Hellas Football

Olympiakos vs Atalanta  UEL Second Leg Preview  By Stephen Kountourou A moment of madness or lapse in concentration can change a game of football on its head. In the case of Olympiakos' visit to Bergamo to face Atalanta, it was two. Despite being in a winning position at halftime Thrylos conceded in the same way against the same player twice to lose on the road in the Europa League. There is however still a glimmer of hope for the Greek champions. Despite the away goal ruling no longer being active in UEFA competition, Tiquniho’s goal in the first half has left Pedro Martins's team with a chance to overturn the tie in Piraeus this coming Thursday. But can they do the seemingly unlikely again? Post Match   Thrylos lined up in the 3-4-3 against the Serie A side in Bergamo and for the majority of the match, Martin's tactics worked to an extent. Olympiakos were able to soak up much of the Atalanta pressure and were able to break quickly from defence to a more attacking shape ...

Atalanta vs Olympiakos:   UEL Playoff 1st Leg Preview By Stephen Kountourou  It's that time again! European club competition is back for 2022 and there are certainly some tasty ties coming up this week. Time to see which team can put one foot into the next round of their respective tournaments and which will be on the verge of bowing out for another season. Olympiakos supporters, despite their opposition being Serie A side Atalanta will be quietly confident going into this Europa League tie.  Despite being most peoples favourites to progress to the Round of 16, the Italian side managed, by Gian Piero Gasperini, have had some mixed form going into the new year and with Thrylos in the last month continuing their undefeated run with a watertight defence and a new burst of creativity, it certainly makes for a compelling match up. So without further ado, it's time for another European preview.  Recent Form Olympiakos Thrylos, have looked a much more exciting prospect duri...

Olympiakos’ January Signings   By Stephen Kountourou  Another January transfer window is done and dusted and it has been an interesting one for Greek Super League leaders Olympiakos. Thrylos have had a variety of players arrive in Piraeus at the turn of the year, including the return of an old favourite, a new face looking for a second chance and a couple of players for the future who might one day become legends themselves. So for this week, I will be taking a brief look at Ethryolefki’s January acquisitions and what we can expect from them. Abdoulaye Dabo  20 year old French midfielder Abdoulaye Dabo joined Olympiakos on the final day of the January transfer window. Dabo, as said previously stated, is a Nantes academy graduate having primarily played for the B side Nantes II, managing 39 appearances and 6 goals in that time. He made his debut in Ligue 1 against Monaco in August of 2018.  Dabo also played out on loan to Juventus U23s last season making 18 appearance...

Gus Poyet. No glamour coach but will it work? Seemingly Gus Poyet will be unveiled as the Ethniki Omada's latest head coach and the not many people are celebrating this appointment, but stopping short of wanting JVS back. The list of candidates floating out through the media wasn't impressive but with the rumoured 500K annual salary being offered, the reality is we were never going to get anyone of any type of stature in the game today. I'm sure any level headed individual understood that. Anyways he's here, so what next? What the Ethniki Omada needs is that new coach bounce. We need goals and wins. Enterprising football. I came across a stat of his where he has coached close to 400 games and has a goal difference of +91. In his last job at Universidad Catolica he had won 13 drawn 5 and lost 13 for a goal difference of +1. But interestingly in the 31 games the played under him they scored 42 times (and conceded 41) Looking at that kind of warms me up a bit because watch...

Ten Footballers Who Played for b oth of Marinakis' Clubs By Stephen Kountourou In the beautiful game, we have gotten used to seeing several high profile and wealthy individuals dip their toes into the crazy and unpredictable world of owning a football club, with some even owning two or more. With dual ownership comes the inevitable swapping of players from one club to another. Whether that be to strengthen one team in a better league or sending a player out on loan to gain some form to either return to their parent club or be sold for profit.  Examples range from the Pozzo family, who own both Watford in the Premier League and Udinese in Serie A, Red Bull who own a variety of clubs ranging from Leipzig, Salzburg, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Brasil to name a few and City Football Group, owners of Manchester City, New York City, Melbourne City among others. As you may have guessed, however, my focus today will be on Evangelos Marinakis' teams Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest....

Kostas Manolas: Piraeus, Italy and Back Again By Stephen Kountourou  For years, supporters of Greek champions Olympiakos, have dreamed of talented defender Kostas Manolas returning to Piraeus to compete in the red and white once more. Many, myself included, thought that it could not happen this soon in the Greek internationals career, with Manolas still 30 years old and theoretically at the peak of his powers. There was also the issue of his transfer fee being far too high for Thrylos, as a supposed failed attempt to re-sign the Naxos native last summer apparently would have cost the club around 10 million Euros.  But to everyone’s surprise, Thrylos fans were treated to an early Christmas present as Manolas arrived at the club’s headquarters in Piraeus to officially rejoin Olympiakos. For the first blog of 2022, it’s a dive into the career of Kostas Manolas from leaving Piraeus on a high to compete in Serie A with two giants of the league before his return to Piraeus last mont...

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 big...