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Sotirios Kyrgiakos (retired)


Ziaka

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re euro do you still believe kyrgiakos is better than carragher and skrtel or have you realised he's struggling at this level ? do you believe he's not being given a fair chance because he's greek or is it a case of skrtel and carragher being exceptional for liverpool last season thats why benitez keeps faith in them even when they are struggling. kyrgiakos has a great opportunity with all the injuries at liverpool he needs to make more of his opportunity and step up a level. if i had to pick 2 out of agger kyrgiakos carragher and skrtel, i wouldn't go with soto.

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re euro do you still believe kyrgiakos is better than carragher and skrtel or have you realised he's struggling at this level ? do you believe he's not being given a fair chance because he's greek or is it a case of skrtel and carragher being exceptional for liverpool last season thats why benitez keeps faith in them even when they are struggling. kyrgiakos has a great opportunity with all the injuries at liverpool he needs to make more of his opportunity and step up a level. if i had to pick 2 out of agger kyrgiakos carragher and skrtel, i wouldn't go with soto.

Do you expect me to think he's crap because he had one bad game? Carragher and Skrtel have had a terrible season. Also, Agger was almost as much to blame as Kyrgiakos for Lyon's late goal, after all Kyrgiakos had to cover him for getting caught out of position on delivery he should have been able to deal with comfortably.

I admit, I've seen a lot that's concerned me regarding Kyrgiakos. He seems to have lost a yard of pace and that's made him slide in alot more and look alot more rash, so he's certainly not the Kyrgiakos of 2 years ago. But I'm not going to give up on the guy because he made 2 mistakes in one game.

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For me then worse defender on wednesday was carragher.

His idea of tackling an opponant amounted to climbing all over him. At least when Kyrgiakos did it he was clever enough to avoid getting a free kick against him.

To say Kyrgiakos had a bad game was wide of the mark. He did everything that was expected of him.

Sure he just missed getting to the ball when Lyon scored but why should that be regarded as his mistake he had to come across to deal with the ball which should have been covered by Agger in the first place.

It reminds me of the first goal scored by Fulham last weekend, the soccer pundit Charlie Nicholas was blaming Kyrgiakos for the goal and when I subsequently saw the incident it was clearly not his responsibility but down to agger.

In my opinion euro is right about how Greek players are perceived especially by british football "experts".

Having said that I think a lot of Greeks have the same attitude about Greek players. Anyone who is not Greek is regarded as being a better player then the Greek equivelent and a great deal of these opinions are based on what they read in the papers or hear on the TV.

I remember reading an article about the Greek national side in a british paper and they indicated that the key player in the greek side was Giannakopoulos. This was at the time when Stelios was hardly getting a game. The only reason he was rated so highly was because he was playing in the premiership.

An example of players being overated in my opinion can be seen when you look at the national team of Wales. It has several premiership players and yet put them in the welsh team and what do you have? A third rate team. because in my opinion the players are not as good as they are made out to be.

Of course I am talking in general but that is the impression I get.

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I agree with alot of your points Zenon but there are a couple of points I'd like to add.

To say Kyrgiakos had a bad game was wide of the mark. He did everything that was expected of him.

Although I didn't see the game I've heard that he was fine except for the 2 mistakes he made. Unfortunately the difference between a top level player and a player that's simply "good" is the details. For instance, what's the difference between Drogba and Carlton Cole? Both are big, physical, aerially capable target men. But Drogba may get 4 chances in a game and score 2 while Carlton Cole will get 1 goal for every 8 chances for instance. Kyrgiakos may be solid for 88 mins but if he makes 2 mistakes though then he has managed to cost his team the game.

Sure he just missed getting to the ball when Lyon scored but why should that be regarded as his mistake he had to come across to deal with the ball which should have been covered by Agger in the first place.

