Olympiacos Piraeus

[Faliro]

Exactly ^^. If these teams play to their potential - we have issues.

We relied on our fans for years - almost scaring the opposing players - and it worked. But tonight Campbell - totally used to Greece - had a lot of fun - he knows the game. Greece no longer scares bigger teams as often. So then it is just 11 vs 11.

[HJDK]

I remember when PAO played Estoril, that was insanely poor...

You're absolutely right, without competition you don't have that urge to improve your squad. Look at Celtic, without Rangers they can't barely win a match in Europa League...and they used to be in the Champions League...

[Faliro]

btw, how is AEK going? quality football? What players you think are the most interesting ?

Poyet has done very well in the month he has been there. For me AEK are mostly trash but their most valuable players are Diego Buonanotte  (natural control and skill - top scorer too i think), André Simões (aggressive, strong - leader), Jakob Johansson (Strong fighter and can score) Platellas (like Buonanotte - tricky player with good skill). This winter they will get new players and in the summer they will rebuild the whole squad for Europe.

[MiguelPalma92]

Diego could have been amazing. Simões is a good player, it's a shame he's a pig

[Faliro]

I remember when PAO played Estoril, that was insanely poor...

You're absolutely right, without competition you don't have that urge to improve your squad. Look at Celtic, without Rangers they can't barely win a match in Europa League...and they used to be in the Champions League...

I watched those games also. Estoril looked stronger, faster and more fluid - but to a very strong degree.

And that is the problem. PAO & PAOK are very negative clubs for Greece. They encourage clientelism to feed the NT with garbage like Karelis and tziolis. AEK, Asteras, Iraklis, Panionios are progressive clubs. They need results to pay wages. For me this year marks the end of PAO being the second club of Greece. AEK took that title now and I can't see them ever returning it to PAO while Tiger owns AEK. He is ruthless. PAOK and PAO will fight for the scraps of the Europa qualifying rounds.

[Faliro]

Diego could have been amazing. Simões is a good player, it's a shame he's a pig

Simoes has balls. I like that he came to Greece and didn't give a fuck - just prepared for battle and got on with it. Hard not admire a player like that. The minute he signed for AEK, offers came in for him from outside greece, but you don't mess with Tiger. He will stay till the end of the season and perhaps beyond as one of the AEK leaders.

[Faliro]

Potential opponents:

Shakhtar
Seville
Valencia
Galatasaray
St Etienne
Molde or Fenerbahce or Ajax
Liverpool or Sion or Rubin
Krasnodar and Dortmund
Midtjylland or Bruges or Legia
Villarreal or Rapid Vienna
Braga or Marseille or Slovan Liberec
Besiktas or Lokomotiv Moscow or Sporting
Fiorentina or Lech Poznan or Belenenses
Tottenham or Anderlecht or Monaco or Karampagk
Schalke or Sparta Prague
Partizan or Augsburg

I would not mind Gala. Also Partizan, Augsberg, Besiktas, Midtjylland etc

[Bethinho]

having a Olympiakos - Sporting of Lisbon would be curious,at least......

[Faliro]

Would like to avoid the 'pigs' !!

[mrkx]

A lot of people rate Marco Silva higher than they should, simply because they're very frustrated with Rui Vitoria, so everyone will look better than they are simply because they want to get rid of the current coach.

In my opinion, MS is an inferior coach to both Portuguese coaches Olympiakos had there. Leo Garden and Vitor Pear Tree.

You should put his statue on hold. If he does something in the Europa League(I don't believe he will), then yeah, go head and build him a statue, until then, just treat him for what he is... another coach, no matter how good or bad he is, that wins the Greek title with Olympiakos.

[Faliro]

A lot of people rate Marco Silva higher than they should, simply because they're very frustrated with Rui Vitoria, so everyone will look better than they are simply because they want to get rid of the current coach.

In my opinion, MS is an inferior coach to both Portuguese coaches Olympiakos had there. Leo Garden and Vitor Pear Tree.

You should put his statue on hold. If he does something in the Europa League(I don't believe he will), then yeah, go head and build him a statue, until then, just treat him for what he is... another coach, no matter how good or bad he is, that wins the Greek title with Olympiakos.

It is a very interesting post. I can tell you the love for Marco Silva in Portugal is still bigger than in Greece. He is loved - more than Jardim and Vitor - but those two were not respected anyway. He is respected and admired, but there will be no statues. If he does something in the Europa - there will be statues.. 

I think he made some major mistakes tonight - but they were completely understandable. I will explain why. Tonight we needed to start our most experienced players - Dominguez and Cambiasso should have started. Why didn't they? Because Marco became a bit drunk on greek football. Fortounis is the lead scorer in Greece - scores every game. Marcos probably thought: 'mmm can't leave this guy out!' However, if he removed himself from the Greek reality for two minutes, he would remember how easy it is to look good in greece and that in fact Dominguesz is more likely to damage a team like Arsenal than Fortounis. Same with Cambiasso. Just because Milo and Kasami make the Greek League look like a children's birthday party, doesn't mean anything. What Cambiasso did against Arsenal in London showed far more intelligence than anything Milo has done all season in the easy Greek League.

Having said all this, Marco is a good coach in my eyes. What I like about him is that he is clearly intelligent. Watches videos of previous games, motivates players etc.

if he can do something in Europa.. He will be offered Greek citizenship and petals and roses will be thrown where ever he walks in Piraeus.

