Olympiacos began 2022 with an unexpected loss of points in Rizoupoli. Martins’ team has a security difference from the rest and the mistake didn’t hurt. But the fact is that the Copa Africa in Portugal is causing additional headaches. It doesn’t matter that not all of them are fundamental, since at this time when the Omicron mutation can cause serious absences at any time, losing 5 players at the same time is not easy.

Agibu is a grave loss

Lopez, Rodrεςguez and Oniekuru may not have made a difference, but they seriously reduce the options at the end of the attack. The customer is also another solution on the axis. The worst loss, however, is agibu.

The 20-year-old Guinea midfielder came calmly over the summer and was Olympiacos’ best summer transfer.

He has already scored four goals and distributed the same number of assists in the league. On the one hand, he managed to hide the Fortunis injury and that time began to leave its mark on Valbouena’s body and game.

Olympiakos invested in players on the sidelines over the summer but not getting what they expected from the three transfers he made there. As a result, he is unable to change his philosophy and cannot become aggressive by relying on a game of extremes. You need vertical soccer ball to open opposing defenses.

Agibus pressure on the opponent and the fast vertical game with or without the ball between the lines are valuable elements that have brought him victories

He didn’t find the key

If we look at how Olympiacos won the last away game in the league with Atromitos, we can understand that the big problem in Rizoupoli was caused by Agibu’s absence. Of course, Martins’ team also have the players to win these games with failures, but in practice he could not find the key to opening the Apollo defense because there were no right decisions on the field. Key to an open, organized defense. The absence of Agibu made it difficult for Olympiacos to play between the lines of Apollo.

Martin’s decisions were not made at halftime

Martins against an opponent who had been without play for 31 days, contracted the corona virus, without psychology and with limited skills, landed on three central midfielders. Verhulst was on a good day, had two good interventions in the first half and was zero.

During the break, Martins realized that it was too much to play against the opposing drum with three clear central midfielders and switched his system to 4-4-2. A decision that hasn’t been made, as has the choice to replace Kamaras and Masoura.

Distances between the midfielders and the attacking duo

Olympiakos’ biggest problem was that there were suddenly gaps between its lines. Martins eliminated Kamaras to keep the duo Bouhalaki – Embila on the field, which had a better transfer. But in practice this decision widened the gap between midfield and offensive line. Olympiacos needed big passes. The difference in quality between the two teams is enormous and yet Valbuena came from a cross that gave El Arabi the chance to score half a goal, who missed it.

Overall, however, there was a problem in creating a clear chance as it was difficult to get players from the defensive chain into the opposing area.

El Arabi on a bad day

El Arabi – Tikinio had a bad day. The Moroccan in particular, when Olympiakos played with two strikers, was the one who walked out of the box and never managed to hold the ball and act as a link.

The extreme attackers could not go to individual actions and pass the ball properly from the ends. Brusai had a full game of contacts, but he was bad at the final decision. On the right, Karbovnik played the position conservatively, which was a problem for the game data. In practice, only Reapchuk, who was the main source of danger, offered the right aggression and promotions.

An image had emerged that made Kamaras’ departure appear wrong and the decision to leave the – always dangerous – field of the Masouras was rash.

Simply because Olympiacos were trying to get someone into the box with the ball and the options were Bouhalakis – Embila. Bouchalakis tried many times and it seemed like the weakness he has is going straight into the box with the ball. This game doesn’t suit him.

He was looking for a happy ending

The result was a match in which Apollo played massively defensively and kept his lines balanced without having a problem every time the ball landed on one of the two opposing strikers outside of his range, mostly in El Arabi and no additional player in a . accepts game flow in his area.

He let Olympiakos spin the ball safely out of the box, pay attention and look for a lucky strike, mainly taking advantage of the fact that the whole team was at one point in the opposing half.

El Arabi has to take over and be created by Valbouena

Verhulst was on a good day, El Arabi was on a bad day and that never happened. The problem is not the two lost points in Rizoupoli, but that the 5 absences due to the Copa America are numerous and also those of Agibu are important. Martins has to find a way to cover them and it goes without saying that El Arabi has to take the lead at this point and Valbouena offers serious help on the creative part.

At the feet of the experienced Frenchman, he waited for the final, which would bring the winning goal in the second half. She came out, but El Arabi wasn’t having a good day and threw a chance that rarely scores.