“Mandalos or Gevtic” for the first time seriously in the discussion about AEK

The manner in which Darko Gevtic has been conducted in his presence at AEK so far raises a lot of debate.The Swiss midfielder, who has been a key player at Lech Poznan for many years with his outstanding figures in his Polish career (33 goals and 32 assists in 155 games), then had a satisfactory presence at Rubin Kazan (41 games, 5 goals). , 4 assists) and worries about his career path in the Union as he lives in Petros Mandalos’ shadow.

When it was acquired on loan last summer, everyone believed that such access would be a serious reason for intense competition with the team boss. Something that happened during Vladan Milojevic’s days on the Union bench in two games, while Argyris Giannikis trusted him even less despite using him as a key player on his debut as AEK coach. A muscle injury suffered by Gevtic also contributed to this.

In the process, the Swiss learned to live on the bench, take short stints in the league, loss and match – he played from the 19th minute in six games – and wait for the cup ties with Kifissia to show up. Until the match with PAOK in Toumba for the same event came to give him a regular opportunity again. Impressed by Mandalos’ image and mistakes against Panetolikos, Giannikis gave Gevtic a simple shirt in the Thessaloniki game. The Swiss did well.

Management, pace and decision

But even that presence wasn’t enough to secure Gevtic a key position for the second year in a row. The coach preferred Mandalos in Peristeri, a choice that didn’t justify him as the Union captain made a poor game, with many false transfers in the last third of the field, at key moments that “smelt” of a scoring opportunity. He dropped out of the race because of annoyance.

According to an approach favorable to Gevtic, the unfairness of this decision to remain on the bench after his good presence in Toumba was related to the cup rematch against PAOK. Perhaps, based on the measurements, the coach figured that the Swiss midfielder shouldn’t be burdened with much more time in league play to be ‘fresh’ in the second quarterfinals. But is that so? We won’t know as the game has been postponed.

The opponent says his participation since the game started last Sunday would help him find an even better rhythm as he is a footballer who misses games. That’s why there are voices claiming that Giannikis would hardly let Mandalos out of the starting XI in tomorrow’s game if he were available. We won’t know either…

In any case, for the first time in the season, the question “Gevtic or Mandalos” seems to have a real basis and with it the difficulty of the coach to make the decisive decision under the weight of a very difficult game. Not to mention the pivotal season for AEK, which is being postponed, unknown for when. Until then, “Mandalos or Gevtic” is on our minds ahead of Sunday’s game against Volos in OAKA.