Dean97

Well said. They did do a service for the team. I’m also in agreement in if the attitude is poor then they shouldn’t be in the team. That goes for all players. Everyone does deserve 2nd chances also. JVS has done well, I don’t disagree with that but he has been doing some questionable things too. Ok playing Hatzidiakos or Lampropoulos didn’t work but why call up an actual RB in Rota and not play him or why play him for like only 10 minutes? Mavrias who doesn’t play a lot gets picked over other players who have played that position longer and are actually playing week in and week out like Kitsiou or Giannis Masouras. Kotsiras is a decent option aswell. Also why wasn’t Tzolis given 90 minutes against Slovenia when he had a great showing against Cyprus in the friendly? Hopefully now that we have big games coming up and every game counts hopefully JVS understands that certain players don’t cut it and certain personnel changes are needed. His job is also on the line and finishing 2nd in a easy Nations League group is not good enough. We also have a friendly coming up. Maybe try Mantalos as a CM (which he can play) and maybe put Fortounis starting at CAM and give Tzolis more minutes. Maybe that could solve our creativity problems and finishing.

I can’t remember hearing this from them. I don’t think they mentioned any names. If they did can you please remind me because all I remember was that they demanded the EPO to make changes and get rid of the coach. Or otherwise they would leave the team.

But the point is if Sokratis and Manolas didn’t say anything than who would. Everything starts from the top. Ofcourse they are going to have a bad attitude. The EPO are very incompetent, especially when it comes to the national team. They were right in standing up for the team. Are they supposed to not say a word and let the EPO keep sabotaging the national team? They’ve must've been holding there frustrations in for so long that they couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve never heard or seen Manolas whining about anything regarding Siovas and the national team. All he said was that he hasn’t been spoken to by JVS since he was dropped from the team. It’s also not a bad thing if leaders such as Manolas and Sokratis are vocal to the EPO about the things that are going wrong with the team. They’re are not doing it to be bad guys or egotistical. They see what’s wrong and they won’t let it stand anymore. As @Ellada2004stated, the national team should be a top priority. Also as @naslhas stated the national team should also be about playing the best/skilful and most inform players the country has to offer, who play at the highest level and give 110% for Greece. Not players with better agents or other immoralities.

There’s no evidence to suggest that Manolas doesn’t want to play for the national team. JVS hasn’t picked him because he wanted to see other players. Now that his job is on the line a player like Manolas will be needed in these qualifiers. I agree we should be looking to replace Sokratis, Mitroglou and Samaris are all getting old and we need to find younger players for the future. They are in a different boat to Manolas. Svarnas, Lampropoulos, Tzavellas and Stafylidis won’t take us to the World Cup. We struggled to even come 1st in a easy nations league group. It won’t get easier against Spain or Sweden. Players like Bakasetas, Svarnas, Tzavellas, Lampropoulos, Kourbelis, Koulouris, Stafylidis, Bakakis and Mavrias aren’t going to take us into the World Cup in my opinion. These players are holding Greece back. We can easily find better replacements. Bakasetas seems to be doing well in Turkey but I don’t think he should be playing the 10 role for Greece. I haven’t been impressed. He’s slow, uncoordinated and very basic. Svarnas has done alright for Greece but something tells me he isn’t the answer to replace a player like Sokratis or take a spot from a player like Mavropanos. He’s isn’t international quality. Tzavellas should be no where near the team. I will leave it at that. Stafylidis isn’t a CB and hasn’t fully convinced me to be a starter. At LB we are stacked and he isn’t better than Tsimikas or Giannoulis. Bakakis and Mavrias. These guys will get destroyed at a World Cup let alone against Spain in a few weeks. These guys aren’t good enough to play RB for Greece and we urgently need to find the best possible replacement. Lampropoulos he’s 31 and very average. Kourbelis. I feel that he should be a CB. Isn’t creative enough and let’s us down in attacking phases. We need a better 6. I would replace him with Alexandropoulos for now. Koulouris has been picked even though he hasn’t played for like months. Very average footballer for me. Scored 20 goals for Atromitos but goes missing for Greece. I dont know what it is and he’s been given enough chances. I believe Douvikas or Ioannidis would be an upgrade over him. Pelkas is another player that can’t turn it up for Greece. I’ve just listed and explained the problems within our team. These players would love to play for Greece but they just don’t cut it. You can be very passionate or motivated to play but if you aren’t good enough, you aren’t good enough. To conclude, I don’t think there’s one Greek player that doesn’t want to play for the national team in my opinion. If a player doesn’t follow the rules and has a big ego or is being a smart ass in training then yeah I agree that these players shouldn’t be part of the team. That run in that Manolas and Sokratis had with the EPO was done for the right reasons. Right or wrong they want the best for the team and not themselves. They realised the importance they have on the team and used that to help the situation. I’m glad they did what they did, it shows that they truly care. I’d rather them do that than nothing at all. We needed someone to stand up against the EPO. The EPO seem not to care about the national team. These coaches the EPO have appointed the past few years have been appalling. We’ve missed out on signing very good coaches like Michel and Schuster. With JVS now I feel like there is some hope. He wants to play younger players and play more attacking and possession based football. That’s everything that most of us including myself wanted. Some selections are very questionable but now that he wants Manolas back in the team it’s giving me more hope because Manolas is definitely needed.

