What an Interesting Start

2119We had a rather interesting start to our week. On Monday we took on Larissa away in a crucial match. Our starting 11 consisted of 7 Greek players, something that is always good to see in Greek soccer. Papito, Vargas, and Simoes missed out unfortunately.

Aravidi and Platella got the start up front, while Hugo Almedia made the bench coming of a nagging back injury. We featured a 433 type system with Johanson sitting and Mantalo, and Bakaseta rounding up the other midfield positions.

We would have a perfect start to the match, which was something that we were desperate for. Just in the 4th minute Platella made it 1-0 after a thunderous hit with his left foot found its way with some style to the back of the net. Larissa are a dangerous team especially at home, we needed to be cautious. In the 10th minute Anesti made a great save keeping the game 1-0 in our favor. Larissa would create a couple of more chances in the 25th and 28th minute but thankfully we were able to see out the danger. In the 30th minute Vagelaki would make it 2-0 after a deflection lands kindly to his feet, where he would make no mistake and placed the ball smartly in the side netting.

Three minutes after that however we would concede as Naslidi would poke the ball home possibly after some questioning decision making by Anesti. We would create another chance just before the half ended as a Johanson header flashed just wide, 2-1 at the break. As play resumed Mantalo came close in the 47th minute but he was foiled by the Larissa goalkeeper after a decent save. Platella almost completed his hat-trick in the 62nd minute after the goalkeeper made an error and found himself well off his line. Platella tried a half field spectacular effort, unfortunately he didn’t catch it cleanly enough and his effort went wide.

Things then got tricky for us as Galo picked up a second yellow in the 73rd minute after a clumsy tackle. We were left with 10 men for the remainder of the game. The ending to this game was kind of an uncomfortable one for us as Larissa was pressing to find the equalizer. In the 80th minute Anesti made yet another wonderful save that saved the points for us. Finally, in the 87th minute Larissa would have another chance but the effort sailed harmlessly over Anesti’s goal. 3 massive points in the bag, job done.

We played well at times, not perfect but these three points were absolutely vital. Sometimes you have to win matches in this manner, the important thing is that we came away with the win. This win bumps us up to 2nd place tied with Panatha with 10 points.

However, questions were still asked about Timur and his play style even after our win. The following day he was sacked by the club. I personally liked the man as a player, but I don’t think his coaching tactics fit to what we are trying to accomplish here at AEK. He was way too defensive minded, we would drop back and defend sometimes, something that AEK is not known for. Yes there are times to grind out wins, but AEK is a team that should be attacking and always, always causing defenses issues.

His successor is Jose Morais. The Portuguese native has been an assistant with Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea in his managerial career. He’s worked alongside the great Jose Mourinho, not many better people to gain knowledge and tactical ideas from. Let’s see how this goes. We expect greatness here at AEK, we have high standards set out for our managers, that’s just the way it is.

Our next match is on Saturday vs. Panionio at the OAKA. This is another tricky game, they are a solid team that are only one point behind us in the standings. The first game under a new manager can always be tricky because possibly the players haven’t settled down yet but nonetheless we need to put a solid performance together, win the match, and see what Jose is all about.

George Angelidis