Project Spanish Restart Was a Failure, so What’s Next?

Project Spanish Restart Was a Failure, so What’s Next? 

By Nick Gargano

The sacking of Georgios Donis at the end of the last season left many Panathinaikos fans at a loss for words.  For better or for worse, him and owner Giannis Alafouzos clearly didn’t see eye to eye and he was shown the exit door at the end of last season.  Now, after just having fired Donis’ successor Dani Poyatos after just three weeks at the helm, the Greens will look to lick their wounds after a dumpster-fire of a start to the new season.   

Dani Poyatos’ 83 Day Vacation in Athens  

To his credit, Alafouzos had a clear plan for Panathinaikos’ future even before letting Donis go when he brought in Spanish technical director Xavi Rocha.  He additionally announced that he would be bringing in Real Madrid’s long standing U19 coach, Dani Poyatos, to succeed Donis as head coach in the upcoming season.  The coaching duo got to work as soon as Donis left this past offseason, as Rocha and Poyatos brought in a slew of Spanish/La Liga players they had worked with over the years.  

Unfortunately for the often-criticized Panathinaikos owner, Alafouzos’ “Spanish Restart” project has failed miserably only three weeks into the new season.  The Greens found themselves with one point from three matches against Asteras, AEL, and an admittedly weak Aris side, having only mustered one goal total in the draw against AEL.  What unsettles me most about the disappointing start is not the one point, the one goal, or the lackluster play from the new signings.  Rather, the most disturbing part of the season this far is that, the very same day after the home loss to Aris, Alafouzos came out and strongly voiced his support of Rocha and Poyatos.  A week later, Poyatos was sacked.  What this tells me is that Alafouzos had placed all of its eggs in one basket with Poyatos, and when he failed miserably, he had no plan B.  

Very seldom does bringing in a coach who has never coached in Greece before work.  Especially in this case, where this was Poyatos’ first full on gig as head coach of a senior side.  He was given a fair shake nevertheless, but ultimately failed to impress with a very favorable schedule in the first three weeks of the season.  Alafouzos will now look to his new hire, Romanian head coach László Bölöni, to steady the sinking ship.  

What Can we Expect From Bölöni?

It’s probably fair to say that no PAO fan is super excited about the new managerial hire in Bölöni, even if those feelings probably have more to do with the disappointing start instead of his actual body of work.  Perhaps the most comforting part of Bölöni’s reumé is that he knows what it’s like to coach in Greece.  As PAOK’s head coach in the 2011-12 season, he managed some impressive feats; most notably defeating Tottenham in a famous away victory in London en-route to a first placed finish in the Europa League group stages and a knockout round appearance.  Domestically, he guided PAOK to a fifth placed finish after a disappointing end to the season in the playoffs.  PAOK, who were cash-strapped at the time, decided to release Bölöni after his one year stint with the team.  Since then, he has achieved some big feats with Antwerp in Belgium, leading them back into the Europa League in 2018-19 and to the Belgian Cup Final in the very next season.  No doubt a very experienced and capable coach, it remains to be seen if Bölöni can get anything out of a Panathinaikos squad full of disappointing newcomers brought in by Rocha. 

The New Signings 

Rocha survived the Donis and Poyatos regimes and remains the technical director, but his signings must pick up their performances in order to prove that Rocha made the right call in bringing them to Athens.  Carlitos and Aitor were probably the biggest signings of the offseason, but both have lacked the quality to make the difference in close games this season.  I still believe they can make the difference, but Bölöni needs to establish an attacking identity.  For this to happen, Bölöni needs to bring established striker Federico Macheda off of the bench and play Carlitos in his natural striker role, instead of out of position as a left winger as Poyatos often would.  

In defense, LB Juancar has looked fine coming back from an injury and the team will rely on him heavily going forward in a position without much depth this year.  CB Fran Velez has been so-so next to Schenkeveld in the heart of the defense, but certainly not what fans were hoping for after two great years at Aris.  Last, and least out of all the significant signings, Argentine RB Facundo Sanchez has been bad.  He lacks any aggression on defense and does no favors for a lackluster right hand side of the offense (with an underperforming Aitor ahead of him) when he gets forward. 

Although the situation looks dire for Panathinaikos after the time and money wasted on bringing in Poyatos and some signings sure to be deadweight under Bölöni’s leadership, there are signs that things may soon get better.  Fan favorite Lucas Villafañez looks to be close to returning from injury and should provide a spark for an attack that desperately needs one in his second stint with the club.  And the most recent signing, Mauricio, looks to be a fantastic one.  “The Playmaker,” as PAOK fans called him, was a vital part of the PAOK team that won the Super League title in 2019.  It’s been hard for Panathinaikos to fill the second CDM role next to captain Dimitris Kourbelis since the departure of Ergys Kaçe, and Mauricio should be that man.  

It’s been a rough season thus far, but Panathinakos have to regroup, find out what hasn’t been working, and start getting results.  With an away matchup against Olympiakos in a month, there is no more time for excuses!   

Hellas Football

Follow @nickG__73