cyberfish Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Sunday, November 9, @ 19:00 GR time (NET) While we are waking up from the amazing win at Bremen, another tough game looms on the horizon. The amazing performance last Tuesday will be a distant memory if we don't come out victorious against Olympiakos. If Panathinaikos can duplicate the effort they put forth in Germany it will be very dificult for Olympiakos to escape defeat. Will PAO send us on cloud nine by steamrolling over the reds? I hope so. I have watched all Panathinaikos games so far, and I watched almost all the Olympiakos games. Olympiakos is not the same team as last year or the year before. While they have won a lot, their schedule has been the easiest possible so far, and their performance has been mediocre at best. Surprisingly, they have become predictable, and they have shown weakness in both offense and defense. This as a result mostly of their weakened midfield. Leto is flashy but not as good as Tzortzevits, and Stoltidis is as shadow of himself and Beluci is more reputation than game. Dudu seems like a decent player, but he is not they type that will do the dirty work for others. Galleti has been a bright spot, and his runs down the right have been responsible for Olympiakos being anywhere near the top of the table. He has been spotty too, and there have been games where he was invisible. Olympiakos' defense is not exactly exuding any confidence. Nikopolidis does some weird things at goal, but he is experienced and capable of stopping some dificult shots. His exit off the line is even more surreal this year than before. The CBs have the propensity to be disoriented on forward through-balls and I hope they keep it up for one more game. Avraam is getting better but I have seen him lose forwards in a flash, so I think our offense will find some space to operate. Olympiakos' offense is nothing special, but Kovasevic and Diogo are capable individual players. Either one can score out of nowhere, and both can dominate any CB in our league. The key for Panathinaikos will be to play like they did against Bremen. Take the game away from our box and move it high in midfield. Then patiently build up the game towards Olympiakos' box. We have some advantages as a team over Olympiakos. Speed, ball movement, variety of attack, a very adoptable midfield and a hot CF. On the other hand we have shown the propensity to the easy error on defense which I hope we never see again. With a sellout crowd of 65k green fans screaming the team will have an extra advantage. But it would be a mistake to go all out and try to finish Olympiakos quickly. It would be perfect if we score in the first minute, but if we don't, I hope we stay patient until the very last second. For this game, Moon is out thanks to the last weeks red card. Ninis will be out for sure with a thigh injury, but Ivanschitz has returned to practice and I wouldn't be surprised to see him start. But I wouldn't be surprised to see the exact same lineup as in Germany. Karagounis is on fire and in the past he has show that he goes into these streaks where he seem untouchable. He will be key in this game. Mantzios will also be key. If he can hold the ball enough to allow the AMs to deploy, and if he can score we'll be happy campers in the end. I hope we see a good and fluid game with lots of goals. My prediction: 4-0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pao123 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 we are gaining in confidence..if we go out there with no fear then we should win this one..i hope mantzios continues his form and does not buckle and i hope our defense can repeat its last games performance...shame moon is out, i think he could have helped alot this game with his speed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUDE Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 This is an interesting game... The strongest PAO squad for a few years, high on confidence, and in front of her wonderful crowd, against the worst Olympiakos team I've seen in my life time who have a manager that hasn't got a clue. This can only lead to one result right? Somehow I don't think it will be as simple as that. PAO seem to have a psychological-block against Olympiakos while the reds have so much self-belief when it comes to PAO. This can be a significant variable. If PAO are to overcome this they must break Olympiakos' spirit and for that an early(ish) goal would be brilliant, so PAO should come out hard from the start. Pressing all over the pitch and maintaining it for 90mins. I know that sounds like a pretty obvious comment but in this case I think it's particularly true. PAO always seem to play within their shell when meeting Olympiakos, this time the greens have to go for the game without fear. PAO has to press and win the ball high up the pitch however this should be counter-balanced with 3 holding midfielders imo (Gilberto, Tziolis and Simao). Why? Because Olympiakos have no imagination and they won't be able to play through that midfield so, like always, they'll look for the long aerial ball. This will also enable one of the holding midfielder to help double up on Galletti when necessary. Thus, as long as PAO deal with that long ball they should be able to keep the reds at bay. From an attacking perspective, Mantzios will be vital. Olympiakos are terrible at dealing with crosses and aerial balls at the best of times, but with Antzas missing in this game they'll be absolutely useless in this respect. So Mantzios should relish the encouter. I also think HTC should consider bringing Souza off the bench for this one. With 2 target men who are aerially competant PAO could cause them great problems. I'm HTC knows what he's doing and I think PAO will scrape this one 2-1 (although I believe PAO's play will deserve a bigger scoreline). