Olympiakos, Onwards and Upwards
Olympiakos, Onwards and Upwards
By Stephen Kountourou,
Undefeated Domestically
Now, this one is not essential for me personally but it would be the cherry on top of this, already successful season. Having drawn with eternal rivals Panathinaikos this weekend just gone, Olympiakos are still undefeated in this domestic league season with 25 wins and 7 draws and 0 losses in 32 games. With their last three league fixtures being OFI away with PAOK and AEK at home, all of these are tough matchups and you could forgive the Erthrolefki for kicking back and dropping points with the title well and truly wrapped up. But, if this Olympiakos team wants to go one further and, rather than just being another title win, go all the way and not only become the third side to finish a domestic campaign undefeated in Greece but also the first Olympiakos side do so in the modern era. This team will surely go down as one of the greatest in the club and leagues history and properly live up to their nickname as legends, if they can achieve what is almost in their grasp.
Cup and Domestic Double
This one, for me, is up there on the priority list for Olympiakos. It's been an even longer drought for Thrylos in the Greek Cup then most people would have expected, despite their shortcomings in the last couple of years. The champions have not reached the Greek Cup final since 2016 in 'that game' against AEK Athens and without a cup and domestic double win since 2014/15. This is Thrylos first final in four years and it is also their chance to get a bit of revenge from their fellow 2016 finalist in a rematch against AEK. With the current location of the final most likely going to be Rizoupoli, the home ground of Apollon Smyrni, and the date set for the 26th of July and without the presence of fans to spur both sides on; it is vital that the Piraeus side properly reassert their dominance and in Greece and what better way to do that than their first domestic double in 5 years.
European Glory
In my most humble opinion, this is the best chance Olympiakos has and ever will get of reaching the final of a major European competition. Currently, Thrylos stand level with Wolves 1-1 on aggregate after the first e.g. of the round of 16, with the English side on a slight advantage with their away goal. With the long gap between both legs, as the away match for Olympiakos is being held in early August, and the league and cup final being wrapped up by then to transition nicely into European fixtures, their is still a good chance that Olympiakos can overcome this talented Premier League side, having shown this in the previous tie against Arsenal, with a last gasp winner from El Arabi. If they can progress past Wolves, this is where the Europa League gets very interesting. Unlike the normal European format and due to the recent pandemic pushing the football season forward, both the reminder of the Champions League and Europa League knockout stages will no longer be played over two legs. Instead sides drawn against one another in the quarter finals, will play one match to determine who qualifies for the semi finals and the same goes for who will qualify for the final, much like this World Cup and the Euros. This means that Olympiakos are only 3 games away from reaching their first European final in their history. Even with the potential tough match up with Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk just to name a few that are lying in wait in the next round, on their day Olympiakos can once again potentially beat anyone and a treble is very much on the cards.
All the recent performances in Europe and the domestic dominance returning to Olympiakos all this comes at a price. Ironically it is the increased price and valuation of their players as other clubs from around Europe circle to try and bring a number of Thrylos most star talents this season away from Piraeus. I am happy that we can once again say that we have players that are good enough to play for teams in the top 5 leagues in Europe, I would still much rather keep our best players. Although I do understand that our current model of buying players with potential, developing and selling them off for a much larger sum with another replacement that could become as talented as their predecessor, does work. With all that in mind, if and when our current crop of players do depart we currently have players lined up to replace them. With this in mind, I will be looking at both outgoing, incoming players, and players linked with a move to us.
Outgoings and Possible Arrivals
The biggest and probably worst kept secret of outgoing players is our current on field captain Omar Elabdellaoui. With his contract negotiations for a long term contract seeming to be all but over, and Olympiakos for some reason not willing to increase his wage, the veteran right back has signed an extension until after the round of 16 second leg against Wolves, and his most likely destination being Galatasaray in Turkey, once his contract expires. He is a huge loss for the club as he has been a mainstay in the side for the vast majority of his time with us, but it looks like manager Pedro Martins already has a replacement lined up, in Bruno Gaspar. As The Angolan international, currently on loan from Portuguese side Sporting Club Portugal, is versatile, being able to play on both the right and left side of the defence. While he has been in and out of the first team, as Elabdellaoui has been a mainstay at right back, has shown in his talents with some decent assists, as a possible worthy replacement for the Norwegian if signed permanently.
Other rumoured departures include, talented Greek Left Back Kostas Tsimikas who has lit up the league and Europe this season with Italian side Napoli being linked with the 23 year old pretty much all season. All 3 of Olympiakos main defenders are also on the rumour mill to depart with Cisse and Ba linked with Arsenal, and Ruben Semedo with a possible return to Portugal with Benfica. Mady Camara, our industrious midfielder is linked with Milan, with multiple reports suggesting that his replacement would be Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny.
Amed Hassan is expected to sign permanently after a second successful loan spell in Piraeus and Jordonian winger Musa Al- Taamari from APOEL is one of the most recent players linked with the club amid speculation that veteran winger Lazaros Chistodoulopoulos will leave the club at the end of the season. Experienced Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subašić is also expected to join Thrylos at the end of his contract with AS Monaco and finally young Serbian winger Nikola Cumic who has impressed out on loan at Serbian side FK Radnički Niš with 10 goals in 9 games is expected to have his metal tested at his parent club Olympiakos next season and is a real talent.
In short it looks as though there is going to be a lot of movement in and out of Piraeus this summer once the transfer window properly opens, if players are to be sold I can only be quietly confident they will be suitably replaced.
The Future
With all of these aspirations for the current season close to completion and players in line to leave and arrive all that is left is to look at the future.
Domestically, winning the league title cannot be seen as a given anymore, the last two seasons before this has shown Olympiakos fans including myself that nothing is guaranteed. If Thrylos want to begin a new dynasty of consecutive titles they most adapt and progress after every season an not rely on players who do not understand the philosophy of the club or what it means to play for a side like Olympiakos and just see us as a way of playing six games a season in the Champions league group stage; they are here to play in every game regardless. Secondly maintaining a good style of football that is good for both the league and in Europe keeps us competitive in all competitions while always having a plan B if their initial tactics are not working.
European progression is something that fans have been crying out for and regardless of what happens in this current European campaign, we need to build up the side and set targets to try and one day progress deeper into European competitions so that we can truly stand with other elite clubs around the continent.
I, like many other Thrylos supporters, can celebrate our current success and look forward to what the future holds, because it is only onwards and upwards from here.
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