Olympiakos vs Arsenal - Player ratings

Olympiakos vs Arsenal - Player ratings.

By Gavin Waymire.

On Thursday, Olympiakos played to a disappointing 0-1 Europa League defeat against mid-table Premier League side Arsenal. Let’s take a look at each player individually to see how the team performed.

Goalkeeper- José Sá, 6/10: Didn’t do anything particularly wrong tonight, and wasn’t at fault for the goal. He made 3 saves in a pretty average performance, although he had very little to do. Kept Olympiakos in the tie with a 1v1 save off of Lacazette in the 85’ minute.

Left-Back- Kostas Tsimikas, 6/10: Showed flashes of what he is capable of and was involved often, however he failed to make any meaningful contributions. Kept Aubameyang mostly quiet before he switched sides. Wasn’t particularly bad but it wasn’t his best night either.

Center-Back- Ousseynou Ba, 6/10: Started off shaky but grew into the game and at times looked like Olympiakos’ best defender on the pitch. He won many headers, made some crucial clearances and looked dangerous on set pieces. That being said, he completely lost Lacazette for the goal, which is why he doesn’t score higher. Was booked for a silly foul in stoppage time.

Center-Back- Ruben Semedo, 5/10: He wasn’t awful for the most part, but had a number of very poor moments. His booking was brash and means that he wont be playing next week, he ball watched leaving Lacazette wide open to score the crucial goal, and was guilty of a few misplaced passes, especially late on. A night he will want to forget.

Right-Back- Omar Elabdellaoui, 4/10: Was okay, but quiet throughout. That being said, his nonchalant defending allowed Saka to basically walk past him and cross to Lacazette for the goal. Of the three defenders who had fault for conceding the goal, Elabdellaoui deserves the most blame. His lazy defending will likely prove costly in this tie.

Center Midfielder- Guilherme, 6/10: Was quiet for most of the match, but he looked lively in the second half and pressed well for Olympiakos. Needed more but he wasn’t poor by any means.

Center Midfielder- Andreas Bouchalakis, 6/10: Was active in the middle, regaining possession on a few occasions and even drawing a couple of fouls. Didn’t contribute very much to the attack though and earned a needless booking, subbed off after 65’ minutes.

Center Midfielder- Mady Camara, 6/10: Tried to push Olympiakos forward in the first half and was certainly lively, however he wasted several opportunities in the attacking third, he was certainly capable of better.

Left Wing- Mathieu Valbuena, 8/10: Undoubtedly Olympiakos’ best performer. Always looked dangerous and worked incredibly hard, he had Sokratis scrambling on many occasions. Even tracked back to support Tsimikas, another great performance from the Frenchman.

Center Forward- Youssef El-Arabi, 7/10: He was isolated throughout but never gave up, showed an impressive work rate and when he was on the ball he did his best to hold up play. He will be hoping for better service in the future.

Right Wing- Giorgios Masouras, 3/10: Oh dear God. Easily the worst performer on the pitch for either side, the Greek international put up an absolute stinker. Missed a wonderful chance from inside the six yard box two minutes into the match, and after this he had little to no contribution. A wayward cross almost found it’s way into the Arsenal net, but other than this he was absent. He was pinned back all game, and almost never got involved in the attack. Subbed off after 75’ minutes and it must be said, Martins should have retired number 19 much sooner.

Sub 1- Kostas Fortounis, 7/10: Did his very best to get involved, and as soon as he was introduced the tempo picked up. Why the play maker wasn’t introduced earlier is beyond me; it was painfully obvious that we needed his talents and leadership were needed much sooner.

Sub 2- Maximiliano Lovera, 4/10: One contribution in 20 minutes as an attacker is unacceptable. Did little once introduced.

Pedro Martins, 5/10: While his tactics were mostly sound, some of his selections were baffling. Why wasn’t Kostas Fortounis introduced sooner? Why did Giorgios Masouras remain on the pitch for 75’ minutes despite a poor performance? Why wouldn’t he use all 3 subs late on when we needed a goal and we had Randjelović on the bench? Once again, Olympiakos are on the verge of bombing out of Europe and forfeiting the Super League title in the span of a week, just like last season. A poor result against PAOK on Sunday could put the Portuguese manager’s job in severe jeopardy.

Hellas Football

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Football players who could’ve played for the Greek national team but didn’t

Image
Football players who could’ve played for the Greek national team but didn’t By Stephen Kountourou As Ethniki fans, we appreciate those who choose to represent Greece over another nation. It may come from tribalism, national pride, and a close connection with Greek culture. If a football player decides to play for Greece, they also represent us.  It's why supporters were thrilled at the news that Odysseus Vlachodimos, who was born in Germany, was convinced to be the starting goalkeeper for the last decade.  Why the late George Baldock’s passing wrenched at the hearts of every Greek who saw him line up in blue and white. Or most recently, after months of anticipation, Konstantinos Karetsas chose Greece over Belgium, despite being one of the highest-rated young talents in Europe right now, and lit up Hampden Park in our 0-3 victory over Scotland. However, some players do the opposite, for one reason or another, choose to play for a different national team despite having the optio...
Read more

Top 10 Chants in Greek Football

Image
Top 10 Chants in Greek Football By Nick Tsambouniaris, Greek ultras are known around the world for their passionate support. Atmospheres at games are electric to say the least as fans act as the 12 th man for their team. Here are my top 10 chants in Greek football with a hyperlink to the YouTube video of them being belted out in full glory. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN This cheeky party starter aimed at Olympiakos from AEK’s Original 21 makes it as number 10. As you can see in the below link, every single fan is jumping and singing along with purpose, making for a great atmosphere. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN 9. PAOK – IRTHAME SKASTOI APO TIN KLINIKI Gate 4 of PAOK are notoriously known for creating an intimidating atmosphere wherever they go. This particular chant gets extra points for its climax ending when the fans rise from the ground as one jumping all over the place. The chant itself is also funny and sums up the passion of Greek football fans in general as it says they...
Read more

The new generation of talented Greek footballers

Image
The new generation of talented Greek footballers By Stephen Kountourou Opportunity, experience and faith. These are just some ingredients in progressing youth players to the senior level. Some leagues are great at producing, promoting and developing academy prospects for their future football careers.  Of the big five leagues, La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga have been lorded as the best for producing young domestic talent. La Masia is the biggest example for Spain, PSG, who in more recent times has finally attempted to take advantage of their melting pot of young talent in Pairs and Germany with Borussia Dortmund, who not only produce youth from their academy but are excellent at identifying players from abroad.  Other Leagues like the Dutch Eredivisie and the Belgian Pro League have also been great gateway leagues for their youth and players from elsewhere, to hone their skills in exciting attacking competitions before attempting to take the next big step to the big leagu...
Read more