Why? Douvikas is on fire. He’s just the type of striker Greece needs. Mitroglou, Pavlidis and Giakoumakis are all very similar. Big target men. Douvikas on top of finishing, offers loads of pace and skill and can play football. He also presses well and wins possession. Ok, Androutsos isn’t really a RB but he offers a lot of versatility. Can play nearly everywhere and is a good footballer. Very underrated Greek player. You have to see how Ninis has played recently. We have no other midfielder like him. It’s a shame how his career has turned out but at this moment he’s the only one at CM who can offer what we’ve been lacking for so long and that’s creativity. Kourbelis and Zeca aren’t going to create. I’d like to know why you think they are all useless?

I couldn’t be more thrilled. We will need him to get through these qualifiers. The funny thing is he has been out injured for the last few weeks. It shows that JVS is desperate and he understands that if he wants to keep his job he will need to call him up. I don’t think Mitroglou is useful anymore. Unless he starts doing Giakoumakis numbers.

The more game the Ethniki play the better. I love it.

But why? We need him especially against Spain. Do you think Tzavellas, Michailidis, Svarnas and Lampropoulos can do the job? There’s no way. Manolas pace and the level he’s playing at is needed. As long as he has a good attitude it will be fine.

@Pana_For_Life you make good points. We need to play our best players and I think JVS is starting to realise it. Now that he’s considering Manolas, I will always put Manolas in my team selections on the forums. This is the 23 man squad I’d choose.. Vlachodimos Androutsos Manolas Mavropanos Tsimi Ninis Zeca Masouras Fortounis Tzolis Douvikas Subs: Giakoumakis, Barkas, Dioudis, Alexandropoulos, Ioannidis, Mantalos, Goutas, Michailidis, Bouchalakis, Lykogiannis, Limnios, Giannoulis. That’s the best currently in my opinion. I know some guys are thinking Ninis again? But the guy on his day is our best midfielder. Go watch full match replays if the last 2 games he’s played with Volos. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t be impressed with his creative passing and movement. The only problem with him is that he is injury prone. Apart from that the guy creates well, defends well and reads the game well. You can even start Tsimikas or Giannoulis at LM/LW and take out Masouras and put Tzolis RW. Douvikas is there because I like him the most and he’s in great from. He’s scoring every week. Androutsos should start at RB but I see JVS playing Mavrias or Rota there. He’ll probably call up a few more since we have friendlies to play aswell. Kampetsis could get a call. I haven’t put Pelkas and Bakasetas as they most likely will be involved.

I don’t know why Manolas would be more of a long shot to call up than Sokratis. Manolas is younger and is in the prime of his career. Sokratis on the other hand seems like he is declining. He wasn’t overly impressive against PSV. Mavropanos or Retsos would be the way to go than Sokratis I think. I think against teams like Spain, Manolas will be needed. He has speed, experience and is playing at the top level. Against Georgia and teams like that Hatzidiakos, Retsos and Michailids can play. I just hope JVS sets us up to score a goal or 2. I know against Spain it will be hard but he has to find a way like against Italy to somehow threaten them in their box. We will need Tzolis and Giakoumakis to be starting if we want to finish our chances.

