Two matchdays into the 2024-2025 season and Olympiacos are sitting with a full six points. Both of these games carried over the patterns that we saw from pre-season, the good and the bad. While our pressing identity has remained intact as well as our directness in build-up, our set-piece defense and creativity in the final third has continued to disappoint. With the arrival of David Carmo and the return of his leadership as well as aerial dominance there will be improvements in set-piece defense. The creativity aspect in the final third remains the more pressing concern.
In the pre-season friendlies we saw great success stemming from our press in games against Roma and Nottingham Forest. Both of these teams are stronger than us on paper and played more openly. Our high press and coordinated pressing traps are the perfect counter against tougher opposition. Unfortunately, against weaker opposition we are forced to rely on our build-up more so than forcing mistakes off of our press to manufacture opportunities. Kristoffer Velde and Gelson Martins present wonderful options for us and are incredibly dangerous going down the flank but as teams stack men behind the ball they have difficulty penetrating the penalty area. What we lack is a presence that can create danger through the middle and a creator that can unlock these parked buses.
What we are missing is exactly what was offered to us by our former captain Kostas Fortounis and Daniel Podence. Both of these players could make something from nothing in different ways. Podence, with his low center of gravity, can turn on a dime and change directions quickly and suddenly. Fortounis can make the ball do whatever he wants and drops back to receive the ball and bring it forward and penetrate the middle. All of this is missing in these first two matches of the season. Even without players like Fortounis and Podence, we are missing similar creativity that was offered by players like Andre Horta and Stevan Jovetic, both of whom are no longer with the team. Horta, while he did not have the same dribbling capability as the others, was brilliant in distribution and could cut lovely through balls behind the defensive line. Jovetic, who excelled behind the striker or in a false 9 role, had a beautiful touch and could distribute the ball with ease while also consistently drawing an extra defender. Each player, while different in skillset and importance, had an ability to draw defenders out which broke deadlocks and created spaces for others.
Despite the very strong Saudi Arabian interest, the majority of us expect Podence will end up in Red & White before Greece's transfer deadline day on September 11. Even if he returns, we will most likely still need one more creative option that can assist in breaking down deep defenses. If we cannot manage to bring another creator besides Podence, who can step up to fill the creative void? Can it be one of our youngsters deeper in midfield in Theofanis Bakoulas and Christos Mouzakitis? Can Chiquinho tap into a previously undiscovered creative talent while also pressing relentlessly? Is manager Jose Luis Mendilibar willing to bend his own rules regarding a smaller squad in order to accommodate the needed depth?
We still have time until the end of the window, but Mendilibar and Olympiacos need to find solutions for the creation problems in the final third or we risk going a third straight season without a title.
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