Kostas Fortounis, the artist who wears football boots

It was 0-2 to Olympiacos in Tripoli, the same scoreline with which the red and white left Heraklion two weeks earlier, but the manner of escape was very different.

In Crete, the Martinez team… gave a show with an excellent performance and several leads, in the capital Arcadia they appeared lazy, without rhythm and ideas for half the time, the first… the violins were enlisted in order to have a happy ending.”

As the Piraeus coach admitted, his team got this image due to insufficient preparation. Returned from London at 6am on Friday, the group had enough time to do one training session and this was recovery.

He is not wrong, this is the big picture, but there are some individual issues, which need comment.

Who lets an opportunity go to waste?

Olympiacos has a “complete” roster, with players who cost a lot in the football market and must meet the requirements.

Against Asteras, Bale, Scarpa and Solbakken wore the home jersey in order to give Fortuny, Podence and Maswara a break. The Spaniard was unable to get into the game, was barely felt by the home defense, received a low mark in the build-up, and had one pass in good conditions.

Because everything plays a role, we are talking about a player who cost 6 million and was the best player in the Danish league. Solbakken played in his position and not as a full-back as we saw against PAOK, and he did not excel either, as if he lacked spark and intensity.

Scarpa was more active, you could see that in the match, but he couldn’t deliver what the role required. Peak? The Reds and Whites allowed half the match to pass without demanding it, as circumstances required.

For the hard there is Fortunes

As happens in these cases, and at the risk of losing points, Martinez brought on from the bench those who had carried the weight so far, those who had done the job for him, first Podensi and then Masouras and Fortones.

The difference was immediately apparent, the tempo changed, the ball rolled at a different speed, transitions became quick, and Asteras gathered in the defensive third. Fortounis needed only 6 minutes of his entrance to excite Theodoros Kolokotronis, who was full of Olympiacos friends.

With this aerial style, though… I don’t see anyone, he maneuvers, gets away from the markers, creates space to execute, and with a bit of luck he scores.

There was no one else on the field who could do something similar, he was the only one, overall he was one of a kind, he was…an artist wearing football boots. There aren’t many such players in Greek football, and Konstantelias has the qualities to excel.

The need to expand the list of heroes

For Olympiacos to win the title, they must not expect everything from Fortounis, others must enter… the equation.

In the first part of the season, this was happening and of course it had a positive impact on the results, and recently it has started to decrease. A championship team needs multiple champions, depending on the moments, depending on the circumstances, to step forward, to take responsibility, to respond.

Of course there is accumulated fatigue and there may be stress, but the competition is great and as the season goes on it will increase, and as we get closer to the end, everyone will do their best. Some will look to the January transfer window for therapeutic moves.

Logically we will see, officially nothing can be said, but do not forget, a team that was built almost from scratch, and cannot have many changes again. Few and targeted. The first request at this time for Olympiacos is to improve the current squad.

Watch Game Night on Sunday, as Pantelis Vlashopoulos, along with Pantelis Diamantopoulos and Themis Kesaris, break down the Big-4’s impressive games in the Stoiximan Super League.