Martins finds the key to inspiring troops

Since becoming the Olympiacos manager in 2018, Pedro Martins has discovered the methods to getting the best out of his squad, with several players having made vast improvements under this leadership.

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Martins has become a firm fan favourite over the past two seasons. When he signed a contract with Olympiacos in April 2018, the club was in disarray after a dreadful campaign, but he immediately managed to steady the ship and introduce a refreshing calmness to the Piraeus-based organisation. While he is yet to win a trophy with Olympiacos, Martins has earned several plaudits for his achievement of bringing stability, leadership and tactical intelligence to a team which had been in freefall.

Numerous players have excelled with Martins at the helm.

Greek internationals Andreas Bouchalakis, Kostas Tsimikas and Kostas Fortounis in particular have all taken their game to the next level with Martins in charge, especially the latter two. At the start of the calendar year, Fortounis did get involved in a conflict with Martins after being left on the bench, but he has consistently shown why he is considered Greece’s best midfielder since the Portuguese coach arrived. Sadly for Fortounis, after a stunning 2018/2019 campaign, he received a serious knee injury last summer and only returned to action midway through the season.

Tsimikas, 23, is rapidly earning a fantastic reputation with his performances for the Erythrolefki. In the current season, the attack-minded full-back registered seven assists across all competitions, with Martins having selected him ahead of Leonardo Koutris on the left side of defence when the campaign began. Media reports have confirmed that a host of big European clubs, including Napoli and Internazionale, are all preparing to make big bids for Tsimikas when the transfer window eventually begins. 

It’s not just Greeks who have flourished with Martins in charge. Plenty of Olympiacos’ foreigners, namely Jose Sa, Ruben Semedo, Omar Elabdellaoui, Guilherme, Mathieu Valbuena, Mohamed Camara, Ahmed Hassan and Youssef El Arabi, have consistently displayed their best qualities with Martins having given them a perfect platform on which to perform. Daniel Podence, a winter departure, had shone for Olympiacos too before he was snapped up by the Wolverhampton Wanderers in January.

By striking up a competent working relationship with Semedo, Martins has allowed the commanding Portuguese centre-back to get his career back on track, with the 26-year-old having fallen completely off the rails during a troubled spell in Spain. Before he moved to Olympiacos in 2018, Guilherme seemed to be stalling at Deportivo, but the Brazilian has since transformed into maybe the best defensive midfielder in Greece. While he’s struggled at Braga, Hassan has been in great scoring form with Olympiacos over the course of his two loan spells in Piraeus, and El Arabi is simply the most potent striker in Greece. 

At the age of 33, you would expect El Arabi’s best playing days to lay in the past, but the Moroccan has experienced a renaissance having quickly earned Martins’ trust. El Arabi is the leading scorer of the domestic championship with 17 goals on the board.

Olympiacos supremo, Evangelos Marinakis, is desperate for Martins to stay. Luckily for the management, Martins is keen on remaining too, and all that remains is for the manager to formally extend the contract which is due to run out in June. The manner in which Martins connects with his players, helping them use their potential to the full in the process, bodes well for the future as Olympiacos aim to rule in Greece once again. 

Image Source: sportime.gr

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