he had today, he did well.

Lazaros 4
Despite a handfull of really good plays, most of the game he carried the ball too much, trapped himself in tight spots for no reason, and generally made things easier for AEK. Most troubling, there was a huge part of the game when I wondered if he was even playing. He was moved around from left to SS to the right, but he didn't find daylight anywhere.

Cleyton 6
Cleyton came in the game when we were already behind in the score and helped with possession and distribution at a time when AEK moved 9 players permanently behind centerfield. He showed good skill in tight quarters (something most fans and reporters in Greece don't know is that Cleyton was a 5x5 player in Brazil before he moved to Greece), and had a couple good shots.

Karagounis contribution was better movement with the ball out of our defense (although AEK was already done pressing up front) and worst freekick delivery than (the already pretty bad delivery by) Lazaro and Quincy.

Ninis
He came in the game for the last ten minutes and he looked good and nimble on the ball. He was fast and energetic, mostly down the right wing, so it was good to see the kid back. I hope he gets his career back on track after his second major career injury. Welcome back even if it's two games too late to save this season.

Ferreira didn't get the team out of the gate firing on all cylinders and can be blamed for the second goal that came after his Marinos subtitution mixed up our defense for a few minutes. Tough break there but still his responsibility to ensure smooth transition after a sub. He can't play goalkeeper, and he can't be a linesman to see the Kafes offside, so by that time it was desperation time to score, so I can't blame him for taking a major risk at that point in the game. In fact, I was hopping we go for broke at that moment too.

Next up: Panathinaikos - Olympiakos.

It was supposed to be the "game of the season' that would put us on top for the last five games, but it has now been rendered a pointless game. If anyone thinks that by winning against Olympiakos we'll be able to overtake them in the last four games, they don't know enough about Greek football and haven't been watching the happenings on and off the field.

Good luck to the players for the remaining games. I hope they end the season healthy and mostly, I hope they find the entertaining spirit they showed early in the fall, before they were burdened with winning an unexpected title with zero support off the field.

All is full of love

2012-03-09T09:59:00.003-05:00

I am not sure why, but reading the report about the board meeting today reminded me of the above video where Vgenopoulos is entangled with Vgenopoulos and everything is happy and touchy-feely.

Perhaps the board meeting report should be required reading for all fourth grade youth in Greece to make sure that idiocy is perpetuated ad infinitum. I won't waste my (and your time) going into the details, but suffice to say it was a board meeting where everyone knew they can't make any decisions regarding GIPEL or anything that goes against the majority shareholder because, well, the person who has the majority representation on the board would never vote for such thing. Everyone knew that the only decisions they could make were in regards to share increase. But that didn't stop them from spending the majority of the meeting discussing things that just suited their own selves.

In the end, they did manage to devalue their own shares by a lot, and they decided to increase the shares by 15 million Euro. In case you forgot, that's the same decision they made a few short months ago, and the same decision they failed to fulfill because no one stepped up to put any money toward that goal.

We did hear some amazing new ideas, and perhaps got a glimpse of the new way out. Vgenopoulos advocated that the fans buy shares, and as we all know, that's how every great team manages to reach success. I am just kidding of course. Relying on the fan base to bail out the club is usually a last ditch effort before its ultimate demise. It's an idea that has surprising appeal in a country where basic economic principles are ignored (from fear they conflict with sweet political talk), by mostly hot-headed fans who think they themselves can actually save the club. Perhaps they can start pondering why other big indebted corporations (let's say OSE, the greek train company) can't be saved simply by allowing their workers and "fans" buy them.

None of the transcripts make sense to me. Having reporters present betraid the real purpose of the board meeting, which was to be another publicity stund for the one person who just loves publicity.

The one interesting part is where Vgenopoulos seems to be afraid that PAE PAO is liable for 2 million euro, and he is upset that Tzigger took responsibility (in the media) for 1 million.

Is he really afraid that someone will sue PAE PAO for 1 million euro? For me it's more money than I will have in my retirement fund after a full lifetime of honest work, but for someone who boasts that he can write a 15 million "guarantee" check tomorrow, 1 million seems like silly money. This whole GIPEL issue is just stupid. If Vgenopoulos thinks that fishy business went on with (partly) his shares, he has every right to pursue legal action. Why he just bitches about it in the media is just as suspect.

If that's really how the board conversations go, it's a miracle the club hasn't evaporated yet. No agenda, no purpose, just posturing. Inviting the media to a board meeting that is discussing the surviral of the club is beyond asinine. They ended up talking to the media through each other instead of taking care of the real business.

But I am giving them too much credit here. None of these gentlemen (present and absent) are serious businessmen.

To top the parody off, in the actual transcript, Gontikas answers the question "how much money did Samaras made annually?" by saying he made 45 thousand.

Lo and behold, how that became "45 thousand per month" and has been repeated by many a hot headed fan in their comments, and (worst) how it became the subject of some reporters' analysis is another mystery of the universe.

Perhaps it would be best for the poor club to die a sudden death. It just hurts to see Panathinaikos slowly imploding from the inside.

Panathinaikos - Paok 0-2

2012-03-04T15:57:00.003-05:00

We slipped into second place today, and perhaps it's time we start enumerating the idiots that prevent this team from succeeding:

Dodo number 1:
Thyra 13. The self-indulging organized kids show time and again that they don't not give a damn about how their actions affect the team. They managed to weaken this amazing club trough their fifteen-year war with the Vardinogiannis family. Interestingly, most of them don't even remember how their "war" stared, but it suits their needs because really, that's all they care about: street fights.

Besides keeping any serious investor away from the club (who would want to put money in a hole where they do whatever they want with no regard for how it would hurt the club) Their antics and childish actions have provided ample distractions in a season where the players and coach have over extended themselves to bring a title to the club.

Playing without fans today was a direct result of the brainless fans. The game would have been a lot different with thirty thousand fans in the stands, but Thyra 13 prevented everyone from helping their team today, and the game looked for the longest time like a summer friendly.

I for one don't care for their antics, for their self-indulging chants, or their flares, or their trouble making, or their threats of violence, or their gang-style war with the other idiotic organized clubs in Greece, or for their entitlement issues. Above all, I don't care for their behavior that hurts the club time and again.

They are quick to take credit for the team's success, and it's time they look in the mirror and start sharing some of the blame too.

Dodo number 2:
Voskakis, the referee. He played like he was riding a high horse, and called a penalty that he would have never called for Panathinaikos.

For those who forget, Daloukas last year gave a much more blatant penalty on a similar play (Vintra pushed with an outstretched elbow from behind in the Aris - Pao game), and his life has been miserable since. He was axed from the referee boards (Marinakis declared his officiating "crime against Greece" if you remember), his car was torched, his fathers care was torched after that, and who knows what else he went through.

Regarding this penalty, I'd say that it was ridiculous, given that the same referee ignored a number of similar plays in the middle of the field if they were going to give PAO the advantage. If he had called the similar plays and fouls on Cleyton (ecpecially), Zeka, and Quincy in the middle of the field earlier, I would have said that he did well to call that penalty.

But he showed every intentinon of letting the game develop through such plays up until that point. How he changed his stance on what's an infraction and what isn't can be atributed to the deamons put in his head through all the referee "accidents" and terrorist attacks against their property (if it wasn't something more sinister).

Which brings me to...

Dodo number 3:
Theodoridis. I don't mean to say that the old man is responsible for PAO not scoring today and looking flat, but he was installed in the league for one and only reason: to steer the behind the scenes (EPO, Superleague, disciplinary boards, and referees) toward an anti-PAO and a pro-Olympiakos road, and to make sure that the referee thoughts go his club's way in the split second they have to make a decision like the one made by Voskakis today. He worked miracles in a deeply corrupt system, maintaining a high level of noise and intimidation toward everyone and anyone.

Have you watched how our players get axed constantly with a minimum of fouls and bookings given, while opponents get to play as hard as they please with impunity in the last couple of months? We can safely look at Theodoridis' work and say, good job old man.

Dodo number 4:
Tzigger (the current majority shareholder). He could easily be number one, but he'll get plenty of swearing from the number one bonehead, so it matters not that he has fallen to number 4 here.

He is responsible for the club's decade of underachieving for many reasons. First because he ran the club into the ground with his incompetency, and second because he didn't have the guts to take on and dismantle idiot number 1 during the same period, or to protect the club from #3 types, or to organize it into a winning franchise .

In fact, his weak character and non-existent leadership skills are responsible for letting everyone and their uncle run all over the club.

Organized and unorganized fans; demagogues; incompetent managers; league officials; courts, politicians (Tsipras most of all); referees; newspaper owners; sports reporters (if anyone can call them that); minority shareholders; veterans; all have taken their turns chipping away the glory that Panathinaikos built over a century of strong leadership and support from the top.

In every chance he got, he chose to hide and to cower. When the going got tough, he chose to retreat. He never played the leading role Panathinaikos demands from his owner, he never got involved with the team like he really cared, he managed to destroy even the few glimmers of hope the club had to overcome his incompetency over the years, and let his ego creep into every single decision he had to make (usually putting his ego above the club's success).

He too, like the organized fans, suffer from entitlement issues.

Dodo number 5
Vgenopoulos, and the rest of the shareholders. They left the team unprotected and exposed, and they only care to look "squeaky-clean" in the media through childish posturing and asinine media releases (I refuse to read any of their drivel, and I hope you do the same). Vgenopoulos especially is a great candidate for number 1 in this list, but there is only one number one spot.

While the Giannakopouloi brothers can boast for their incredible contribution to Panathinaikos' history in basketball (which gives them a certain amount of immunity to criticism as far as I am concerned), Vgenopoulos has been the most divisive, toxic figure in the world. He has filled an encyclopedia full of empty talk, bought some shares a few years ago and he too jumped on the entitlement bandwagon and has busted our chops over the past three years.

Here is my message to the guy: put your money where your mouth is, or keep it closed and leave us alone.

Since I mentioned "the shareholders" I should not forget Pateras. He put a minimum of money to buy a few shares and did well to lead the club through a successful season, but he found Tzigger's ego in his way, and fizzled into obscurity, unable to strengthen the club financially when it counted. To his credit, he never had entitlement issues, and never pretended that he could help the club in any other way than a managerial position.

Needless to say, I can't believe that collectively they can't put some funds together, or that they can't do a fundraiser to keep the team afloat.

Dodo number 6
Today's game announcer. I got really tired of hearing him exclaim how well PAOK players were playing and pumping up the young kid who made his debut as a right back (I hope he forgives me for forgetting his name). I don't want to have the blatant bias that Olympiakos announcers show in their games, but I'd expect a more balanced and insightful description of the field events.

Now for the game

Paok did a great job managing the game, and with the help of the aforementioned dimwits, it was two PAO ex-players that de-throned us along with a very accommodating referee. Chalkias had a game the likes of which I don't even remember since his early PAO days (he had a couple of those - one in Europe if I remember correctly), and Salpigidis that put the game away with a beautiful goal.

Athanasiadis, PAOK's forward did an awesome job putting Sariegi on his back, and did a good job keeping possession and falling convincingly.

Even though Panathinaikos dominated possession once again, PAOK presented a very stout defense, and an excellent way of moving the ball away from their box to let the defenders breathe. Vitolo played a good game, but we missed Simao who usually wins possession in midfield and keeps the pressure on defenses.

The game looked like it was slated for a draw after the first 45 minutes, but Panathianikos showed a lot of spirit early in the second half, when they missed a couple of excellent chances to score. Chalkia's amazing saves kept PAOK in the game while their forwards kept our defenders busy all game long.

The penalty came at a critical time, and after that, with PAO desperate to move forward, the second goal looked like an inevitable affair to me.

Overall, PAOK took their three points and Panathinaikos failed to win a much needed game, losing first place to Olympiakos who had already won comfortably at OFI. It's not a good omen, knowing that we have seven more "must-win" games ahead.

The title is still within reach, and Panathianikos holds all the cards, but they must win every single one of the remaining contents if they want this title.

The Players

I hate to rate the players. They haven't been paid in a long time, they haven't gotten any help in the transfer period, they've been treated like trash by referees since it became evident that they were on their way to a title, and they can't catch a break with injuries.

But for the fun of it, I'll keep the rating tradition, even though I have the outmost respect for them, playing under such conditions and for a club that has imploded through the actions of the fans and shareholders.

Karnezis 5
He really didn't have that much work and can't be blamed for the first goal. I kind of think that on the second goal the ball was long time in the air and that a goalkeeper should own his box on such plays, so I think he should have attacked the ball before it got to Salpi. Other than that, he did well collecting most high balls, and only bubbled the ball once on a long (admittedly difficult) shot by Garcia in the first half.

Marinos 5
He looked good in the first half when he spent a lot of time down the wing, but somehow he was more quiet in the second half (not sure if it was Ferreira's instructions to keep to his defensive duties or if he just didn't find the opportunities).

Spyropoulos 5
He too looked good defensively, and had a couple of crosses in the box that looked dangerous.

Bjarsmyr 5
He had good positioning most of the game, and moved the ball forward quickly. I don't have the heart to watch the highlights of the game, and I didn't notice where he was in the second goal. Perhaps later this week I'll go back to watch them, and I might re-assess his rating if he was out of position on the Salpi score.

Sariegi 3
Tough break for Sariegi, but Athanasiadis pulled an amazing move to get in front of him, and then he owned him with ease. He is right to complain that it wasn't much of a penalty, but he should have never lost his player so easily in the box.

Vitolo 7
He did well to organize the game and to steal balls in midfield. He had several errors, but he wasn't the main reason we lost the game today.

Katsouranis 5
He was the only player in midfield capable of sending promising through-balls forward, and he served a few of those, but in the end, most were a little too far, or a little too short. He gifted the ball way too many times in midfield to negatively balance his few good moves with the ball.

Quincy 3
He had no space and no energy today. He attempted a few forward runs when the field opened up, but most of the time he looked content to win a foul on the slightest of contacts from opponents, and gifted the ball on many easy passes.

Zeka 4
He played mostly on the right wing in the fist half, but he did move to the interior for long stretches of the game. Overall, most of his efforts were impotent, with the exception of the beautiful play that ended with his well placed shot and lucky deflection by Chalkias' feet.

Lazaros 5
He was the only one capable of creating something good close to PAOK's box, but he rarely saw the ball for whatever reason. When the ball came to him on the left wing, he looked like he totally owned the young right back. But strangely, our game plan (or perhaps Salpi's considerable help to his defense) prevented him from seeing the ball more than a couple of occasions in the first half. I thought it was a missed opportunity to create mis-matches when the kid looked a little shaky, and we didn't take advantage of it.

