Andre Geralds is considered one of the players who represents more than any other player the failure of Epoel Nicosia this season. The right-back, who made up one of the most threatening defensive squads in Maccabi Tel Aviv, was at the center of two games that defined the nightmare that Epoel had last season on the way to a glorious crash and a situation in which she faces a broken trough after firing two coaches.
This is, for those who have forgotten, a huge club that until last season won seven championships in a row, appeared four times in the home stage of the Champions League and in the 2011/12 season even qualified for the quarterfinals of the prestigious factory on the continent. But 2020 will be remembered, perhaps, as its worst in the current era.
Last season Apoel lost the championship to Omonia Nicosia, also due to the league stoppage in the midst of the Corona plague, and the season was eliminated in the playoffs of the Europa League and after 18 rounds in the league it is ranked 11th, albeit with two games less, but with only four wins and 16 Poor points, distance 21 from the leader AAL Limassol.
The beginning of the season actually promised a lot. Former coach and player, Marinos Ozonidis, got the reins on the lines and after being impressed by Omri Altman when he was at Panathinaikos, he added no less than three players from the Israeli league: Ben Shehar, Omar Atzili and Geralds, who after the loan year at Maccabi Tel Aviv, came free from Sporting Lisbon.
Apoel did not lose a single training match, including wins over AAK Larnaca and Apollon Limassol, and seemed ready to re-attack the title. The league opened with a lame start, with a draw against newcomer Karmiotisa and a 3-0 defeat to AAK Larnaca, but then came four consecutive victories in all competitions, and everything was ready for the playoffs against Slovan Liberts in the Europa League. The kind of games that may come early, but can decide a season.
Apoel was superior for most of the game, often missed, and was already ready for overtime and penalties when one moment of frivolity from Geralds, who touched his hand in the box, cost her a penalty and a painful dismissal. This loss caused all the dirt in the group to come out. “What did you do, Geralds?” The local media wrote, “Such a mistake could not be explained. There was no pressure on him, the ball was not on its way to the goal. It is hard to digest and hard to forget such a thing.”
Criticism of Geralds also came from Apoel, according to reports from Cyprus, and he tried to explain that he did not touch his hand intentionally and did so in the heat of the moment. On the right wing did not help.The latter was one of the standouts in the club’s last championship and was suddenly forced to change roles and play in the back three.
Geralds, Ozonidis claimed when the defender signed, could also serve as a left-back, but a brief examination of his history reveals that he did very little (19 times in 210 games), and after the only time he will serve on the left in the Epoel uniform, he immediately returned to the natural place His on the right. After the trauma against Liberec, the team went out to a streak of six games without a win, including an embarrassing defeat against Paphos and a loss of points to the little Ethnicos Akhanas and Armis Aradipo.
It was clear that Ozonidis’ time was limited, and he was eventually fired. He was replaced by former Ireland national team coach Mick McCarthy. Ansua returned to the right wing, but Epoel was embarrassed with a 1-0 loss to Olympiacos Nicosia. In the ensuing game Geralds returned to a position familiar to him and the negative streak was interrupted with 0: 2 over Doxa. “He gave a solid performance and looked calm,” the Cypriot media praised. “He was very defensively stable and made several forwards. Obviously his mistake against Slovan affected him, but he seems to have left her behind and now McCarthy can count on him.”
But the honeymoon lasted only two games. After a convincing 0: 3 over Nea Slamis, champion Omonia Nicosia came to GSP with one goal: to attack Geralds’ side. The result: All the goals in Omonia’s 0: 3 came from the Portuguese’s wing, one in his direct fault. “Apoel could not stop Omonia’s attacks from the left. Noble did not help in the defensive part, and McCarthy had to call Gabriel to help Geralds, while the Israeli changed wing.”
Geralds, and with him also Apoel, returned to the starting point. In the following game he was already down to the bench, coming up as a shameful 1-0 replacement for Karmiotisa. Against Paralimni Geralds was no longer included in the squad, but the losses continued to pile up and after four such in the wing, the last 2: 1 to Doxa, McCarthy also paid in his role. Geralds will probably try to start again in 2021 in Israel. “We are happy that Geralds is leaving Apoel,” a fan of the team who was not interested in being identified by name told the sports channel, “he left only bad memories here and cost us 5.5 million euros. He signed the team’s relegation from Europe.”
It is not clear which Geralds will arrive in Israel. The one who broke records together with the yellow defense or the insecurity that served as the main culprit in the crash of a Cypriot luxury team, but whoever thinks he is the solution to all the troubles of Maccabi Tel Aviv probably did not follow his season. Maybe returning to Kiryat Shalom and where he took an impressive championship will forget him What has happened in the last six months.