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It is completely normal when we talk about Olympiakos, to make the first topic about the team’s playing conditions. Especially when these include Pedro Martins’ relationship with Costas Fortounis, each movement of the coach or footballer is’ decoded ‘when he tries and depending on the … side pieces that everyone wants to take away.
Only the situation seems much simpler than you imagine. The Portuguese coach never stopped believing in the player’s abilities, Fortunis did not … forget the ball, however in the day-to-day life of a group of people working together, not all times are rosy. As with any team, at Olympiakos, the manager’s responsibility is to bring out the best in the squad as a whole and in each player individually. And the responsibility of the footballer is consistency, the assignment of his skills to the service of the team and the reverent adaptation to the rules of the team and the plan of the coach. In this case, let us not forget that in the very recent past and especially in the period in which Fortunis was trying to come back after a torn cruciate ligament, Martins constantly referred to him, to the point of … misunderstanding, as the ‘best squad player ‘.
A soccer player’s desire to play is never unreasonable. An eagle is flying an eagle. And at the same time, no coach is going to go against the interests of his team, and therefore his own, leaving out players who can play the leading role. Unless they’re crazy. Neither Fortunis is weird because he wants to play, nor is Martins … crazy because he wants this to be done to his own standards, which he knows the international midfielder can easily catch.
Even if you have doubts about it, you can safely leave it after putting Pep Guardiola on camera. Manchester City won with a 3-0 score from Olympiacos on Tuesday night (3/11) for the 3rd game of Group C of the Champions League and after the end of the game, the Catalan coach said a lot and nice.
“I think we saw in the second half what Olympiacos really is. In the first half we couldn’t see it, because we were amazing, incredible. But in those circumstances you have to be more efficient. You have to finish the phases and score more goals. We did not do it and that was our problem in the first half, when you are only 1-0 ahead anything can happen, it was also a warning of what Olympiacos can do in the Greece match.
We are in perfect condition, in 3 games we have 9 points and we want another victory to mathematically celebrate the classification. We will seek this victory in Athens. I’m not saying we were scared, but we were lucky to do our job because they threatened Valbouena and his midfielders. They had a versatile center and a very good team. In the first half we were excellent.
Rafinia is an incredible player, I know him very well. We spent three years together and I have wonderful memories. He is one of the best people I know. I love the fact that at 35 he can play at such a high level. Controlling it is not easy and today has gone well.
Of course Olympiacos are a leading team in Greece, they play for the win and they do well. The centrals are excellent. I’ve known Cholebas since he played for Watford. Arabi is an incredible striker, Valbouena is very good between the lines. “This is a very good team with very fast attackers.”said Guardiola, who is suspicious of what he may find in ‘G. Karaiskakis’.
But it wasn’t just the Manchester City manager who said that, who showed how well informed he is about his team’s rivals. And he expressed his disappointment because he did not see … Costa Fortounis on the ‘Etihad’ pitch!
“Unfortunately I have not seen Fortounis today, who is a very good footballer”, Guardiola stressed. When the man who has trained Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Lewandowski, Thiago Alcantara, Danny Alves, Agüero, David Silva and De Bruyne – among many others – positions himself in this way for the international midfielder of the rest of the Olympic Games, the conversation ends.
But another opens. About the protagonist of the statement. There can be no greater motivation than this for Costas Fortounis. It is impossible to remain impassive when a coach who belongs to the highest rung of the elite of coaches mentions it this way. That I wanted to see him on the field in action, face him. Fortunis is not going to lose games like this with Arsenal in the ‘Emirates’, or with Manchester City in the ‘Etihad’. He has to be there, both for himself and for his teammates, to fight. He cannot afford to be deprived of these moments of his career, especially since the idea of ending his career with the ‘rojiblancos’ has stuck in his head. A luxury that Olympiacos does not have either. To go to ‘battles’ of the highest degree of difficulty without one of the best footballers at his potential.
On a second reading, this position by Pep Guardiola certainly cannot leave Pedro Martins indifferent. Of course, not because nobody tells him how to send his players, but because he himself knows that such a demanding season does not allow the inactive presence of players like Fortounis. It is cold to see him, together with Mathieu Valbouena they are the most capable creators in midfield and the 36-year-old Frenchman is impossible to do the year alone … And Pedro Martins, if nothing else, is not lame.
As for Costas Fortounis? You just heard the 12 words you needed, from a man who has made his mark on world football. And now until November 25, when City will visit ‘G. Karaiskakis’, has 21 days at his disposal to … punish Pep Guardiola’s desire to see him in action on the pitch. Although the comeback would be overwhelming for the Olympiacos international midfielder.
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