AEL Mid Season Review

AEL Mid Season Review

Well, here I am and where do I begin? For the biggest provincial club in Greece you would expect AEL to be fighting for Top 6. That has not been the case since earning promotion to the Super league in 2016, instead have been lurking around with relegation battlers with bunch of tourists taking to the field acting as if they care but fantasize sunbathing on the Greek islands. Yes, I am referring to foreign players.

The transfers made in summer, once again, has been a repeat of every transfer window. The ins and outs always excessive, and in typical fashion presents no plan.

Now, try construct an answer: How can the club afford to release so many players, who do not last their full contracts with high chances of unpaid wages resulting in temporary point deductions? This is one of the thousands of issues under the Alexis Kougias regime.

Without a doubt, the 2020/2021 Super League season has been an absolute nightmare for AEL as I have already written off the season starting with the Round 1 matchup against PAOK losing 1-0, offering almost nothing in the attack and struggled to escape our own half under the guidance of coach Michalis Grigoriou, who should have been sacked when coronavirus was declared a pandemic (March). Instead, Kougias rewarded mediocrity and handed Grigoriou a contract extension.

There was a bit of promise in the 1-1 stalemate against Panathinaikos with young gun Pinakas scoring a late equaliser. The match happened to be AEL’s comeback to the historic Alkazar stadium after 5 years, located right in the city of Larissa after Kougias announced in pre-season that the modern boutique AEL FC Arena would not be the home venue for the club anymore, providing the reason that he could not afford the rent. Absolute Rubbish.

So, after Panathinaikos, the winless run continued which was carried over from last season and looked endless as Grigoriou resorted to start players in unnatural positions and his inept tactics were taking a toll on the teams performances. He was exposed long ago but Kougias still showed faith in the coach despite the bad results against Apollon Smyrni (0-1 loss), Asteras Tripolis (1-3 loss) and Volos (1-1 draw). However, the match with Volos, if anyone tuned in, AEL were 0-1 up thanks to a penalty from Pinakas, then suddenly decided to sit back as Volos piled on the pressure the entire second half and scored an equaliser…with 10 men!!!

Mark this on your calendar before we flip over to 2021 – November 8th 2020 was AEL’s first win of the season, an away victory against the mighty Epirotes, PAS Giannina. Was it luck? To my confession, no. AEL were dominant for the majority of the match and the partnership with Pinakas and Platellas up front worked a treat and caused the opposition’s defence to collapse as Pinakas scored a brace to seal our first win of the season after going 1-0 down. Unfortunately, this attacking partnership was never seen again.

Come to the next match in the uninspiring 4-1 loss against AEK at Rizoupoli, where AEL put one of the worst defensive displays I have ever seen with costly mistakes from Mateo Muzek and prompted Grigoriou to hand in his resignation after being publicly shamed by Kougias. One day later, Kallithea coach Giannis Tatsis was hired. Since the match was in Athens it seemed like Kougias strolled through the streets and found Tatsis on the spot, who has zero experience in the top level of Greece, but hey, Kougias claims that Tatsis is the man to take AEL to Europe. Everyone, that deserves a round of applause.

Now with Tatsis at the helm, nothing has changed, performances have been uninspiring, the attack is absolutely toothless, the defence is hideous and only a select group of players are putting in the effort to try salvage AEL’s disastrous season (Nagy, Iliadis, Sparv, Milosavjlevic, Platellas, Pinakas).

AEL are on yet another winless run since Tatsis was appointed with one draw and four losses. Most notably the matches against Aris (0-3 loss) and Panetolikos (2-1 loss), Kougias claims the referees altered the match results and has taken legal action against the referees as well as requested a face-to-face meeting with Mark Clattenburg. Small man desperate.

The 5-1 loss against Olympiacos pretty much reflects AEL's season currently. Mostly Greeks played, specifically young Greeks, and I knew they put in the effort but unfortunately fatigue was the enemy. Another note to jot down is Tatsis praised Olympiacos for their performance, saying they are very well organised team whereas Kougias would insult Martins by basically calling him a joke. Now you pick the level headed one.

It will only get worse from here, especially with the winter transfer window just around the corner. 

Former AEK defender Uros Cosic will be arriving on January 1st and he does not instil me with any confidence considering his time with the Enosi. Unfortunately, there will be more originating from the former Yugoslavian states coming to AEL courtesy of Kougias, otherwise known as the Balkan pimp.

Is there any glimmer of hope? Sadly not, unfortunately. This one of the worst teams in AEL history and I have already embraced relegation. AEL sits on 13th spot, the relegation play-off, collecting just 6 points from 12 matches with just 1 win, 3 draws and 8 losses.

AEL 2020 record: 3 wins, 11 draws, 15 losses

For a club of its size and stature, shocking Greece in 1988 by winning the league, won two Greek Cup titles in 1985 and 2007, producing some of the nation’s biggest talents (Mitsibonas, Karapialis, Plitsis just to name a few), AEL deserves better than the lunatic lawyer running the show.

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