Cleyton 0
I think it's time Cleyton gets some rest. His first successful effort (a fake in midfield) came half hour into the game, and most of his passes, dribbles, and other efforts ended up helping PAOK.

Totse 6
His entry into the game gave PAO some power up front and he missed a couple of excellent chances to score. Both were strong individual efforts to get his head to the ball. Chalkias pulled a very difficult deflection on his upper right corner in the first header, and his second one sailed high even though he did really well to get to the end of it.

Karagounis and Mavrias came in the game late to pull a miracle, but neither one was able to help much. After the 0-2 and with PAOK playing 10 men behind the ball, there was absolutely no space to work.

Ferreira complained about the superleague punishing his team and their own product by handing out empty-stadium punishments with such ease, and he is right. From his end, he didn't help the team win today, keeping Totse on the bench in the first half, and acting a little desperate, pulling Sariegi after we fell behind in the score. Moving Vitolo to the CB position has probably a lot to do with conceding a second goal, but I'll have to watch the game again later this week to determine that for sure. Just like every coach in the world, he seems to have his own fixation with certain players. One of which is Cleyton who has looked really bad to me for over a month, but he keeps starting every game no matter what. Up to now, it hasn't been detrimental, and on a couple of occasions Cleyton has helped win games, so I don't mean to make a big deal out of his use. He is still valuable for a portion of the game, either in the beginning or the end. Perhaps with Totse in the starting lineup and Lazaro in a free role behind, things might have been different. But then again, things might have been worst.

Overall, it was a complete failure from top to bottom that led to the loss of first place.

But it's not the end of the world. In fact, the loss at Levadiakos was more devastating. I expect in games against Olympiakos, AEK, and PAOK we would lose points. We won an unexpected three points in Touba, and now we just provided some equilibrium with a loss at home.

The title is still going to be determined in a couple of weeks against Olympiakos. We can still do it, but everyone needs to step their game up for the remaining seven games, and "everyone" includes the organized fans, the big mouth shareholders, the players, and the coach.

Let's hope they can shake this loss off.

Here is the list and predictions for the remaining games

Leto and Quincy

2012-02-29T21:50:00.000-05:00

Just in case you missed it, here is a video showcasing the skills of Leto and Quincy. It'a joy to watch, and a reminder why we all stick around the SoupaLeague.

Warning: it was probably made by a 12-year old because the music is absolutely horrendous! Turn off your speakers before you start watching, and enjoy.

Ergotelis - Panathinaikos 0-2

2012-02-18T13:14:00.002-05:00

Ergotelis Panathinaikos Video

+5!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding. This is my response to the mainstream media I usually read (Contra, Sport.gr, Gazzetta) that can't wait to post titles like "First", "submit (κορυφή)", "back on top" and other such ridiculous headlines every time Olympiakos goes ahead on the table, even if they have played one or two games more than Panathinaikos.

The +5 will probably be back to +2 tomorrow when Olympiakos will play another FRIENDLY (I hope Marinakis took his pills and won't go into convulsions reading this) agains Panionios at home. But Panathinaikos is holding their future in their hands and the way it goes (and looks) it would take an enormous chocking to lose this title.

The game today was a typical one, with Panahtinaikos playing well enough to take it comfortably by a two goal margin. Ergotelis looked horrible, with nothing really going for them. It was funny to see highlights of Katsikokeris after his substitution. He was under a cross that sailed way high and to the other corner, and he stumbled and fell down on another cross that there was no way to get to.

That was really it for Ergotelis' chances of scoring. On the other hand, Panathinaikos continued their solid game that leads to high-percentage shots.

I wrote about this before, but it warrants repeating. Panathinaikos works hard as a team to insure that the last pass in the box, and the last shot are always "high percentage" efforts.

That's the reason Panathinaikos scores more often with less chances this season, and it's something that still perplexes reporters and media analyzers. I even read that some Olympiakos officials (the older, senile one) refered to it as ρέντα, or "lucky streak" a month ago. I bet he still thinks that.

In this game, it was a corner that actually broke the gridlock. Cleyton delivered from the right (ours), and Simao with a beautiful header send it to the far post and into the net. After that, I knew it was going to be over for Ergotelis.

I mentioned last week how Panathinaikos is built to destroy opponents in open space. But they are not built to crack teams that park ten men behind the ball, so scoring on set pieces is key in such games.

Panathianikos had, and will always have problems against teams that don't care if the game ends 0-0. Last game was a good illustration of what happens to a team when they decide to open up their game. Xanthi parked the bus in their half for 70 minutes, but once they decided to begin attacking, they conceded three goals in a very short period of time.

Today I thought it was going to be a long game because Ergotelis didn't look like they cared to open it up, so naturally I hoped that something would force them to attack more. That something was Simao's head, and the rest is history.

Immediately after the goal, Ergotelis tried to press high and to make an extra effort to attack. Within a few minutes they realized that even a tiny bit of space left to the Panathinaikos forward would be very expensive real estate. A tiny bit of daylight allowed Lazaro to deliver a wicked shot from the edge of the box that forced the goalkeeper to spill his save toward the middle. Mavrias pounced on the ball and put the game away.

It was nice to see two young players score their first goal with PAO. Simao has been playing for a while but has never scored in the superleague, and Mavrias opened up a tap for many more to come. His face showed incredible emotion and intensity as he celebrated his goal, running toward his good friend Kapino on the bench.

If you were watching the game, you will probably remember Simao's face and smile, as he dedicated the goal to Ferreira, as one of the game's highlights.

THE PLAYERS

Karnezis 7
He was not pressed at all, but he was perfect on the simple plays he was called to intervene.

Marinos 8
I like the way Marinos plays. He has huge lung capacity, provides tons of meaningful support down the wing (and the threat that he can cut inward). Today he was just about perfect on defense too.

Bjarsmyr 7
Dominating performance against very weak opposition, but the stat that says Panathianikos has yet to concede a goal with him in the lineup is beginning to look meaningful.

Sariegi 7
He too had an easy afternoon on defense. I liked how both he and Bjarsmyr took a couple of chances to advance the ball all the way close to Ergotelis' box.

Spyropoulos 7
Spyropoulos had a solid game today. Seing that Ergotelis was boycoting his side, he run forward many times to provide support to Lazaro.

Simao 9
Almost a perfect game by Simao today. I can't believe my eyes, seeing how he has improved his ball distribution this season. What was fun to watch today was to see him pull some nifty fakes to shed the pressure from opponents in midfield. On the goal, he worked hard to find the space for the header, and he had one more shot on goal from the edge of the box earlier in the game. I'll stop commenting on his defensive game because it seems to always be above "8" no matter who the opponent is.

Vitolo 7
He too contributed many good plays in midfield, especially in our half. He stole many balls and advanced quickly.

Cleyton 7
Cleyton continues to buffle me. If he was subbed in the first half I would have rated him with a very low score. But he finished the game with one assist, and a nice pass to Lazaro for the open shot in the second goal. That goes down as solid, and meaningful contribution in my book, so I have no reason to complain about all his errors and disappearance for the remainder of the game.

Katsouranis 5
He had missed a lot of practice sessions, and it showed today. He looked tired before the half was over, and was subbed early in the second half. He didn't help much in ball possession in midfield, but in the front 1/3, he worked well to deliver some nifty through-balls that didn't end up being dangerous.

Lazaros 9
He was a real pain in the Ergotelis' behinds, and on more than one occasion he pulled some spectacular moves and dribbles. He had the most dangerous shots on goal, one of which resulted in Mavrias' goal, and he was unlucky not to have scored in the end when he ran through the entire defense from the left, only to shoot to the birds when he came face to face with the goalkeeper. I was excited to see him in such good shape and to see that he was able to finish 90' playing very strong all the way to the end. We'll need him to be this strong for the remaining eight games, and I hope he holds his first goal this season for the game against Olympiakos in a couple of weeks (not that I'll be upset if he scores against PAOK next week).

Totse 1
He didn't help much, even though he tried. He didn't win any personal battles against any of the Ergotelis' defenders, and to my dismay, he lost just about every single header that came his way, even the ones in midfield.

Mavrias 8
He looked strong and gave Ergotelis' left wing fits when he came in the game. It was nice to see him score his first goal, and judging from his facial expression during the celebration, he really wanted it badly.

Petropoulos
He looked good when he replaced Totse, and had better movement with and without the ball. He won many headers, held the ball well when he played with his back to the goal, and generally he looked more dangerous than Totse. But he did come in the game after we had built a comfortable lead and found a lot more space to harass the already dejected opponents.

Karagounis
I know he wants to play more, and I suspect he feels slighted that other players start before him. His reaction after scoring last game showed me that much. But captain, if you read this (does Karagounis speak English?), don't get too worked out. Your contributions are meaningful even coming off the bench, so don't destroy what looks like a healthy locker room with your own gripes. Kara did a good job mopping up in the last twenty minutes when Ergotelis was behind in the score and there was a ton of space to exploit in midfield. I have to admit that in the first half I found myself wishing that Kara had started instead of Cleyton, but in the end the coach was right. Cleyton delivered his fifth assist of the season and Kara came in to seal the game with ball possession, distribution, and passion.

WHAT'S NEXT

Well, there are 8 games left in the season, and this title will be decided in the next couple of weeks, when we play PAOK, at AEK, Olympiakos. If we go through these games with wins (a very possible scenario against teams that don't play defensively), it would take a nuclear explosion to lose this title.

Here is my analysis and predictions for the next games all the way to the end of the season

Panathinaikos - Xanthi 3-0

2012-02-12T15:47:00.001-05:00

Panathinaikos - Xanthi 3-0 Video

They are baaaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Lazaros, Karagounis, Petropoulos, 3-0, +2.

This was a very frustrating game up until 60'. I found myself on the edge of my seat, seeing that Panathinaikos was straggling to get close enough for a clean shot, but most of all frustrated that 90% of loose balls rolled Xanthi's way. The epitome was the effort by Marinos early on when he penetrated near the goaline, and the ball refused to go out for a corner on the defender's last ditch effort and tacklin. I am not surpesticious, but I usually gauge a game by which way the ball bounces. And for about one hour, the green lads ran like crazy, but they could not catch a break on loose balls.

But those who were claiming that Ferreira came to Greece to work his suntan should be out apologizing in public. This is the most astute coach I've seen in over three decades. Gmoch comes colse to the football smarts and positive impact during the game that Ferreira has exhibited. His substitutions were right on the money, and helped Panathinaikos make this a triumph in the end.

To be fair, Xanthi played an excellent game and came close to scoring several times. On at least three occasions they had a player one "tsaf" away from scoring in front of Karnezi. But their cockiness became their undoing. Just when they thought they had Panathianikos on their hills, Panathinaikos showed them why they are "Xanthi" and they "Panathinaikos".

But you come here to read something that you won't find in other sites, in terms of game analysis. I wanted to write a blog since last week about how well drilled Panathinaikos is playing in open field, and how they are not setup to play against teams that aspire to just sit back and defend.

Just about every game we've played up to today was against teams that parked the bus behind center line and hoped they'll get lucky. Most escaped with a narrow defeat, and one managed a lucky win (Levadiakos, last week). This was immediately baptized by the Greek media as Panathinaikos' inability, or as luck of quality roster, or as the final confirmation that Panathinaikos deflated after a "lucky" first season.

I have news. This team was built in the summer to destroy opponents in open space. Any team that dares to open up their game against Panathinaikos will content with at couple, maybe three goals in their net.

I don't usually watch the interviews after the game, but I bet Ouzounidis (the Xanthi coach) will undoubtedly rely on how "unfair" the result was and how his team deserved better. He would of course have a point for the game up until 65', but once he decided to open it up, he should have known that he was going to be in a different league.

This game sent us from the nadir to zenit in a very short time. The first goal was a huge release, and a very sweet one at that.

The three points were very valuable, but given that we've been playing for a month with a decimated roster, it was more valuable that they pulled it off without Leto, Kante, Nini, and Katsourani. And it was sweet because they pulled it off with the meaningful contribution of players that were sorely missed in the first half of the season: Lazaros, Karagounis, Petropoulos.

First, I should state the obvious. Lazaros turned this game around once he replaced Mavrias. The first goal was as beautiful in its creation as it was valuable.

Lazaros used his speed and skill to get his shoulder in front of the defender, and with his strength he stayed on his feet to deliver a nice little pass to the edge of the box where Petropoulos uses his own power to hold on to the ball enough to find Lazaro galloping all alone into the box. This was key because, up until that point, all the forward passes to the edge of the box ended up defend because Totse was unable to hold on to it with his back to the goal.

This was nice, but it got even nicer when Lazaros maintained possession with incredible skill and control between three and four defenders that were all dancing "zeibekiko" to his tune. His final shot got deflected, but Lazaros had created such panic with his dancing, that the ball ended up crawling slowly toward the goal as the defenders and goalkeeper were bumping on each other as they fell down. The final touch by Toche came a few centimeters away from the goal line, and just punctuated a beautiful play. I have to say, I am glad he booted it in, because having seen so many loose and spinning balls go Xanthi's way, I was afraid the ball was going to stop before the goal line to wait for a defender to have a chance at it :)

It was also nice to see Karagouni have such meaningful contribution on this one. Many had written the "captain" off, but he showed today that even though the league is full of younger/better skilled/stronger/faster/taller players, he is still a class above on his good day. He played a deep role, next to Simao when he came in the game and the whole team kicked it into another gear. I just hope he shows Cleyton a thing or two before he retires, and I hope he gets to raise this title in the end of the season as the "captain". The goal he scored, putting the game away was also a beautiful team-built goal. Sure, Karagounis delivered the beautiful freekick to the "wall" corner, but if you watch the highlights, watch the hard work by Simao to disrupt Xanthi's wall. Suani was so busy blocking Simao that he peeled off, leaving a gaping hole on their wall.

The third goal was just the cherry on top, and a much-needed boost for Petropoulos' confidence, because we'll need him in the upcoming games. It was a beautiful personal effort and I hope it's the beginning of his comeback.

Last, I want to comment on one thing: Panathinaikos with this win today managed to squash the self fulfilling prophecy that the Olympiakos controlled media (with lots of help by the agitators on their payroll like Theodoridis) has been trying to establish. I've seen a huge subliminal effort to explain last weeks defeat as the return to a "natural order of things" that wants Panathinaikos being a weak team that has no business being on top.

Panathinaikos closed a lot of mouths today. I am sure Theodoridis is spending the night cleaning his throat with salt water gargles.

