Lambros Balafas writes about Olympiakos’ game with PAOK and Mendiliber’s match against Lucescus, which led to the victory of the red and whites.
Social media play such an active role in our lives, of course in football as well. There trends are recorded, athletes and coaches are “judged” there, freedom often becomes indecency, everyone can write with amazing comfort what comes to their head and of course if they do it in a… catchy way, form an opinion.
On the eve of the Olympiacos – PAOK derby, the squad announced by Medlibar did not include the names of Fortouni, Karmo, Rodinei. Immediately the “experts” got to work. “Vaskos gives the championship as a gift” was briefly… the epitome of the criticism of the Piraeus coach’s choices.
Of course, without any argument, without a trace of knowledge about the condition of the players, their physical fatigue, the measurements, the possibility of injury and so much else that is based on scientific data.
And if that was the first…shock, an even bigger one came on Sunday night, when the Olympiakos line-up for the derby with PAOK was announced. 8 out of 11 different ones were thrown into the battle by the… atheophobic Medilibar, he kept only 3 of those who had started as key players in the Istanbul triumph, one of them the goalkeeper!
Essentially he changed the whole team, put in the “seconds” as we say, but he did it with faith in his choice, with absolute trust in his players.
At the same time Lucescu changed only 3 of those who were excluded on Thursday from Brugge, in theory he went to a more certain option. The result solemnly vindicated the coach of Olympiakos. He presented a team that played at a speed above that of PAOK. Players who had a huge drive to prove things and who did almost everything right on the pitch. The Spanish coaches have rotation in their philosophy, they do it consciously, they believe in… fresh legs, a clear mind.
Complete red-white dominance
The Mendiliber decision decided the “Karayskakis” derby, the pressure exerted by his players short-circuited the “two-headed man of the north” made him harmless offensively, spoiled his good circulation of the ball, forced him into mistakes, the quick recoveries of the ball became… custom.
Navarro had threatened twice, he was “hitting” with his speed at the… back of the PAOK defense, the third time he won a penalty from Koulierakis, who was not on his night. Immediately after, the young stopper made another mistake, in the execution of Podense and after Kotarski’s save, he was slow to react and Kinney scored. He didn’t suddenly become a bad defender, he’s a top-level stopper and is constantly increasing his market value, but I have the feeling that he hasn’t had time to calm down from what happened against Brugge, to clear his mind.
At the same time, the Basque coach of Olympiakos showed an Abey who shows excellent characteristics, fast, strong, jumping, with a good reading of the phases, he “connected” perfectly with the very stable in yesterday’s match, Retso.
He trusted from the start… juggler Gelson Martins who is a footballer with great quality but lacks game pace. He gave a new opportunity to Richards, who is constantly rising, “filled” the shaft with the imposing Ibora, who, together with the tireless Chikinio and the cerebral Horta, raised a wall, annihilated PAOK’s big…weapon, the quick transition from the defense on offense, they do it better than any other team in the league.
It was a derby decided by tactics, not by the inspiration of personalities or luck and that was 100% down to Mendiliber, he won the game by Lucescu. Many times you need to be bold, fear, hesitation, prevent you from finding your limits.
And now what; Did Olympiacos suddenly become the main contender for the title and PAOK an outsider? No one can speak for sure. The upheavals are constant and the schedule exhausting. It’s just that the red and whites won the right to go to “Vikelidis” on Wednesday, with rested Fortouni, Rodiney, Carmo, Ortega, El Kaabi and Ese, you’re not saying a little, while PAOK should freshen up its lineup more in Lamia.
