A pleasing game for everyone to go with the Christmas spirit that's around the corner.
Panathinaikos got another win, scored three goals again, Leto scored two, and the opponent can go home to tell a story of a glorious defeat.
To be sure, Asteras deserved better for the most part, but Panathinaikos was too good when it counted. The first two goals came from set balls (feekick and corner), and the third one through excellent open field play where a midfielder (katsouranis) found himself in excellent position in the box in a counter-attack. What's more, Katsouranis had a choice of two open players in the box. He chose the closer Leto, and Leto didn't waste the chance to score his second goal.
This is really the story of the game. Many would choose to focus on Asteras controlling the midfield and missing some excellent chances to score, but I think at some point Panahtinaikos players didn't take this one too seriously. After scoring the first goal, and watching Leto and Quincy perform some circus tricks and back-hills (as exciting they were to watch), I knew that discipline was breaking down.
Panathinaikos paid for their lax attitude, especially in chasing lose balls in midfield, but it didn't cost them because Kapino was in excellent form, performing some truly amazing and difficult saves on open shots from within the box. It was good to see the kid once again perform so well, even though in the end he did concede one.
I always thought that "luck" has a lot to do with excellent goalkeepers, and Kapino seems to be proving my "theory". I compare him to Karnezi who would see the ball land in his net on some improbable shots, while Kapino seems to have a force field of kryptonite that keeps his goal safe. Opponents shoot to the birds and the ball bounces his way in the vast majority of plays in his box.
But his ability has a lot to do with his good luck. He constantly keeps his feet moving, carrying him to the path of the ball at all times, his reflexes are top-notch (that save on the first Asteras shot to the post was truly world-class), and his explosiveness to get to the ball anywhere in his area force opponents to try to put a little extra behind the ball, causing them to miss.
Other that that, I don't have much to say about this game. It was a typical contest with Panathinaikos knowing they'll take the three points one way or another, and with Asteras winning some bragging rights through overexerting themselves throughout.
In the end, the roster quality of Pao, and the excellent work by Ferreira to drill ball-possession and set pieces, and to find a winning formation made the big difference in this game.
Kapino was great, Simao was amazing, and the rest (with the exception of Spyropoulo/Kante/Marino/Quincy who all looked flat) had spurts of goodness, times of sleepiness, and moments of brilliance that were enough to create a three-goal lead before Asteras scored. Katsouranis and Leto had a leading role in this comfortable win.
Leto has really matured as a player, and the new position Ferreira assigned to him maximizes his skills. He can chose his own space and ends up constantly on one-on-one situations where his dribbling gives him the advantage. It's kind of funny to watch him walking leisurely when we defend though, especially when he tries to preserve energy late in the game. I was laughing watching the game because with Leto, when we defend it's as if we play with ten players, but when we attack it's as if we play with twelve!
There will probably be other reports (and many Eors in Panathinaikos' forums) that scream about how bad our defense was, how Asteras deserved more goals, and alarms sounding about allowing so many chances to a smaller opponent.
All probably justified, but I am not in the mood to complain after my team won 3-1. I can't complain that my coach choses to not put defenders in the game every time the fans get nervous. I suffered through years of defensive football and coaches who managed the games with poop in their pants, so I will go the other way and give Ferreira credit for placing more emphasis on offensive development and scoring.
I know that if I want to see four green players in the box in a counter-attack, something must give. I am referring to the third goal where Roudolf run with the ball all the way to the box pulling four players before Katsouranis interjected and passed the ball to the wide open Leto for the score (with Mavria also even more wide open). With a more defensively minded attitude we might not have seen Katsourani in the box in such a play. The coach would have pinned him back to defend in midfield.
These kinds of plays I want to see more of. These kinds of plays is what we've all missed over the last decade. I want to see more even it means midfielders leave some open space for opponents in midfield, and even if it means the opponent will score one here and there.
In the end, it's a matter of view-point. We can choose the easy (and very shallow) criticism of our defense and our players, or we can choose to celebrate the positives. Sure we'll pay for our defensive problems one of these days, but my experience tells me that we'll have more rejoicing attacking moments than grief.
Remember the Cyberfish motto: Positive attitude begets good karma :)
Merry Christmas everyone!