Tactics

Watch the video of the game above, and note how Lazaros led a similar play twice. Once in 64' where he pulled the same move in midfield, but the play ended up on a dangerous cross by Zeka down the left (note how wide open Zeka was on that play). Then he pulled the same play in 78 for the score. This time he passed to Petropoulo who flicked it back to him in the box for the score. It's obviously a well-drilled play, because Zeka (I think) is again galloping wide open down the left all alone, when Lazaros and Petropoulos play the give-and-go for the score.

I can see why Ferreira was so upset over the summer that Lazaros got so badly injured. I am sure he knows it will be a lot of fun having both Lazaro and Leto (and even Quincy, although he doesn't have the same speed and intensity as Lazaros) in the game and I suspect opposing coaches are restocking their supply of dramamines for the remaining matches.

The Players

Karnezis 8
He had a lot of work today and managed to smother most of the dangers. He was also lucky to see three plays where he was caught in no-mans land sail either out or bounce his way.

Marinos 7
Good game by Marinos who played as a true "full-back", covering the entire wing on his own. Inevitably, he was caught out of position on a few plays, but his offensive contribution was considerable. He does't have Vinta's power and speed, but he makes up with skill with the ball at his feet, and this season he looks like a much more disciplined defender.

Spyropoulos 7
He looked spirited, and managed to deliver some good crosses from the left. Good game by Spyropoulo.

Sariegi 7
He looked underpowered and slow, but his tenacity was no match for the opponent's skill. With the exception of one play that he mis-calculated the speed of the ball, he was a rock on defense, and showed once again that "heart" is just as important as any other football skill.

Bjarsmir 6
He too played a good game. No Xanthi player had an open shot, and in the few times he found himself at a disadvantage, he managed to pressure his opponent enough to force an error in their final shot.

Vitolo 6
He has the style, and he has the speed (I don't care for the "rooster" hair do), and he defended well in midfield, but his contributions beyond center-field did not match his game behind it. He did well defensively, but overall, he (along with Cleyton) slowed the game down way too much.

Simao 8
Once again he was a monster in midfield. He clogged as many holes as were open, and did well to distribute the ball correctly to the more creative midfielders.

Zeka 8
Good to see him back. He had several errors that gifted the ball with ease, but for the biggest part of the game his tenacity was a force to be reckoned with in midfield. It helped that in this game Ferreira moved him away from the wings and let him play more toward the interior, a place where he looks a lot more comfortable.

Cleyton 5
He had several efforts on goal that padded his statistics, but most of them were forced and low percentage shots. He had a few really nice passes forward to balance the ones that ended up as passes to opponents. He looked frustrated, and for good reason. Xanthi players had a policy that he would never go by them with the ball and constantly aimed at his legs.

Mavrias 4
I don't want to be harsh with the kid. He is 18 and starting for PAO, so I'll say that I don't expect him to carry the whole offense on his own. His inexperience showed today where Xanthi managed to close all open space while he played, and he could not find any good plays either through runs or dribbles. Despite that, he played with heart and had one fantastic effort penetrating down the left and serving an assist to Totse who was tackled at the last moment by a defender. I like his skills and attitude and I am looking forward to seeing more of him in years to come.

Totse 4
The first goal will be probably penciled under his name, and that's fine. He too played with heart and I hope seeing his numbers padded would give him more confidence. He had a hard time against very strong defenders all game long, and when Petropoulos came in the game he played a little deeper. He missed at least one sitter early in the second half (a sweet cross by Cleyton that both Totse and Petropoulos failed to connect with), and almost messed up the first goal play when, instead of pulling his marker wide, he merged toward Lazaro, bringing an extra defender close to the play. It all ended up making the goal more beautiful though, so it's all good.

Lazaros 9
What a nice way to get back in the game. The guy had his entire knee reconstructed after his summer injury and it's evident that he worked hard to get back to game-shape. He looked quick and powerful, and I suspect the only reason he didn't start was because he still doesn't have the stamina to play 90 minutes, and Ferreira (being the fox I think he is) knew he might need him fresh in the second half. The first goal was created by Lazaros in its entirety. In this play he showed several of the skills that prompted PAO to invest a considerable amount of money in him. He used his strength to turn around and get the edge from the defender (as well as amazing skill, turing on a dime), and then he turned up the afterburner to leave him behind. Through it he had the presence of mind to see Petropoulo at the edge of the box and conceived of the simple give and take that brought him all alone in the box. That's when the fun began. First, I should say that I would have preferred that he would have taken that first shot when he fist received the ball all alone. But he needed to bring it to his right foot and that necessity sent the entire Xanthi defense and their goalkeeper for dramamines. They looked dazed and it was comical to see them tackle each other. Honestly, I thought this was the kind of blooper play where an attacker manages to make an easy shot too complicated (usually missing the chance), but once the ball bounced in the net it all acquired a very sweet taste. I still want him to take that first shot next time though :))

Petropoulos 8
With Petropoulo receiving and protecting the ball at the edge of the box, our game became a lot more dangerous. His hard work to shield off the defender for a split second at the edge of the box as just as sweet for me as Lazaros' subsequent dribbles. He looked nimble, and showed that he hasn't lost that killer instinct that made the fans baptize him "Petro-goal".

Karagounis 8
That's the kind of contribution I was hoping for when the season opened. The years have passed and he doesn't have the same kind of skill and spring on his step as earlier in his career, but as a change of pace substitution he can be very valuable in the final nine games. He held the ball well from the deep CM spot, moved it forward quickly, won several fouls, and best, he delivered very dangerous set pieces, one of which ended up appropriately in the net to put the game away. Good to see him play such a good game.

The referee was a very strange one. It looked as if he was trying really hard to slow down the game. I'll repeat what I mentioned in my last game blog. He too proved that he doesn't really have a grasp of what a "foul" is, and when to let the play develop. His use of booking was erratic and sometimes downright weird. He booked Cleyton on a play where he was hacked and tried to get the ball from the defender who was obviously holding the ball to buy time for his team to organize their defense. In case the ref doesn't know it, a defender delaying the game by holding the ball is an automatic booking, no ifs or buts about it; its the FIFA law. I am not sure if he had "instructions" or if he is just too inexperienced, but he went along with Xanthi's game plan that called for their midfields to deliberately foul the ball carrier if they were beat. Every time Zeka or Cleyton beat their opponents, they were cut down before they could deliver a pass. Why he would let them do it repeatedly is suspect. The one time it didn't work it was in the first goal when Lazaros' strength and speed left the defender in the dust, unable to even foul him.

Ferreira? What can I say? The guy has been amazing, and no matter what happens at the end of this season, I'll always have the outmost respect for his work and skill.

What's Next

Here is my analysis and prediction for the race to the title.

There are nine games left and Panathinaikos looks poised to finish this title in a couple of weeks. Olympiakos officials are busy working the media and the officials, but they don't look dangerous any longer. As far as I see, this title will be decided in the Panathinaikos-Olympiakos game in two weekends. Until then, some of the most skilled and much needed injured players will have returned for us.

Racing Toward The Title

2012-02-05T11:09:00.000-05:00

Panathinaikos is five points ahead of Olympiakos, but the title has not been won yet. Five points is a good cushion, but the team needs to stay focused and to put in an extra gear for the upcoming games.

Let's see what the two contenders for the title have to face from now on.

Match day 19
Doxa - Pao
Olympiakos - Ergotelis

Realistically, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos will win their games, so the five point differential will remain. It would be considered a major upset if Panathinaikos loses points in Drama, and an even bigger upset if Olympiakos loses points at home against Ergotelis.

The predictions were on the mark. Both Panathinaikos and Olympiakos won their games, and Panathinaikos continues to lead the race with a nice five-point cushion.

Match day 20
Levadiakos - Pao 1-0
Paok - Olympiakos 0-2

Panathinaikos will win one way or another in Levadia, but Olympiakos visits the toughest arena in Greece, and their chances of escaping intact are not very good. If they take a point in Touba it would not be considered a huge upset, but I'd be very surprised if they win against PAOK.

My prediction was way off in Levadia where Panathinaikos managed to lose a game where the opponent had zero "real" shots on goal, and Olympiakos had a comfortable afternoon in Touba. That's why they play the game.

Match day 21
Pao - Xanthi 3-0
Olympiakos - AEK 2-0

Panathinaikos will win at home even if Xanthi looks decent this season. On the other hand, Olympiakos has another tough game to play against AEK, even if it's at home. AEK has a ton of problems this year and they look very erratic. However, they have proven capable of pulling an excellent game here and there. Let's hope they pull their best game in Karaiskaki, but realistically, Olympiakos will win this game.

AEK looks like a shadow of their former self, and they are slowly slipping away from the race for the UEFA spot. Panathinaikos proved they are lethal when opponents open up their game. Panathinaikos retained their two point advantage on the standings, and hope that wins will come easier in the next nine games as key players return to the lineup (Leto and Katsouranis, especially).

Match day 22
Egrotelis - Pao 0-2
Olympiakos - Panionios 2-0

Both Panathinaikos and Olympiakos will win their games this day. If Panathinaikos loses points in Crete it would be a major upset.

Just like I predicted, both Panathinaikos and Olympiakos won their games, so Panathinaikos retains a two-point advantage before they enter the most difficult sequence of the remaining eight games. If Panathinaikos wins every single one of the next three games (Paok, @AEK, Olympiakos), it would take a nuclear blast to lose this title, or a team of ugly layers, a little paperwork, and a rigged superleague and EPO.... now wait a minute, where have I seen this before...

Match day 23
Pao - Paok 0-2
Ofi - Olympiakos 0-2

PAOK is a capable team, but away from home they are not as strong and traditionally Panathinaikos takes the three points in these games. Olympiakos will also win in Crete, although if OFI draws, it would not be such a huge upset.

I wasn't too far off with my prediction. I think the big tipping point was playing in an empty stadium, and a bad referee decision to give the penalty that PAOK used to open the score. Paok played like the capable team they are, Panathinaikos looked flat, and slipped into second place in the table.

Match day 24
AEK - Pao
Olympiakos - Aris

On paper, Panathinaikos plays their toughest away game, but they are still playing at home in OAKA. I would expect a draw to be a realistic result, although the way Panathinaikos plays this season I think they will win it one way or another. On the other hand, Aris can be a dangerous team, but they too are weak away from home and traditionally Olympiakos beats Aris at home with ease.

Match day 25
Pao - Olympiakos

This is the biggest game of the season for both teams. If realistic results dominate the previous games, Panathinaikos will go into the game with a huge point advantage, making even an Olympiakos win mute in the race for the title. Panathinaikos will win this one, although a draw has good posibillities of occuring.

No matter what happens in the previous games (assuming realistic results), if Panathinaikos beats Olympiakos the title will be sealed. But even if Panathinaikos doesn't win, it would take a perfect season for Olympiakos to overlap Pao in the next five games. Pop the champaign and enjoy the rest of the ride.

Match day 26
Ofi - Pao
Olympiakos - Asteras

Ofi plays a tight game and a win there won't be easy, but I think PAO will have this title locked by this game and they will cruise through Crete with ease. There is also no expectation that Olympiakos will lose points at home against a very friendly club.

Match day 27
Pao - Aris
Panaitolikos - Olympiakos

Panathianikos and Olympiakos will both win their games one way or another.

Match day 28
Pao - Panionios
Olympiakos - Kerkyra

There is no way the title contenders will lose points this match day

Match day 29
Asteras - Pao
Giannina - Olympiakos

Asteras traditionally puts up huge resistance against PAO (they did shave points off Olympiakos at home earlier this season) and it won't be an easy game. If the title is already decided, it won't really matter, but if Olympiakos is within striking distance, it could be a stressful and tough game that can be won nonetheless.

Match day 30
Pao - Panaitolikos
Atromitos - Olympiakos

Fiesta time for Panathinakos, and a tough game for Olympiakos against one of the better teams of this season. If Atromitos needs the points to secure an UEFA spot, it will be a huge game for them.

An appropriate end to the season: A packed OAKA with a big win against Panaitolikos to go along with an embarrassing loss for Olympiakos at the feet of Atromitos.

So there you have it. That's my prediction, but a lot of unexpected things will happen between now and the last game. It is fun making calculations with a five point advantage though.

Levadiakos - Panathinaikos 1-0

2012-02-04T14:58:00.001-05:00

It was bound to happen. Panathinaikos has lost the spring on their step in the last month, and with the loss of the crisp passing, they degenerated their game to slow development that brought the offense always in front of very organized defenses.

Levadiakos did their job exactly like they should have. They parked the bus in their half and hoped that one of their forward efforts might bring them a goal. Besides the goal, Levadiakos had exactly one other chance to score (the one Katsouranis cleared on the goal line).

Panathinaikos played a horrible game, with slow development in midfield, predictable little passes, and absolutely nothing going forward. Even though the stats will show many efforts on goal, in reality, Panahtinaikos had just about zero clean shots at the goalkeeper all game long.

They still lead the league by five points, and we have to wait for tomorrow's game to see if it will stand until next week. For the five points to remain, Paok must beat Olympiakos tomorrow. If Olympiakos draws in Touba, it will be a 3-point lead, and if they win, it will be a two point lead. Either way, Panahtinakos will retain their lead, but if they keep playing like today, there will be a lot more points given up.

This was an unexpected loss against a really weak team. They had two "real" efforts on goal, and scored once. Panathinaikos dominated possession but could not crack a very tight double defensive zone.

There is still a long road ahead, so I'll pre-empt the doom and gloom fans and reporters who will now predict Panathinaikos' demise. No need for any of that. It was an unfortunate game, and even with the loss, panathinaikos retains the advanatage in the race.

Don't panic, and don't rush to baptize all the players "losers" or "not worthy". Remember that you will have to cheer for them if they bring us this title in the end. Don't bite on the majority of reporters and fans that will rush to declare the whole team and each individual player as "garbage".

After writing this, saw the "gazzetta"headline "ανυπαρκτοι" and I think it's complete BS. Panathinaikos had a bad game but such titles only serve to rise the emotions of teenage fans who will then flock their "chat" session below and boost their advertising impressions. Don't bite.

The team needs and deserves some peace and quiet. Let's raise our shields to help them in the last ten games.

The Players

Karnezis 5
He had another easy night. He was never really threatened but twice he saw the ball going by him. Once he was saved by Katsouranis on the line, and the second he collected the ball from the net. It wasn't really his fault that Levadiakos won, but he didn't do anything not to lose this game either.