I'll defend Kyrgiakos because I believe in his ability, but when he's poor we have to say he's poor. We're all hoping he does well (you, js1000, genome, etc) but we all have different opinions. There's no right or wrong just opinions based on facts. The fact is he played a major role in Lyon scoring. Yes Agger was out of position but a defense is a unit, just because one defender is out of position doesn't mean it has to result in a goal. Agger made the mistake but Kyrgiakos is big and stronger than Lisandro, if he holds his ground rather than sliding unecessarily then he muscles Lisandro off the ball and the danger is eradicated. It was a major mistake.

It reminds me of the first goal scored by Fulham last weekend, the soccer pundit Charlie Nicholas was blaming Kyrgiakos for the goal and when I subsequently saw the incident it was clearly not his responsibility but down to agger.In my opinion euro is right about how Greek players are perceived especially by british football "experts".

Yeah I commented on that, although it wasn't Agger at fault, it was Insua. Either way it's hilarious that a pundit that's supoosed to be an "expert" has no tactical awareness regarding defending. This is why I believe they undermine Greek players simply because they are unknown to them. Greek players have flopped in England (with the exception of Stelios and Dabizas in his first 2 years, although he was so bad after that it almost eradicated all the good he'd done in people's eyes) and I think that explains the attitude of the British regarding our players.

Having said that I think a lot of Greeks have the same attitude about Greek players. Anyone who is not Greek is regarded as being a better player then the Greek equivelent and a great deal of these opinions are based on what they read in the papers or hear on the TV.

This is 100% true and a very important point. Patsa said that at Olympiakos they have a "xeno-mania", and he's right, although it doesn't simply end with them. There are numerous Greek players that have been hugely underrated in Greece. Diogo is adored yet he hasn't achieved half of what Mitroglou has. Okkas was a brilliant player for Olympiakos, and I remember one season (i think it was in 2005) he won the Pepsi Greek Player of the Year award but within that season he only got 5 goals or something. So Olympiakos fans hated him, if Diogo had played as well as him they'd be singing his praises. Other examples are Lybe, Salpiggidis, Konstantinou, etc. All players that have done very well but weren't rated as they would have been if they were foreign.

To bring this back to Kyrgiakos, unfortunately I've started to see a few worrying trends that are creaping into his game. He isn't the player he was 2 years but hopefully he can prove himself to be good enough not to receive criticism.

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Egw vlepw den exei sigouria sto paixnidi tou...isws xreiastei a few more games , lets see....is he going to play 2morrow??

carragher is suspended but skrtel returns fron injury so he might get the nod tonight. i know degen's suspended and johnson injured so soto may even be forced to play right back.

hopefully he plays, and plays well :gr:

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carragher is suspended but skrtel returns fron injury so he might get the nod tonight. i know degen's suspended and johnson injured so soto may even be forced to play right back.

hopefully he plays, and plays well :gr:

He won't play Soto at right back :P That would be suicide.
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re euro do you still believe kyrgiakos is better than carragher and skrtel or have you realised he's struggling at this level ? do you believe he's not being given a fair chance because he's greek or is it a case of skrtel and carragher being exceptional for liverpool last season thats why benitez keeps faith in them even when they are struggling. kyrgiakos has a great opportunity with all the injuries at liverpool he needs to make more of his opportunity and step up a level. if i had to pick 2 out of agger kyrgiakos carragher and skrtel, i wouldn't go with soto.

Did u see yet ANOTHER Skrtel mistake that cost Liverpool a goal yesterday in a game that finished: Liverpool 2-2 Birmingham?
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I wonder what the English press was writing about Skrtel's performance ... :rolleyes:

Well Skysports (who had given Kyrgiakos 5s and 4s when Goal.com were giving him 6s and 6.5s) gave Skrtel a 6 with the description: "solid"! :LOL: Why am i not surprised. I'd love to hear js1000's view on this. Agger was also at partly at fault for the goal by the way
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Whilst not wishing to sound paranoid your average Greek player does not get the respect that he would deserve based on his skill and general performence over a season, certainly in England. I cant comment for any other country.

Of course some players have let themselves down badly and have deserved the bad press but others certainly have not.

