Anastasiou: “My course at Panathinaikos went well – In Greece, patience runs out soon”

For the brave decision to take on him Panathinaikoshis coaching career, but also what he lived next to Pep Guardiola, spoke Yannis Anastasiou.

The Greek coach gave an interview to the Dutch website “soccer news” during the league break, having built a particularly good name in the Netherlands as he was there both as a football player and as a coach.

First, speaking about his training experience on the Barcelona bench, alongside Pep Guardiola, he said: “As a coach, I think it’s important to create structure, be sharp on deals and follow a line. Of course, you have to choose your moments to be flexible, but you have to enforce the rules and treat every player equally. Young, older, Greeks or foreigners.

I learned this from Pep Guarola during my internship at Barcelona in 2010. It was his second year as coach and I was able to spend a week with Maxwell, my good friend I met at Ajax. What I noticed was that Guardiola was extremely clear and on top of his players. It made no difference between Messi, Xavi, Iniesta or a young player. They had just won the Champions League but remained hungry to achieve more. So why shouldn’t a player on my team follow the rules?»

Then, he referred to his career at Panathinaikos and what he experienced in the “clover”: “In life you should seize the opportunities that come your way. I was brave and took the big step of becoming the coach of Panathinaikos. It was my first job as a head coach and I think it went well.

The president wanted to change something and we decided to leave. It was a painful moment, but that’s football. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I believed in my plan, but you have to deal with different people and situations. You can’t control everything. The coach is not a magician».

The Greek coach also spoke about the players he brought to the “greens” despite the limited budget he had to manage: “Looking back at my time at Panathinaikos, the new players developed well and I strengthened the team with players who had played in the Netherlands, such as Marcus Berg, Pranic, Mendes da Silva and Bayrami.

I had a good idea of ​​how they play and what they could offer my team. Of course the choices you make also depend on the budget and how much money you can spend. These kids realized that Panathinaikos is a big club. I stayed for 2.5 years at Panathinaikos which is a long time for a coach at a top Greek club».

Regarding the situation with the coaches in Greece, he emphasized: “Coaches are fired faster in Greece than in the Netherlands. The pressure is on and patience runs out quickly. You depend on the results. If they are positive you will breathe. If it’s not good, you’ll quickly find yourself under steam. You can play good football, but if you don’t win, at some point you will leave».

Finally, he also referred to his path to Atromitos, which was not the right choice for him: “After being in three teams in different countries, I returned to Greece, but as it turned out Atromitos was not the right choice. I had no time to develop my plans. We had a series of poor results and in Greece you are judged severely for that” were the words of the 50-year-old technician.

Edited by: Christos Lois