Vintra 5
He was one of the best PAO players, and that's says a lot. He worked hard down the right and delivered a couple good crosses, but mostly his passes sailed to nowhere, and on the goal I feel there should never have been such a clean cross delivered from the right, especially on a corner. I am not sure who's responsibility it was to cover a short pass on that corner, but it looked like a blown assignment that found two Levadiakos players ready to send in a dangerous cross.

Spyropoulos 4
He ran a lot and did manage to stay close to the winger down the left, but overall, he didn't really help much.

Katsouranis 6
He played as a CB most of the game and in the last 15 minutes he tried to organize the game from midfield. He saved the team from a more embarrassing loss by clearing the ball on the line, and did have some positive efforts in midfield. But in the end it was too little to bring three points.

Sariegi 4
He had a lot of good stopages, but also a few heart attacks on a defense that played very high all game long. He was unlucky his header toward the end sailed a couple of inches wide.

Simao 4
He gets an 8 for the first half work, and a 3 for his game in the second half. In the last fifteen minutes he dropped to a CB to allow Katsourani to organize the midfield, but he looked completely superflous at that point.

Vitolo 4
He too had a better first half. He did well defensively, but he lacked that something extra (a dribble or clever pass) that could crack the defense wide open. He did well to release himself from opposing markers but beyond that his passes were always predictable and easy for the defenders to follow.

Cleyton 3
He had three lukewarm efforts on goal, best of which was a nice freekick that forced the goalkeeper to make a difficult save. The other shots could have been better off as passes to other players, and he completely disappeared in the second half. He also managed to botch the vast majority of our freekicks and corners with really soft deliveries.

Zeka 2
I guess Zeka is going through a rough time. This is the second game in a row that he didn't help at all. To the contrary, he gave away the ball way too easily. To be fair, I get the feeling that he is really not a winger. He is more of an interior CM forced to play out wide, something that he doesn't seem to have the experience or skill to do well.

Quincy 4
He was injured again, this time he twisted his ancle, and was substituted on a play that he almost created a scoring chance. Most of the game he played way too deep to be dangerous, and whenever he came close to the box he managed to either give the ball away or deliver a soft shot to nowhere.

Totse 1
He looked lost between three and four bigger opponents and never looked like he could win a personal contest against them. He was also the person who got caught between two players when Levadiakos scored.

Two of the three substitutions were to replace the injured Quincy and Zeka. Lazaros, Mavrias, and in the dying moments Petropoulos came in the game but with the exception of Lazaros who looked dangerous and upgraded the set-ball delivery, Mavrias and Petropoulos had no impact whatsoever.

While many will fault Ferreira for putting Katsourani on defense, I thought it was a good thought. He knew Levadiakos was not going to be dangerous and wanted one more player to organize the game from behind since our defense was going to play very high. In the end I don't think this move helped much. Other than that, I hope he finds a way to get the players back to a quicker pace and to make them show a little more urgency from the first minute.

Since I mentioned the referees in my last post, I should say that officiating today was typical. It didn't help neither team but managed several errors that hurt both. The biggest issue I have is how all the greek referees can't figure out what a foul is. Today, the ref began by calling strong plays from behind against Levadiakos players, but he would not call similar plays for PAO. As the game went on, the trend was reversed with such plays called very easily for PAO players but not as easily for Levadiakos. It boggles the mind how they can't remain consistent. Either leave the freaking game to develop all the time, or call ALL strong challenges. Don't go back and forth.

Referee Interference to help Olympiakos

2012-02-04T11:33:00.004-05:00

This whole football league is getting annoying with the way the governing bodies treat their fans (clients).

First I should say that both governing bodies, EPO and Superleague are run by people who could care less about football, or the fans, or for the majority of the teams in the league.

Their decisions of the last decade, especially where justice, and refereeing is concerned are blatantly designed to favor one team only: Olympiakos.

I don't know what the reasons are, but I can speculate that Olympiakos has worked hard to install puppets in EPO and Superleague so all decisions would favor them. Or, they are good at intimidating or buying those who they are unable to directly install.

I read yesterday that the poor referee, Konstantinea, who had the guts to ignore the Torosidis dive in Xanthi has been axed from the "international" referees pool, with the excuse that he didn't speak enough English.

First I should say that I don't consider Konstantinea a competent referee, and as a matter of fact, I consider all Greek referees incompetent. From a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is a top-notch ref, no Greek referee would rise above 4 in my estimation. This rating is even worst for assistant referees who can only call the most obvious calls correctly (if that) with any consistently.

Having said that, it is more than obvious that Marinakis and his possy (Theodoridis and Mitropoulos especially) engage themselves extensively with influencing the calls their team gets. Their actions are so brazen and so out in the open that makes it obvious EPO and Superleague are scared of them, or that they are completely controlled by them.

A couple of years ago Panathinaikos won an early game in Aris with a (very obvious to me) penalty called when Vintra rounded Javito and when he was ready to shoot or cut the ball back for an assist was pushed with Javito's elbow from behind (Javito even went out of his way to "tangle his feet with Vintra" to ensure that he could not complete his effort).

That penalty was dubbed "crime against Greece" by a person who you would think should have an IQ a little higher than a hamster.

You all know what happened to Daloukas. His career was destroyed, his own car was torched, and then his fathers car was torched too.

MESSAGE TO REFEREES: you call in a way that Olympiakos doesn't like, your are finished.

Last year in Karaiskaki, a "deer-in-the-headlight" ref, Kalopoulos, and a blind (or deviant) assistant combined to disallow the infamous Katsouranis goal on a play where he was covered by at least three opposing players. We later learned through the wiretaps that Beos called Marinakis and asked him to "protect" Kalopoulos. Unfortunately for Kalopoulos, that call was so brazen and obviously misguided that even if they owned the universe they could not justify him officiating any other games. But they did go out of their way to get him to come back for one last game before his "voluntary retirement". I am going to be watching with much interest what kind of career opportunities will open up for Kalopoulos in the coming years.

MESSAGE TO REFEREES BY OLYMPIAKOS: We can protect (or not) referees who call favorably for us, and even in the most brazen of cases, we have the power TO help through the flack you'll get.

Now, we find that Konstanineas is axed from the international referees.

MESSAGE TO REFEREES: You don't call in our favor, your life will be difficult ("someone" already attacked his business) and your career will be in shambles (demoted or worst).

After the galacticos failed to win in Xanthi and found themselves five points behind first place they unleashed an unbelievable attack on KED and the big cheese, Vasaras was fired.

MESSAGE TO REFEREES: If Olympiakos doesn't get favorable calls, no one is safe, and they have the power to finish anyone they don't like.

I don't want to make this an endless novel, so I'll jump right into the latest incident. One idiotic front page from a disgusting yellow press called "gavros" (owned by Theodoridi if I am not mistaken) caused a poop-in-the pants incident by an assistant referee called Tryfon who called in sick so he would not have to officiate the PAOK-Olympiakos game tomorrow.

The aggressive work by Olympiakos to intimidate, fire, influence referees and officials is more than disgusting. Through it all, they have exposed that EPO and Superleague are governed by coward little people who bend over or cower in a corner every time a mental case spews their venom in the open. They are really making a case that one way or another, they work behind the scenes for Olympiakos.

I can't believe they don't have the pride to resist. What happened to the gutsy and impecable Greek characters that have dazzled humanity with 4000 years for brilliant history?

If Panathinaikos wins this championship against such off the field war, it would be a miracle.

But if they do, the players and the coach will become legends for generations to come. If Panathinaikos wins this title, it would be an inspiration to all Greeks who would have a perfect example how it is possible to succeed despite the deep corruption that has infested positions and governing bodies.

If Olympiakos wins this championship, it would be a real "crime against Greece" because it would verify that corruption is so powerful, no one has any hope of escaping.

But if Panathinaikos wins this championship, they would be the heroes of Greece, proving that hard work, dedication, and focus can overcome official corruption (at all levels) that's conspires to maintain the power of the status quo.

Doxa Dramas - Panathinaikos 0-1

2012-01-29T13:00:00.004-05:00

Good thing Kakos wasn't officiating this one or both teams would have ended the game with 6 players on the pitch. It's a man's game after all, and some teams play it that way it seems. The referee was really good, and with the exception of a couple of reverse throw-ins he was perfect.

This just in: "crime against Olympiakos alert!" Both throw-ins were given to Panathinaikos by error! We'll patiently wait for Theodoridis to clean the lint off his belly button and we'll read his drivel with much interest.

We would normally expect Marinakis to ready himself to barge into the superleague's office to deliver his one-liners while shaking. But the national earthquake office finally called him to stop shaking because he is throwing off the seismographs that monitor the seismic activity in the Aegean.

Since this was another forgettable game, I can summarized it in as few words as possible:

One to zero - plus five.

Video

The Players

Karnezis 7
he kept the clean sheet one more game. Doxa never came close to a clean shot in 90 minutes and the few shots that came towards the goal he stopped comfortably.

Vintra 6
with good moments most of the game, but he was turned around a couple of times when isolated on defense.

Ioannidis 4
I had seen Ioannidi in a few games here and there and he always looked much more capable with the ball than Spyropoulo, so I always wondered why he lingers between bench and the VIP box. Today I got my answer. At least in this game, he had no positional awareness and found himself way behind the ball too many times. Such errors in "real" games against "real" teams could mean falling behind by one or two goals. He still needs to keep working on his defense if he aspires to dislodge Spyropoulo from the lineup.

Bjarsmyr 8
Dominating performance by Bjarsmyr that has gained my confidence so far. Exellent in the air and a real pest for the Doxa forwards today. He is largely responsible for Doxa not even sneazing in our penalty area today

Sariegi 7
Besides turned around and falling down once in the box in a very dangerous play, he too had a dominant performance. He kept all dangers away from Karnezi with ease and comfort.

Simao 8
For ancient Greek history buffs, the definition of a Hoplite is "a man not easily uprooted from the place he plants his feet". Simao has been exactly that. 99% of the time he is at the right place, and 90% of the time he wins the ball. He was good at it before, but this season his positional awareness is phenomenal, and his passing has been the happy story of the year (unless you are one of these fans too embarrassed to admit that you were wrong for badmouthing the kid all these years).

Zeka 0
I still try to remember one thing that he did correctly today and what PAO player had such abysmal performance in recent years. I can't find one for neither quest. This was not his game. He could not stop, control, dribble, or pass without giving up the ball all game long. He did try hard though, and he has shown skills in the past so I hope he forgets this game quickly.

Katsouranis 4
He played in midfield and didn't have many successful efforts either. The majority of his passes found opponent's feet and defensively he didn't help much in midfield.

Quincy 7
Even though he had some good efforts, best of which was the assist to Totse, he too had too many errors in both passing and decision making as long as he played. It did look like Doxa went out of their way to double-team him all game long, and finding the space to deliver a couple of amazing assist is a huge contribution to this win.

Cleyton 5
He was completely unwatchable in the first half with nothing but errors, but he did improve as the game went on and had a couple of excellent passes forward.

Totse 6
He scored a sitter, and missed two easier sitters to make this game out of reach and to shed the fan perception that he misses easy goals. Sure it's expected that forwards would miss easy goals here and there but I think Totse is overdoing it a little bit. In the past few games he propably missed at least five clean goals that he should have made with ease. His goal maintained the +5 thought and showed his value in such plays. Quincy delivered an excellent cross from the right and Totse bulldozed through the center of the defense to send the ball in the net. Not to forget, he was deprived of a goal early in the game when he did an excellent job releasing in space and scoring. It was "crime against Panathinaikos" call that will send Marinakis and Theodoridis into parkinson-type shaking. How can this "nobody" team, with "nobody" forwards win even against such bad referee calls? It makes them look even more like idiots.

The three substitutions, Marinos for Zeka was a huge upgrade and so was Mavrias in place of Katsourani.

But the good news was seeing Christodoulopoulos back in the game after seven months away. It was a happy occasion first for the human Christodoulopoulo who probably went through a lot of pain and hard work to get back into game form. Of course, it is also good for Panathinaikos to have one more player ready to contribute this season. I don't expect Lazaro to be a huge game-changer (he hasn't shown that yet) but I do expect he'll contribute positive plays down the stretch. Welcome back Lazare!

Ferreira drives me crazy with the way he has to wait until 65' to make his first substitution no matter what. The whole team looked as flat as a pancake the entire first half, and Zeka, Katsouranis, Cleyton looked like good candidates for a substitution. But Ferreira waited until after we scored to make his first change. In the end, I recognize that he is right (especially when we win) because it usually works out, he makes the right moves, and gains the respect of his players because he goes out of his way to support them even when they don't have the best of days. Other than that, he has done an amazing job this season to keep the team focused in first place against such unfavorable conditions.

Did I mention that Panathinaikos is still 5 points ahead of Olympiakos with eleven games to go? If not, here you go:

+5, and here is my analysis about the upcoming games.

Galaxy wars: a science fiction story

2012-01-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

Prologue
I watched the Olympiakos-Ergotelis game up to the moment when the referee booked Hiplinger for a hand ball early in the first half. That was a play where the ball came from two meters away, and there was absolutely no intent to handle the ball as the player had his back turned and his hands close to his body. After that, and having watched greek football every week for about 40 years, I turned off the game, and took my wife out to a restaurant. I had a great time even though I knew that back home, inside my my dark tv "things" were going to happen. That's when I conceived of my next great novel!

Galaxy Wars

In a far away galaxy, in a different time/space I am an ambitious referee who takes enormous pleasure out of the power that comes from inter-galactic football officiating limelight. It's my fix.

But over the last two galactic centuries, the god who controls who is to officiate, where, how, and who their evaluator will be, think of me as someone he can't trust to further his little planet. So, I get iced. I don't get to see my name on the papers, or my amazingly cool persona on the tube, since I rarely get to play god in big games, and when I do, it's little games in far away asteroids that no one is paying attention to my greatness.

Man, I don't like ice. I want to officiate in big games where I can get exposure and people can see me and talk about me.

At last, the big cheese that wants the galactic championship really bad manages to get rid of those who kept me playing little dingy games, and I finally get to mingle with the galaxy's supernova team that I admire so much. Their planet is the most ... (can't find a proper word here - I'll get back to this later) in the galaxy They even have megaphones to amplify their "booing" of opponents every time they have the ball. I mean, who in the world can argue with that? Booing opponents through a megaphone is a sure sign that these creatures in the stands are of superior stock.

I am so happy I get to finally rub the back of this superhero with the anti-radiation suit (bad people call these outfits "palta") and maybe if I am lucky he would rub my head. Man! if he does, I won't take a shower for a month from fear of washing away his holly sweat. If he lays his holly hands on my body, I'll even reverse my call for him and I don't care what people think.