Kyrgiakos falls into the last catogory in my opinion. The crap journalism in the daily mail that labelled him a Greek tragedy was clearly not based on fact.

It had more to do with lazy journalism. Its so easy to write a headline about a Greek player.

For example "slovakian tragedy" doesnt quite have the same ring to it.

Clearly Skrtel and even more so Aggar have made mistakes but have not received the same amount scrutiny.

I suspect if any of us were to pick any centre half in the premier league and submit him to the same scrutiny that we have Kyrgiakos they would not fare much better. They all make mistakes.

Dont get me wrong I am not saying he is as good as the best defenders in the league (he is past his best and adapting to the premier league) but he is not one of the worse by a long way.

Even the exulted, holy one, john Terry (so overated) makes mistakes.

The reaction if Kyrgiakos had missed the penalty in the champions league final does not bear thinking about!!!!!

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Well Skysports (who had given Kyrgiakos 5s and 4s when Goal.com were giving him 6s and 6.5s) gave Skrtel a 6 with the description: "solid"! :LOL: Why am i not surprised. I'd love to hear js1000's view on this. Agger was also at partly at fault for the goal by the way

i'm certainly not going to criticise agger, he's clearly not fit and has withdrawn from the denmark squad as a result.

last season carragher and skrtel were solid for liverpool who finished 2nd with a very good defensive record so when you have played consistently well over the course of a couple of seasons you are entitled to have the odd bad game without being criticised in the press, you don't become bad over the summer months. kyrgiakos hasn't had say 10 solid games before making blunders and you are very quick to have a go at skrtel and carragher but jump to the defence of soto, just like the english press being biased you are also.

i don't think he's a bad player but i believe the other 3 are better

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If anything the an established player is expected to perform, it's the new players that have to be given time to adapt.

Kyrgiakos came to Liverpool and was thrown in the deep end when he was still in pre-season with AEK. He's also had an injury that kept him out for 2 weeks. Finding and maintaining fitness isn't easy in this scenario. On top of that he's had to try and adapt to the fastest league in the world. And yet in his 5 games he's been Liverpool's better defender in every game bar one. So where do British journalists get off calling Kyrgiakos a "greek tragedy"?

He may not be proven in England, but he is proven in the Bundesliga and at international level and had he been English, German, French or Italian he wouldn't be so disrespected.

It's not just him either. Imagine Stelios was English. He was the top scorer from midfield on more than one occasion for a Bolton team that was regularly in Europe when he was there. When did they ever rave about him? One time I heard Linekar say "he's a good player" when he tore Arsenal. They'd find time to go nuts about Kevin Nolan though.

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re euro i don't disagree with you regarding the press and i haven't said soto is a bad player the point i'm making is that the other 3 central defenders at liverpool are better, you say soto's not fully fit but remember skrtel and agger have also been injured this season and for soto to become a regular starter he has to perform better when he gets the chance, he was after all signed as cover to replace hyypia who also was just a squad player. do you seriously think he should be in the starting 11 when there are no injuries ?

the point you make regarding stelios is true, i remember vas borbokis at sheffield united also not getting the recognition his performances merited. the same is true of samaras but you don't leap to his defence the way you do so for soto and basinas

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  • 2 months later...

Kyrgiakos played 90 mins today in Liverpool's 1-1 draw away at Stoke.

He scored and was man of the match! :tup: Prior to Stoke's late equaliser the commentator said "Kyrgiakos has been a hero at both ends today"!

Sky Sports also gave him the highest rating: 8, with the simple note: "won everything in the air".

