GSL Preview:Thrasyvoulos confident of success in Super League

The Greek Super League (GSL) is just under a week away; and here at the Greece blog we’re counting down the days to kickoff of the 2008/2009 season with a preview for each of the sixteen clubs comprising Greece’s top level of football.

We took a look at promoted side Panthrakikos, but another of the new clubs in the Super League is Thrasyvoulos Fylis. Originating from the Attica region in central Greece, Thrasyvoulos finished second in last year’s edition of the Beta Ethniki to earn a spot in the Super League. Not only did Thrasyvoulos excel in the league, their Greek Cup run surprised many. En route to a semi-final berth, Thrasyvoulos eliminated the likes of PAOK and Larissa before falling to eventual champions Olympiacos. Surprising the Super League’s finest throughout the Greece-wide competition; Thrasyvoulos proved it could keep up with the top clubs from the Super League. The demand will be to reproduce those results week-after-week in Greece’s top flight, a feat the newly promoted club could struggle with.

Making their Super League debut, the club has taken the time this offseason to add many experienced players to the squad. Dimitrios Mavrogenidis, with many Super League clubs as former employers, joins the team from Iraklis FC. The defender will play a crucial role in the Thrasyvoulos back-line; a line that can’t be breached if Thrasyvoulos has any ambitions of continuing its success in the Super League. Another player making the move to Fyli is Josef Koslej from AE Larissa. The former-Slovakian international proved to be an assisting player during his stay at Alkazar; having a hand in many of the club’s biggest goals – Kozlej was the mastermind behind the eventual game-winning goal against Panathinaikos in the 2007 Greek Cup final.

The only struggle the club might have is in goal. Despite having four keepers registered to the club, none of them have any top flight experience. The club will be hoping their back-stoppers will take the leap to the top level; but Thrasyvoulos might have to produce enough offensive flare to fend off poor results.

Without any doubts, Thrasyvoulos enters its first season in the Greek Super League with plenty of confidence; but the club will have to turn that optimism into reality if they are to succeed.