From calm to storm… the way of a cigarette. To be precise, there are 3-4 matches. The Olympics He’s had years of quiet summers without any sports involvement (although that’s not always a good thing), giving him the advantage of making the team of the season without any rush.
The season begins – the beginning But the murmurs have begun From where they were on horseback, for the competitive nature of Piraeus, who was facing the first crisis of the year. for Transcripts They started much earlier. Volos and Athens wanted to perform not against Gallidia (mainly), but against Lamia, to achieve the goal of “red and white”. Of course, the same applies to matches against the heroic Panaitolikos and The Canine TuesdayFive points were lost.
Piraeus It seems blocked In this part of the season, now the captain is called upon to find immediate solutions with his trembling “weapons”… Olympiakos very logically decided to give Jose the keys to the team from last season. Louis Mendeliber and for the current season. “G. Karaiskakis”, to be precise and fair, before the big qualifiers, but immediately after the heavy 4-1 drubbing of Maccabi Tel Aviv. After the great successes in Europe, this development seemed inevitable, but unloaded before the big results, it was definitely one. Credit should be given to Vangelis Marinakis.
A misconception I had at the end of last season and just before the new one started, but I bit myself not to say and write it. Vascoz has experienced in the last two years what he has not experienced in his entire coaching career. Winning the Europa League with Sevilla, followed by the Conference League with Olympiakos, was more of a success for him. As we speak Historical title For the club.
One might say where is the harm in all this? There is one common denominator In two success stories. Medliber took over, taking over mid-season. him 2023 Mario of Seville And him February 2024 Olympiakos respectively. In any case he was called upon to manage a difficult situation, which he did admirably, and for which he cannot but be given credit. However, he did not create something new. Not that he shouldn’t get credit for that.
The Andalusians are not the team we knew in previous years, but Madrid, whatever the situation there, is true. He was fired very early in the season And especially in October. Paying the price for a poor start to the season, months after winning the European Cup. His start at Olympiakos has also been poor. So, at least, it should change the climate of Piraeus.
Olympiakos, being a team with high demands, is generally a tough… ship and this fact raises the level of difficulty in the task faced by Mediliber. His task becomes even more difficult if one takes into account that he is not used to similar situations. He has been professionally involved in coaching since 1994 and during this time, except for the last few years, he has been on the benches of small and medium teams in his home country. Bilbao, Osasuna, Alaves, Eibar and Levante are the most common cases. It’s probably no coincidence that he hasn’t taken a team in the big cubicles in years (as he’s not a man at the beginning or middle of his coaching career). You know, you can’t learn new tricks from an “old dog”.
One might wonder, “He met several teams in Spain and he couldn’t make it… Psarokostaina?». This is where what we said earlier is confirmed. For bigger boats and bigger demands. Apparently, too God hasn’t become a bad trainer in the months since Medlibar. What is written is not what is not written, Olympiakos’ name is etched on the Conference League Cup and it will be forever. However, not all tasks are the same…
One would think that the curse would fall only on MedliberBut this is not so. Olympiakos resolved several and very important outstanding issues at roster level over the summer and the sign at the cash register was nothing short of positive. Because they were otherwise lost (justified or not, with lesser or greater mitigating factors). Fortounis, Pontense and Horta In the transfer market, there was a happy ending with Karmos. The answer is that they were replaced by other and better players. Apparently it happened that way, but she was one Simple approach.
The Weld Having started pre-season with Leg Poznan, he has been training well and has been very ‘hot’ and impressive in friendlies. However, he was unsuccessful in his first official matches for Olympiakos, apart from a fine goal against Athens Kallithea. The Willian He is a class player, he had a good couple of years in England with Fulham, but he is 36 at the moment and needs time and proper management.
The Oliveira Better quality Andre HortaBut he also needs to adapt and the coach has used him as a substitute in the last two matches. However, Horda doesn’t need time, it doesn’t matter who is the better player, it’s who clicks better overall, and last year the Braga midfielder did it well. Hence, “red and white” presents a deficit For checkout currently in progress.
Basque itself He doesn’t care about making his life easy. It seems from the reports inside and outside the borders, he had a glimpse Tight list And of course other names besides this belong to others of the Piraeus group. He tried to get players he knew well because he worked with them. Like 34-year-old Danny Garcia, who was finally acquired, but with minor problems, he wasn’t ready at the level he wanted and was moving in shallow waters in the first part of the season. Jordan, who had him at Sevilla and Eibar, Brian Hill (Eibar and Sevilla) and Luis Rioja (from Alaves) were also strongly asked for, but some others, but not so much.
Quality often makes the differenceBut quality doesn’t have to be the only thing keeping the Crusaders from scoring against Panaitolikos at your stadium. Other things are also needed. It is certain that Olympiakos is benefiting a bit from its midfielders and the way they are currently playing.
PS: Cicquino doesn’t live up to his own standards in the Ten role. At least in these types of games, against a closed defense. He looks confused.
PS2: Conditions aren’t great when checking out the free list, but it’s not too late for more reinforcements…