Panathinaikos got another win, scored three goals again, Leto scored two, and the opponent can go home to tell a story of a glorious defeat.
To be sure, Asteras deserved better for the most part, but Panathinaikos was too good when it counted. The first two goals came from set balls (feekick and corner), and the third one through excellent open field play where a midfielder (katsouranis) found himself in excellent position in the box in a counter-attack. What's more, Katsouranis had a choice of two open players in the box. He chose the closer Leto, and Leto didn't waste the chance to score his second goal.
This is really the story of the game. Many would choose to focus on Asteras controlling the midfield and missing some excellent chances to score, but I think at some point Panahtinaikos players didn't take this one too seriously. After scoring the first goal, and watching Leto and Quincy perform some circus tricks and back-hills (as exciting they were to watch), I knew that discipline was breaking down.
Panathinaikos paid for their lax attitude, especially in chasing lose balls in midfield, but it didn't cost them because Kapino was in excellent form, performing some truly amazing and difficult saves on open shots from within the box. It was good to see the kid once again perform so well, even though in the end he did concede one.
I always thought that "luck" has a lot to do with excellent goalkeepers, and Kapino seems to be proving my "theory". I compare him to Karnezi who would see the ball land in his net on some improbable shots, while Kapino seems to have a force field of kryptonite that keeps his goal safe. Opponents shoot to the birds and the ball bounces his way in the vast majority of plays in his box.
But his ability has a lot to do with his good luck. He constantly keeps his feet moving, carrying him to the path of the ball at all times, his reflexes are top-notch (that save on the first Asteras shot to the post was truly world-class), and his explosiveness to get to the ball anywhere in his area force opponents to try to put a little extra behind the ball, causing them to miss.
Other that that, I don't have much to say about this game. It was a typical contest with Panathinaikos knowing they'll take the three points one way or another, and with Asteras winning some bragging rights through overexerting themselves throughout.
In the end, the roster quality of Pao, and the excellent work by Ferreira to drill ball-possession and set pieces, and to find a winning formation made the big difference in this game.
Kapino was great, Simao was amazing, and the rest (with the exception of Spyropoulo/Kante/Marino/Quincy who all looked flat) had spurts of goodness, times of sleepiness, and moments of brilliance that were enough to create a three-goal lead before Asteras scored. Katsouranis and Leto had a leading role in this comfortable win.
Leto has really matured as a player, and the new position Ferreira assigned to him maximizes his skills. He can chose his own space and ends up constantly on one-on-one situations where his dribbling gives him the advantage. It's kind of funny to watch him walking leisurely when we defend though, especially when he tries to preserve energy late in the game. I was laughing watching the game because with Leto, when we defend it's as if we play with ten players, but when we attack it's as if we play with twelve!
There will probably be other reports (and many Eors in Panathinaikos' forums) that scream about how bad our defense was, how Asteras deserved more goals, and alarms sounding about allowing so many chances to a smaller opponent.
All probably justified, but I am not in the mood to complain after my team won 3-1. I can't complain that my coach choses to not put defenders in the game every time the fans get nervous. I suffered through years of defensive football and coaches who managed the games with poop in their pants, so I will go the other way and give Ferreira credit for placing more emphasis on offensive development and scoring.
I know that if I want to see four green players in the box in a counter-attack, something must give. I am referring to the third goal where Roudolf run with the ball all the way to the box pulling four players before Katsouranis interjected and passed the ball to the wide open Leto for the score (with Mavria also even more wide open). With a more defensively minded attitude we might not have seen Katsourani in the box in such a play. The coach would have pinned him back to defend in midfield.
These kinds of plays I want to see more of. These kinds of plays is what we've all missed over the last decade. I want to see more even it means midfielders leave some open space for opponents in midfield, and even if it means the opponent will score one here and there.
In the end, it's a matter of view-point. We can choose the easy (and very shallow) criticism of our defense and our players, or we can choose to celebrate the positives. Sure we'll pay for our defensive problems one of these days, but my experience tells me that we'll have more rejoicing attacking moments than grief.
Remember the Cyberfish motto: Positive attitude begets good karma :)
Merry Christmas everyone!
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