SL–R26: AO Xanthi - PAOK (31-Mar-19, 19:00 EEST)

[Blackhawk]

Thank God Lucescu did not listen to me.

[Dutch Eagle]

Damn. 1-2 Xanthi

[pash]

Goal Xanthi, and Olympiakos just scored

[pash]

Akpom noooo

No wonder Lucescu wants this goalie

 

[Dutch Eagle]

Akpom. Ti echases ke'si

[Blackhawk]

And Akpom misses a sitter.

[Dutch Eagle]

FT. Another three points. Need 5 more. 

[Athens4]

Missed the game as it is Mother's Day here in the UK.

Saw the highlights and I can see a few tired legs out there. Same Atromitos couldn't hold on.

[Blackhawk]

Should be no problem to get 5 points. We have 2 home games and that should cover it. Although I don't think we will drop any points until the end. Any chance Olympiakos was going to drop points was today, but Atromitos just caved in in the second half. Important game on Wednesday. Need to get a clean win against Tripoli.

[Yiankos]

Μπράβο στην ομάδα. Αρκετά μέτριο παιχνίδι στο πρώτο ημίχρονο που είδα. Ευτυχώς έβαλε το γκολ ο Ολιβέιρα. Μου άρεσε (πάλι) ο Σάκχοφ, αλλά ο Σφιντέρσκι δεν πίεζε όσο πιέζει συνήθως ο Ακπόμ. Η νίκη μετράει και προχωράμε. Πάμε για το νταμπλ!

[pash]

Shakhov really stepped up his game recently. Good to see

[Blackhawk]

I would dare to say that Shakhov was the MVP of the game.

[Athens4]

5 hours ago, pash said:

Shakhov really stepped up his game recently. Good to see

I am of the opinion that this is purely because he wants a new contract. If I were PAOK I would not offer him anything. Except for the past couple of months he has been a very average player.

[Yiankos]

In the beginning of the season he was the guy supposed to be on the bench (with the injuries of Pontus, Mauricio, and Canas, he ended up starting more games than any other midfielder. The most important thing: He never complains AND he is reliable. We have done some HUGE victories with him as a starter. We need such players. His quality is not amazing and certainly his speed is his weakest part. But, he is a great rotation solution. And he is three years in the team. Sorry Athens, I think we have to renew the guy.

[Athens4]

He is not the guy who will do a job in CL.

[Blackhawk]

Probably not, but you need depth in order to play SL and cup as well. Rotation will be heavily used next season.

[Yiankos]

2 hours ago, Athens4 said:

He is not the guy who will do a job in CL.

OK, so you expect to have 25 players in the roster at CL level? Man, not even Barcelona has that...

If they plan to get rid of Shakhov and give 1,5m salary for another midfielder I will say go for it. But if they plan to get rid of him and bring another Shakhov with 600-800k, then HELL NO! Keep the guy.

For me the problem is Misic, who will be here next season anyway and he doesn't get playing time. What is this guy's usage if after almost four months cannot even start a game and Shakhov is clearly the first choice? Plus, we don't know how well Pontus will recover and what his role next year could be. Don't get me wrong I love the guy, but those injuries are serious. He might never play up to his level. Hopefully he will. And then we don't know if Oliveira is going to stay. AND knowing Canas is history then if we release Shakhov we might be looking for a complete regeneration of our midfield.

[Athens4]

I would be fine with seeing Canas and Shakhov leave the team at the end of season. Misic will have a whole pre-season with the team and should fit in while I think we also need to promote a youth player in the midfield (this sentence seems quite nonconstructive as I should really give a name of youth player but I can't).

I'm not saying to have 25 players at CL level but Shakhov didn't even do a job at EL level, which we all know only gets good from the quarter finals onwards.