Olympiakos Mid Season Review

Olympiakos Mid Season Review 

By Steve Kountourou

As Christmas brings some comfort to all after an unthinkably hard year, and with it the new and hopefully better 2021, there has been one semblance of comfort and normality throughout this trying period and that has been football. Whether domestically or internationally, the beautiful game has brought its fair share of joy in a time where positivity is at its lowest. For Greece and the super league, the brief but much needed winter break has arrived, which gives sides a chance to rest their players, bring their injured back to full fitness and prepare for the upcoming challenges of the 2nd half of the season. 

For Olympiakos this is no exception. The chance to win a consecutive league and cup double, along with the added European clash with PSV around the corner, there is much to prepare for. But for now I will be taking a look back at the first half of the season for the Greek Champions, how they performed in the Greek Super League, Europe and how individual players performed, whether they flourished or wilted.   

Dominant as ever Domestically 

During the first half of the league season, Thrylos have been as dominant as ever. Despite some major departures in the summer, a lack of pre-season and new players not given time to properly jell with the side, there was still the expectation that this Olympiakos side were strong enough to be the favourites and retain the title this season. Despite an undefeated first 5 games of the domestic season, there were signs of a team that could not play the way they did in 2019/20 to the best of their ability.  New signings too seemed to struggle to stamp their marker on games when given the opportunity, with Vinagre being outshone by Holebas, Bruma having a few injury setbacks up until recently and Pepe, despite being consistent, has not been at the level to displace any of Bouchalakis, M'Vila and Camara from the starting midfield players.

 

The first half of games were slow and methodical, as Olympiakos held on to the ball dominated possession but struggled to create much within 45 minutes. The fast fulbacks of yesteryear in Tsimikas and Elabdallaoui were already long gone, meaning the sides style of play and rhythm was slightly disjoined, with a clearer emphasis on defence as M'Vila dropped into the back line, Holebas and Rafinha despite their best efforts, showing their age at times and encouraged less to go forward. This would then prevent progression of the ball down the flanks and switching play between the fullbacks and wingers. This would culminate into less quality chances coming from crosses.

 

That is not to say that this did not work, it was just far less of an entertaining style of football for the everyday Olympiakos supporter. It was effective however, thanks to a fairly tame run in the first half of the season with a couple of exceptions, Olympiakos were able to stay undefeated. Games were more or less won in the 2nd half, thanks to some good management from Pedro Martins and the players he brought on impacting the game positively, like Hassan being the biggest example in the first couple of months. 

 

Eventually, after a seven game wait the Greek champions were finally able to score in the 1st half of a match, and it just so happened to be against their age old rivals Panathinaikos thanks to a fantastic strike from Kostas Fortounis in a 1-0 win. This result seemed to properly kick start Thrylos domestic season and for the most part. 

Performances started to improve and Pedro Martins became more flexible in giving other players in the squad a chance to shine, with the likes of Vrousai, Androutsos, Tiago Silva and a returning Soudani all giving the said more dimension during games. Kostas Fortounis in particular, since returning to full fitness, has been a revelation at the heart of the midfield and has once again become a talisman for the team, scoring and or assisting nearly every game.

      

There were of course a couple of hiccups along the way, including the 1-1 draw away to PAS Giannina and more recently when chances were not taken despite being ahead in the derby against AEK, only to concede ten minutes from time and having to settle for a 1-1 away draw.  

 

Despite not being by any means a perfectly functioning side, with reinforcements expected in the new year, the current record after 12 games played being 10 wins, 2 draws, no losses and a whopping 33 goals scored, 5 conceded. Olympiakos has once again asserted themselves as a dominant force in Greece this season domestically and there is the expectation that things will only get better from here. 

European Campaign Left to be Desired 

As I have blogged about the performance of Olympiakos in the Champions League and gone through their Europa League draw, I will keep this one brief. After a fantastic start in Match Day 1 with a late 1-0 win over Marseille, it was downhill from their as Thrylos would go one to loss to Porto away, Manchester City home and away, a VAR influenced 2-1 defeat in France to Marseille and then had to rely on City defeating the French side in the final game of the group stage to finish in 3rd place despite losing to Porto 0-2 at home. 

 

The biggest criticism most supporters had with the side was the lack of fight in games that they needed to win or save their chance of coming at least 3rd in the group. This what eventually transpired for Olympiakos but the manner in which the club limped to a Europa League Round of 32 place, when 2nd was a hard but realistic opportunity felt like a huge disappointment, especially with how hard the team fought in last seasons group stage in taking on Europe elite.

 

With all that being said Thrylos will compete in Europe next year and PSV will be a tough task but also a realistic side to progress passed, that is as long as Olympiakos make January signings in key areas ahead of this huge Europa League clash.  

For Better

 

M'Vila

One of the few new signings that started brightly upon his debut for Olympiakos, Yan M'Vila came in as a replacement for the outgoing Guilherme. While much more conservative than his predecessor, the french international has been a rock in midfield, with the ability to win back the ball, and rather then running with it, using his calm passing to help his side progress the ball further up the pitch. He has had a tendency of dropping very deep into the back line, sometimes when necessary and sometimes when not, but M'Vila is certainly showing so far this season, why Olympiakos fought tooth and nail to acquire him over the summer. 

