Panionios-Pao

[GreenTitus]

I also think it was Sarriegi. Apart from the bonding and the team spirit teams build after games like this one, we have played against AEK, PAOK, Aris and Panionios away, with Oly only having played against Aris away. A win next weekend and we 'll get our lost confidence back. If we stay close until January, we can add 2-3 quality players to an already confident and, let's be realistic, competent squad and chase the title. BUT we need to continue like this: determined and united.

Btw, I think I had some sort of heart failure a split second after Gali dropped that ball. I 'm getting too old for this kind of games.

PS: I hate to complain about the refs but I just realised that Kumortzi already had a card when he kicked Ninis in the knee from behind with the ball miles away. The ref played the advantage but never returned to book the player - who scored after a few minutes off a foul that was never committed and cost us a sending-off! This is just too much to digest.

[cyberfish]

Yeah, great! I missed all the excitement.

At least I din't have any heart attacks :LOL:

I am glad we won. Now I'll wait to see if this ref goes the way the other one went (you know, the one who wronged the reds by not ejecting a few OFI players). This will tell us what our chances are for the title this year.

Other than that, I'll watch the game later tonight.

Character building is what we are after now, and overcoming adversity is the best way to do it.

Moon ejection will cost him the game against Oly. Too bad because I think he would be a better match against Galleti than Spyropoulos. Maybe this was the plan by Zografos all alone? :whistle:

I guess Ten Cate can't be on the bench against Olympiakos either.

How can referees be so bad?

We have issues, and one good way to work through them is to find ways to win games.

[GreenTitus]

I was watching the goals again and I 'll say this: OK, Sarriegi is not PAO calibre and should be our forth DC at best but he is the only player (other than Kara) who goes nuts when we score in this game (obviously the scorers don't count!). You can see in his face that this is not about money or fame or whatever. He is part of the team and a fighter. We don't have many of those...

[cyberfish]

He is part of the team and a fighter. We don't have many of those...

It looks like we are building some more!

[cyberfish]

I was so mad to see such a pathetic decision by the referee (Zografos) to eject Moon for a hand-check while running side by side with Skoufalis towards the corner, that I turned the TV off and almost broke it. So needless to say, I missed the rest of the game after that, and I missed the goal by Goumas in the end that gave us the three points.

Up until the point when Zografos did his best to give the game away, I saw a delightful Panathinaikos game that pushed with lots of passion to get this win. Moon had an excellent game replacing Spyropoulos as a LB and forced Lienen to move Estojiaof to the other side of the field and back to give him space.

I was excited to see how determined the players were and how much they ran to suffocate Panionios who are not the "special" team the newspapers want us to believe. Estogianof has some flair, but there is a reason he is playing for Panionios at this young age. Same for Recoba. The rest of Panionios team was mediocre to bad.

Today's lineup was completely different than what anyone whould have guessed. Once again Ten Cate experimented and for the most part he did the right thing. Ninis played exclusively on the right wing, and not surprisingly for me, he had his best game of the season. He has expressed an interest in playing in the middle as a "dekari" and Ten Cate used him there almost exclusively in previous games. On the wing where he can run at defenders and find open space he is awesome. In the middle, he gets lost. Good game today.

Galinovic starting was not a big surprise. Ten Cate had mentioned that he wanted to give Tzorvas a chance for a few games and kept his word. Tzorvas was good, and no one can accuse him for not being the saviour in the games against Iraklis and Ergotelis, but no one would claim that he proved to be the undisputed starter either. Having said that, the mikey-mouse plays on defense continued unimpeded. There was bad communication between the goalkeeper and the CBs again today that almost cost us the game. Like I said in my previous post, all the changes on defense don't help the cohesion of the line. The sooner we establish a permanent lineup on defense, the better off we'll be.

I am not sold on the individual abilities of Vintra and Sariegi, but I think it's time we stop the revolving door at CB and establish a consistent tandem. They will get better the more they play together, and the whole team will be better off.

Karagounis was excellent once again, and so was Gabriel. The two of them, with Ninis on the right kept the ball on Panionios' field most of the game, and with Mantzios in good form Panathinaikos controlled the game comfortably and missed some good chances to score more goals.

Simao did an excellent and passionate job behind the AMs and Gilberto had his moments. Back on defense, we showed the usual weaknesses in defending the high balls. When a short forward like Choutos wins so many headers in your box, you know there is weakness there.

But I do want to say a few (not kind) words about Zografos, the referee. The second yellow card he showed to Moon in the 62nd minute is one of the most blatant attempts to favor a home team if I ever saw one. He showed it because he felt the pressure from the fans who were showering the pitch with objects all game long. We'll know what our chances of the title are this season by watching to see if he is suspended like the other ref who wronged Olympiakos in Iraklion.

As for winning this one in the face of such adversity, the team showed that they are building a tough character. Maybe all this adversity will work in our advantage in the immediate future, as Panathinaikos forges an iron will by walking through fire. I think this is the case.

