Kiwi Players Elsewhere

Marko Stamenic (Swansea City | Wales)

1045 replies · 285,615 views
17 Aug 21:56
Got a bit over half an hour off the bench and collected his first yellow card for the season in a 2-0 win
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26 Aug 19:31
On from the 48th minute this morning in a 2-1 win over Athens Kallithea. 

Stamenic was immense for Olympiacos when he came on. Got on the ball playing some of his trademark diagonals and nice short passes. Broke up play on some occasions albeit committing his usual few fouls and picking up another yellow card on the way. 

Had the initial shot that troubled the opposing keeper which parried to an onrushing attacker that led to the go ahead goal for Olympiacos. 

Should be starting from here on out because he definitely looks like there most assured midfielder alongside Dani Garcia from what I’ve seen so far. 

Next up the Europa League draw on Friday. 

Expecting to see some big names pulled for Stamenic with the new format this year. United, Spurs, Roma, Porto etc. 
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31 Aug 23:46 · edited 31 Aug 23:47 · History
His first Greek Super League start and 85 mins (3-0) in a 3-0 win.
Looks like he's building nicely into his new club, and will get plenty of mins in their Europa League campaign.

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01 Sep 08:29
karlpetersson
YoungHeartHM
Some nice fixtures for Marko and Olympiacos indeed.

Screenshot_2024-08-31-02-32-24-76_1c337646f29875672b5a61192b9010f9.jpg 408.81 KB

Rangers, Lyon & Porto being the pick of the bunch there.
Phenomenal experience

Would expect Marko to get good minutes based on his Euro Cup performances already.  

 Braga away would've been cooler, one of the most bizarre stadiums in Europe
Annual finals disappointment enthusiast.

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03 Sep 12:07
Niche Cache, after the Olympiakos win on the weekend

Marko Stamenic: “I think we can be happy with ourselves. It took a while to break them down but we were patient, we were hungry, we showed passion, and I think that showed in the result... We have huge ambitions to celebrate the 100 years, not only for us but for the fans and the community in Athens. We have big ambitions and we want to win everything that’s available. Good start to the season, we need to continue.”   
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15 Sep 20:55
Stamenic 62 mins in a 0-0
Olympliakos lose their perfect league record 
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21 Sep 23:08
Unused sub in a 2-1 loss. Should have played the Kiwi

Aris with 6 Spanish starters, not a solo Greek! Just 1 Greece native in their whole match day squad
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26 Sep 21:27
Off the bench at 68 mins (1-0) in a 2-0 loss
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29 Sep 20:50 · edited 29 Sep 22:08 · History
Won 2-0 with Stamenic starting and playing 61 minutes but my god, Olympiacos fans absolutely despise him. Searching his name in Greek is not a fun experience.

They have severe midfield creativity issues so it seems they're scapegoating all of their issues onto him. Hasn't been bad at all whenever I've seen him, he's just not the type of player Olympiacos fans assumed he was
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29 Sep 23:20
Was 1-0 when Stamenic came off. Olympiakos up to 2nd, a point behind AEK Athens.

They host Sporting Braga midweek in the Europa League, be interesting to see if Marko starts that game. He's only been in Greece 2 months, plenty of time to win over the fans.
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03 Oct 21:01
Unused sub as Olympiakos win 3-0
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07 Oct 01:50
Unused sub in a 0-0 draw.
Little bit out of favour at the moment 
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07 Oct 02:11
coochiee
Unused sub in a 0-0 draw.
Little bit out of favour at the moment 
If he doesn't get much playing time, I wonder if they will consider recalling him during January and finding a new club to get him game time?
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10 Oct 02:15
Late to this my god are you right.

He’s been average yes but he’s been getting absolutely grilled for nothing since he step foot onto the pitch.

Seems as if he’s the 4th/5th choice midfielder right now which is absolutely ridiculous imo. Mouzitkitas and Hezze are valid but Garcia and Oliveria have been horrid.

If this continues through till Jan it’ll be very interesting to see how this unfolds because he’s technically already on loan from his parent club.

Might just have to be a season where he has to settle for limited game time which is very normal at his age and in his position but obviously not ideal. 
mrsmiis
Won 2-0 with Stamenic starting and playing 61 minutes but my god, Olympiacos fans absolutely despise him. Searching his name in Greek is not a fun experience.

They have severe midfield creativity issues so it seems they're scapegoating all of their issues onto him. Hasn't been bad at all whenever I've seen him, he's just not the type of player Olympiacos fans assumed he was
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10 Oct 03:35 · edited 10 Oct 03:35 · History
Singh19
Late to this my god are you right.

He’s been average yes but he’s been getting absolutely grilled for nothing since he step foot onto the pitch.

Seems as if he’s the 4th/5th choice midfielder right now which is absolutely ridiculous imo. Mouzitkitas and Hezze are valid but Garcia and Oliveria have been horrid.

If this continues through till Jan it’ll be very interesting to see how this unfolds because he’s technically already on loan from his parent club.

Might just have to be a season where he has to settle for limited game time which is very normal at his age and in his position but obviously not ideal. 
mrsmiis
Won 2-0 with Stamenic starting and playing 61 minutes but my god, Olympiacos fans absolutely despise him. Searching his name in Greek is not a fun experience.

They have severe midfield creativity issues so it seems they're scapegoating all of their issues onto him. Hasn't been bad at all whenever I've seen him, he's just not the type of player Olympiacos fans assumed he was

Spoke to an Olympiacos fan, who mentioned that Mendilibar has been trying to play Stamenic as the more creative, progressive midfielder in a two-man midfield alongside Hezze. 