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drakos13 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 this one can go anywhere I hope PAO gets it...I think we deserve it, and it will make the superleague way more interesting.... Also Sousa? Maybe if we need to cut the speed out of our offense. Mantzios is in big form right now, and hes doing more than being good for PAO, hes looking like one of the better superleague forwards in general latley too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYPAO13 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 we play anywhere close to the way we played vs Bremen & it will be a walk in the park for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikosVazelas Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I know it doesnt feel this way and its hard to believe but in the SL, Oly hasnt beaten PAO in 33 months. Pao is 2-0-2 in the last four meetings conceeding only one goal and scoring 3. If you take away the road game in the cup last year(4-0) Oly hasnt beaten pao since january 2006 (3-2) in Karaiskaki. As for this game, itll be a battle in th midfield. I see a boring game and hopefully we could pull it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I think we deserve it, and it will make the superleague way more interesting.... Why exactly your team deserves to win this one???Just because of your last 2 games??A week ago you guys wanted management,coach and players heads on platters but now we should have a walk in the park and beat gavros?? :nono: SL more interesting???? I love you Drakos,you are a supporter of exitment in the Greek league and the SL in general..........yes,Pao should win the derby so the league is more fun...... :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: Geitonaki mou,you made my day. :tup: :tup: :D PS.I love the fact that some of you in here belong to the same club i belong to,of what i like to call "polite kafroi fanatics with brains"....... :tup: :tup: May the best team on the pitch win and no trouble on the stands or around the stadium. :tup: :gr: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympiakosthyra7 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I think we deserve it, and it will make the superleague way more interesting....Why exactly your team deserves to win this one???Just because of your last 2 games??A week ago you guys wanted management,coach and players heads on platters but now we should have a walk in the park and beat gavros?? :nono: SL more interesting???? I love you Drakos,you are a supporter of exitment in the Greek league and the SL in general..........yes,Pao should win the derby so the league is more fun...... :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: Geitonaki mou,you made my day. :tup: :tup: :D PS.I love the fact that some of you in here belong to the same club i belong to,of what i like to call "polite kafroi fanatics with brains"....... :tup: :tup: May the best team on the pitch win and no trouble on the stands or around the stadium. :tup: :gr: crazy couldnt of put it any better :LOL: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drakos13 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 I think we deserve it, and it will make the superleague way more interesting....Why exactly your team deserves to win this one???Just because of your last 2 games??A week ago you guys wanted management,coach and players heads on platters but now we should have a walk in the park and beat gavros?? :nono: SL more interesting???? I love you Drakos,you are a supporter of exitment in the Greek league and the SL in general..........yes,Pao should win the derby so the league is more fun...... :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: Geitonaki mou,you made my day. :tup: :tup: :D PS.I love the fact that some of you in here belong to the same club i belong to,of what i like to call "polite kafroi fanatics with brains"....... :tup: :tup: May the best team on the pitch win and no trouble on the stands or around the stadium. :tup: :gr: katse ena lepto re I think we deserve it (we meaning us PAO fans) because of the crap weve gone through and patience weve shown on a disastrous season excluding that one last game we played. And FWI I still want Andoniou's head on a platter, and never wanted the coaches. SL more interesting....dude, if PAO wins it will actually be interesting and a contest. If PAO loses then the contest is basically over in November. Thats ...in my opinion less interesting. Is it biased, yeah of course it is man, as I meant it to be my own bias opinion for PAO, in our own forum. PS: since we are neighbors maybe you will be interested to know...i saw Takis Fyssas the other day in the Supermarket so he is also your neighbor, we outnumbering you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haydar Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 PAO forever... :tup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loup Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 3-2 :tup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genome Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 PS: since we are neighbors maybe you will be interested to know...i saw Takis Fyssas the other day in the Supermarket so he is also your neighbor, we outnumbering you! :LOL: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drakos13 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 PAO forever... :tup: helal olsun ! