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Summer 2008 Friendlies


cyberfish

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I was impressed with Mantzios today... good runs, good chances, 2 good goals... we made a stupid decision sending him abraod, and keeping Papadopoulos last year. Very stupid, because even 1st half mantzios had shown some good performances, htne gets benched right after. Should have really kept him last season, instead of the garbage we got and put out there, esp when we went short on strikers....we could have finished some crap games we dropped points on. Oh well, those days are pretty much over, peseiro, tzigger....BYE BYE

Ten Cate had a confident interview. He said it will take months to get to the level he wants his team and a lot of hard work, but on the way the fans can still expect to enjoy their football, and will be proud of Panathinaikos this year. I like the start we have so far, HTC says he wants to press his opponents like 2nd half today, and play tough defense in their end, pin them in.... The result today was not important, what was important, that we finished chances, got our youth out there, played ball, pressed, made good passes, kept composed, attacked and shut them off 2nd half.

Also Bryce Moon, I liked what I saw so far....quick, dual footed, I want to see more....and if HTC approves, I say sign the guy. Darlas got to play today too on the other wing...did well actually. Glad he wont be ignored in favour of Seric as the alternate LB, hes better than Seric.

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seric is gone from the team

I know that, Im saying Im glad hes gone, now that Seric is not there, Darlas will get more respect, because coaches obviously only judged Seric by his past experience and not the trash he produced on the field..

Cluj is on sunday....

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  • 3 weeks later...

Nice test against the Frenchies today, PAO won 5-1. I think we'll be ready for the crucial match against Dinamo.

I like to see Ninis playing a great game. He should see more time this season.

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Saw the game on t.v and it was great. We started off really good and we got and early goal with Kara from a free kick that was beautifully hit. Then we started to let up and pull back(like the PAO of old we have all seen way to much of the past few years) and they got a goal off a miscue from our CB's. For the rest of the first half we played not to get scored on again. Second half we came out and started to play like our coach has been wanting us to play all along. We pushed up allot more and played the ball around to each other very quickly not slowing the game down. This was very exciting to watch and we got some very nice goals. Ninis came on for Kara and was greeted by allot of cheers and played very well he set up 3 goals(2 from free kicks that ended with Sarriegi and Vyntra getting the goals and one from a corner kick that Salpi finished) and scored a beauty by chipping the goalie on a break away from Rukavina's great pass. Gabreil was a monster and really should have had a goal or 2. He was pushing up allot and was very dangerous almost like a striker lol although he could have done a bit better on def side.Clayton played very well in the second half and was very dangerous. Simao was a man possessed he was everywhere. Mantzios really disappointed me he really tried to do too much and slowed the nice fast pace we had going, he also missed a sure goal. I really hope he gets better as we go forward or I don't see our coach putting up with him too long and will nail his ass to the bench. We really are a CB and a very good striker away from forming into a very nice team that I would be confident can at least pass into the second knockout stage of the CL. We have allot of young players that will be very very good and make up a very good core for the future. I'm excited to see this team once it has gelled and see what we can do.

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Oh yeah, Sotiris Ninis is our BEST MIDFIELDER.

Just like to point out - Otto Rehagel what a terrible mistake he made. Ninis is NT quality, absolutley. Rehagel doesnt use him in WC quals, were not going far.

Miles better than Clayton thats for sure.

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This was only a friendly, but I liked what I saw. Actually, with all the changes and new faces, I was a little worried that it'd take longer for the team to play cohesively.... but, they showed they can find and play with each other.

Ninis is ready, he's 18, and he'd be a solid starter on most other euro squads. I think it was best that Otto didn't pick him--it wouldn't have made any difference. But, he deserves a position on the NT. (btw, Otto should leave before the World Cup qualifiers in my opinion)

If PAO plays like this against the Georgians (who used to be under Russian domination in the old USSR) of Tbilisi, we'll go through without a problem.

Can't wait. :tup:

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I had the chance to go to OAKA for this one since I was in Athens, and it was GREAT!

To be sure, Saleroua did not look like a team that could help us make solid assumptions about PAO's performance. I think they passed midfield a handfull of times, and lo and behold they scored once!

Great stuff from our AMs and Gabriel (who seemed to be drifting in obscure areas of the field many times, but his attacking and crossing skills were refreshing to see). Simao was excellent, and I thought Mantzios had a very difficult job holding and distributing the ball allowing the rest of the team to develop into attacking positions.

Same as before and good: Constant pressing high.

Same as before but bad: Goofy mistakes on defense

New that we had not seen up to now: Really aggressive fullbacks.

New and exciting: AMs that can attack defenders one on one, and go by them most of the time.

New that we have not seen in a long time: Speed! Panathinaikos was fast, esp. in the second half.

I don't know Saleroua, and I am not sure what kind of team they had fielded in the second half when PAO seemed to be all over them, but yeah, Ninis not only showed some skill, but he also showed some flair! He played behind the CF in what people call "dekari" position and he was just about perfect. Great stuff. He was a joy to watch, and what a cool finish on the goal! I would not be surprised to see him start against Dinamo instead of Karagounis.

The crowd was good too.

Cheers

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Cyber, how many showed up?

What were the ticket prices?

From the TV, it looked like at least 20,000, even if they only sold the seats that face the cameras... ;)

Will you go on the 29th?

This is the first summer in a long time, that I have not made it to Greece... yet.

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Trifilli: I am a not sure what the number were, but 20.000 sounds right. They had 10, 15, and 30 euro tickets. I was in gate 7, and I was not sure if there were any fans in the seats above us, but the second tier across from us (and above the TV cameras) were empty.

Truth is, there was a good, festive atmosphere, that turned to exuberance once the goals started coming. I would be happy if such crowds showed up for our home games against smaller teams.

Thanks for the good wishes. My vacation is coming to an end, but it's been awesome as usual :tup: I hope you make it next summer.

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