In the same project, spectators at Olympiakos

Olympiacos are not doing well in the competition, their players and Martinez are affected by the heavy defeats against PAOK and Freiburg, but that doesn’t mean they should be deprived of what they deserve on the field.

The Red and Whites are still spectators in the same project, both in terms of their competitive image but also in terms of their treatment by the referee.

Olympiacos’ image was not good

But the arbitration in Volos is one side of the coin. There is another question that concerns Olympiacos’ competitive image, and that wasn’t good for another game. Similar mistakes, similar mentality and a team with no ideas in their game, with a lack of self-confidence, that hasn’t “pulled” lately.

On the first penalty taken by Volos, Rodiney was not drawn into line with the rest of the back three to put Garcia offside. Retsos went up, saw the Argentine on his back, then ran to catch up with him, didn’t position his body correctly and the penalty came.

But was that the first time this season? No, because this has already happened in other games in Europe and in Greece, and especially with individual mistakes by the central and side defenders. However, the lesson did not become a lesson.

And it’s not just the individual mistakes of the footballers, it’s also the general inhibition of Olympiacos. He has been the Red and Whites’ Achilles heel since the start of the season and scores even more, especially in the big games. It’s a question of people, quality and personality, but also poor teamwork.

In Rentis, the Red and Whites don’t seem to have succeeded so well in limiting mistakes and hiding their weaknesses in this area to some extent.

Mistakes are not corrected and that puts a strain on the coach and the players

Olympiacos have no balance between defense and attack and that is costing them dearly. Because it costs him the fact that his players are slow and now come into the games every half time, and that is a question of mentality.

The Red and Whites recovered from the heavy defeat in Germany, from the discussions among themselves and the self-criticism in Rentis, but Volos was the one who took the first penalty and until the 35th minute the Piraeus team didn’t have much of a chance on Kostic’s goal.

In the second half, Volos scored a second goal early on, at the moment when the Olympiacos players should have stepped in – after the 1-1 score in the first 45 minutes and the fact that the hosts also had one player less – more determined and persistent to score and get the three points.

So you see that some things are repeated and not corrected, and that puts a strain on both the coach and the players, who are not without responsibility.

The red and whites are waiting for important decisions and all this at the moment when Masouras and El Kaabi celebrated together with Martinez by going to the bench after the goals they scored in Volos but were ruled out for offside.

Let Papapetrou see them on the monitor

Let’s move on to the arbitration decisions. In the 59th minute after Ibora’s header, the ball hit the outstretched hand of Moraitis and in what was a penalty, and there have been many of those in the league in the last four years.

The referee Papapetrou showed a corner, while Gortsilas (VAR), who had every consolation of seeing the phase again, did not call him to check on the on-field monitor.

Also, in the 81st minute, a Volos player held Ibora by the shoulder and right hand, preventing him from reaching the ball, which knocked him to the ground, but for Papapetrou and Gortsila this was not considered a penalty.

The latter didn’t bother to call the former in review, just as he hadn’t bothered to call him midway through the first half (22nd) when Sielis pushed El Kaabi back in the penalty area.

Let Papapetrou see these on the monitor and decide, as he did with the first two penalties he gave in the first half against Volos and Olympiakos.

If a team does not perform well, it does not automatically mean that the penalty should not be given when it is taken. Even with Biancone’s penalty in the first half, Gortsila and Papapetrou were challenged for five minutes when the Frenchman was apparently elbowed by Glavcic and then fell on top of him and goalkeeper Kostic while the ball was elsewhere.