Euro2004

He has to play for them. Despite the fact that he misses so much, his movement is great and he makes chances for himself. He has 16 goals for them this season, their second top scorer has 2! So they desperately need him for goals. XRISTOS ANESTI EVERYONE :)

CalGreek his finishing has been woeful for a while now. He has missed numerous sitters since the start of 2011. There was one game recently where they drew 1-1, i think it was against Werder, he missed about 5 chances, 3 of them in particular were sitters. His own fans were booing! He's not as clinical as he used to be

Unfortunately i don't think he can complain. When you're a young player at a big club your chances will be limited. You can't afford poor performances. Look at Chris Smalling at Man Utd. Whenever he's been called upon he's been solid. He's not a first team player but has a future now. Papastathopoulos has played 6 games now, in 3 he was poor, 2 mediocre and has had just one good game. That's not a good enough output.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/moy...n-class-1577341 Moyes says Vellios proving himself Everton class Everton boss David Moyes is pleased with the progress of Greek striker Apostolos Vellios. Vellios only arrived in January from Iraklis and is already tasting regular Premier League action. Vellios, known at Goodison at Tolis, is yet to start for the Toffees but went close to capping his latest cameo with a goal against Blackburn Rovers. "Tolis understands what is required here, he runs around, technically he's very good and he was very unlucky not to score," said Moyes :tup:

Goal.com have compiled a list of the top 10 worst transfers in Serie A this year and Sokratis was in at number 3. I know many of you disagree with goal.com's player ratings but alot of the time i think they are fairly accurate and every Italian mate of mine i've spoken to says he has flopped. He's play 5 games they say. In 1 he was absolutely terrible. In another he was below average. In another he was good and the other 2 he was average. That's not good if you want to make it at a club like Milan. goal.com's comment was: The young Greek international was purchased for a reported fee of between €5-7 million, but has offered no return on that value for Milan thus far. Making just five appearances in all competitions, the former AEK Athens star has been only used in the most dire of circumstances for the current league-leaders, when their backline is decimated by injuries and suspension. Youth is on his side, but Milan may decide he isn't worth having around any longer after his failure to impress Personally I think Milan are idiots though. He's being linked with a transfer away from the San Siro but he hasn't been given time to settle. They haven't given him a chance at right back either and they've ignored long term planning with Nesta and Yepes aging http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zo...worst-transfers

If by future captain you guys mean a decade from now then maybe yeah, but come on. Let's allow him to focus on developing his own game before being branded "a leader of men"

no way is he ready to be captain. he's a kid.

Made another sub appearance in the last few mins as Everton beat Blackburn 2-0. i didn't see the game but apparently it was too late an introduction to make an impact. Nonetheless it's good experience for the kid

Although i agree with you 100% who are we kidding? Greek players seem to be idiots, mitro and fetfa aren't going anywhere. Even Papastathopoulos is being strongly linked with a return to Greece! These fools want the big contract. They'd rather earn 25k a week in Olympiakos' squad than earn 15k a week in Hamburg's squad for instance.

Yes and Papadopoulos played very well. Some good running on the box, great positional sense too. His ball distribution was very poor in the first half though and if he's to have a future as a holding midfielder that's a thing he must improve on. He has the attributes to be a world class defender though, it will be interesting to see where his future lies. He should be in the NT first team now though. Goal.com gave him a 7/10 and the comment: Showed no fear when running at the heart of Inter’s defence, winning a dangerous free-kick after outfoxing Thiago Motta and Ranocchia. Also came close to scoring in the second half but couldn’t keep his header down. Unlucky to be booked for a foul on Julio Cesar (Charisteas didn't get a rating because he didn't have time to make an impact)

That was the initial report, apparently Tzavellas has come out and rubbished them. He said that he's out for 3 weeks.

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/8606...ahill-bid-fails He's now being linked with a possible move to Arsenal if the Cahill deal falls through. Papadopoulos is def one for the future but he's not ready for Arsenal yet

yeah his delivery is superb, are u sure he's out for the rest of the season though? I heard it's only a 3 weeks.