GEIA SOU RE ALANI! :tup: :gr:

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did well against stoke today, i wasn't surprised to see him start today because stoke are a very physical and arial team the exact opponents where kyrgiakos is needed, particularly with those constant long throws. soto battled really well today, having said that i wouldn't pick him against teams like arsenal who move the ball quickly along the ground.

he's proved he can cope at this level, i wish he came to england much earlier in his career he would be a better player than he is now had he done so

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did well against stoke today, i wasn't surprised to see him start today because stoke are a very physical and arial team the exact opponents where kyrgiakos is needed, particularly with those constant long throws. soto battled really well today, having said that i wouldn't pick him against teams like arsenal who move the ball quickly along the ground.

he's proved he can cope at this level, i wish he came to england much earlier in his career he would be a better player than he is now had he done so

Generally I agree with you but he did well in the Carling Cup against Arsenal and Skrtel was the one that was exposed in that game. It will be interesting to see whether he starts against Spurs. Defoe is one of the sharpest and fastest fowards in the league and I'm sure he'd cause Kyrgiakos problems, but if they play Crouch up with Defoe rather than Keane, there's probably no one else better equipped to deal with him.

Rafa has some thinking to do. Is Agger back for that game?

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Quality little article written by former Liverpool striker Stan Colleymore, praising Alani. :tup: :gr:

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/co...icle290973.html

Kyrgiakos may be keeping Rafa in a job, but Liverpool will still finish in the top four

By Stan Collymore

I have been one of Rafa Benitez’s most outspoken critics in the last 18 months but I still think he will get Liverpool into the top four this season.

It says a lot of about Liverpool’s troubles that Sotirios Kyrgiakos could become an unlikely poster boy for the ’new Liverpool’.

His goal and performance at Stoke in the 1-1 draw was impressive.

The 30-year-old journeyman that Rafa brought from AEK Athens because he couldn’t afford an A-list back up for his leaky centre halves, did not let Liverpool down.

The big pony-tailed Greek put in a sterling performance at The Britannia and may typify the less football, more grit of the new Reds.

Liverpool have now taken seven points from a possible nine in their last three League games.

I watched the whole 90 odd minutes at the Britannia and this isn’t an easy-on-the-eye Liverpool side.

Injuries have taken their toll and confidence is fragile but without Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, they just need to be ugly, organised and rack up points if they are going to get into the top four.

Rafa has guaranteed that and I still believe they will do it despite Stoke’s heartbreaking late equaliser.

And it is no-nonsense men such as Kyrgiakos who like to roll up their sleeves which can keep Rafa in a job right now.

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I've been Kyrgiakos' biggest fan for years. Funnily enough my favourite defenders in the past 10-15 years are, in the prime, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, and John Terry. They aren't necessarily the best defenders because one would have to include the likes of Cannavaro, Nesta, etc, in that list.

But I tend to like big, strong, passionate, aerially dominant defenders. The British style defender if you will. How many of the above were technically gifted? None. It's useful to have a defender with good ball distribution and skill, but it's not essential. I want my defenders to be able to defend. Kyrgiakos is a brick wall, if he had pace he'd be one of the world's great defenders, i dont care whether or not he can pass. It's irrelevant because he can defend and he's a leader.

The point i'm making is that I too think Kyrgiakos is a donkey. He has as much grace as the Nutty Professor on ice skates! Who cares? He's an animal and what he does well he does excellently. So I think Collymore's article is a great compliment rather than an insult/back handed compliment.

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Kyrgiakos played a full game in Liverpool's crunch-encounter with Tottenham. Both are vying for that all-important 4th spot (Champions League spot) and Liverpool won 2-0 with Kyrgiakos putting in another sterling performance! :tup: :gr:

Both Goal.com & Skyports awarded him an 8 out of 10 for the 2nd game in a row.

Goal.com's analysis of his performance:

Continued his fine form from the weekend with another powerful aerial display against Crouch. One slip almost gave Defoe a goal, but otherwise the Greek was dominant again. Could even have picked up another goal when he fired straight at Gomes in the dying minutes.

While Sky Sports simply commented: "Mangnificent".

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2667/player...l-2-0-tottenham

http://www.skysports.com/football/user_rat...3236695,00.html

I knew Alani would be ok versus Crouch and Defoe because when Greece lost 4-0 away at England in a friendly a few years ago all the goals came in the first half. In the 2nd half Kyrgiakos came off the bench and he was superb against Defoe. I hope these aren't just 2 good games and are actually signs of him starting to settle :gr:

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