Next week we play Olympiakos who have shown next to nothing in their first, and ridiculously easy, part of the season. If we play with the determination and skill we showed in the first half against Panionios, Olympiakos will lose big time.

For now, I like what I see from our team. I like the way we attack, and the way we press high. If we had fewer errors in the back, and a little more luck, we would be talking about the most exciting PAO team in fifteen years. But we can't. There are many issues we have to work out. Issues of individual player ability should be easy to address in January, and issues of overall defensive play during some parts of the game will take some time.

We have shown the ability to overturn games, but we've also showed the inability to hold a lead. The way I see it, it's a matter of time before the team reaches a balance. I have faith. All I ask now is for the team to help me keep it by beating Olympiakos next week.

If we have a good showing at Werder on Tuesday, next Sunday against Olympiakos OAKA will be rocking.

PS. My apologies to everyone for swearing in my earlier post. I can't go back to edit any longer, and I am not proud for it. If a mod could please edit my earlier post, I would appreciate it. I don't think it adds anything constructive anyway.

@$@@#(%^@ (edited by Mod :D )

[Genome]

PS. My apologies to everyone for swearing in my earlier post. I can't go back to edit any longer, and I am not proud for it. If a mod could please edit my earlier post, I would appreciate it. I don't think it adds anything constructive anyway.

I think it was edited automatically (unless I missed the post you mean). ;)

Anyway here are the goals:

Btw, Werder just won 5-1 from Hertha Berlin today.

[NikosVazelas]

Drako.. i still love you...

[cyberfish]

In the first goal Sariegi also gave the pass to Gabriel in open space. Gabriel had won the ball initially with a beautiful tacklin, Sariegi served it back for the beautiful shot.

Goumas is one of the high scorers of the team with two goals but with less games played. I would not mind seeing the Goumas-Sariegi tandem back against my own good advice to keep the same defense for a while.

[GreenTitus]

Just a note about Zografos: He didn't send Moon off because of the crowd. When he went to the locker room for HT he kept thinking that the Panionios players were complaining and the crowd was upset. He called a couple of friends and he was told that, despite the fact that all Panionios could complain about was a throw in, it could be said after the game that he helped PAO get a reviving victory - never mind if this is far from true. That was enough for him to start looking for a way to turn the game around. You don't mess with Gagatsis (i.e OSFP's) EPO. Simple as that... It was not the crowd and it was not a threatening call or a word behind the match. None of that is needed - the refs know what they are supposed to do if they want to remain as SL refs. Sad thing for them is, it would have been better for them if they had left things they way they were. This victory is five times bigger for PAO than any other victory could have been. It's gonna be quite a game at OAKA next week.

[GreenTitus]

Unbelievable but true: try to freeze the video when the Panionios player flicks the ball with the backheel to set up Kumortzi for the goal. It's a very difficult call for the assistant but Kumortzi is narrowly off side. Of course, it is a set piece and a good assistant should be able to see it but, still, the goal shouldn't have counted and Nilsson and Gali were right to ask for the flag. And, of course, Choutos, who was clearly off side, could be said to be affecting play as he is two yards from the ball and almost standing on the line.

[athinaios]

I'm really happy for Goumas, and I think it was a great re-signing, so he can end his career with us. He deserves to lift the title this season.

If we get a decent result against Werder, I think we can beat gavroi, because this year I've seen more passion from our team, and derbies are won by who wants it more.... (most of the time).

Anyway, great result against a good team.

Do you think TKate's ejection was good for the team? :P <_<

What would be the effect if he can't sit on the bench for the Oly game?

[cyberfish]

The truth is the adversity and the way it was overcome should galvanize the team. There is no better way to enhance the cohesion of a group than to make an external threat visible in and immediate.

I think Ten Cate's ejection should be a good sign for the team, and should gain him some respect from this players. It shows that he has a spine and that he sticks his neck out for them, so it should be good. As for the Olympiakos game, it won't have any effect whatsoever. He'll sit in the stands and he'll call in the subs if he has to. He'll probably have a better view. It would have been a bit more dificult if we played an away game.

BTW, asked about his ejection, Ten Cate smiled and said "I am a naughty man".

[drakos13]

Drako..  i still love you...

[cyberfish]

I finished watching the game and I wanted to comment on two things.

Panathinaikos controlled the game and had the better chances even after Moon's ejection. Excellent lineup of the nine players on the field, and good substitutes (maybe I would have inserted Mattos instead of Siontis, but not a big deal).

The best thing about the game were the camera shots of our bench and above all, the shots of Ninis standing and supporting the players on the pitch after his substitution.

[drakos13]

cyber i noticed the same thing! nice scenes!

Ninis is a good player and seems like one of the most invested in the team, he is a PAO fan too, and he does work his ass off out there, and is quite skilled. I hope that last game will see more of him in the future.

Siontis was questionable sub again. The situation was too big for Siontis. Im sure hell get there, but he has barely played for us in a real game and is a bit young to send him in right in the middle of panic-urgency and expect him to make the difference.