According to the latest reports Inter Milan are interested in him. After Papastathopoulos' treatment at Milan i have my reservations about this. I'd rather he went to England. Nonetheless I believe they will focus alot more on defending than the German's do, so it would be a better move for him in my opinion than staying at Schalke

Came on for the last 15 mins again today in Everton's 0-3 win at Wolves, it was already 0-3 when he came on. After the game Moyes suggested that the young players have been given a chance because Everton have injuries. Nonetheless he said that Vellios did well and indeed he did. He won a great sliding tackle to set up and attack. He also put in a cross that found Anichebe with the latter shooting wide. Looks a little slow but does the "ugly stuff" well and works hard. It looks like he has a good attitude so hopefully he improves considerably at Everton :tup:

http://www.thescore.com/buzz/articles/1298...l-fans-go-crazy Amazing atmosphere

Yeah as far as I'm aware the last time a Greek got this far was Akis Zikos who went to final with Monaco in 2004

I didn't see the game but I do know that they had some major defensive issues in the first half, did he contribute with mistakes? I do know that generally speaking Schalke have major defensive frailties so it's unusual that he isn't used as a centre back. He certainly is a massive talent and could really develop into a world class player

Any idea how he played?

I'd rather he stayed in Italy, France or went to England. The Germans have stopped developing top level defenders. They completely focus on expansive football and all their games are high scoring now. So I'd want our attacking players like Ninis to move to Germany, but the defensive ones to play in a league where defenders are taught how to defend.

Papastathopoulos' move to Milan hasn't gone according to plan and it has been widely reported that he'll be leaving in the summer. Zenit wanted him but he's supposedly said he doesn't want to move to Russia. Hamburg who are currently 7th and 2 points off of a Europa League spot are the favourites to sign him. http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1956/europe...n-hamburg-radar

You misunderstood me, i certainly don't think he's a mercenary. I think he loves Celtic. I also think he's very lazy though and i'm not the only one. Regardless of where he plays/has played. Whether it's up front, as a left forward or as a number 10 type player he has games where he's great but also when he's poor and his form seems to depend on his level of effort. So when he has something to prove and is playing to secure a contract he tries hard and performs well because he has the talent, but once the contract is secure and he knows he'll have a place in the squad he gets complacent. If we both agree that he's talented why was he on the verge of leaving then? Why is he so unpopular with large segments of the Celtic faithful? Surely we agree he's more talented than Stokes and Hooper. So why are they loved more than he is?

Vellios has been doing well in the Everton reserves. In his last 5 games he's got 3 goals and 2 assists. The 2 assists came in his latest game which was against Liverpool in the reserve derby. Everton reserves manager Alan Stubbs said: "For me it was the best he’s been since he’s come to the club. He looked more of an all-round player. "In the past he’s done some good individual stuff but then done something a little bit sloppy. "He was more complete tonight, he did the difficult things well and he was starting to do the simple things better. "That was very pleasing, probably the biggest plus of the night for me. "He’s a big lad, he’s about 6ft 3ins but he’s got a good touch, he’s good feet for a big fella and he’s been scoring a few goals which is good for his confidence." So that's good news for him, Everton and the future of the national team. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/everto...534-28407978/2/

I live in the UK and have been following the situation closely. Samaras wanted a long term deal but because of his inconsistency Celtic would only offer him a one-year extension. Samaras refused to sign a short term deal and Celtic were saying he was likely to leave and wasn't needed. Then he put in a series of excellent performances and secured his contract. Here's also an article regarding his contract extension which explains how people view him at Celtic. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...r-long-run.html "new deal for 'enigma' Georgios Samaras hints that Neil Lennon will stay for long run He is by no means the most popular Celtic player with the club’s support but the news that Georgios Samaras has signed a three-year extension to his contract could be seen as confirmation that Neil Lennon will stay at Parkhead to consolidate the team he has built in his first year in charge. Samaras, who is capable of maddening the Hoops faithful with his inconsistency, has nevertheless become a consistent irritant to Rangers of late, " So am I, along with all Celtic's fans and this reporter, anti-Samaras? I'm merely stating the facts. He was considered a liability and wasn't offered a new contract. He then played excellently for a few games and got his 3 year deal. What's worrying though is that he has absolutely tormented Rangers of late (in their 3 matches before today) and then today he was quiet in the CIS Cup Final where Rangers beat Celtic 2-1. Why am I, and countless other Celtic fans, not surprised? It's the same old Samaras. An abundance of talent, but limited passion = inconsistency, which is why he's scored 2 goals in 18 appearances this year. That's 1 every 9 games despite being up against the likes of St Mirren. We obviously disagree on Samaras but to be honest i'm a bit confused as to what we disagree about exactly. We agree that he's talented. So do we disagree on his consistency? Do you think those stats are acceptable? Please tell me where we disagree exactly

Is that first photo a push or a punch? Tough to tell from the angle. I saw Frankfurt's 2-1 win over St Pauli in the vital relegation crunch match and both he and Gekas were excellent. Gekas scored both goals, one was a penalty. Tzavellas' delivery from set pieces really is top draw, shame he isn't a bit quicker because he'd be a very, very good left back.