Wild game!
On a half-frozen field it's a miracle that Panathinaikos escaped with the three points and no injuries.
Ferreira fielded a "gutsy" squad, leaving Leto on the bench. I say gutsy because if Panathinaikos had lost the three points the second-guessing would have been intense. In reality, the scheme didn't work and once Leto entered the game in the second half, Panathinaikos was able to move the ball toward Giannena goal with some merit.
It was a good game overall, and Gianina could have won it by a wide margin if it weren't for Karnezis' excellent saves on more tete-a-tetes that I care to count. In the end, a scrappy play and a half-baked Cleyton bicycle kick decided this game. To be fair, even though Giannina ended the game winning ball possession statistics, Panathinaikos had their own missed chances to cry about.
All in all it was an exciting. wild, and frustrating game to watch. Exciting because of all the missed chances and of course because Panathinaikos won in the end, and wild because the frozen terrain made each play unpredictable. It was frustrating too because Panathinaikos continued the streak of games where they can't string enough passes together in midfield to dominate.
It's evident that Panathianikos is going though a period of bad form, and this is probably the best time to have such dip in performance. Most of the next couple of month games are against teams with limited resources, the kinds that Panathinaikos can win even on their bad day. That's how it worked today, and hopefully the team is buying time until they return to playing up to their potential and until some of the key injured players return.
Having watched the last string of games that everyone would agree didn't "click" for Panathinaikos it seems to me that missing players like Boumsong, Lazaro, Roudolf, and Nini has been hurting the team on multiple levels.
Today Panahtinaikos was playing with a totally new defensive line, with only Vintra being present from earlier in the season. The depleted defense has hurt the midfield as well, not only because Katsouranis is now absent from an area where he made a huge difference in the first half of the season, but also because the cohesion has been lost and it's been very difficult to move the ball out of defense with authority and speed.
This movement of the ball with secure passes and speed from defense to offense was the strength of Panathinaikos in the first half of the season, but it's completely absent in the last month or so.
It would have been fair to speak of Ferreira's errors in choosing his players if we didn't win the game, but he made the right moves in the second half, most important of which in my mind was the injection of Marinos in the game. After this move, and the subsequent one to put Leto in solidified midfield and allowed Panathinaikos to move the ball toward Kipouros' goal. Fourlanos wasn't as helpful, but by that time Quincy's game had deteriorated to garbage time, so a tall DM (the ball sailed in the air a fair amount of time due to the frozen pitch) was justified.
The Players
Karnezis 9
Besides a couple bad clearances he was just about perfect. He looked nimble under his goal and was quick to attack the ball on the numerous times he came face to face with opposing players. He did well to keep the clean sheet for the third game, justifying Ferreira's trust in him. This was by far his best game with Panathianikos and I am beginning to feel comfortable with him under out goal.
Vintra 5
He had plenty of problems defending and it wasn't only the frozen terrain that he skated through in the first half.
Bjarsmyr 7
He held his position well in a game where Giannina players found themselves constantly behind our midfield in waves.
Katsouranis 6
I saw him out of position many times, but he could have won this game earlier if his brilliant header weren't deflected by Kipouros by an equally brilliant save.
Ioannidis 6
He played well, but he too found himself constantly exposed against two or three players (especially as long as Quincy was in the game).
Vitolo 5
He had good efforts in the first half, but neither him, nor Simao seemed able to keep Giannina players from moving the ball with ease all the way to the edge of Karnezis' box.
Simao 5
He did a lot of the dirty work in midfield and had good defensive plays when it came to man-v-man plays, but he too seemed lonely among a multitude of blue shirts in midfield.
Cleyton 9
It wasn't just the beautiful goal he scored with the bicycle kick that earned a "9" from me. It was his overall performance that impressed me today. He was the only one that moved the ball forward and had overwhelmingly positive passes to show for.
Quincy 4
It didn't look like he wanted to be out there, and I got the impression that he was more concerned about keeping himself upright on the slippery pitch than winning this game. He did have a couple of excellent shots from the edge of the box that tested the goalkeeper, and gave a few good passes that could had resulted in a score.
Mavrias 3
He played on the right wing and he too had couple of decent efforts away from the opposing goal, but overall his presence wasn't very helpful neither offensively (where he didn't give reason for defenders to worry) nor defensively where he left Vintra all alone most of the time.
Totse 5
For most of the game I found myself wondering if he was even playing, but he did get involved in the plays when the ball reached the box though and he was unlucky not to score today on at least two tete-a-tetes (or some would say "he should have finished better").
Marinos 7
He came in the game in 45 to replace Mavria, and helped a great deal in plugging the hole on the right of our midfield, helping Vintra defensively, and even moving the ball forward really well. It was a smart move by Ferreira, knowing that the game was going to be played on the right wing exclusively (since the entire left side of the pitch was icy and both teams avoided playing on that side).
Leto 6
His presence alone seemed to tilt the balance toward Panathinaikos since Giannina was overly concerned with him. There were over three players chasing him around all the time to keep him away from their box, something that allowed more space for other Panathinaikos players. His freekick delivery was also another positive contributino for Panathinaikos in the last half hour.
Fourlanos
The youngster looked energetic but none of the plays helped him. He fumbled with the ball a lot, and he had a heck of a time keeping himself upright on the ice.