It should be a fun and easy gig. The super-galactic heroes will surely zap a couple of lazer beams early in the first half so I won't have to worry about a thing. But, darn it, things don't work out so well. Half the game goes by and the hyper-galacticos can't freaking make a goal against a middle of the pack asteroid. On top of it, the fans keep askin for my help by chanting really vile things about my mother.

That's not a good thing and it can really upset the galactic order further. Ever since another planet began orbiting on a higher oval, leaving the super-galactic planet wobbling in space, things haven't been the same around this galaxy.

So I go to the locker room at half time really depressed, because things don't go according to plan and because I really like my mom. Why can't they appreciate me? What kind of flock is this? Didn't they see how quickly I stopped the little asteroid when they got too cocky and thought they can venture forward? At least I know one person appreciated my work out there for half the game. The big grandpa that stomps around the super-galactic-league with the "beat the referee stick" takes action and instead of beating me up he brings a carrot! I know what you are thinking you twisted readers. I don't mean anything bad about this. By "carrot" (as opposed to a "stick") I mean he offers to support my efforts by stopping his flock of sheep from bleating angrily against me and my mom.

I know this is a field that bunnies frequent, but I didn't know they have such yummy carrots, so I am getting over my fears and apprehension. He delivers on his promise and calls (through a megaphone nonetheless) on all the vegetable market entrepreneurs and scientists on the stands to stop swearing at me and my mom. It's ok that he tells them to stop bleating because it's bad for the flock and not because it's despicable behavior. It's ok.

"How can I ever re-pay such kindness?" I ponder as I take the field for the second half. This is trully a planet of gentlemen. I hope the galactic supeheroes get their act together before they get all stressed out and start crying or diving, because who knows what can happen then. What if in my eagerness to help I call an obvious dive a penalty for the supergalacticos? I need to keep my cool and put all my training to use here.

But the more I see that the galactic super heroes can't score I get more and more worried.

Nightmares of going back to officiating in meaningless little asteroids and comets creep into my mind. Pictures of other referees who didn't serve the super galactic team and got banished to the ends of the galaxy haunt me. I see the fate they suffered getting closer to me with every tick of the clock. I like my car but I know it might burn. My dad likes his car too, and that too can burn just like it happened to that guy from the little obscure VoloS-34 asteroid. Pictures of angry droids breaking my saccharomyces cerevisiae processing shop, or worst, beating me up a few months from now, send me on high alert.

What to do? What to do?

If I concentrate on calling a game based on the archaic (and now totally disproven formula) 50/50, no one will tell me "bravo super-galactic ref"! Instead, I'll be crucified in the media for every little call, and I'll have to worry about my planet's safety.

When the going gets tough, my brain begins to work (I told you I was really cool and smart, didn't I?)

I do some simple first-grade math and quickly realize what the problem is. Playing 11 against 11 makes things really hard for the planet that absolutely must win and for the established galactic order of things. From my extensive experience, I know how to fix that! I think 11 against 10 is a better ratio, so I am looking for this little foul that can ensure parity in the universe, and lo and behold, it happens! It could not be easier. That ufo kind of turned his body and touched the galloping super-galactic hero (the one with the radiation suit, remember?). Easy call.

And since I am on a roll, I can do even better: 11v9.

Not even Einstein can argue with my formula. Take that Einstein! You come up with E=mc squared, I come up with 11v9=3-0! I am a genius and above all, I am safe! All the scientists that watch the game will completely understand. The rest don't matter. Do they?

Besides, there is really no incentive any longer to play a 50/50 game when facilitating (er, I mean officiating) the hyper-super-amazing-galactic rabbits. What idiot came up with that formula anyway, and why do people keep thinking about it as if promotes good order in the galaxy? That was valid only before the dark matter was discovered. I can sleep easy. The little asteroid didn't expect they were going to win in this planet anyway and in the end, they themselves will admit that the ejections "must have been given".

You see, the whole plan worked because I was smart enough to have that ufo booked earlier in the game, on a play that he should have not been booked, and this one, in the end won't be remembered. Ain't I a smart one? I spread the sneaky calls in time/space so no one can concentrate on one play and question my intentions.

Who in the world will question a hand-ball booking. Sure, even I know it was a silly booking, but I don't understand why the little asteroid players didn't get the clue early on. The little asteroid players should have rolled over sooner so I would not have to bring out the big red ray guns.

Of course, I would never book the other super-galacticos players for such plays, but no one would talk about that either. It's too complicated a case to make. What would they say? That I would never be using the yellow or red ray gun (god forbid) against the super-galacticos players for such plays?

That's what's called a "good official" in this galaxy. One that knows how to do this kind of work. Not like the other idiots that screwed up their lives by pretending this silly 50/50 formula is still valid. This is no 2012 you idiots. This is super-galactic-league!

I bet I made my case to officiate the biggest game of the gallaxy in a few of weeks with this solid performance today.

I pulled my colored square ray guns with confidence. And I was happy the sheep stopped swearing at my mom as soon as they realized I was there to help. I am sure no one will question me, especially now that I know the god who controls my career knows I am on his side. I bet he now understand who's on his side and how these kinds of business can be taken care without giving him a bad name. I don't give one big call that everyone will pounce on. I just equalize things over time a bit to help out the situation.

I know there will be some opposing galaxy inhabitants who will thing this is weird, but who cares. They have absolutely no power in the refereeing circles and offices, and the media will never make as much noise about this as they did about some diving exhibitions from last week. This ain't 2012.

I don't mean to twist the plot too much, but in all honesty, I am a little mad to be in this position.

I thought this was all going to be taken care of when I read mid-week that the league owners chastised the opposing big planet's team for downgrading their product. I know that these galactic club owners don't have really high IQs, and that one would have a hard time picking them out of a lineup with mayonnaise jars, but why can't they maintain a winning planet without making fools of themselves and me?

To be fair, I am beginning to suspect that all the super-duper-galacticos suck. The front-line mayonnaise jar (with the fake mustache) had already helped as much as he could by hibernating some of his planet's players before the game, and made sure the other mayonnaise jar (the bigger size one with the extra rotten eggs in the mix) was happy with his intergalactic announcements mid-week. That was quite a show by the way!

It was like that trick in the circus with a little kitty in a cage with a huge guy holding a stick. It's so much fun to watch that kitty roll over every time the stick guy says "roll over".

I watch the circus games often because I like the shape of that big guy with the stick that gets the kitties to do tricks for him. In a galaxy full of funny-looking aliens, he really stands out as the funniest. He looks like Snorlax, and he usually brings some more funny guys with sticks along just in case the kitties don't cooperate. I am glad someone invented speech so I get to enjoy his eloquent lines. It's amazing how he can string together intelligent words that are closely matched to the inter-galactic kindergarden flash cards: "We Zcrewed you", "I know gwhat to do", "roll over", "we teach eethos", "more souvlaki".

No one will really know, but I am mad. I mean, with all the super-galactic players they collected, why can't these idiots zap a little asteroid outright and they have to rely on me and my red ray guns? At least they showed superior moral character by trying their hardest to run up the score after I put my formula to use. I can't complain there.

At least I hope they remember me when it's time for the goodies to come around. I want a cushy seat at the inter-galactic governing body for officials, or better yet nice place in their own planet. Sure, their planet is kind of red and the people there are weird, but so is Mars and I am not less weird than they are. Am I?

Epilogue

I am happy to report, that no aminals were harmed during the writing of this novel, and all the characters, mayonnaise jars, and animals, are fictional.

I know that life can be stranger than fiction though, and I am sure someone will associate this novel with real life as improbable as this might seem. I hope they don't get their double-chin all shook up, and I don't mean to contribute to their psychological degradation. It's a game and it's all good fun to me no matter how much some of the mental cases try to make sure it isn't.

I am also happy to report that no matter what Panathinaikos does tomorrow, Panathinaikos will still be in first place.

Panathinaikos - Levadiakos 3-0

2012-01-25T17:54:00.000-05:00

For Panathinaikos, this was a perfect game. I don't mean the actual performance - which wasn't too bad either - but all the benefits that the club reaped from playing this postponed game in the middle of the week:

Solidified first place, five points above the second team with 12 games to go
Returned to scoring more than one goal
Did not concede a goal again
Had a nice and comfortable game - almost like a mid-week friendly
Totse scored twice and won the accolades of the fans
Karnezis continued shutting out opponents - he hasn't conceded a goal yet this season
Sariegi scored (need our defenders to contribute one to two goals each every season)
Got back to good ball circulation
Got back to creating tons of chances to score
Got back to scoring early in the game
Continued the amazing streak of scoring at least one goal every game so far
Kept the winning record at home (haven't lost a point in OAKA)
The fans rewarding the players for their performance by chanting their names
The fans rewarded Sariegi and Totse especially
Karnezis won my trust with another solid game
Took more air off the second team's tires

There is really not too much I can say about the game. It was a sluggish affair with Panahtinaikos looking like two speeds above Levadiakos players. It ended up in a monologue of possession and chances that brought the very natural 3-0.

I don't remember when we were ahead by five points before, but it feels good. And it can get even better in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for a lot more fun ahead. If we go into the game with Olympiakos with this, or larger, point differential, we'll have a chance to humble their arrogance even more.

Video

The Players

Karnezis 9

He pulled a couple of really difficult saves and generally he looked like he has a lot of confidence and skill. He hasn't conceded a single goal yet this season, so maybe there is something to the incredible trust the club and coaches have shown in his skills.

Marinos 7

He is getting better and better each game he plays. He looked good on defense when needed, and since most of the time he wasn't pressed, he spent quality time down the wing.

Spyropoulos 6

Good work by Spyropoulos today. He too spent a lot of time down the wing. He is no Munch, but he sent a few good crosses in the box today.

Katsouranis 7

He played as a CB once again next to Sariegi and had a solid game with a few critical stopages on counter-attack attempts. Good job by Ferreira to keep him on defense because our entire defensive line was playing in center-field all game long and was probably more appropriate to organize the forward passing game from defense than Bjarsmyr.

Sariegi 9

He did lose his opponent once in the first half, but I can't expect him to keep up with a winger on a 50-meter dash, so I won't take points off for that. Besides, Karnezis did well to block the resulting tete-a-tete. Beside that, he looked like Terri back there, stuffing the plays with comfort and style multiple times besides scoring the opening goal. The fans seemed to really enjoy his game, cheering him on continuously.

Simao 9

Besides having very few errors in his passing game, he looked like an immovable object out there. Opponent after opponent kept finding him in front and giving him the ball. He did an excellent job managing the game from a spot that older fans would remember as the number "10" (I mean the player who plays in the area half way between centerfield and the opponent's penalty area).

Vitolo 8

Excellent game by Vitolo who contributed to ball possesion with his midfield defense, and moved the ball forward really well. In general, he looks like he is getting more and more comfortable in the system where he can be a major contributor with his balance of defensive and offensive skills.

Zeka 7

Once again he was tireless and very energetic. In the last few games with Totse up front, he slides in the middle behind the striker, a position that he seems to do very well in. He was unlucky not to score once again, but he did everything else really well.

Quincy 8

Excellent game by quincy. I criticized him for not helping on defense much (he still doesn't), but in games where we win easily, he is a lot of fun to watch. There are times that I feel I am watching a skills exhibition game with Quincy on the ball.

Leto 9

He didn't score, but he did create three goals, so I'd consider this an excellent game by Leto who did a lot more too. He was unlucky not to score, but with Totse in he played a little farther back from the box and did his job just about perfectly.

Totse 7

He was at the right place on the two goals he made and generally he kept the center backs busy with his presence. I was happy to see the standing ovation by the fans when he was substituted late in the game.

Karagounis, Mavrias, and Petropoulos
all came in the game late, and there is not much to note besides Karagounis looked really out of sorts to me, Mavrias looked excellent, and Petropoulos had one nice shot on goal.

What more proof do we need?

2012-01-23T18:13:00.003-05:00

Do we need any more proof that Olympiakos can and does affect officiating in Greek football?

What a bunch of idiots. I mean the people who comprise the infimous KED (ΚΕΔ). They don't even have the decency to pretent that they are not controlled by Marinakis.

It's no secret that Greek referees suck. They suck so bad it's not even funny. It's a common impression in Greece that games and championships over the last decade were fixed. There was an early case with wiretaps that was thrown out of court because the wiretapping was illegal, and last summer there was another wiretapping case (legal this time) that exposed the rotten roots of the system.

These phone conversations have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that games are fixed and that referees are influenced. Although only few tapes have come to light, the methodology and system came to light. And I don't believe for a second that only "small" games were fixed by a couple of hillbillies who liked to play millionaires with crooked money.

If the system is in place to fix games, there is a reasonable expectation that this system will be used to fix the games that bring the multimillions to fatter cats.

The recent revelation and the jailing of the most brazen of masterminds seemed to put the fear into everyone this year and lo and behold, we see some normal game results this season.

So far in this short miserable "superleague" there have been a ton of teams that have complained about referee decisions against them, Panathinaikos included. I saw tons of errors for and against Panathinaikos, and every time I watched Olympiakos or other teams I saw the same.

I saw the work of really really bad referees, but what I haven't seen so far is the blatant pushing of Olympiakos by referees who in yesteryears invented calls and extended games until the red team got their wins and subsequent Champions League money. The epitome of this was of course last year's Olympiakos - Panathianikos game.

Somehow, I thought that this fear has put the fat cats in their boxes, now that they would be more reluctant to try funny business, seeing some of their peers behind bars.

So, all the complaining by all the teams was treated with contempt by the officials and the government. Nothing was ever done until the theatrical diving by Torosidis who realized he could not get to the ball even with rockets on his shoes and did a "bend and snap" on a normal "check" the kinds of which we see hundreds every sunday in such lobs in the penalty area (did you see the photo of Vintra being pulled by the shirt his Sunday as he was ready to score on a corner kick?).

I've been watching Greek football to know with certainty that if Konstantineas had called that play a penalty, Xanthi's president would be complaining about crimes against Xanthi. Furthermore, if such penalty was called against Olympiakos Theodoridis would be on the first plane to the court of Human Rights to file a crimes against humanity.

This little dive, silly as it was, brought out the master agitator (I wonder if he ever had any other real job in his life) out to pontificate about "crime against Olympiakos" and "wasted investment by his master", and other funny crap the kind of which we are used to over the years.

This was not a blatant penalty that the media nudged by Olympiakos would have you believe. It was a marginal play that should have never seen such publicity.

But things took a turn for the bizzare today. Suddently, KED fired Vassara from assigning referees, and assigned another old referee with a lot more baggage in that position.

