Panathinaikos “calmed down” at a very crucial moment of the tournament Blog – Vassilis Samprakos

Vassilis Samprakos gives an explanation for Panathinaikos’ best performance, in terms of quantity and quality, on the eve of the derby match with Olympiacos.

The fact that he made the most (31) final attempts and reached the highest value (3.9) of the indicator that measures the quality of chances he created (xGoals) itself proves the comment made against Volos. Last Saturday, Panathinaikos gave his match. The most offensively satisfying game in Superleague ’23. The spectators of the match, especially those who were in the stands of Leoforos, do not need the statistical display to make sure of what they saw and applaud, because especially in the first 25 minutes of the match, Panathinaikos provided them with attack and chances. . His performance in this period of the match was measured by the number and quality of chances, about three times his usual performance in the first 30 minutes of the match.

Obviously it is football and one has to look at what the opponent is doing. And Saturday’s opponent was not well prepared mentally and spiritually, while it took a lot of work from Costa Pratso to change the positions of the players and make Volos more effective in the defensive phase. But the fact remains: against a good team with a good mentality, Panathinaikos kept the ball at their feet 70%, with an accuracy of 90% in transfers, and won defensive duels, with an efficiency of 83%. His greatest player in 2023. How did this happen, with the same footballers and the same methods of development?

If anyone had paid attention to the footballers’ public speeches after the victory over Ares, it should have happened last Saturday. As if repeating the same syllable, the footballers spoke of their need to “be calm with the ball” and thus improve their contact with the ball, but also to make quieter and therefore better decisions with the ball in order to benefit from collective tactical actions. . This is basically what happened to Panathinaikos. Just in time for the tournament and the conclusion of their title bid, Panathinaikos managed to calm down thanks to an away win over Aris.

Thanks to this composure and confidence, a number of football players have been better than in previous matches. Corbelis, Palacios, Juancar, Ruben made better choices. And while Panathinaikos had, to a certain extent, the same attitude both in the attacking phase and in the defensive phase, and followed the same standards of offensive development, this time they did everything better.

In football, there is no single explanation for everything. So one has to look at the opponent and his process on the one hand, and on the other hand any tactical adjustments and their impact on the game. For example, the way Mancini operates as a left winger makes better use of Juancar’s promotion, giving the Spaniard the opportunity to make – in this game – the most attacking action and the most passes into the opposition area that he has done in 2023. But in the big picture, he was The noticeable difference between Panathinaikos on Saturday and the previous matches, in the 50 minutes of the 11v11 match, is the calmness and confidence of Ivan Jovanovic’s players. It seemed that they put all their energy and played with great strength and determination in the first 30 minutes, and all this happened because this time Panathinaikos was more ready, emotionally, to implement the match plan prepared by the coach.

The comment that the scenario of this match for Panathinaikos was the best that his coach could write on the eve of the away derby match with Olympiacos does not need much documentation. Because the score 2-0 in 70 and the player more than 50 minutes allowed Panathinaikos to breathe very early in the match and finish it by keeping strong. It remains to be seen in the upcoming matches whether what he showed last Saturday is a good exception or if it is the new norm in Panathinaikos’ performance.