AEK finally finding their feet again
AEK finished 2018 in rotten fashion, but since drawing 1:1 against AO Chania Kissamikos in the first match of 2019, the reigning Greek champions have dramatically woken up from their slumber.
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Overall, 2018 was one of the standout years in AEK’s recent history, however it ended horribly. The UEFA Champions League dream rapidly turned into a nightmare, the defence of the Super League title was non-existent, and three key players were ostracized from the team. Criticism for head coach Marinos Ouzounidis was growing, but to his credit, the 50-year-old manager kept toiling and things are slowly starting to slot into place again.
Firstly, the return of Anastasios Bakasetas has lifted the mood within the team. When he was removed from the team after contract renewal issues, Bakasetas’ future at AEK looked bleak, but he later ironed out his differences with owner Dimitris Melissanidis and penned a deal to remain at the Kitrinomavri until 2022. Bakasetas, one of the most passionate and determined players in this AEK team, has helped his teammates regain their confidence, and there were also rumours that midfielder Andre Simoes is thinking about extending his AEK contract too.
In early January, AEK were dreadfully poor in a lacklustre 1:1 draw at AO Chania Kissamikos in the first leg of the Greek Cup Last 16, but that match seemed to galvanise the players. In the next game with PAS Giannina, the Enosis were fantastic in the first half, scoring four unanswered goals against a team which usually makes life difficult for the Super League’s best at home. The players took the initiative, weren’t afraid to play all-out attack, and the finishing (especially from talented Argentinian striker Ezequiel Ponce) was on point. AEK then followed that up with a confident 3:0 beating of Asteras Tripolis and a large 5:0 win against Kissamikos in the return leg of the Greek Cup tie.
The trick has been the change of formation. All of a sudden, Ouzounidis has gone with a 3-5-2 system, pushing full-backs Niklas Hult and Rodrigo Galo further forward while Michalis Bakakis, Dmytro Chygrynskiy and Marios Oikonomou protect the defence. In the centre of midfield, Alef has done a solid job of keeping the play flowing, Petros Mantalos and Bakasetas understand each other well, and in the attacking third, Marko Livaja is once again leading the team with good performances and important goals. Finally, Ouzounidis seems to have understood how to get the best out of his players, with the team trusting in his ideology. The transfer of Serbian midfielder Nenad Krsticic, who has displayed some silky touches in his first few games with the Athenians, could turn out to be a fantastic bit of business.
Nevertheless, despite these positive signs, the mettle of Ouzounidis and AEK will only really be tested in February. AEK will play PAOK and Olympiacos in quick succession, before the Kitrinomavri then take on Aris and Panathinaikos in early March. Only six points behind Olympiacos in second place, AEK still harbour faint hope of qualifying for the Champions League, but if they are to keep those ambitions alive, their record in the big games has to take a sharp improvement. The potential is there.
