Panathinaikos-Roma

[cyberfish]

Yeah, the sound engineering in PAO games is always underwhelming. You can never hear the crowd in OAKA because as Drakos said, they turn it off. By contrast, for some reason, Olympiakos games in Karaiskaki are full of the crowd sound. It makes it sound as if our fans just sit there.

At one point the commentators said "the fans are now singing the Panathinaikos hymn" while we could hear none of it. I think it's more that Greek TV stations employ probably amateurs, or the sound engineers got their job with "meso" :LOL:, but most likely the people who are responsible for the sound are just "technicians" with no artistic vain. They spend their whole life in the studio learning one trick, how to eliminate external sounds, and they don't know ho to manage a football properly to convey the atmosphere.

Camera work on Greek TV has improved enormously in the last 10 years, but sound is 20 years behind the rest of the world.

That's my take and it really bothered me last night when I watched the game how "flat" the commentator was. Mind as well get a recording of a dog barking when we score. It deflates the emotion entirely. Good think we are too busy screaming ourselves (grown men and all) :LOL: I much perfer the EraSport excitement but TV and radio over the internet never synchronize. I wish I could record streaming ERAsport PAO games so I can play them like music all day long.

I thought the color commentator (sounded like Tsohos) was good though. He was leveled, articulate, and spot on with his analysis. I bet he wasn't a "veteran" (Nioblias was the worst color commentator in the few games I saw he was hired but he is a much better coach).

Anyway, I am watching the second half again with my morning coffee. Scrappy game but we matched Roma tit for tat. They are a quality side in midfield but their CBs made our CBs look world class :nw:

There were enough heroes to go around yesterday. We had the instant Salpi and Cisse flares, but for overall performance my biggest hero was

SIMAOOOOOOOOOO

I love how Siimao won the header-assist for the Salpi goal and how he was involved keeping the ball alive in the box (even though he botched the first touch) in the Christodoulopoulos goal.

I wanted to take the opportunity to speak for the youngster because I read a lot of internet chatter that "he is half a player" and that he is "not PAO material" (in fairness, in very limited online "perpetually whining forums").

It's not the fist time he has a monster game against a top-notch European team. He devoured anyone who came near him with the ball, he covered every possible hole on defense. In this game he also did a great job managing the ball from the DM position, distributing accurately and quickly. He has definitely learned a lot from Gilberto and he is very aware tacticaly. He makes the right decisions in terms of pushing the ball forward quickly, knowing when to risk a low percentage pass, when to hold an give the ball to another player next to him and when to turn the ball back. He had a couple of bad passes maybe, but who doesn't have a few bad passes in 90 minutes?

It is true that he does not have "Leto" skill, or even Gilberto smarts, but he is a fantastic DM that I am glad he is on our team. Saying he is "not PAO material" because he is not a ball handler, is like saying Ninis "is not PAO material" because he lacks in defensive skills.

I could write about some of the other players today as well, but it would turn this board to war and peace :LOL:

[NYPAO13]

saw the game on replay. we finally showed some guts. unfortunatly our defence is lazy & Spyropoulos proved that on the penalty. Simao a rock. Salpi a difference maker. Cisse showed hes always dangerous.

We need more goals in Italy, since i dont TRUST this CRAPPY, LAZY, defence.

[andrew_g]

I am not an expert but I think that PAO showed more heart than when Ten Cate was coaching them. You felt like if they needed a goal they could get one. I think Spyropoulos had a nightmare game, but Ninis was good but got tired, Karougounis is not the player he was years ago but he has a heart of a lion, Simao was a leader as well, Salpi was great--I really liked how we played. We tighten the defence and we can far in this tournament.

[Euro2004]

I beleive you are wrong.

Yesterday the broadcast was done by ANT1, and you could notice from the very begining the audio was set so that the commentary was much higher than the crowd. I HATE it when broadcasters do that in any match. It is very much the broadcasting that makes a difference, 

I've been to some European games where for a lot of the match the whole stadium was on their feet, and then watch them on TV and you could barely notice the sound.

I like the old days where they couldnt control the audio, and commentators had to literally shout over the noise. That was awesome.  It makes everything more exciting. Now most Greek commentators are so damn dull.