To put it bluntly, that's not his game. He's excelled at controlling the tempo and playing long balls/switching, but doesn't have the offensive chops to do what the team demands from him, and has historically been poor in a two-man midfield. Additionally, he's never going to displace Hezze in the more defensive, 'engine room' role. Olympiacos fans aren't familiar with Marko, so they just assume he's a crap player unfortunately (which, as we know, couldn't be further from the truth). 

Very annoying from an NZ perspective for Marko to be loaned out to a club that doesn't intend to use him in a suitable role
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10 Oct 06:27
100%. From the games I’ve watched he’s been more advanced than Hezze and he’s just not a final third decision maker at the moment.

Early days and plenty of games to go but I sure hope he can crack the midfield rotation again after the international break.

Not panicking because it’s a very normal phase to go through for any footballer, but it’s very odd to me that he’s been loaned out to a club that’s just not utilising him correctly at the moment.

It’s definitely a case of them thinking they’ve bought a player in that’s gonna be assisting and playing line breaking balls game in game out which is far from his strengths.

Not a massive fan of clubs loaning players out to parent clubs either, (completely entitled to don’t get me wrong). But in the best interest of the player I would’ve preferred Stamenic to go on loan to another top 5 league club opposed to a powerhouse club like Olympiacos. 

Similar case with Paulsen and Bournemouth.  

mrsmiis
Singh19
Late to this my god are you right.

He’s been average yes but he’s been getting absolutely grilled for nothing since he step foot onto the pitch.

Seems as if he’s the 4th/5th choice midfielder right now which is absolutely ridiculous imo. Mouzitkitas and Hezze are valid but Garcia and Oliveria have been horrid.

If this continues through till Jan it’ll be very interesting to see how this unfolds because he’s technically already on loan from his parent club.

Might just have to be a season where he has to settle for limited game time which is very normal at his age and in his position but obviously not ideal. 
mrsmiis
Won 2-0 with Stamenic starting and playing 61 minutes but my god, Olympiacos fans absolutely despise him. Searching his name in Greek is not a fun experience.

They have severe midfield creativity issues so it seems they're scapegoating all of their issues onto him. Hasn't been bad at all whenever I've seen him, he's just not the type of player Olympiacos fans assumed he was

Spoke to an Olympiacos fan, who mentioned that Mendilibar has been trying to play Stamenic as the more creative, progressive midfielder in a two-man midfield alongside Hezze. 

To put it bluntly, that's not his game. He's excelled at controlling the tempo and playing long balls/switching, but doesn't have the offensive chops to do what the team demands from him, and has historically been poor in a two-man midfield. Additionally, he's never going to displace Hezze in the more defensive, 'engine room' role. Olympiacos fans aren't familiar with Marko, so they just assume he's a crap player unfortunately (which, as we know, couldn't be further from the truth). 

Very annoying from an NZ perspective for Marko to be loaned out to a club that doesn't intend to use him in a suitable role
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10 Oct 06:58
With most loan moves, the player is also generally loaned to a club that have a specific need that fits the player's profile/position.

But Forest have just loaned Stamenic to Olympiakos beacuse it's the same club owner. When it seems the Greek club already have quality DMs?? 

Though from an AWs perspective maybe it's no bad thing Stamenic is being asked to play a bit more advanced, for a time. Singh seems as much out of the National team as in at the moment, and his club career ain't going great. 

Stamenic almost played as a 10 against the USA, with Rufer and Bell behind him, and that seemed to go okay. Certainly better than the Mexico game. He played a lovely ball through for Just, to have a big chance to score. Who knows that may even be the midfield formation at the 2026 WC, depending on what happens with Singh, Lewis & Thomas. 

Anyway I'm sure this is just a short term setback for Marko. Either he finds his role at Olympiakos, or yeah Forest find him a better loan move.
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24 Oct 20:36
On the bench as Olympiakos lead 1-0 with 20 mins to go
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25 Oct 00:47
Stamenic comes on at 86 mins as it finishes a 1-0 win. Olympiakos could have made it more comfortable at the end but faled to convert a 83rd min pen.


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27 Oct 23:25 · edited 27 Oct 23:27 · History
Stamenic's first start for Olympiakos in a month (since 29th Sept) and it doesn't go well. 

Taken off at HT (one of two changes made) with Olympiakos losing 1-0. Finished a 1-0 loss.

I imagine the fan forums are being a bit unkind. Not really working out for him at the moment in Athens. Early days, but bit different to Red Star where he seemed to do well from the beginning.

Olympiakos 4th, but the Super League is very tight at the moment. Top 6 teams within 4 points of each other.
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30 Oct 23:40 · edited 30 Oct 23:40 · History
Olympiakos with the 1-0 away win. Stamenic a little cameo off the pine at 85 mins (1-0)
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31 Oct 04:35 · edited 31 Oct 05:33 · History
Thought this worth posting here. Panathinaikos hosted Olympiacos a few weeks back with Stamenic an unused sub. He would have seen it all with the Belgrade derby anyway.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360470738/they-threw-flash-bang-wellington-phoenix-stars-most-eye-opening-derby-experience

He’s even experienced one of football’s most intimidating rivalries, the Derby of the Eternal Enemies, from his time at Greek Super League club Panathinaikos.

Barbarouses said Olympiacos supporters set off a stun grenade as the Panathinaikos team bus pulled up to the stadium.

“There was a walkway above us and they obviously saw our big green bus arrive and they threw a flash-bang grenade right next to our bus as we were getting into the changing rooms,” he said.

“I was luckily 10 metres away from it but I couldn’t hear anything for about 10 minutes. My ears were ringing but some of the boys, right up until kickoff, were struggling to hear and a bit disorientated.

“It’s just a whole other world. Kickoff was delayed because of flares being lit as we shook hands. You couldn’t see a thing.
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