You tell me that Olympiakos had nothing to do with this decision? I say your are looking for idiots.

What's really worrisome is that these people (the ones who can't play straight and want all the cards stacked on their corner) are so secure in the system they built that they are not even afraid to make such brazen and public moves in the middle of the season.

This is not an issue of whether or not Douros is better than Vassaras. They were both pretty bad referees and neither has any managerial and administrative qualifications or skills to make us believe that something will change with this swap.

It's an issue of who controls the game officiating.

Those who enforced their own wishes on the KED are sending the message that they can control refereeing no matter what.

This football world is so screwed up and filled with crooks and small minded idiots that they don't even care about the effects, or how such moves further downgrade their own product.

They don't care how such moves will mathematically lead to more violence in the near future.

They don't care. As long as their pockets are lined and their ego stroked, they'd do anything.

Theodoridis was certain that Olympiakos will take care of this championship in OAKA. He said so last week. Now I know what he meant. Except, now that the "entitlement" team has fallen further behind, they have to take care of this championship in more than one stadium or game.

I can't believe the government would just sit there watching this tragedy.

What needs to be done is to investigate immediately who called the KED people and if there was any pressure put on them to fire Vassara. Open up their phone accounts (and the bank ones too) to see who they talked with and who called them in the last 48 hours.

Second, someone needs to step up and stop the travesty of the refereeing in Greece. From now until the end of the season, and with the goal of restoring the lost credibility, the league must bring referees from abroad to officiate Greek games.

There is no way any refereeing error will be construed as "human error" from now on. The cat is out of the bag.

How can referees call the Olympiakos or Panathinaikos games when they know that when Olympiakos decided they don't like their calls their career will be history. They don't have to be bribed or threatened with "Russians, Romanians, etc". All they have to do is read the newspapers where marginal calls have destroyed the careers of other referees (Daloukas, and now Konstantineas), and even the most politically powerful ones like Vassaras have been axed.

You would say, why not? If they make huge mistakes they should be axed. Right?

But look closely, it took the equivalent of a nuclear blast to keep Kalopoulo off the games, even though he screw up majorly (well, his assistant really), and other referees that have burned other teams like Panathinaikos, AEK, PAOK, and Aris, to mention just the ones that are on top of the table constantly, have enjoyed the "human error" excuse and continue to officiate. Does anyone remember the Kakos red card to Sariegi in Karaiskaki a few years ago? Galleti pulled a high dive on a play where Sariegi didn't even touch him. That "error" influenced the game result and if we were idiots we would be talking about "crime against Greece". But it was a call in favor of Olympiakos, so Kakos continues to abuse the fans with his whistle.

I am no fan of Vassaras. I was actually prepared to write this week about what I think is wrong with Greek refereeing.

What's wrong with it is that it does not promote talent but butt-kissing. It doesn't have a system that rewards and promotes the best referees while it punishes and demotes the bad ones. It starts from the top where club shareholders control the officiating group, and they install old referees (the ones fostered by the rotten system) at the top decision-making spots. Unless this vicious cycle is broken, Greek football will always look like a lucrative hobby for underground hobbyists.

Let's see how this develops. I have a hard time believing that the state or the other teams will roll over and take this kind of abuse.

Panathinaikos - Atromitos 1-0

2012-01-22T17:09:00.002-05:00

Φασούλι το Φασούλι, γεμίζει το σακούλι! I remember this from second grade class in Greece. "Bean by bean, the sack will fill". Point by point this title is getting closer.

Panathinaikos - Atromitos Video

Seeing that the stress is beginning to creep in the team, I hope Ferreira finds a way to keep the players focused and the team's gaze at the title that is closer now than ever. Most importantly, I hope the fans don't let their own agony for the title translate into unreasonable requests, jeers, and more stress for the players.

Not to forget the "paragontes", I hope they stay the hell away from the team and the point advantage that the players and coaching staff built through hard work over the past six months.

I say that because I have watched Panathinaikos implode in the past because they were unable to manage the stress that first place imposes on players, paragontes, and fans. I remember vividly the Peseiro year when we were so close to winning the title only to see the team implode in the last month through off the field distractions that should have been avoided.

Gontikas has done a good job so far letting the team do it's job, while he has matched the childish behavior of the Olympiakos paid agitators with nicely timed and well crafted responses.

I start my game analysis with this prologue because I see some signs that make me worried.

Fist the fans booed Totse last game against Doxa when he came off the field.

I know for a fact that the majority of Panathinaikos fans don't condone this kind of behavior, but it seems like there is a large population of idiots in the stands who have no clue how to help the team, or worst, they care less about the team as long as they get to "be heard" for once in their lives. I hope those who booed Totse find another team to destroy and leave Panathinaikos players alone.

I still remember the game with Peseira against Panionios that fans booed Tziolis for entering the game at a time when the coach wanted to secure the winning score. These fans weren't the only responsible for losing that title, but creating a toxic atmosphere with unreasonable expectations did not help then, and it will never help.

Second worrisome sign is the re-appearance of some lost ghosts and agitators from the past. Sure we do want to know what will happen with the shareholders and the club ownership, and we definitely want to know that some of them will step up to help, but I get an uneasy feeling when the team has a critical game to play today, and the media reports are dominated by business persons who send some sort of letter to Gontika. I know it's not constructive when everyone jumps to take sides, to polarize the fans, and to talk about anything but what really matters: the player and coach's efforts on the pitch.

Now that the team is winning and solidifying first place, I suspect there will be plenty of "comets" who will attempt to show themselves as "PAO-loving", "saviors", and general "team bouncers". By my book, unless someone wants to write the club a check, they will do well to stay the hell away this season. We can live without self-serving letters, ideas, and patronage.

Now for the game.

This win was not just a small step toward the title. It was a giant leap ahead for the competition who lost ground through their own ineptitude (even though Theodoridis and Marinakis will have everyone convinced that Gontikas has set up a "paranga").

With the three points collected today Panathinaikos is in first place, two points ahead of Olympiakos. That's two points ahead having played a game less than them. This means that if Panathinaikos wins the pending game against Levadiakos (at home) this Wednesday, they will be FIVE points ahead in the league table. That's a huge handicap in Greek football and it would literarily take an implosion by PAO to lose this title - hence my huge introduction about distractions.

If you read my previous blog about the games ahead, you 'll see the beauty of Panathinaikos' position. They have a chance to make the upcoming Panathinaikos - Olympiakos game completely meaningless.

Olympiakos agitators have already mentioned that they expect to make up the difference by winning in OAKA (I am not sure if Theodoridis had inside knowledge when he said this with so much certainty last week - perhaps a slip of the tongue for an attempt to fix that game? I don't know. He'd have to explain himself), and being already five points ahead would make that game an attempt at a long-shot to get back in the race than an actual title-winner. Suffice to say that Olympiakos will have a few more chances to lose points, especially since they suck, and still have to play in Touba among other tough games.

This Panathinaikos - Atromitos game was another typical contest where the little team can go home and brag about "ball possession" (not) or "didn't get killed at OAKA", and Panthianikos players can go home to enjoy the view from above.

Overall, it wasn't an easy game, Atromitos being a disciplined and well drilled team, but in the end Panathinaikos verified that they have solutions to overcome these kinds of games no matter how much the other team "wants" to do well.

Today's solution had a Quincy stamp on it. It was getting into the last twenty minutes of the game and despite Panathinaikos picking up their game, it looked like we would need a hero again. Quincy had flirted with the goal a couple of times before, but he didn't let his third chance to score go astray. You bring the ball in the box enough time, and it's bound that one of this times it will bounce your way.

Atromitos had one decent chance early in the game but beyond that, and despite their good ball movement in midfield, they never really became dangerous. On the other hand, Panathinaikos wasted the first half again with only one long-range shot to show for, but they did adjust both tactics and intensity in the second half, enough to bring a winning goal and several other good chances to score again.

It's noteworthy that Panathinaikos has kept a clean sheet for the last five games despite the major injuries and forced rotations in both defense and midfield. They have stopped scoring two and three goals per game, but they do score enough to win, and they stopped conceding silly goals on defense. I am not sure what has caused the major change, but it works for now, and if we can keep winning for the next month, I am convinced we will see good football again if the difference from second place increases some more, and when the injured players return.

Ferreira once again showed that he is a very astute and flexible tactician. He fielded a good and disciplined squad, and made the right moves during the game to win it.

I am sure mainstream media reports will mention how Atromitos held the ball in midfield and how Panathianikos looked unable to win possession. But if you watched the game, and like to analyze tactics, you would probably agree with my observation:

Atromitos had a very sly strategy. They got the ball in midfield and passed it around their defenders and two DMs, trying to bait the other team's zone to run up to get it.

Most teams fall for this. They sit back in two defensive zones and eventually players from the first defensive line will strart peeling off to attack the ball. Inevitably when this happens individually, without the rest of their teammates following, it leaves big holes behind that can be exploited to force the defenders on one-on-one match-ups without support. Defending midfielders do it is because they too get as impatient as the fans to win the ball and to attack.

Panathinaikos players didn't fall for it, and they never attempted to attack the ball behind center field, unless it was a movement by the whole team. For me that's a good sign of the excellent work that Ferreira's coaching team has done this season. It's not something that can be taught in one week, and in the end, this kind of discipline is what wins titles.

Also, I am impressed with the way Ferreira trusts and manages his players, and they seem to respond well to him. I don't know if he had something to do with the playesr increasing their intensity in the second half, but he definitely has a huge part in bringing this team on top of the table with a game to go.

The Players

Karnezis 6
He had one excellent save early in the game on a close-range Mitroglou shot, but I thought he looked shaky and spilled a couple other shots that I thought he could have smothered, and he had a couple of bad exits in corners.

Vintra 8
Good game by Vintra who covered the entire wing on the right and sent in the excellent cross that resulted in the winning goal.

Spyropoulos 7
Spyropoulos had an excellent game with critical stoppages on defense and meaningful plays down the wing.

Bjarsmyr 7
He was not pressed, but he had a solid game with excellent positioning and solid plays on the ball outside the box. The only weakness, and it's not only his own responsibility, was the fact that most high balls in our box ended with an Atromitos head meeting them.

Sariegi 7
He had the dificult task of marking a very dificult forward in Mitroglou, and looked a little nervous at times, but overall he managed to keep most dangers away from our goal.

Simao 8
Solid contribution in midfield with dominating play on man-marking plays, perfect positioning in zone defense, and excellent distribution to advance the play.

Katsouranis
He got injured and substituted in the first half, but he looked good in the minutes he played.

Vitolo 8
He replaced the injured Katsourani and he too left the game injured in the dying moments. But in between he had an excellent game, plugging holes in midfield, stealing balls, and distributing well.

Zeka 7
He looked energetic and at times dangerous with good forward runs. , but his final passes weren't always successful.

Cleyton 3
Cleyton had an off game, with slow distribution, unnecessary dribbles, and generally he looked sluggish.

Quincy 8
It was his turn to carry the torch for the team's offence today, and he did well to keep defenders on their toes, and of course, to score the golden goal that secured the win today.

Leto 5
He ran around in every offensive position, but most of the time he found two and three defenders around him. The moments when he found space, he chose the least desirable play - dribbling and shooting when it's time to pass, and generally looking all stressed out. I think he really wants to score every game, and he gets all aggravated when he can't. I suspect he'll bounce back soon, especially when the distance from second place increases. He just needs to relax and accept that he doesn't have to be the savior in every game, especially now that others have proven that they can step up and win a game even when he doesn't play well. His best conrtibutino was that awkward header that ended up as an assist to Quincy.

Totse 6
He replaced Cleyton around 60' and from my point of view, his entry in the game was catalytic in this win. With Totse present in the box, the center backs had him to worry about, leaving Leto and Quincy a lot more space around the box. He didn't do anything amazing, and managed to miss an excellent chance again (as a reminder, even the great Warzycha and Cisse went through long dry-spells), but he fought hard, and won the fans' cheers when he run about 80 meters to defend the forward run of an Atromitos defender. He looks like a conciencious player who cares about the team and I hope the fans give him the support he deserves.

Marinos
He came in the game after we scored to solidify the game in midfield and he helped in this respect without doing anything else noteworthy.

Racing towards the title

2012-01-19T13:24:00.000-05:00

While it's easy to get lost in the details the big picture is clear.

Panathinaikos holds their destiny reins in their own hands. As long as they take care of their own business, it matters not what the other superleague teams do, or what their professional agitators say in the media.

I wrote last week about the remaining games, and today I'll try to elaborate with what's expected for each game in order to win this title.

Pao - Atromitos
Pao - Levadiakos
Doxa - Pao
Levadiakos - Pao
Pao - Xanthi
Ergotelis - Pao

Out of this group of games, we can realistically expect 18 points. Neither one of these teams is can be considered a serious threat to Panathinaikos, even if some are in better form than others.

A determined Panathinaikos has the solutions to beat any of these teams 90% of the time. The other 10% is held for the weird conditions that can derail the most diligent of plans (injuries, iced terrain, red cards, etc.)

If we lose points in any of the above games, it's not the end of the world because we can make it up in the next group of games

Pao - Paok
AEK - Pao
Pao - Olympiakos

From this group of games, we can reasonably expect that Panathiaikos can get at least 5 points (two wins and one tie). If they win all three it would be super, but experience says that these three opponents are the most capable of winning or drawing against Panathinaikos.

If we lose any points in the games leading up to the biggest game of the season, Panathinaikos - Olympiakos, then we absolutely must win that game.

This of course assumes that Olympiakos wins every single game up to that contest, something that's unreasonable to expect, especially since they have been in horrible form all season long and they play games for the Cup and the Europa Cup. Panathinaikos doesn't have this burden any longer and they can comfortably concentrate on playing just one game per week, beginning next week.

If both PAO and Olympiakos win all their games until they play each other, Panathinaikos will be two points ahead in the league table. My own prediction is that Olympiakos will lose some points (just as I believe Panathinaiikos will too).

After that group of tough games, home stretch looks much smoother, and we can reasonably expect to win every single one of them to win the title:

Ofi - Pao
Pao - Aris
Pao - Panionios
Asteras - Pao
Pao - Panaitolikos

Winning the title in such season would be huge for the club. It will stop the slippery slope they have found themselves caused by the shareholder and fan antics (each only thinking of themselves, even if they pretent to do everything for their love for the club), by some disastrous court decisions (Votanikos stadium) aided by unscrupulous demagogues (Tsipras), and by the economic downturn.

