Asteras Tripolis Mid-Season Review

Asteras Tripolis Mid-Season Review

By Alexander Koutakos

We are now halfway through the season, yet my verdict on whether or not this season is looking to be a successful one is still up in the air. There have been bright moments for sure, but there have been many lackluster performances that, compiled with poor squad selections have led to Asteras sitting in a mere 8th place. 

The season itself has been a rollercoaster with Asteras generating a few wins here and there while at the same time having a few losses here and there, resulting in never gaining any tangible rhythm. For example, the club won back-to-back games against Apollon(1-0) and Panathinaikos(2-1) and what followed those impressive performances was a disappointing draw against PAS Giannina and a loss against Lamia due to an own goal by Ruben Garcia. It amazes me how Ruben Garcia gets playing time even after his big faults like the one against Lamia. David Carmona, the other RB, is far more talented and generates a bigger positive impact on both ends of the pitch.

Even though Ruben Garcia has been poor to start the season, another new signing has been very outstanding so far in the campaign. If you haven’t guessed who I’m referring to yet, I am referring to Kevin Soni. The 23 year-old Cameroonian International has thoroughly impressed the Asteras faithful and has come clutch in dire moments when all seemed lost for the team in blue and yellow. He has scored 5 goals and provided 2 assists in the campaign so far and you can find all of them via this link here: Kevin Soni - Goals and Assists . Somehow all of his goals are bangers, but my favorite of them was his goal against PAOK in the Toumba to put the Arcadians up 1-0.  Soni has since been linked with moves to AEK, PAOK, Olympiacos and basically every “BIG” team in Greece and the Balkans. 

For my sake and the team’s sake, hopefully he stays and continues on with the quest for Europe. If he were to be sold however, Asteras would likely collect and demand a fee of a few million euros at the minimum.  

Where Soni has picked up on the goal-scoring duties, Jeronimo Barrales has regressed and simply hasn’t been a viable goal getting machine like he used to be. He currently sits on a slender 2 goals and hasn’t shown that he will get many more on his current path. To put the cherry on top, Barrales didn’t even manage to score in Asteras’ 6-2 thrashing of Atromitos. A very tough night for Atromitos’ 500 fans worldwide. 

Now for the elephant in the room: the Greek Cup. With Asteras set on a European push this year, the loss in the cup to Levadiakos was a calamity. The game started off well for Levadiakos, but then Asteras responded with chances of their own. All chances were wasted by the Arcadians and led to its eventual downfall in the cup. In the 97th-minute, the highly touted Georgios Nikas put a header past the keeper and the run in the cup was over in an instant. 

To make matters worse, the club now needs to finish in the top 3 in the league to make Europe if a team not in the top 3 wins the cup. Finishing 3rd is a very tough task and is improbable. For now, the best shot is to finish 4th and pray that a team in the top 3 wins the cup. Currently, Asteras sits 6 points behind Panathinaikos who are in the 4th spot of the table. There are still 11 games in the regular season and the entire playoffs so there is plenty of time and room to make up for the lost ground. Asteras has shown that they can compete with the “BIG 4” with the win against Panathinaikos(1-0), the draw against AEK (0-0) and the slim loss to PAOK(2-3) where Asteras in my opinion was the better team and was harsh done by the referee that led to Kurtic scoring 2 penalties. 4th is indeed possible but, Asteras can’t make the same silly mistakes that it made last year as there is now only marginal room for error. Anything more, will be a nail in the coffin for our European aspirations. 

The club needs to make Europe not only to meet its own ambitions, but to be able to keep its talent. Throughout the past decade, Asteras has been a hotbed for young talented Greek players. Players like Kyriakopoulos(Sassuolo), Bakasetas(Trabzonspor), Michelis(Willem), Kourbelis(Panathinaikos), Pseftis(Milan u20) and Douvikas(Utrecht) all came from Asteras. 

Even now, players like Antzoulas, Christopoulos and Kanellopoulos have all been called up to the u-21 Ethniki and have big futures ahead of them. Crazy enough, Antzoulas at one point was loaned out to Fiorentina and now has come back stronger both physically and emotionally. Clubs across the continent have inquired about these players and scouts have been sent to watch them in action. By making Europe and getting the added revenue from it, Asteras will be able to hold on to these players and key players like Soni and Alvarez. 

There is an underlying reason why players like Bakasetas and Kourbelis were able to stay longer in Tripoli than players like Douvikas, De Blasis and Michelis. Kourbelis and Bakasetas were part of an Asteras team that made Europe; a team of progression that led to amazing results in Europe against the likes of Mainz 05, Partizan and Besiktas. Douvikas, De Blasis and Michelis simply were not. 

Time will only tell if Asteras will make Europe and hopefully I am writing the “season review” with them in Europe. 

Alexander Koutakos

Hellas Football