Who is Giorgos Petrakis who led Kifissia to the great salons?

It was June 6, 2022 when PAE Kifissia announced the hiring of Giorgos Petrakis. The 35-year-old carried the burden of managing an inexperienced side in Super League 2 (this year was only his second season in it) but that proved no problem at the end of the journey.

Kifissia’s historic rise in the big salons is largely due (also) to his own work, in a year in which he admitted on camera ERT that he himself learned to play championships on an everyday level.

Despite its young age, however, it is not… on the shelves from yesterday. He has already completed a decade as a coach (or rather manager as he is known in the UK) and has shown work and gradual advancements throughout his career.

Lamia’s brief run (in 2020) was the only experience from Super League 1 until a few hours ago, at a time – back then – when he was deciding to make the leap to the big league. Luxembourg (Zenes Es) and Cyprus (Olympiakos Nicosia) follow before the agreement with Kifissia was reached.

The system and the philosophy

For most of this season, Giorgos Petrakis relied on the 3-5-2 as this system can offer the maximum due to the available material but also its philosophy. And so it was, considering Kifisia started Super League 2 on a 10/10 and good football before the break (almost a month and a half) struck and forced the Northern Suburbs team to start all over again.

At the same time as Athens Kallithea used the gap to integrate their (many) young footballers, Kifisia tried to do maintenance and keep the intensity as high as possible.

Last but not least, what Giorgos Petrakis showed as a coach this year was interesting. Not only because he proved that the 3-5-2 system is not purely a defensive system, but also because he combined stability in the back of the field with offensive versatility and efficiency. After all, with a game to go before the season finale, Kifissia has the best attack in Group B, but also the best defense (along with Kalamata).

His coaching influences are numerous. Among them is his father, Yiannis Petrakis, with whom he often talks and exchanges views on football. He admitted as much in a recent interview, even wishing that at some point (in the not too distant future) he would be given the opportunity to… face his father as a rival Stoiximan super league.

In fact, this scenario would become a reality in a few months if misfortune didn’t keep knocking on Levadeiakou’s door (which led to relegation) in the final of the playouts.

Anyway, history was written: Giorgos Petrakis made a big move up his CV – here and a few hours ago. Both for the club and for himself. He took another step forward on a personal level to establish himself in the consciousness of the football community as a coach worthy of being – in this case alongside Kifissia – in the great halls .

*In the photo Giorgos Petrakis (centre) with his partners Epaminonda Koutromanos (left) and Ilias Kolovos (right)