Bring that back......ANT1 commentary was ridiculous, begining the match they had 3 different analysts of absolutley nothing, talking for talking sake, and I couldn't hear the atmosphere.

Yes but they do this all the time in Greece. It's nothing new. All the broadcasters do it in Greece. In some games the atmosphere rises above it though (like Inter last year and Slavia Prague) but yesterday it was flat. I watched it on ESPN in England and only once did the decibels really rise. Even when watching the play and I'd look at the crowd in the background, everyone was just sitting down watching. Even gate 13 looked motionless and quiet.

We really need our own stadium in my opinion. A nice 35-40k with the stands close to the pitch and some great acoustics.

Andrew g i think that's an unfair comment. Ten Cate's team always showed heart. Look at the CL last year. Even this year in the Europa there was heart. Last night I didn't think we showed much heart at all to be honest. That's why i'm so positive about qualifying. We won without really working that hard. Katsouranis, Karagounis and Ninis didn't work very hard at all and Cisse was isolated for most of the night without any real support. There was no pressing from those 3 and the tempo was low. The defence worked hard as did Simao of course and so did the defence, but by and large I don't think we saw that much heart.

The main difference between last night's game and Ten Cate's team was that this team was tighter and less susceptible to counter-attacks (although Roma did mess up 2 very dangerous counters so the weakness is still clearly there).

[trifilli]

Hello to all !

I have not posted in ages

Last night's game motivated me to.

Very exciting game.

I was at gate 21, under the Roma fans who were very friendly.

Roma scored too easily.

PAO did not give up and the result came in the end.

Our second goal was lucky.

However we had missed too many better chances and deserved a break.

The fans were still chanting 15 mins after the game.

Roma will be very hard to disqualify but I am one of those who enjoy each game for what it is, and that was one of the most exciting I have seen.

Better than the 3-1 vs Juve or the 3-1 vs Nantes.

It is extremely rare for any Greek team to come back from behind twice and beat an Italian side...

I called that Salpi would score

The fans cheered Cisse too much. He is a difference maker and should have scored the header from three meters in the first half

Simao was EVERYWHERE. The MVP undoubtedly.

Roma was unbeaten in the last 20 games!

Enjoy this great and historic win. :gr:

PEACE

[cyberfish]

I am envious Trifilli! Most of us live too far to go to the stadium so I appreciate your first-hand experience.

How was the overall atmosphere during the game? Was it like some say, flat, or was it more exciting that what came through the tube?

I hope you post more often. I remember some of our older post sand they were quality

[Genome]

I hope you post more often.

Same here!

Also I think the goals weren't posted here yet, enjoy (English comments though).

[athinaios]

Welcome back mate, don't be a stranger. We missed your No BUllSHit :LOL:

I'm envious too. I would have loved to see that game. In another threat, I've expressed my hope that before I get too old to move around, I would like to see PAO playing in their own home!

Can you imagine games like that one being played in a proper football stadium?! :P

Here in many stadiums they use microphones and amplifiers to boost crowd noise. I'm sure the fans made lots of noise yesterday, but unfortunately for us here is was muted! :angry: We could see the PAO players celebrating after the end of the game but it was as if the stadium was empty.

Do you have any pictures from your seat?

Thank you Genome for the video. The replays I've seen were in #!!$@

[cyberfish]

thanks Genome. I love hearing the brits say "Christodoulopoulos" :LOL: Actually the guy did a good job at that.

Two things are apparent, Vucinic was Vintra's man on that first goal and was not picked up in time, and Simao absolutely plows through the defenders to get that header on the first goal. He also bulldozers two others to win the ball in the air on the second (after he kicked the ball high).

Spyropoulos I thought had a good game besides the penalty, but he got taken to the cleaners with a quick move to the inside. Spyropoulos had to hold his spot and try to channel him wide, while Kara was in place to contain the cut back. Gutsy move by Cerci to split them. I don't think either one expected it and if Spyro hadn't tripped him, Karagounis was going to deck him. Just a good offensive play.

[Hellene]

Does anyone know a link to the latest UEFA Coefficients?