On a half-frozen field it's a miracle that Panathinaikos escaped with the three points and no injuries.
Ferreira fielded a "gutsy" squad, leaving Leto on the bench. I say gutsy because if Panathinaikos had lost the three points the second-guessing would have been intense. In reality, the scheme didn't work and once Leto entered the game in the second half, Panathinaikos was able to move the ball toward Giannena goal with some merit.
It was a good game overall, and Gianina could have won it by a wide margin if it weren't for Karnezis' excellent saves on more tete-a-tetes that I care to count. In the end, a scrappy play and a half-baked Cleyton bicycle kick decided this game. To be fair, even though Giannina ended the game winning ball possession statistics, Panathinaikos had their own missed chances to cry about.
All in all it was an exciting. wild, and frustrating game to watch. Exciting because of all the missed chances and of course because Panathinaikos won in the end, and wild because the frozen terrain made each play unpredictable. It was frustrating too because Panathinaikos continued the streak of games where they can't string enough passes together in midfield to dominate.
It's evident that Panathianikos is going though a period of bad form, and this is probably the best time to have such dip in performance. Most of the next couple of month games are against teams with limited resources, the kinds that Panathinaikos can win even on their bad day. That's how it worked today, and hopefully the team is buying time until they return to playing up to their potential and until some of the key injured players return.
Having watched the last string of games that everyone would agree didn't "click" for Panathinaikos it seems to me that missing players like Boumsong, Lazaro, Roudolf, and Nini has been hurting the team on multiple levels.
Today Panahtinaikos was playing with a totally new defensive line, with only Vintra being present from earlier in the season. The depleted defense has hurt the midfield as well, not only because Katsouranis is now absent from an area where he made a huge difference in the first half of the season, but also because the cohesion has been lost and it's been very difficult to move the ball out of defense with authority and speed.
This movement of the ball with secure passes and speed from defense to offense was the strength of Panathinaikos in the first half of the season, but it's completely absent in the last month or so.
It would have been fair to speak of Ferreira's errors in choosing his players if we didn't win the game, but he made the right moves in the second half, most important of which in my mind was the injection of Marinos in the game. After this move, and the subsequent one to put Leto in solidified midfield and allowed Panathinaikos to move the ball toward Kipouros' goal. Fourlanos wasn't as helpful, but by that time Quincy's game had deteriorated to garbage time, so a tall DM (the ball sailed in the air a fair amount of time due to the frozen pitch) was justified.
The Players
Karnezis 9
Besides a couple bad clearances he was just about perfect. He looked nimble under his goal and was quick to attack the ball on the numerous times he came face to face with opposing players. He did well to keep the clean sheet for the third game, justifying Ferreira's trust in him. This was by far his best game with Panathianikos and I am beginning to feel comfortable with him under out goal.
Vintra 5
He had plenty of problems defending and it wasn't only the frozen terrain that he skated through in the first half.
Bjarsmyr 7
He held his position well in a game where Giannina players found themselves constantly behind our midfield in waves.
Katsouranis 6
I saw him out of position many times, but he could have won this game earlier if his brilliant header weren't deflected by Kipouros by an equally brilliant save.
Ioannidis 6
He played well, but he too found himself constantly exposed against two or three players (especially as long as Quincy was in the game).
Vitolo 5
He had good efforts in the first half, but neither him, nor Simao seemed able to keep Giannina players from moving the ball with ease all the way to the edge of Karnezis' box.
Simao 5
He did a lot of the dirty work in midfield and had good defensive plays when it came to man-v-man plays, but he too seemed lonely among a multitude of blue shirts in midfield.
Cleyton 9
It wasn't just the beautiful goal he scored with the bicycle kick that earned a "9" from me. It was his overall performance that impressed me today. He was the only one that moved the ball forward and had overwhelmingly positive passes to show for.
Quincy 4
It didn't look like he wanted to be out there, and I got the impression that he was more concerned about keeping himself upright on the slippery pitch than winning this game. He did have a couple of excellent shots from the edge of the box that tested the goalkeeper, and gave a few good passes that could had resulted in a score.
Mavrias 3
He played on the right wing and he too had couple of decent efforts away from the opposing goal, but overall his presence wasn't very helpful neither offensively (where he didn't give reason for defenders to worry) nor defensively where he left Vintra all alone most of the time.
Totse 5
For most of the game I found myself wondering if he was even playing, but he did get involved in the plays when the ball reached the box though and he was unlucky not to score today on at least two tete-a-tetes (or some would say "he should have finished better").
Marinos 7
He came in the game in 45 to replace Mavria, and helped a great deal in plugging the hole on the right of our midfield, helping Vintra defensively, and even moving the ball forward really well. It was a smart move by Ferreira, knowing that the game was going to be played on the right wing exclusively (since the entire left side of the pitch was icy and both teams avoided playing on that side).
Leto 6
His presence alone seemed to tilt the balance toward Panathinaikos since Giannina was overly concerned with him. There were over three players chasing him around all the time to keep him away from their box, something that allowed more space for other Panathinaikos players. His freekick delivery was also another positive contributino for Panathinaikos in the last half hour.
Fourlanos
The youngster looked energetic but none of the plays helped him. He fumbled with the ball a lot, and he had a heck of a time keeping himself upright on the ice.
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