Big DERBY - PAO v Olympiakos

[paoktzi]

Olympiakos always start slow finish well then sack coach in off season and start again been the way for the last 5 years

[trifili]

Classic comment Blaze "Personally I think it's better to sit out of Europe at the moment and focus on putting together a squad which is good but will also improve over time." I haven't stopped laughing yet. That was like my cousin in Greece a few years ago who follows Olympiakos saying 'we don't care if PAO plays in Europe so long as Olympiakos keeps winning the competition in Greece'. Every teams wants to play Champions League no matter how strong or weak they are.

On your rational, if Greece has a weak team you would prefer not to see them play in the World Cup and wait to build up a good team and then go the the World Cup?

[Blaze]

Olympiakos is a team that has been consistently qualifying for champions league in their history, there is no doubt that we'll play. In the answer to your question, yes, I would rather not play champions league for one season if it means we go through the group stage.

PAO on the other hand qualified and they have gotten shit on by russian and danish teams....like seriously.

I agree the money would have been good but Olympiakos needs a wake up call, not money.

[trifili]

I think it is a shame for Greek football that its biggest team did not even qualify for the Europa League. Olympiakos has a history of not qualifying for European competitions when it has actually had to play in qualifying rounds to get into the main draw. Your theory about preferring not to play Champions League so you can re-build is also a put-off to decent players who want guaranteed Champions League participation. And having a good team does not guarantee getting through the group stage. As a supporter you should know that. You had some very good teams during the Bajevic era with Rivaldo, Giovanni, Djordevic, etc and only got through the group stage a couple of times. I respect that this is your opinion but I am sure if you ask any supporter of any team they would prefer to play Champions League no matter how strong their team is rather than not play and try to build a team for the following year.

In regards to PAO, very disappointing this year. We seem to either have a good run by getting through to semi-finals, quarter finals or barely win a game in our group. Looks like we will be lucky to win a game this year. I would be surprised to even get a draw against Barca at home while a draw away to FC København will be a good result. And if you ask me would I prefer to sit out Europe and re-build, then I would always take playing in Europe. It brings in money and players.

[anothermp]

agreed. Olympiakos getting knocked out wasnt just a shame it was an embarrassment. no point winning the league by 10 points if theres nothing else, why shouldnt we have a team strong enough to compete on a continental level?

and we were unlucky once i suppose, first ever team to win 10 points in the group stage and not qualify for the knockout stages in champions league, tho having said that we we're 1-0 up at half time at anfield and we copped the boutsa 3 goals in the 2nd half to send us packing

for me its a pride issue too, why cant greek clubs do anything of merit in europe? something where the xenoi can say 'hey yknow what these greek teams are actually alright look they beat x and drew with y their league must be pretty strong'

[trifili]

Agreed anothermp. Unfortunately, that is the standard of Greek football. Olympiakos had their opportunity against Juventus when they were up 1-0 at home in the second leg and Juventus equalised in the last 5 minutes. I think that was a quarter final so they could have easily made the semi's that year and would have played Man Utd I think as it was 1999 when Man Utd beat Bayern in the final. A friend of mine who is a one-eyed Limani supporter still tells me they were 5 minutes away from making the final that year.

Given the way the Champions League is now run, by having groups, the top seed in each group is basically guaranteed to get through given that they will be playing at least 2 relatively weak teams and even if they slip up in a game, their quality will generally get them through in the end and they have other games to make up for any bad result. When it was run on a knockout basis, you could be lucky and get some easy teams or even if you had a big team you could play above yourself for that game and get through.

Although you should always strive to win anything you participate in, supporters must also be realistic. If a Greek team is able to get out their group they have done well. If they make the quarter finals, they have done very well and anything beyond that is fantastic. When you start getting to quarter finals, that is the best 8 teams in Europe. Given the money that the top 3 or 4 teams spend in the leagues of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and the top couple in Holland, France, Russia, it is very hard for Greek teams to compete against them. But every now and then they do produce a good side such as I noted above when Olympiakos made the quarter finals and when PAO has made a couple of semis and quarter finals.

[Blaze]

Unfortunately that is the problem with football now days, the size of the cheque book dictates the strength of the squad. Back in the day when you could only have 2 foreign players playing for a club the champions league was far more competitive and it was down to the development systems of the clubs to produce squads, not money. Over the years though, football has been privatised and instead of playing for the sake of the game and the club, or representing a specific demographic/geographic category of fans, the game is played to turn a profit.

This is why the phrase "FK modern football" has come about.

When PAO made the final against Ajax amsterdam it was a PAO team full of Greek talent, not a team of foreigners looking to make their bread in Greece.

[trifili]

Agree with you Blaze. The only time you now get real passion for a club jersey is if the player's father also payed for the club and the son grew up in that environment and he wants to emulate his father or he is a local junior. The rest are happy to go to any club that pays them enough money which is fair enough given that people work for however pays them the most.

[paoktzi]

Kostas Manolas - AEK

[paoktzi]

[thrylosg7]

Olympiakos 37 Championships

Vazelakia , Hanoumakia , Skoulikia , Voulgaroi - and little old Larissa

37 Championships combined

Enough said -

Oh and for the Hanoumakia in here an interesting statistic -
Djordjevic has won 12 Championships with Olympiakos - The Hanoumakia as a club have won a total of 11 - well done be proud ;D

[paoktzi]

did you guys get knocked out of europe to a small isreali side?

[mini]

Get us stats on penalties u mouni

[denpaokala]

there is only one team in GREECE and that is THRYLOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thrylosg7]

sas tzouzi !!!

Firstly Paoktzi worry about overtaking Aris in championships - then come talk with the big boys.

As for you mini mouse - I'll give you a stat - since your so smart tell me when was the last time we were given a penalty against the Lubricators ( I assume you support the Lubricators )