Hellas Football

After earning the desired 4 points in the first round of the Euro 2020 Qualifiers, the Ethniki appeared to finally be on the right track for the first time in over half a decade with new manager Angelo Anastasiadis.  But it is clear this team has made almost no progression from the dark days of the Euro 2016 Qualifiers- where they dropped two defeats to the lowly Faroe Islands- after two disastrous performances in Athens last week, losing 0-3 to Italy and 2-3 to Armenia.   As promised, Anastasiadis introduced new, younger players into the squad that were always overlooked by previous manager, Michael Skibbe.  Yet these changes, apparently, have been nowhere near enough in helping the Ethniki turn the corner and compete with Europe’s top teams once again. Anastasiadis should shoulder a great deal of the blame, but his ineptitude as a manager is nowhere near the real root of the problem- the Greek FA (EPO) has been cheap, incompetent, and indifferent when it comes...

PAOK season review; Rating every main player on the roster Reminder; These ratings are opinion based and subjective. They are based on the author’s observations and opinions of the squad. Paschalakis : 9/10 Always constant, often decisive. Was probably the most important player in PAOK invincibility this season. Just a bad point due to his very big mistake against Benfica but definitely the upper class. Simply brilliant. Leo Matos : 7/10 The years go by, and he's still here, strong and still an essential piece in the Dikefale's defence. Precious on the right side, did a great job although that he seemed to lack of accuracy in the second part of the season and might get some physical problem next year. Fernando Varela : 8.5/10 Essential too as centre-back, his season would be almost perfect without some poor performances in Europa League. The "Control Tower" also scored very important goals. One of the best players this year. Jorge Crespo : 8/10 Som...

AEL season review; Rating every player who has played 5 or more games on the roster Reminder; These ratings are opinion based and subjective. They are based on the author’s observations and opinions of the squad. Goalkeepers: Ogmundur Kristinsson – (9/10 – 34 Appearances): In his first season Kristinsson has proven to be a quality signing for AEL and played absolutely tremendous by providing crucial saves, especially in the last 8 rounds of the season, despite the team’s defence injury woes and being vulnerable to opposition counter-attacks. He was called up to the Iceland national team on numerous occasions during the season.  He also managed to keep 11 clean sheets to his name in his first season. As the season concluded, he was awarded the club’s player of the season and rightfully deserved it. Panagiotis Paiteris – (6/10 – 1 Appearance):  2nd choice goalkeeper only appeared once all season in the Greek Cup against Irodotos in the group stages. Did not do much in the...

Olympiakos season review; Rating every main player on the roster Reminder; These ratings are opinion based and subjective. They are based on the author’s observations and opinions of the squad. Goalkeepers Jose Sa 9/10 Started off the season as the clubs #2 keeper and bid his time till he was given a chance. a string of top performances saw him hold on to the jersey and make his loan deal permanent. was recently called up to the Portuguese national team Andreas Gianniotis 3/10 Started the season as the #1 keeper but after a string of bad performances was dropped, with a falling out soon afterwards he wass banished from the side. Yuri Lodygin -/10 Came is as back up and played minimal game time. Likely to stay on if a deal can be done. Defenders Pape Abou Cisse 7.5/10 The Rock was indeed the rock when on song. some odd games meant that you didn't know what to expect but still is a major part of the team going forward Yassin Meriah 6/10 Tun...