[mrkx]

A lot of people rate Marco Silva higher than they should, simply because they're very frustrated with Rui Vitoria, so everyone will look better than they are simply because they want to get rid of the current coach.

In my opinion, MS is an inferior coach to both Portuguese coaches Olympiakos had there. Leo Garden and Vitor Pear Tree.

You should put his statue on hold. If he does something in the Europa League(I don't believe he will), then yeah, go head and build him a statue, until then, just treat him for what he is... another coach, no matter how good or bad he is, that wins the Greek title with Olympiakos.

It is a very interesting post. I can tell you the love for Marco Silva in Portugal is still bigger than in Greece. He is loved - more than Jardim and Vitor - but those two were not respected anyway. He is respected and admired, but there will be no statues. If he does something in the Europa - there will be statues.. 

I think he made some major mistakes tonight - but they were completely understandable. I will explain why. Tonight we needed to start our most experienced players - Dominguez and Cambiasso should have started. Why didn't they? Because Marco became a bit drunk on greek football. Fortounis is the lead scorer in Greece - scores every game. Marcos probably thought: 'mmm can't leave this guy out!' However, if he removed himself from the Greek reality for two minutes, he would remember how easy it is to look good in greece and that in fact Dominguesz is more likely to damage a team like Arsenal than Fortounis. Same with Cambiasso. Just because Milo and Kasami make the Greek League look like a children's birthday party, doesn't mean anything. What Cambiasso did against Arsenal in London showed far more intelligence than anything Milo has done all season in the easy Greek League.

Having said all this, Marco is a good coach in my eyes. What I like about him is that he is clearly intelligent. Watches videos of previous games, motivates players etc.

if he can do something in Europa.. He will be offered Greek citizenship and petals and roses will be thrown where ever he walks in Piraeus.

The other two coaches are a lot more pragmatic and grind out the results. More disciplined teams. My opinion is heavily influenced by their work in Portugal. I don't have an opinion as reliable as yours regarding his work at Olympiakos obviously, but from my standpoint(both Arsenal games and extended highlights vs Zagreb), I felt like overall he didn't build on the extraordinary result in England. The games with the Croatians were very disappointing(you didn't look that much better than them and were lucky I felt) and then today it was just a typical game of a team that doesn't approach the game with confidence and "know how", to get the result necessary to qualify. Yes, Arsenal have a larger budget, but no... 0-3 at home is not acceptable against a weakened Arsenal side --- who have been struggling recently.

I do have to say that it feels like you've had better squads in the past. It's kind of an interesting dynamic. You have relatively bigger budgets for basketball than for football. Just look at the evidence, you're talking about Dominguez and Cambiasso, who have experience but are old guys. You'd think that with your dominance in Greece, you'd be able to build on it to build better teams, buying one or two young prospects with great potential(like portuguese teams have done) and be capable of doing more in Europe.

Anyway, good luck in the Europa League. It's a good competition for Olympiakos to rech the latter stages if they play well. No reason not to with the league locked up. I'll keep an eye on Marco. 

[Faliro]

Another interesting post.

I agree with the discipline side you mention. VP was exceptionally disciplined. Jardim - I found a somewhat defensive coach during his time in Greece - but he was also a tough guy. Marco is a different type of character but out of the 3 - I would say Marco inherited the weakest side. I mean to think, we used to have players like Luciano Galletti.. Now we have Seba.. Marco has a very weak side and for me he does his best. Like all coaches he has his weird moments, but the Greek reality is a strange one. Where else would you play a village team that has no history with your club but that is willing to sacrifice their very lives to beat you? Than you play a supposed Greek giant - and it is an easier game..

Our CL campaign has been smash and grab. Basically, pirate tactics. We do not have the players to dictate a game anymore. The reasons are related to the crisis that affected Greek football - and the unholy alliance between PAOK and PAO to degrade football in Greece. Things however are changing and Greek football once again will rise, but we are not there yet.

The problem I have with your description of attaining young talented players and watching them develop is that the Greek league is so poor - there is no way they can really improve within it. All you get are terrible teams - then Bayern in the CL... that is no way to culture players. If we had around 5 teams even as good as Estoril - you would see an immediate improvement, but you must remember, PAOK and PAO would be relegated immediately if they played in Portugal. Imagine how good Benfica would be if every game you were playing a team that could have been assembled on a beach somewhere. Olympiacos' dominance of Greek teams is like me being a chess champion within the National Pet Association Chess Tournament. Sure when I meet people I can boast I am champion, but unless you watch a PAOK vs Veria game - you will never see just how poor the quality is. You must also remember that because of this reality - Olympiacos limits its budget to around 66 million. Some years it is a lot less. Ironically the rise of AEK will do more to help Olympiacos - than another 20 million on the transfer budget. 

[Cloughie]

Marco is a God. End of discussion.

[Faliro]

The moment Greeks decide to drop the desert God and return to the worship of the 12 Olympians and the cults of their demi-Gods - is the moment Greece becomes relevant again.

Many of the clubs and their symbols are just waiting for that day..

Aris, AKA Ares (Latin) - God of War.



Olympiakos - pagan worship of the victorious youth.



Iraklis - Hercules (Latin) Son of Zeus.



Panaitolikos - Pagan worship of Titormus, the ancient hero of Aetolia. The crest reads Titormus is another Iraklis (Hercules).



Giannina - The Ancient Bull of Epiros. The words Apei Rotan written on the crest mean 'without a path' and it is how the Epirotes described themselves in antiquity: