An up and down first half for AEK

AGONAsport’s AEK contributor, Greg Gavalas, talks about the Enosis’ ‘up and down’ first half of the season and the improvement needed in the upcoming fixtures in 2020.

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It has not been a great first part of the 2019/20 season for the 2018 Champions who find themselves in a similar suit as last season – well out of title contention by the Christmas break.

Many fans have never understood why AEK keep sending 2018 winning coach Manolo Jimenez away (most recently this past summer). As such, AEK put their backing in Portuguese manager, Miguel Cardoso, at the start of the season, a move headed by then technical director, Nikos Lymberopoulos.

Just looking at Cardoso’s CV had fans worried about AEK’s choice. Weak opposition in the pre-season meant it was hard to paint a real picture on the team, and new loanees, David Simao and Chico Geraldes, seemed to be adapting well in Athens.

One point of encouragement was the purchase of former Portuguese international Nelson Oliviera. The former Norwich City striker came with much promise and has found the net a few times for the club since joining this summer. 

There were lots of rumours and movement in the pre-season for Italian winger Daniele Verde. Like Oliveria, the journeyman was purchased and was a welcoming addition, given the number of loanees the club relied on at times.

Sadly, the reality under Cardoso was so poor that after four official games - especially in his last game, a home loss to Xanthi - Dimitris Melissanidis had seen enough and had no option but to terminate a dumbfounded Cardoso.

Following the exit door along with the Portuguese coach was Nikos Lymberopoulos, who stood down from his position at AEK. Since then, Geraldes never wore the AEK jersey again and is now due to return to Sporting Lisbon in January, along with Simao, who is expected to be released.

AEK had to get a new coach and quick, and Nikos Kostenoglou sat in the hot seat. He had a hard task of getting a team that played horrible football and had a poor moral back on track. The Greek coach nearly produced a miracle when AEK traveled to Turkey for their Europa League second-leg clash against Trabzonspor, after a terrible 3-1 loss in Athens. AEK produced an excellent performance in Trabzon and won 2-0, just one goal away from what would have been enough to advance to the group stages. Unfortunately, the damage was done at the Olympic stadium under the guidance of Cardoso.

AEK would go on to play some decent football with Kostenoglou in charge, and the wins were coming in. When PAOK visited Athens, though, and the two teams played out a 2-2 draw, it was the first warning sign of what was to come. While the draw was not a bad result against the reigning, undefeated champions, it was more so the fact that PAOK were the team that looked more likely to win. AEK have not won a derby since their championship-winning season, and these matches against the league’s strongest teams are becoming a burden.

AEK would go on to win the other upcoming games, but as it stands, AEK have not been able to beat any of the top seven teams this season. It makes you wonder about the quality of the squad, and many are quick to point out that AEK need better players.

While I have not been impressed with Oliveira, he has eight goals this season and is fighting for the league’s top scorer honours. He is not a player to worry about in 2020.

Petros Mantalos has done his part with good, consistent form and is my pick for player of the season with six assists and five goals thus far.

In terms of scoring, the only other player of note is Marko Livaja. The Croatian has four goals and started the season well, playing a pivotal role in many of AEK’s goals. His form toward the latter parts of 2019 has not been as convincing, and that is where the problem starts with AEK. 

Most of the midfield has been in and out. Players like Verde, Christos Albanis, and Milos Deletic have seen a mix of substitute appearances and the occasional start. Deletic, the lesser of the three, could be on his way out on loan as early as January after struggling to make an impact.

The midfield of Kostas Galanopoulos, Andre Simoes, and Nenad Kristisic has also been inconsistent, with the Greek International being the best of the lot. Kristisic showed good signs as the break neared, and Simoes has been disappointing in both defence and attack and needs to improve.

In recent times, AEK’s defence has been ordinary with Ognjen Vranjes, perhaps being the biggest disappointment after returning to the club on loan from Anderlecht. The Bosnian international is a shadow of the defender that lifted the Super League title two years ago. Its been an average season for both Marios Oikonomou and injury-prone Dmytro Chygrynski, but have had hard times in the derby games against better opposition. Thankfully new technical director, Ilia Ivic, is on the hunt for a new defender.

After the poor results against the better half of the league, AEK dropped Kostenoglou and brought in Italian coach Massimo Carrera.

The former Juventus defender has won titles in Russia with Spartak Moscow and has a decent record overall. His first match, away to Xanthi, resulted in a hard, but dominate 1-0 road win for AEK. That performance was impressive, but performances since then, have been lacking. His selections were out of the ordinary, playing out of form wing-backs while players like Verde and Albanis sat on the bench.

An important second half of the season for AEK awaits. The football needs to improve, especially with the playoffs on deck once the second-round finishes as AEK will be up against the teams they have failed to beat this season.

With the regular season only at the half-way point, Carrera will need to work hard with the squad to turn things around and also search for that much-needed derby win.

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