Siopis: “Panathinaikos in motivation – the team has a lot of talent, as if there is no tomorrow in all matches”

Manolis Siopis … all the matter!

Its international average and winter transcriptional acquisition Panathinaic… Opened his heart to Matchday mag of today’s (16/02) clash of ‘green’ with Volosat OAKA.

So in her, Siopis talked about first days his in Panathinaikos, the talent possessed in his roster the “clover” but also “finish“They follow …

In detail the 31 -year -old interview:

How are the first weeks in the team? How was your adjustment? What climate did you find in Panathinaikos?

“Of course I knew what team is Panathinaikos and what Panathinaikos is. What I didn’t know was how the team is internally. I have found people who embraced me from the first moment. From carers and physiotherapists to players and all those around the team. All of them made me feel that I was already in the team. I didn’t feel like I was a new member. This feeling was unique. All the kids hugged me. The team has good characters and nice climate. The point is, of course, not only to stay in it, but to achieve the results and goals we have. ”

You were immediately deeply fell because you came at a critical period with continuous, demanding and important struggles. Racing How was your adjustment?

“Day by day, training with training I began to know the team and the players, especially the strangers with whom I haven’t played together. It’s another thing to see a team on television and another to be on the court with her. It has nothing to do with. You have to learn and follow the coach’s wishes. The truth is that day by day I feel better and better on the court, in coexistence with my teammates. I know how they play, I know what they want from me, I know what the coach wants from me. But in football it takes time. I feel good anyway and I’m sure of myself. ”

This confidence you are referring to, the experience of overseas, the championship you have done or comes over the years?

“I think it’s not just the outside. I did championship and got a championship in Turkey with very difficult conditions because you have to deal with three groups. The experiences you get year by year through football, sometimes in the championship and sometimes at other goals. The championships I have played because Championship is the most difficult league and I will say it until I stop. The big matches we have given with the national team. The confidence is made in myself, the experience I have gained through the struggles and the various situations I have lived through over the years. ”

Now knowing the team and from the inside. What do you think you can give? In what areas will you help the whole?

“As a player I can very much help the team in tension, in second balls, in confident pass, in pressing, in pressure on the ball, in the opponents’ attack to be the player who will stop the counterattack because we are a team that opens and He plays aggressively. ”

The team is in a difficult moon exclusively from Olympiacos in the Cup, a defeat by Mars in the league and the Vikingur in Conference. The match comes with Volos, which has a final character. Anyway, all the races as we approach the end have such features, but the three consecutive defeats make this game even more “must”. How should you deal with it?

“As you said, it’s the final! As was the final match with Olympiacos and the match with Mars. So Volos is the final and the next match with Vikingour will be the final. We should face each of these games as if it were the last game of the season. As if there is no tomorrow. There is no security pad. From now on, we have to get every match. As for the championship, we need to beat all the games to get as close to the top as possible with the start of the play -offs. And then we’ll play everything for everything. ”

Football has taught us that there are no easy and confident points. What does the team do to get the winner out of the court?

“That’s exactly! There are no easy points, especially in the championship. You can make sure the points, with your performance in every match. Football has changed a lot and all teams have improved. ”



Do you see differences in the Greek championship from the time they are racing? It’s been five and a half years after you left …

“Certainly! First of all there is competition between the four, which was not when I left. Now all four are on the same level. At the same time, the rest of the teams have gone up. So many straits from the big ones, there were no at that time. This shows that the championship has risen. It has risen to pace, speed, regular and qualitatively with players brought by the team. ”

Now that you live the team everyday, what image have you formed about its racing level? Is it possible to achieve the goals that have been set?

“Of course! The team has a lot of talent. I said it from the first moment. I see it daily in training. If this is “married” with the regular part of what our coach wants and we can raise our intensity, then we can achieve a lot. ”

How did you live the experience in Turkey? Initially with Alanapor and then a champion with Trampzonspor …

“The truth is that going to Turkey I didn’t know what to deal with. My father was saying his own “where are you going …” and so on and then turned it around and saying “don’t leave, it’s fine here” (laughs). I felt that I didn’t get too far from our way of life. Yes, they are Muslims and they have their own mentality, but in everyday life, their way of life, their food, their character in life is similar, we look very much. On a football level they are very organized in Turkey. They have stadiums, training centers, their championship is high. They bring big players. I was very pleased with the beginning. I did not need time to adjust. We were three Greeks, too, and Tzavellas quickly put us in the climate. We also had a terrible year with the team we had never done before. Then came the transfer to Trampzonspor. And there the championship, a game-game began. What we lived there was something unique … “.



What has left you from that course to the historical championship you won?

“It was crazy because this city has Greek roots. It still has Greeks. When we went for the fiesta and listened through the locker room until we went out, only Pontian lyre, the feeling was incredible. It was something unique. Incredible! And at that moment you don’t realize it, but after watching the videos, you say “what we did”! It was the best time in my career! ”

And then came England. How did you experience Championship experience with Cardiff?

“There is no stop anywhere! Where the ball is lost, the attack begins. There is no team that will take possession and will change 15 passes. It’s crazy! But I was very pleased. It was a life goal to go and play in England to live this experience. And I was given the opportunity because of Bulut, who knew me and wanted me very much, and I said I was coming 1000%! It’s another way of football, another way of life. There is nowhere else in Europe. ”

What brought you back to Greece?

“I was thinking of returning to Greece but only if there were the right conditions. So watching a Panathinaikos grow up again and be where he was in the past and where we had all learned – to be strong and to make a steady championship – I had no greater motivation. Panathinaikos is a huge team! ”

What won you on Panathinaikos?

“It was mainly the club’s approach. That was the most important to me. ”



What did you miss returning to Greece?

“Food, especially compared to England, and that I have my own people close.”

Last summer, the Municipal Stadium of Lucky, the stadium of your birthplace, where you took your first football steps, was renamed “Manolis Siopis”. What is it like to leave a toddler with dreams and return to your place to honor this way?

“It was unique to the emotions I felt. From the first moment I was told, I was shocked, I didn’t believe it. Okay I’m close to the team and help her, it’s my brother too. Our village is and we want to offer. But when the time came to cut the ribbon, I burst. It is unique to see your name where you started. I left at 14-15 and at 29 this was done … “.

You’re a kid who started football from scratch. And from a small part of Greece, you arrived to play in the National, to take championships, to go out of the border, to make a career. What is your advice to all young kids who are dreaming of their journey in football?

“What I remember from the years I was at the Academy was the will I had. I didn’t say to myself, I want to get there. But I had a daily goal of working and gaining something. On a daily basis! So, I would say to all the kids – and we have a lot of talent in Greece as in recent years you don’t know who to first choose – to have great will and work hard. “