Hello @Euro04Kings and welcome aboard. First off I love to see people post and share there ideas and opinions on the team. I see that you like to put Lykogiannis at CM. It’s an interesting thought. I thought when Kyriakopoulos played CM for Greece he looked very good. Anyways I feel like your line ups and formation tells me that we should park the bus against Spain. I’d like to see us go for it instead sitting back all game. We have to take into account that Spain will be missing a few key players. Ramos and Fati are not available I think. I forgot the other player. I’m not a fan of seeing Bakasetas played out on the wing. It just doesn’t work and he isn’t a player for it. He’s better behind the striker. I’d even like to see him deeper in midfield and Fortounis play at CAM. I wouldn’t mind seeing Sokratis come back. I agree someone like him or Manolas is needed against Spain or teams of that level. Mavropanos needs to stay injury free so the coach can fully trust him. I have to say your forgetting the form that Tzolis is in at the moment. He can score goals and he should be starting. Against Spain I wouldn’t put players out of position although I do agree that we need speed in our line up to keep up with them. Bouchalakis and Tzavellas can’t start. Even Bakasetas isn’t fast enough. This would be my dream line up against Spain. Vlachodimos G.Masouras Manolas Hatzi Tsimi Zeca Mantalos Limnios Fortounis Tzolis Giakoumakis/Douvikas Giannis Masouras is very fast and is doing well in Poland. Also Douvikas is doing very well for Volos and isn’t been given enough credit. He’s fast, can score goals and brave. I can say the same about Tzolis. Putting Mantalos there against Spain doesn’t seem realistic but I think we should do it. Mantalos isn’t a winger or really much of a goalscorer to be played at CAM. He needs to played deep in my opinion in order for us to get things going forward efficiently. Bouchalakis or Kourbelis don’t have the know how or technical ability to go forward with the ball. Zeca doesn’t either but at least he has some speed and can cover ground very well. This is what I think we should do. It’s very risky/ballsy to do but we need to score and we are a team that doesn’t put there chances away most of the time. We need to go at them as much as possible without neglecting our defensive duties. In friendly matches I would like to see a shake up. Maybe we can try Kyriakopoulos/Lykogiannis at CDM/CM. Also try out some PAO youngsters like Kampetsis and Alexandropoulos.

Koulouris, Kourbelis, Stafylidis and Bakakis shouldn’t be called up in my opinion. Douvikas who is having an excellent season should be in the team instead of Koulouris. It doesn’t matter that he plays for Volos, he’s shown way more this season. Regarding Giakoumakis, he’s our most inform striker at the moment. Pavlidis who I like shouldn’t start over him. I also hope we see Tzolis on the left wing instead of Mantalos. Give Tzolis 2 full 90 minute games to see what he’s got.

Not a bad group. Should get 2nd.

In my opinion Giannoulis is a solid back up to Tsimikas. If Tsimikas is not available then Giannoulis should be playing. I like Giannoulis, non stop running with and without the ball and excellent crossing. He needs to work on his defensive side to his game which i don’t think is that bad, but he’s just as good as Tsimikas going forward. I would rather play actual wingers than having a LB play there. Tzolis is our most inform winger and the coach shouldn’t ignore him. He has scored and assisted more than our other wingers. I actually think we have great wingers and LBs who are consistently playing well. Chatzigiovannis is playing well lately, Masouras is scoring and Tzolis is on fire. Limnios needs to start scoring and assisting for his club as I think he is either been unlucky or slacking off lately for his club and even the last couple of Ethniki games. My main concern is who we play at RB, CBs, CDM/CM/CAM. These positions need to be sorted out. Keeper should be Vlachodimos and at ST anyone who is the most inform.

I’d rather start Mantalos or Pelkas at 10. If that’s not working then bring Fortounis on to do some damage. The opposition would be more tired as the game goes on and Fortounis would have a good amount of energy for 60 or so minutes to do some damage. Maybe Fortounis shouldn’t start. He doesn’t run enough and looks lazy at times. He is easy to mark out of a game as he isn’t that fast (as seen in the game against Porto.) Think about it, he is our star player and teams know that. Bringing him on off the bench maybe the right approach. Especially against better opposition. Against teams like Georgia he should start. In any case Bakasetas shouldn’t be starting let alone be in the team. That’s just my opinion. We have 3 more talented, faster and skilful CAMs and yet JVS decides to play our slowest and most unskillful CAM. I may be harsh about Bakasetas, but too many times I’ve seen him destroy our momentum in attack because of his uncoordinated and slow style he brings. He is very limited. The only positive in my opinion is his left foot shot. Even then, most of the time is off target. Others like Bakakis, Mavrias, Kourbelis, Stafylidis, Tzavellas, Svarnas and Bouchalakis aren’t good enough and won’t take us far in a tournament either. I hope JVS knows this.

What’s happened to Donis? Also Pavlidis to me needs more time. There’s something there with him. He does well in the Netherlands. It doesn’t help when you have a very limited player like Bakasetas behind him. That position is very important in helping the team in scoring and creating. Need someone with skill, some pace and intelligence. I don’t know why he plays him. Especially when you got 2 other midfielders who aren’t great passers of the ball and who I think are only ball winners and not ball technicians. On top of that every other player is playing out of position like Fortounis at LW and Hatzidiakos at RB. Mavrias who is also very average to bad. He isn’t the solution. So we are shooting ourselves in the foot in terms of trying to score goals. We are not giving ourselves the best chance to score in my opinion. Yes we are attacking way more than before and we are keeping the ball but when it comes to the final third we aren’t executing effectively. If we play actual inform wingers (Tzolis) with a better CAM (Fortounis) then there is a higher chance that we can score goals. Lastly our biggest problem I think is that we don’t have good enough depth. What I’ve noticed also in the past and currently with this team is that we always have the better players on the bench. We play players who are limited to start off with instead of starting with our best players. I think that’s because we don’t have a strong enough talent pool and by starting our best players our bench would be much weaker so by bringing on a weaker player wouldn’t make sense if your trying to improve the team. For example starting Fortounis and Tzolis and then subbing them off for less talented players like Bakasetas and say Mantalos wouldn’t improve us or help us win the game. If that makes any sense... See if we had strong enough depth and consistency in our talent pool then who we sub in or out wouldn’t be make such a difference.