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberfish Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 A 19-man squad has been announced. Leontiou and Ninis are out with injuries. Moon is out with refereetis. Beseids these three, Melissis, Siontis, Petropoulos, and Sousa will watch from the VIP booth. Ten Cate mentioned that he is thinking to field the same lineup as last game against Werder. In other news, Theodoridis (the Olympiakos behind the scenes guy) looked very agitated because Ten Cate mentioned that he hopes his team ends the game with 11 players. I watched the news and it was amazing to see such spiritedd defense of the Greek referees. He sounded as if they are attacked unfairly, and he said Ten Cate is coercing the referees to not call blatant fouls. Of course, I didn't expect Theodoridis to understand that Ten Cate was referring to the erroneous calls that have plagued Panathinaikos in just about every game so far. I don't think he is capable. But I did expect Theodoridis to be the spokesperson and defender of the the Greek referees. Go figure. Panathinaikos has been boosting the confidence of the two players most maligned by fans: Vintra and Tziolis. Ten Cate mentioned that they are good players and that he is not crazy for using them. He mentioned that other coaches did the same. He, and others asked the fans to be supportive. In the last practice that was open to fans both players were cheered by the fans. They both look like very nice kids, so I hope they don't have to endure any booing ever again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDmagic Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Galletti with the late winner :nw: I predict the green defence with Sariegi and Bundra to show their great form from 1 month ago :LOL: :LOL: Olympiakara 2-1 :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paxiotis7 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 We all know derbys can go either way. This one will be nearly impossible to predict due to both teams inconsintancy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYPAO13 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 2-1 Salpi, & Salpi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve07 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Just win I don't care about the scoreline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro2004 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 A 19-man squad has been announced. Leontiou and Ninis are out with injuries. Moon is out with refereetis. Beseids these three, Melissis, Siontis, Petropoulos, and Sousa will watch from the VIP booth. Ten Cate mentioned that he is thinking to field the same lineup as last game against Werder. In other news, Theodoridis (the Olympiakos behind the scenes guy) looked very agitated because Ten Cate mentioned that he hopes his team ends the game with 11 players. I watched the news and it was amazing to see such spiritedd defense of the Greek referees. He sounded as if they are attacked unfairly, and he said Ten Cate is coercing the referees to not call blatant fouls. Of course, I didn't expect Theodoridis to understand that Ten Cate was referring to the erroneous calls that have plagued Panathinaikos in just about every game so far. I don't think he is capable. But I did expect Theodoridis to be the spokesperson and defender of the the Greek referees. Go figure. Panathinaikos has been boosting the confidence of the two players most maligned by fans: Vintra and Tziolis. Ten Cate mentioned that they are good players and that he is not crazy for using them. He mentioned that other coaches did the same. He, and others asked the fans to be supportive. In the last practice that was open to fans both players were cheered by the fans. They both look like very nice kids, so I hope they don't have to endure any booing ever again. This post has increased my excitement even further! Thanks. :D I can't wait to take the 3 points and hear the Olympiakos fans bemoan the refs. :LOL: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irlandos Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Whatever happens, I hope the refs do their job " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irlandos Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTitus Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Theodoridis has earned the right to be called the most ridiculous person in Greek football. This is no small accomplishment if you consider all the possible candidates for this title. This time, he had his chance to strike when the police informed OSFP that there might be some brain-damaged PAO fans in the streets waiting for their bus to pass by. Absolutely nothing happened in the end and the bus arrived with a 4 minute delay. Still, Savas was furious and made the following statement: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberfish Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 So far Pao has the initiative. Olympiakos looks very apprehensvie keeping numbers in their half and attempting tlong balls forward. We look pretty good in these first 10 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberfish Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 Beautiful ball movement, Gabriel with a long range shot, saved by Nikopolidis 14' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberfish Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 Nilsson with another shot, way too wide with his left foot. so far besides three long shots not much has happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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