It will be good for the morale of the fans, but also for the club's bank account, because the championship in Greece pays off with automatic inclusion in the Champions League Groups, that yield at least 15 million Euro. This can be the difference between selling or buying players in the summer, and it can send the opposition into their own spiral downturn.

The best case scenario for this season is:

Take care of business against the smaller teams
Beat Olympiakos at OAKA
Win the title
Send Olympiakos into economic woes without the certainty of Champions League bonuses
Force Olympiakos to sell players instead of buying
Force Olympiakos into an early summer schedule of qualifiers (the one that has plagued PAO for years)
Fortify Panathinaikos with at least three good players over the summer
Go into the next season with style and cofidence

This is not a science fiction scenario. Panathinaikos coach and players have worked hard to bring the team on top with half the season (and more) over, and there is no reason not to think that we win this title and reap the benefits.

Panathinaikos - Doxa Dramas 1-0

2012-01-18T15:01:00.002-05:00

88th minute is still a good minute, so I'll take any goals that it brings.

The final statistics tell the story of the game in partial: 72% ball possession for Panathinaikos, and 14 efforts on goal, 11 of which were on target but were either too soft, too easy, or blocked. Doxa Dramas had zero chances the whole game. Yes, that's zero as in nothing, none.

With Doxa playing 11 men behind the ball Katsouranis moved permanently in midfield after 75' (Vitolo did double-duty as a second CB when the ball moved to our defense) and the whole team just looked like they were running at a feverish pace as the clock ticked down. The good thing is that they never looked panicked and tried methodically to get the ball around Doxa's goal for a clean shot.

The result was a much-needed goal by Katsouranis at a time when the ball was circulating almost exclusively around Doxa's box. In a sense it was inevidable. Even though PAO didn't create as many clean chances as you would expect from dominating possession, but they did have half a dozen clean chances at open shots.

Good job by everyone to keep hustling despite the game looking increasingly like it might go south. In the end it was another game no one will remember at the end of the season, but it contributed three vital points for Panathinaikos who continue to have the advantage (a game less against Levadia) against Olympiakos in this race for the title.

Overall, the increase in intensity the players showed in the last fifteen minutes is what made the difference. They moved the ball well around Doxa's box and found many open lanes to take some good shots. Now, if they can just do this in spurts earlier in each game, we would not be stressing out in the end.

Video

The Players

Kapinos 7
I can't really rate Kapinos because he had the easiest afternoon he could ever have. He was never challenged and in the couple of occassions that the ball came his way he did well to quiet the play.

Marinos 7
He did very well defensively whenever he was isolated with any Doxa player and really helped developement down the wing, especially in the first half.

Spyropoulos 4
Watching this game I was reminded that there are certainties in life. Death, taxes, and Spyropoulos' first (or second) touch sending the ball five meters away so he has to chase it and lose it. Not really much help going forward and he was never really challenged on defense because Doxa could not get that far forward.

Bjarsmyr 8
Excellent positioning and good distribution by Bjarsmyr today. Game by game he gets his confidence built up and even though he was often underpowered one-on-one he fought hard to win the ball in the air and on the ground.

Katsouranis 9
Fantastic game by Katsourani who realized (or instructed by Ferreira - it makes no difference) that he could move forward in the last fifteen minutes. Even before that, the entire game he distributed the ball really well from defense. In the end, he made the difference on this one and sent us all on coud nine at a moment when we all thought that the win was getting farther and farther away.

Vitolo 6
Good job defensively and good distribution in midfield, but he never really did the something extra to get our forwards free (the way Katsouranis does from this position with his forward passes).

Cleyton 7
He looked really good in the first half and moved the ball well, despite the long pauses he had in his game.

Leto 7
He moved all round the box from the center to the right wing an gave lots of headaches to defenders. But in the end he was kept away from the box by a very dedicated Doxa group that attacked him by three and four players every time he had the ball, even in midfield.

Zeka 6
He had as many errors as he had good passes but overall his contribution and tenacity were positive contributions towards this win.

Quincy 1
He was the second player today that reminded me of the certainties of life: Death, taxes, and Quincy screwing up every play he got involved with today. Thats not too bad, but his attitude seems to be getting worst game by game. He seems to think that a couple of good dribbles that excite 12-year olds are enough and it's someone else's job to mark that opponent that he just gave the ball to, and it's ok if he doesn't run back to chase the player that dispossessed him.

Totse 3
He missed a sitter in the very beginning and after that he disappeared in Drama's populous defense.

Petropoulos 5
He didn't really do much on his own after replacing Totse, but he was a bigger force to recon with in the box, and his presence alone contributed in opponent's having a harder time getting to and clearing the ball out of their box.

Karagounis
He played int he last ten minutes and managed to increase the intensity of teammates and fans alike. Not that they needed any help with less than ten minutes left, but I don't want to underestimate the effects of psychology when a team is staring a pretty embarrassing tie at home with a few minutes to go.

Mavrias
His contribution in the last ten minutes was immense down the right wing. He looked strong and fast, and won many loose balls in the box. His biggest contribution was creating the winning goal. He lurked at the edge of the box during a corner kick, and won the ball from the defender who was trying to clear it. He send a wicket shot towards goal, forcing the goalkeeper to pull a difficult save but to spill the ball right into the lurking Katsouranis' feet.

Somehow, winning at the last few minutes must be really frustrating for Olympiakos "paragontes" and I can't help but feel double satisfied :)

Now let's watch the media host asinine statements from the person who is acting like the head clown for the Pireas team (Theodoridis) in 3, 2, 1, ...

Sorry, I could not help making fun of the poor guy after reading his pathetic drivel in the last few weeks. He personifies everything that's wrong with Greek football and that's the only reason he gets a salary from his team.

I like Panathinaikos' responce: 85' Goaaaal, Cleyton.... 88' Goaaaal Katsouraaaanis

PS: It was nice to watch the game without commentary (I hope the reporters enjoyed their strike). I turned on the music and as it happened when Katsouranis scored the amazing "Cortez the Killer" by the Dave Mathews Band was paying, making the atmosphere in my room overcharged. If you heard someone screaming, it was me!

Here is the song by the way (substitute "Cortez" for "Katsour" when you sing along):

Enjoy this ride everyone!

What's next

2012-01-16T10:33:00.003-05:00

In case you haven't looked at the program, there is reason to smile. From now until the end of February we play:

Pao - Doxa Dramas
Pao - Atromitos
Pao - Levadiakos
Doxa - Pao
Levadiakos - Pao
Pao - Xanthi
Ergotelis - Pao

After that, we'll have the chance to finish off this race if all goes well. We play back to back derbies at home (with AEK we play at OAKA).
Pao - Paok
AEK - Pao
Pao - Olympiakos

After that group of tough games, home stretch looks much smoother:

Ofi - Pao
Pao - Aris
Pao - Panionios
Asteras - Pao
Pao - Panaitolikos

As you see, there is good reason to keep our focus and to stop the whining about every little ref decision, and all the other distractions.

Until we begin the derbies, there is good reason to believe that we can win every single game one way or another. Reality says that we'll lose some points here and there, but even so, if we win the pivotal derby against Olympiakos at home the title will be very hard to lose.

The team needs to keep their intensity and focus, and to treat every single game as if they are playing play-offs. It's very important that we win each of the next seven games because the possibility of losing points goes up against teams like PAOK, AEK, and Olympiakos. If we do that, then we'll go to the derby in first place and a win against Olympiakos would be not only the finishing touch for the season, but a firm foundation for the future seasons as well.

Giannina - Panathinaikos 0-1

2012-01-15T15:50:00.000-05:00

Wild game!

On a half-frozen field it's a miracle that Panathinaikos escaped with the three points and no injuries.

Ferreira fielded a "gutsy" squad, leaving Leto on the bench. I say gutsy because if Panathinaikos had lost the three points the second-guessing would have been intense. In reality, the scheme didn't work and once Leto entered the game in the second half, Panathinaikos was able to move the ball toward Giannena goal with some merit.

It was a good game overall, and Gianina could have won it by a wide margin if it weren't for Karnezis' excellent saves on more tete-a-tetes that I care to count. In the end, a scrappy play and a half-baked Cleyton bicycle kick decided this game. To be fair, even though Giannina ended the game winning ball possession statistics, Panathinaikos had their own missed chances to cry about.

All in all it was an exciting. wild, and frustrating game to watch. Exciting because of all the missed chances and of course because Panathinaikos won in the end, and wild because the frozen terrain made each play unpredictable. It was frustrating too because Panathinaikos continued the streak of games where they can't string enough passes together in midfield to dominate.

It's evident that Panathianikos is going though a period of bad form, and this is probably the best time to have such dip in performance. Most of the next couple of month games are against teams with limited resources, the kinds that Panathinaikos can win even on their bad day. That's how it worked today, and hopefully the team is buying time until they return to playing up to their potential and until some of the key injured players return.

Having watched the last string of games that everyone would agree didn't "click" for Panathinaikos it seems to me that missing players like Boumsong, Lazaro, Roudolf, and Nini has been hurting the team on multiple levels.

Today Panahtinaikos was playing with a totally new defensive line, with only Vintra being present from earlier in the season. The depleted defense has hurt the midfield as well, not only because Katsouranis is now absent from an area where he made a huge difference in the first half of the season, but also because the cohesion has been lost and it's been very difficult to move the ball out of defense with authority and speed.

This movement of the ball with secure passes and speed from defense to offense was the strength of Panathinaikos in the first half of the season, but it's completely absent in the last month or so.

It would have been fair to speak of Ferreira's errors in choosing his players if we didn't win the game, but he made the right moves in the second half, most important of which in my mind was the injection of Marinos in the game. After this move, and the subsequent one to put Leto in solidified midfield and allowed Panathinaikos to move the ball toward Kipouros' goal. Fourlanos wasn't as helpful, but by that time Quincy's game had deteriorated to garbage time, so a tall DM (the ball sailed in the air a fair amount of time due to the frozen pitch) was justified.

The Players

Karnezis 9
Besides a couple bad clearances he was just about perfect. He looked nimble under his goal and was quick to attack the ball on the numerous times he came face to face with opposing players. He did well to keep the clean sheet for the third game, justifying Ferreira's trust in him. This was by far his best game with Panathianikos and I am beginning to feel comfortable with him under out goal.

Vintra 5
He had plenty of problems defending and it wasn't only the frozen terrain that he skated through in the first half.

Bjarsmyr 7
He held his position well in a game where Giannina players found themselves constantly behind our midfield in waves.

Katsouranis 6
I saw him out of position many times, but he could have won this game earlier if his brilliant header weren't deflected by Kipouros by an equally brilliant save.

Ioannidis 6
He played well, but he too found himself constantly exposed against two or three players (especially as long as Quincy was in the game).

Vitolo 5
He had good efforts in the first half, but neither him, nor Simao seemed able to keep Giannina players from moving the ball with ease all the way to the edge of Karnezis' box.

Simao 5
He did a lot of the dirty work in midfield and had good defensive plays when it came to man-v-man plays, but he too seemed lonely among a multitude of blue shirts in midfield.

Cleyton 9
It wasn't just the beautiful goal he scored with the bicycle kick that earned a "9" from me. It was his overall performance that impressed me today. He was the only one that moved the ball forward and had overwhelmingly positive passes to show for.

Quincy 4
It didn't look like he wanted to be out there, and I got the impression that he was more concerned about keeping himself upright on the slippery pitch than winning this game. He did have a couple of excellent shots from the edge of the box that tested the goalkeeper, and gave a few good passes that could had resulted in a score.

Mavrias 3
He played on the right wing and he too had couple of decent efforts away from the opposing goal, but overall his presence wasn't very helpful neither offensively (where he didn't give reason for defenders to worry) nor defensively where he left Vintra all alone most of the time.

Totse 5
For most of the game I found myself wondering if he was even playing, but he did get involved in the plays when the ball reached the box though and he was unlucky not to score today on at least two tete-a-tetes (or some would say "he should have finished better").

Marinos 7
He came in the game in 45 to replace Mavria, and helped a great deal in plugging the hole on the right of our midfield, helping Vintra defensively, and even moving the ball forward really well. It was a smart move by Ferreira, knowing that the game was going to be played on the right wing exclusively (since the entire left side of the pitch was icy and both teams avoided playing on that side).

Leto 6
His presence alone seemed to tilt the balance toward Panathinaikos since Giannina was overly concerned with him. There were over three players chasing him around all the time to keep him away from their box, something that allowed more space for other Panathinaikos players. His freekick delivery was also another positive contributino for Panathinaikos in the last half hour.

Fourlanos
The youngster looked energetic but none of the plays helped him. He fumbled with the ball a lot, and he had a heck of a time keeping himself upright on the ice.

Don't Panic

2012-01-13T12:46:00.003-05:00

As you noticed, I rarely write about games Panathinaikos plays for the Cup competition. It's not that I don't watch them; It's that I could not give a hoot about this silly competion and trophy. It's painful to watch PAO lose any game, but it's not the same for me as losing games in Europe or in the Superleague.

The Panionios game confirmed pretty much what I wrote last Monday. The team has no steam and so it's increasingly difficult to keep up the intensity through a whole game. Perhaps the reported light conditioning work that took place in the summer is responsible, perhaps the diminished roster due to injuries and shallow bench depth. I have no way of knowing, but it's evident in the games that the team is not firing on all cylinders any longer.

In one sense, I am actually not bothered by the Cup elimination. Given the special circumstances of this season, I thing it's best to focus on the one meaningful competition that can make a real difference for Panathinaikos. Winning the Superleague title this season is top priority, not only because of the bragging rights, but also because it will automatically guarantee over 15 million Euro for the team's coffers next season (by the automatic inclusion in the Champions League groups).

One think I only regret is that we weren't able to rest some of our players during the game with Panionios. I know the players wanted to win - as they should - but I think the elimination from the cum is a blessing in disguise.

But reading the online media I sense disillusionment over this elimination by the fans and the reporters who are beginning to get into "whining" mode again, trying to find out what's wrong with the team, why can't we get new transfers, why there is no leadership, and overall looking to assign blame.

Sure there is a lot of blame to go around for the club's condition this season.

In my book, all of the shareholders, the media, and the fans - especially the organized ones (yes, this might be the only space where fan responsibility for the team's condition is assigned) are to blame.

But I don't intent to be part of the whiners. The only reason I write this blog is because I love the game and Panathinaikos, and the only ones that I can't blame are the coach and the players.

These players and the coaching staff have been massively overachieving this season.

With no help from the front office, with major stars departing in the summer, with low budget summer transfers, and no real presence or power in the leagues' bodies (EPO, Superleague etc), these players have performed amazingly well this season. They pulled some beautiful games, have scored tons of goals, and they are leading the league!