Hopefully he starts gaining momentum. I know he’s been without a club for a while and is hitting 31, but he still offers something after the few games I’ve seen him play. He has a lot to do still to get a call up but what have Bouchalakis/Kourbelis/Zeca done so special for us? We need an 8 who is technical and someone who can spray nice passes with vision. Who can do it the way he can? Your not going to get that from our current CMs. We should be desperate to find someone who can offer these things...if not him or Mantalos then who is it going to be? Galanopoulos hasn’t got enough vision I think to properly dominate the 8 position. He’s only slightly more technical and creative than Zeca and Kourbelis in my opinion...

I’m open to playing at Rizoupoli. I don’t know when fans will be back but for now Rizoupoli seems fine. I just hope the pitch is fine to play on.

I agree file. Mantalos being played deep can help us more in attack. He is no left winger. He is more of a technical dribbler. Not a speed dribble rwho has the speed to take the ball the down the line past defenders like a Limnios, Chatzigiovannis and Donis can. He seems someone like Fortounis that can get out of tight spaces and put in a good through ball. That’s why Mantalos is better off at CAM or deeper at CM. Ive seen him at AEK a bit play deeper and he looked good. Same thing can be said about Ninis. He played CM against Olympiakos and put in a great performance. Tackled well, passing was very good and almost scored a wonderful solo goal when he played a 1-2 with Douvikas. Also speaking about Douvikas, he could and should be another option for striker.

JVS has to think about his line ups going forward. We can’t be playing Bakasetas at CAM. Bakakis/Mavrias is not the answer at RB. Also Kourbelis shouldn’t be an automatic starter. We need to find the right replacements. Tzavellas and Svarnas will get destroyed against Spain and Sweden. Kosovo weren’t that easy when played against them. He has to seriously look into the talent pool and find the replacements. Manolas and Siovas can’t be ignored. Even Ninis who had a great game against Olympiakos shouldn’t be ignored. Tzolis who is the most inform Greek attacker at the moment should be starting. Fortounis also should at least go back in at CAM. If we go into this qualification with the same line ups as the nations league, don’t expect us to get 2nd. We’ve played good football against teams that we should be beating like Moldova and Kosovo. We just beat these teams in reality and we couldn’t beat Slovenia twice. This shows we have a finishing problem. Also those teams don’t have world class attackers like Spain and Sweden do. In any case it’s a must win against Kosovo and Georgia. No losses or draws. Against Spain we should hope we get a draw in one of the two games we play them. Against Sweden we should hopefully get a win and a draw. All games should be focused on winning each game but if these results that I just mentioned happen, it will be enough to get 2nd. From then on anything can happen. This will be a big task for our team. JVS better be wise with his selections...

Thank you for your reply. Can you please refresh my memory as I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mantalos play as an 8 for the national team... Most of the time he’s played at left wing (which he hasn’t been the most effective in my opinion)and very rarely at CAM. He should be playing his natural position at CAM.

I agree we need to play 1 defensive midfielder at all times. We should shift Mantalos as an 8. He’s not good on the left wing and isn’t our best CAM at the same time. He doesn’t score a lot so moving him deeper in midfield to give an attacking spark might be the solution. Bouchalakis is too slow, Kourbelis isn’t good on the ball and lacks vision. Zeca is just a workhorse and that’s about it. Regarding Galanopoulos, I’d take him over any of those 3 I just mentioned. He’s still young and can improve even more. After seeing Olympiakos play against Marseille, I think Fortounis isn’t as great as we think he is. I do agree that he’s our best CAM but he’s very inconsistent.

I really want to see him play for Greece. It’s long overdue and his injuries haven’t helped. I really think he can be a good addition to the team.

Yeah so did I.

I don’t know if he’s the answer. We’ve had a disastrous 6 years with him being in the 11. He didn’t show up when we needed him. Kourbelis and Bouchalakis aren’t any better. We have a serious problem at CM. I think we will be seeing Zeca as the number 6 going forward.