 

Holebas 

Originally set to be a replacement for Torosidis as the veteran fullback in the squad, Jose Holebas has played the vast majority of the season so far as he first choice left back for Olympiakos. With Vinagre not working out as the definitive starter, the former Greek international's effort despite his age, has been a brilliant example to all players at Olympiakos this season. While he may not have the pace anymore his defensive output has been one of his strong points. He has been found out on occasions in Europe, and his age has also shown when attempting to progress the ball up the pitch like Kostas Tsimikas once did in Piraeus. But he has been a great servant for the club so far in his second spell, and when a first choice left back is found, Holebas has earned a well deserved rest.  

 

Fortounis

It really has been a joy to see a fully fit Kostas Fortounis. After returning from his horror injury at the end of last season the Greek international has slowly been nursed back to match fitness, and since his reintegration in the side, he is as class a player as ever. Maybe not the goal scoring machine he was before his injury, Fortounis' game has adapted under Pedro Martins, tracking back more than he would have previously as well as continuing to be a huge influence creatively for Thrylos. As many fans can tell you, even a quiet Fortounis performance is still a good one. Currently averaging a goal contribution nearly every game, it's been a long time coming for Olympiakos fans but now, he is back to his best.    

 

Sa

It is rather amazing that Olympiakos have been able to hold on to a keeper that is at the level of Jose Sa. The Portuguese shot stopper has been incredibly reliable in between the goal posts this season, keeping his side in games with some fantastic saves in Europe, when Olympiakos possibly should have conceded more. In Greece, he has already averaged a clean sheet over every other game this season and if his meteoric form continues, it's hard to see him staying at Olympiakos past next summer.

Bouchalakis

From a slow start, to an out of nowhere vein of form, Andreas Bouchalakis has silenced a lot of his critics with his overall performances this season. Despite a couple of clangers, including the lead up to the early goal against Porto in Portugal, since then Bouchalakis has picked himself up and has gone leaps and bounds since then. Since his double against Aris, the Greek international has been involved in a goal every other game. In my opinion, he has started to evolve into a Maniatis kind of player for Olympiakos, not the most technically gifted but a hard worker in defence, is developing his attacking game and gives you, for the most part, a solid performance each game. Here's hoping he continues to prove his doubters wrong. 

For Worse 

Vinagre

A player that I very much hyped up in a blog I wrote about Olympiakos transfers at the end of the window, it just has not worked out for left back Ruben Vinagre. There are factors as to why this loan move from Wolves did not work out. The combination of no preseason and arriving on deadline day can hamper the integration of any player, but the fact of the matter is, there was no fight in the Portuguese Under 21s defender to even attempt to displace 36 year old Jose Holebas from the left back role in the team. Sadly it just seemed like another player who was looking to play six games in the Champions League group stage, rather than playing week in week out in the Greek Super League. Obviously a talented player, but clearly saw this as a step down from Wolves and the Premier League, Vinagre will now be sent to Braga in Portugal on loan, all the best to him and it is a shame he did not feel he could show his quality in Piraeus. 

 

Randjelovic 

The man, the myth, but maybe not quite the right fit for the Legend. Ok maybe a tad harsh but the Serbian winger has been blowing cold ever since his winner against AEK in the Greek Cup final in September. Having been given more game time this season prior to last, slowly but surely Lazar has been found out by opposition he should be making mince meat out of his pace and ability to cross or alternatively cut inside and score, admittedly some impressive goals in the past. But this season he has lost his place and seems to be behind Marios Vrousai, and a fully fit Soudani. He is still young and can maybe have a better half of the season, but you have to wonder now, how much longer it will take before Pedro Martins deems him surplus to requirements.

 

Bruno

There is not much to say about Brazilian winger Bruno, other than it is amazing this player is still at Olympiakos. Mostly a squad player for the Greek Champions you could argue his best performance was when he has been played out of position at right back when called upon. Other than that, Bruno does not contribute much to this squad and with his place in the team unlikely to change, I do think his days in Piraeus are numbered.

 

Looking Forward to Next Year 

With the first half of the season now wrapped up, we can all look forward to the Christmas break and after that, New year and the challenges it brings for football and the rest of the world. For Olympiakos, and the upcoming transfer window, the hope is that a couple of reinforcements come in ahead of the chance to retain the league title and progress further in Europe this season. In my opinion the priority should be a new left back, another striker, if Hassan will be unavailable for a lengthy period of time, and with Soudani coming back, to drop 4-3-3 and either deploy 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 as formation choices. 

This Olympiakos team overall has had a fantastic 2020 despite all the horrible things that have been going on in the world, and for many, they much like other teams that people support, as a symbol of happiness and joy to many. Merry Christmas and a Happier New year, see you all in 2021.

Hellas Football 

Follow @stevekountourou