Let's give them a break.

It doesn't really help them to be overly analytical and overly whinny about every game, every play, and every detail. They have a huge chance of winning the title in a few months and they deserve our support.

One of the things that I noted in the last few games is how it doesn't seem fun for the players any more. They don't celebrate the goals the same way they did a few months ago, they don't recover as quickly from errors, and they have began complaining at each other on the pitch for errors. I can only attribute this to lack of focus and stress.

Now is not the time to bitch and moan about every mistake this or the other player made. It's not time to keep whining for the lack of shareholder involvement, or for the lack of transfers.

Now is the time to support the PAO players and the coach.

Let's keep our eyes on the big price and keep support the players through highs and lows.

Panathinaikos - Kerkyra 1-0

2012-01-08T12:47:00.002-05:00

With the final whistle, the announcer said "stressful win for Panathinaikos" and that summarizes everything about the game.

Panathinaikos had one goal and at least three excellent chances to score again to go along with another couple half-chances. But the whole story of the game was that Kerkyra managed to finish the game dominating possession 54% to 46%.

I know very well that possession doesn't mean much in football unless you win, and the reality of it was that Kerkyra's possession was as impotent as it was noteworthy. For hoarding the ball so much, Kerkyra never really managed to become dangerous for Karnezi. In fact, Karnezis had one really good block from a difficult shot from within the box that ended up coming his way, but other than that Kerkyra had no real chances to show for.

So why was the game so stressful, even for me who caught myself looking at the game clock as soon as 75'?

It was a combination of PAO's inability to hold the ball with any authority, and a general panic that ensued on our defense every time the ball came close to our box. There were so many times the ball bounced in our box without someone being able to clear it, that gave the general impression that with enough of these fracas plays one will end up going in.

Panathinaikos' defense is not the strength this year, so I wasn't surprised to see that kind of panic by all our defenders now that the whole line has been decimated by injuries. Panathinaikos' identity this year has been ball possession and crisp passing that keeps opponents on their toes and unlocks defenses with ease.

I saw the latter on a few plays in the first half, but it's becoming a trend in the last few games that Panathinaikos players can't perform at the same level as they did earlier in the season. There were more errant balls in midfield than successful passes, and for that, we can blame a few error-prone players but also the lack of hustle off the ball to get into position.

I don't know if all the accolades have gone to the players heads so they don't feel like they have to out-hassle the opposition, or if they are really as badly conditioned as some reporters have implied earlier in the season. But the reality is that with few exceptions, Panathinaikos' players have gone through a stretch of three or four games where they play a more static football with many players unable to run with the same intensity for the game's entirety (Cleyton, Zeka, Leto, for sure).

The three points were the objective though, and it was achieved even if once again the "small" team can go home to spread some bragging rights about how well "they played Panathinaikos" in OAKA.

The Players

Karnezis 6
I don't know the reasons why Karnezis was chosen today instead of the very good Kapino. I hope it's not one of the boneheaded decisions by management to put pressure on the kid (perhaps contract negotiations, like it happened so many times in the past?), or if Ferreira wants to keep the youngster on his toes, but admittedly, I have no confidence in Karnezis after seeing him give away two games to oppositions single-handedly. He wasn't pressed at all today so all is well, and for the first time in 9 games Panathinaikos didn't concede a goal. Even though I think this had to do more with Kerkyra's inability, it does go down as a check on the positive column for Karnezi.

Vintra 5
Vintra did manage some critical stoppages on defense, but overall he was sloppy with the ball and looked nervous. He had his usual passion but this and his powerful runs are not conducive to Panathinaikos' new possession football game so he looks a little out of sorts.

Spyropoulos 5
I could just copy and past the Vintra rating here. He didn't find himself as much out of position as Vitnra did, but he didn't help as much offensively either.

Bjarsmyr 5
A very quiet first game, and an error-free one from Bjasrsmyr. I hope this begins building his confidence because we'll be seeing a lot of Bjarsmyr in the next couple of months with three other Central defenders unable to help (Boumsong and Sariegi injured, and Kante playing in Copa Africa).

Kante 5
He had many good last-minute stoppages but looked weak on high balls and very panicky. I was amazed at how many jumps for headers a player can mis-time in game seeing Kante's headers hitting the crown of his head and sailing sideways or backwards.

Simao 7
Those who made their internet "fan" reputation making fun of Simao's ball handling skills are probably revising their stance after the kid showed incredible improvement in ball possession and distribution to go along with his tenacity as a DM.

Vitolo 6
Vitolo looked good in midfield both defensively and offensively in the first half, but in the second half he didn't help as much. He trailed the play way too many times, and failed to organize the game or to distribute the ball forward in the way his position requires. His contribution was overall positive though.
Added Monday: After looking at the highlights, I realized that Vitolo gave the forward pass to Cleyton, a pass that allowed Cleyton to come face to face with the goal before he passed to Leto who scored. So Vitolo did contribute considerably on offense and I increased his rating to 6.

Cleyton 7
With Kerkrya playing their defensive line very high, Cleyton had ample room to run and pass in open space. For sixty minutes that his legs could carry him, he helped both defensively and offensively, and it wasn't by accident that ball possession was lost for good when he got tired. He missed a couple of chances but his effort and assist to Leto were exemplary.

Mavrias 6
For a 17-year old in his second start for PAO, Mavrias was very good. He played as a LM with power, speed and skill. He managed some good plays even though he helped Spyropoulo on defense more than Spyropoulos helped him on offense.

Zeka 5
Defensively he was good in midfield but he had more errors than positive plays overall.

Leto 7
He is a force to reckoned with, and he was a real pain in the behind for Kerkyra all game long. He missed a couple good chances to score a second goal, but he was creative up front and scored the winning goal and finished the game without being booked. Noteworthy is the fact that he wore the captains armband today, a well deserved honor.

Marinos 6
He replaced Cleyton early in the second half and did well to hep Vintra defensively. He did a lot of running and actually missed two really excellent chances to score.

Roudolf
He came in the game for the last fifteen minutes and didn't really help either with maintaining possesion or being dangerous on the counter at a time when Kerkyra was playing the ball almost exclusively in our half. He had way too many errant passes to go along with his good defensive contribution in midfield

Karagounis
In the last ten minutes the Ferreira was desperate for his players to hold on to the ball and Karagounis helped quite a bit in that respect. He calmed the whole team and won a lot of meters on the field, holding on to the ball and distributing correctly to teammates.

The bottom line
We won this one, but if we keep playing like we played today (and the last couple of games) it's a matter of time before we'll pay for it (again).

The team needs to go back to playing fundamental football with short passes and constant movement off the ball. Today, everyone looked static and Kerkyra midfielders managed to get to the end of every loose ball and errant pass.

The team also needs to work on pressing the opponent in critical spurts. So far this season with only a few exceptions, Panathinaikos doesn't seem capable of putting another gear in to press and win the ball in the opposing half.

It's going to be a tough couple of months with all the injuries and frequent games, but let's hope we keep winning until some of injured players begin playing again. Players like Ninis, Lazaros, Quincy, Boumsnong, and even Sariegi can make a huge difference in our game.

Panaitolikos - Panathinaikos 1-1

2012-01-04T17:31:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

The first game of the new year for Panathinaikos was forgettable, and most of the time it hurt my eyes to watch. The incredible amount of errant balls in midfield reminded me of the dysfunctional team of yesteryear. I think at some point the announcers mentioned that there were over sixty "erros" made by Panathinaikos players, and about the same number for Panetolikos.

This little statistic provides an accurate picture of the entire game. Both teams were balanced on just about everything on the pitch. Even if PAO had a bette possession stats, it didn't mean much because this possession was mostly meaningless around our half our in centerfield. Very few times Panathinaikos players were able to exchange meaningful forward passes, and even fewer they managed a shot on goal at the end.

The two teams took what they deserved from the game, with Panaitolikos probably feeling bitter that they were equalized at the very last minute of extra time and at a moment Panathinaikos played with ten players after Boumsong was injured and could not continue.

Overall, this was a forgettable game for Panathinaikos in a stadium that had a wonderful festive and "rural" atmosphere. The fans were there to push their team but they were civilized (with the exception of a few profanity laced chants) and even expressed their support for the injured Boumsong as he was carried off the field.

Today's performance will throw fuel in the argument that Panathinaikos is not the same team without Leto. I don't know if that's entirely true, but today it was evident that without the skilled Leto and Quincy up front, most passes to our forwards were easy pray for the defenders who didn't have much difficulty dispossessing anyone who approached their goal.

I have decided to begin my player rating again, but as a word of warning to my reader friends, I won't be overly critical to players that seem to me to be trying their best this year.

The Players

Kapino 7
He was solid once again, and kept me excited about his future with the way he smothers the ball instead of spilling it, and wit the way he commands his box from edge to edge on forward through-balls. He had no responsibility for the goal as the opponent had all the time in the world to go around him.

Vintra 4
He was preferred today for the right fullback position instead for Marinos, and I am afraid with his performance he can't make the case for keeping that starting spot. He looked nervous at times, and his sporadic runs down the wing didn't end in good crosses. In fairness, in his best effort forward he was fouled in the box by a very sloppy defender, but the referee didn't call the penalty.

Spyropoulos 5
He had good and bad moments defensively, but he didn't really help forward with runs or crosses.

Boumsong 6
First I should say I hope he feels better. He broke his toe during the game and had to be carried off the field. He will miss at least a month and maybe more. He was strong while he played, but he did lose the through pass that allowed Panaitolikos to score.

Kante 4
He too looked nervous out there and missed several assignments. I think one of the reasons he has been starting over Sariegi in the last few games is because we needed better defense on high balls. But even today, with both Boumsong and Kante in the game, every set piece that ended in a high ball caused mountains of problems for our defense.

Simao 7
Solid game by Simao who was the only player that won more defensive battles that he lost in midfield.

Katsouranis 5
He looked flat in midfield, but even so he managed some good through balls forward that could have been dealt better by our forwards.

Karagounis 2
It was kind of sad to see Karagouni play such a bad game but time, the game, and his reputation have caught up with him. He could not round opponents to save his life, and it's evident that he is not the "direct football" type of player. To add insult to injury, the referees seem to have an agenda now never to give Karagouni a foul unless his leg is chopped off. I do think the referees are justified to caution him when he complains so animated, but there were at least three blatant fouls that the referee didn't call.

Cleyton 5
Cleyton had a couple of positive moments (the assist on the equalizer was brilliant), but for huge parts of the game he dissapeared completely. He could have done better with the ball on a few counter attacks where there were better options than the ones he made.

Zeka 4
He was strong defensively in midfield, but he had way too many errors. He either gave away the ball too often, or he lost it after unsuccessful dribbles. I get the feeling that he plays out of position though. He strikes me more as a box-to-box midfielder than a right winger, and today he played on the right wing almost exclusively.

Mavrias 5
Mavrias looked energetic in the first half, playing down the left wing, but he completely disappeared in the second half. He is another academy prospect that has been groomed for a couple of years for the first team, and today was his first start. He showed good skill with the ball, some speed, and enough strength to keep defenders from crowding him off the ball. Let's wish him best of luck and many more starts to come.

Petropoulos 2
I don't know what it is with all the young players who look amazing until they sign the big contract they are after. I watched it happen to Petropoulos too. He used to look good, with speed power and good finishing in the box, but now, and especially this game, he looked sluggish and even underpowered.

Marinos
He played as a right midfielder in the end of the game as a sub, and did well to maintain possession and to contribute creatively. With Boumsong gone and playing a man down, he had the difficult task of covering the entire right side, something he did well.

Totse
There is this general idea floating in Panathinaikos fans' heads that he is not the right person for the job, but to me he looks like a very useful player. Today, he came in as a sub in the last quarter of the game and found himself face to face with the keeper twice and scored once. He could have scored a second goal if it weren't for an amazing, instinctive flick of the arm by the goalkeeper, Blazic, who deflected the ball in what looked like a certain goal from two meters away.

Ferreira
For all the good he has created for PAO this season, this was not a good game for Ferreira. It's easy for me to see of course, but I am sure he too realized after the game that Marinos would have been a better option instead of Vintra, and Totse should have started the game. I am sure he regrets throwing in the game Petropoulos before he put in Totse, and he might even be second guessing his use of Karagouni. But the coach too is entitled to some bad games here and there, and if it weren't for the plethora of errant passes, the two points might not have been lost. Also, his decision to declare Leto ineligible for this game turned out to being a huge factor in the game, given that Quincy and Rudolf both got injured in practice this week.

Leto
I know Leto didn't play this one, but I wanted to point out that his nerves cost his participation in this game. Not saying that we would have won with Leto, but after watching the game I am convinced that his presence alone would have made a huge difference today. The reason he didn't play today is because he amassed four yellow cards in the first half of the season. I think one of them might have been for diving (can't remember) but most of the cards he gets are for complaining to the referees for not giving him a foul when he thinks he deserves one, and even sillier, afte complaining to referees that his defenders should be getting booked. On that second part, he has a point, because it seems that refs allow his opponents to play rougher than usual, but there is no reason for him not to be smart about it. Perhaps now that he has matured as a player and has even changed his position and the way he plays with the ball, it's time to work on the mental aspect of his game.

What's next

Well, what's next is good and bad. First, we have the easiest of schedules all the way to the end of February. On the other hand, the thin bench might end up making some of these games even more of an adventure than we like.

With Boumsong out for over a month, the only Center Backs left are Sariegi and Kante. Both seem to be in not the best of shapes with Sariegi being benched in favor for Kante, who himself hasn't done much to convince that he deserves the starting spot.

To add to the problems, Kante is going to join the Mali national team for the Copa Africa so the only two Center Backs left available for several games are Sariegi and Bjarsmir.

Panathinaikos' defensive line gets even weaker, and it looks increasingly possible that Bjiarmir will be called to start at CB. Do you remember him? Yes, he is still with the club having found no way to break his contract and has registered exactly zero minutes of playing time this year.

Last time I saw Bjarsmyr was under Ten Cate and Nioplias, and he looked really bad for a CB. By bad, I mean he could not dispossess an opponent to save his life, and he looked extremely nervous out there on the pitch. He is too soft and easily pushed off the ball by more powerful opponents, and he tends to backtrack and watch the ball carriers instead of attacking the ball. I hope he has improved dramatically, but just in case, someone please let Ferreira know that Vintra played CB well under Ten Cate, and it might not be a bad idea to call on his services again, especially now that Marinos looks like he is not a liability as a RB.