In the most critical turn of the playoffs, Panathinaikos ran out of rubber. It was leveled by AEK without putting up any substantial resistance. Within one night the expectations that had been created by the presence of Fatih Terim on the bench were canceled. It’s not just that the Union played roughly as it did last year at this time. It is mainly that on the part of the greens no specific plan was found to take the match. Almeida studied the opponent and left little room for Ioannidis and Bakaseta to take initiatives. Jonsson and Simanski blocked the path of the National captain, not allowing him to take the ball in front of Athanasiadis and feed Ioannidis or threaten himself with a shot from outside the area. On the other hand, Cullens stuck on the center forward of Panathinaikos keeping him away from the big area.
From Terim’s side, we did not find anything concrete. Let’s accept that the Turkish coach is an expert in stimulating the psychology of his players and optimizing their performance. But you need a study of the opponent and a plan to dominate the match and win it. It would be unfair not to point out the decisive absence of Bernard who cut the offensive repertoire of Panathinaikos, but still something should have been seen beyond a misplaced shot by Palasios and a twisted header by Ioannidis. Nor is it serious coaching to play in the first half with two classic wingers and in the second half with none. It is easy now to place all the burdens of the looming failure on Terim’s shoulders but it is not so.
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They brought him in hastily because they thought he was the magic solution to get the championship. They sacked the conservative and pragmatic Jovanovic because they felt he has a ceiling and cannot lead the team to the top. If Panathinaikos played better football with Terim and the players he brought than with his Serbian predecessor, we would be discussing it. But he didn’t play. And if Terim was right to have Bernard play further inside instead of on the line, how right is he to introduce Akaidin and remove captain Sengefeld? Panathinaikos needs a redesign in order to get back in contention for the championship. The defeat by AEK is instructive.
It seemed that there is a way to go for the team to get from what communication crowns to win the championship to the competitive conditions to win it. A team with a management that backstabs and changes alliances from season to season which he even joins as a follower, disappoints the fans and does not inspire confidence. And because disappointment lurks in such cases if no regrouping is done then Ares (now allied with the powerful) can find the opportunity and take the cup. And Panathinaikos, as it is now, can end up fourth instead of first and out of Europe…
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