Argy

For our best player. Sokratis is hurt. Tzavellas in.

LOL Tavellas in for Sokratis. Can this get any worse for us? What a nightmare.

Sad that we have reached this point.

You are right about Mitroglou, man is that painful to watch. also looks like he is moving in slow motion.

If there were to be changes, Bakasetas wouldn't be starting game in and game out. Skibbe thinks he's good, even though he's painful to watch out there. I see Bouchalakis on as a sub before we see someone like fetfa. Skibbe is a loser.

Lazy back-passes, slow pace, unforced errors. Same narrative, different day for the ethniki. And wow how bad is Bakasetas again.

We can't forget KPap in all this.

What really bothered me is that Skibbe was seconds from subbing Mitroglou for Koulouris. His midfield was once again impotent and gave Mitro no service at all, yet Skibbe opted to sub in a lesser striker to receive the same service. Both Tziolis and Koulouris decisions were scary bad, all while Lazaro and Fetfa were on the bench. Skibbe just seems to be reading the game wrong.

Slowness is a big problem. Not only with our individual players, but with team pace and distribution. We always seem to slow down the pace to an almost still level by taking too much time with the ball. Which, in turn, makes it very easy for opponents to close us down, leaving the lazy, momentum-killing, back-pass as the only viable option. This happens way, way more often than it should.

Disappointing display and amongst other things, way too many unforced errors. Hope we don't play on the back-foot again vs Finland, who won their game today in stoppage time.

Simply painful to watch this team who was no tactically or strategically ready to play this match and who is completely unsure of itself in everything it does. This leads to lazy back passes, second on the ball, no pressure, slow pace to build up, too much holding the ball, long balls to nowhere and impotent attacks. Sad to see Greece NT in this state. Bakasetas and Fortounis are useless. I'd like to see what Fetfa can do. At least he may give a jolt to this sleeping lineup.

He was often very good for the NT back when he was getting called up. I am excited to see him back in the squad.

K. Papadopoulos over Oikonomou every day of the week.

Very happy Fetfatzidis made the team, but I am afraid the only chance we see him as a sub is if we are desperate for a goal late in the game, and that's not a position I want to be in.

What's the standard? I know that often its home team on the right like saying Hungary in Greece in many countries. Just read, however, that the associated press is instructed to list the home team first for international contests, so I will update the title. EDIT: I am unable to change the title, so mod feel free.

We are a week away from our crucial second match with Hungary. We need all three points here after a sour loss in Budapest. Greece squad: Karnezis, Barkas, Paschalakis, Torosidis, Bakakis, Sokratis, Manolas, Tzabellas, Oikonomou, Kolovetsios, Giannoulis, Tsimikas, Zeca, Tziolis, Mantalos, Fortounis, Pelkas, Kourbelis, Bouchalakis, Bakasetas, Lazaros, Mitroglou, Karelis, Koulouris.

He are nothing but lazy selections. Less changes, less work he has to put in.

Fetfatzidis starting consistently for Oly and Skibbe is still too lazy to give him a shot.

Another great game and his first goal at Arsenal. He also became the first player to score since 1996 that hasn't played a competitive match under Arsene Wegner.

Yes my point is that they had varying degrees of success, but there were very high expectations for all of them and none even got close. Samaras did have a solid career at Celtic. For years he was at arm's length of being bought by a bigger club, which never really happened. He had a successful international career as well, scoring and setting up some massive goals for Greece. His career will be tainted, however, with his unceremonious fall to obscurity. It seemed as though one day he was in the CL and scoring in the World Cup, and the next he was playing semi-pro in the U.S. And this all took place in his late 20s and early 30s. He's still just 33. Perplexing.

It is true that we put a lot of stock in our young flashy attacking players we hope will become a star in Europe. We have had plenty over the past decade, notably Samaras, Ninis, Fetfatzidis, Vellios, even Koutsianikoulis for a short period. For one reason or another, they are in a different spotlight than say some younger domestic stars like Fortounis, Pelkas, Mantalos, who were never really expected to take the next step and shine in Europe. Now we have Donis, who was signed by Juventus and showed lots of potential out on loan, and now belongs to a pretty decent size club in the Bundesliga. He has been pretty good when given the chance at Stuttgart and has showed some brilliant flashes, but it is definitely important to manage our expectations with him. I would love to see him get some minutes with both club and country, but don't forget the kid just turned 22 a month ago, there is time. I don't think, however, that he is a slam dunk, but his ceiling, in my opinion, is higher than probably any forward playing in and around Greece. Here's hoping he stays healthy and rises to the opportunities when given.

Belgian* but yes good to see him score a goal.

Arsenal just updated his status. He should be back at full training in 4 weeks.

Yup. Word just got out that he will likely be back on Saturday versus Watford.

Yea he picked it up by cleaning up a mess of a play created by his partner Mustafi. Unai Emery says it's actually his knee. Waiting for the doctors' verdict right now.