Reason I ask, was just reading a report on BBC that the Scottish are about to lose a CL place as Belgium has moved up to 15th (with anderlecht doing well etc)

I know Greece has an automatic group stage this year and one qualifier but we must also be accumulating those points now!

[Hellene]

oh yea...forgot to add

and will cost one of rangers or celtic 13mil pounds...

hmmm

big biscuits this CL

[cyberfish]

Here you go Hellene: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/d.../crank2010.html

Teams 7-13 send the champion directly to the groups. We are 12th and still have PAO and Oly continuing.

The Swiss will lose the 13th spot to either Denmark or Belgium. Both countries are a threat to our position because they have teams continuing (Denmark 1, Belgium 3).

We need some more wins from both Greek teams (or maybe we just need Panathinaikos to reach the semi-finals :P )

[Hellene]

Thanks cyberfish!

Na ise kala filarako

[Hellene]

after reviewing Uefa Coefficients, its looking good for greece

our lean years will phase out in 1-2 years...

we need to keep up at least 6500-7500 points per year!

Ade more palikaria!

[drakos13]

Yes but they do this all the time in Greece. It's nothing new. All the broadcasters do it in Greece. In some games the atmosphere rises above it though (like Inter last year and Slavia Prague) but yesterday it was flat. I watched it on ESPN in England and only once did the decibels really rise. Even when watching the play and I'd look at the crowd in the background, everyone was just sitting down watching. Even gate 13 looked motionless and quiet.

i definitley don't agree with that..it was not completly flat as you describe. It wasnt villareal again, but keep perspective. In less important games, you don't get as much craze for the game. Thats how it always is. As for the broadcasters it changes with the channel.

Roma or not,, This was the first leg of a ROUND OF 32 EUROPA LEAGUE GAME. A tournament people really don't care about or have high expectations for this season.

Its great to beat Roma, but this more or less an unsignificant match for us. There was nothing at stake to get overly crazy for. The round of 16 of Europa League? Not exactly exciting like a Champions League qualification is....

[drakos13]

[NYPAO13]

chilling video.. almost makes you feel that you're there

[cyberfish]

fantastic video Drako! thanks for posting. It made my coffee taste so much better this morning!

Hellene: you are welcome filaraki.

[BlueStriker]

Good job boys. :tup:

I felt it would of been a pity to be the better team and lose the match. The final minutes were fantastic and deservingly so! You could tell Cisse reaallly :tup: enjoyed striking that bullet of a header.

P.S. I love Karagounis as a player, but as an actor he is golden. I've never seen a player awarded so many freekicks in a game. Now I know why they call him "De Niro". :LOL:

[Clover22]

:tup: :tup: :box: THIS is one of our greatest victories in quite a while! I'm still on a high!

[Clover22]

Congratulations to Nioplias and the team! And for those of you who thought we couldn't do it...

[trifilli]

I am envious Trifilli!

I hope you post more often. I remember some of our older post sand they were quality

Same here!

Welcome back mate, don't be a stranger. We missed your No BUllSHit :LOL:

Thank you Cyberfish, Genome, Athinaios.

It is good to be back.

The atmosphere was very "warm" for half an hour before and after the game.

After the 0-1 it got a little quiet, except from the "organomenous" who never stop chanting!

At the beginning of the second half, it was louder and at the end of the game it got crazy. We sat there for at least 20 minutes.

It was fun to be there, especially with an ending like that.

There were very few open seats, mostly the 100 euro ones, at gate 29, and the "buffer zone" around the 1,000 or so, Roma fans.

The Roma fans were heard after each one of Roma's goals.

They had a banner with "G@mo ton Peirea" ...

and a green "Ultras Athens" flag, to show their camaraderie?

No major interchanges between the visiting fans, if you exclude the occasional

"Roma, Roma va fare in culo" or "PAO g@ma, tin Roma tin pout@na"

Many flares, even on the Roma stands, none that I saw thrown on the pitch.

The occasional laser beam on the opponents eyes was ever present.

Cisse loves the attention, he thrives from the fans adoration,

and we give to him wholeheartedly when he scores!

I went on Roma fan forums and they blame their goalie for the bad result.

I agree about the second goal.

Sorry no photos, just great memories.

PEACE