(Again) analyzed: PAOK’s 100%, Fortune’s saying and the truth of the numbers

In these cases, you check the reflexes first. The instinctive reaction of the public in the stands. The way the “group” comes off the field fighting for the last ball. The first statements. The club’s immediate attempt to “manage” the situation. All on the same page. All indications are that the Olympiacos organization is not willing to tear down overnight what it patiently builds in these four or five months of restart. Even on the same night that he found him losing 0-4 to PAOK at “Karaiskakis”…

It can happen to everyone. The reaction varies. Because “it’s easy to fall, it’s hard to get up.” And if there is one good thing to come out of the adventure that the Red and Whites landed on Sunday night, it is that composure. Reflection, explanation of the result, self-criticism are required.

The ultimate analysis of Olympiacos – PAOK

However, Olympiacos will lose every day to PAOK if they do not come out of this defeat an hour earlier. And the only thing that is certain is that he has no time for tears… On Thursday, 3,500 thousand of his friends are waiting to see him in London against West Ham. On Sunday in Tripoli, Asteras sets up one of the most powerful “blocks” in the province.

Chess… predictable

Was PAOK better on Sunday in Faliro? Obviously. Better at taking advantage of the circumstances this matchup gave him. He had a plan, he followed it, he took it from most. He looked ready to respond to the competitive scenario that arose on the night. Competitively but also mentally. And the norms of modern football are specific. The importance of the first goal. The risks that follow it. The resulting spaces. A game of chess with predetermined moves.

The two… Pontense

By the 38th minute the two teams were tied at 0-0 on the one hand because one neutralized the other before the ball reached the final third of the field, on the other hand because in a major exception to this rule, Dominik Kotarski made a cover save in… cv. He stopped Daniel Pontense from half a meter (23′). Does anyone doubt that if the Portuguese had sent the ball into the net we would be talking about another game today? Fifteen minutes later, PAOK’s Pontense, Andrija Zivkovic was not gifted either to the careless Jackson Porozo who gave him two steps space for the execution, nor to Alexandros Paschalakis who obviously bears his own share of responsibility for this “cheap” goal.

Cash

It was just PAOK’s first final at home. The one that created the conditions for this historic result for Razvan Lucescu’s team. The second; Brandon Thomas’ penalty kick (56′) on Poroso’s stupid decision to send him to the “bullet” in a phase where the Spanish striker would at best catch the ball with his back to the goal before crossing the end line. Olympiacos came furiously into the second half to “turn” the situation around. But he was betrayed by a penalty that when it is done in the “children’s” the coach enters the field to explain to the defender that his mistake is inadmissible.

With 4X4

And since the statistic if nothing else offers the story on the plate? Dikefalos had four finals at home. Four goals. 100% accuracy. With 2-0 becoming 4-0 from the “spaces for transition” that now opened up on the grass and the risks of Diego Martinez: Especially that Solbakken instead of Kini at the left end of the defense in the 64th minute was something that the Spanish coach he won’t think about doing it again in training either. A look at the placement of Olympiakos in this goal, when six of their own are where they need to be for PAOK’s three to reach Paschalakis’ net with… trigonometry says it all…

What the numbers (didn’t) say

Olympiacos had a total of six finals at the home of Kotarski, and thirteen executions at the home of PAOK (who finished the match with eleven). He had five more corners (7-2), sixteen more attacks (43-27), twenty-three more “promotion” passes (144-121) and nine more in the final “third” of the field (32-23). He still had 56% possession of the ball and another series of “numbers” that in no way justify the final 2-4. He didn’t lose unfairly. But he paid dearly for almost every mistake he made. Hence that “nothing worked for us, everything for them” remark by Diego Martinez in the finale…

The saying of Fortune

Yesterday, the Spaniard told Rentis more. But he also heard the most experienced members of his roster ask for the obvious: Calmness. “Now we have to react. This is what the big teams do” was, for example, the saying chosen by the “leader” Kostas Fortounis. Will Olympiacos step on his feet? The good thing is that there is a week running with two very important matches capable of changing the conversation. The trouble? That the games send them consecutively to London (9/11) for West Ham and to Tripoli (12/11) for Asteras. But who said the calendar allows choices? And who could negotiate that under the current circumstances…

Distorting table

And one last thing: Based on what has happened on the playing fields even today, Olympiacos is first in the real Super League standings. Be in cohabitation with Panathinaikos at 22 points. This Panathinaikos 25-Olympiakos 21 resulting from the League’s Primary Body (“nullification”, subtraction 1b.) does not tell the truth. On the contrary, it creates an order of things that allows the Greens to enjoy a clear lead at the top… And even if the “racing” has not mentioned the slightest about this case, it does not cease to be a story that disoriented them. But this is something they should put aside. It’s none of their business. And whatever result should be announced (from) tomorrow by the Appellates…