Cyprus vs. Greece ( 7 October 2017, GSP Stadium, Nicosia )

[Boxou]

1 hour ago, Rockafeller Skank said:

What worries me is if we dont win by 2 or 3 goals so that we might be kicked from the 2nd teams Ranking.

that doesn't matter..if the results go our way even an 1-0 win against cyprus and gibraltar will be more than enough...

[Rockafeller Skank]

1 hour ago, Boxou said:

that doesn't matter..if the results go our way even an 1-0 win against cyprus and gibraltar will be more than enough...

it does matter. I made a complete analysis on what might happen. worst case scenario we ll be fighting with Ireland on Goal Difference, although we already have the upper hand and easier programme. It's relaly better to look ahead and score a few goals.

[Boxou]

1 hour ago, Rockafeller Skank said:

it does matter. I made a complete analysis on what might happen. worst case scenario we ll be fighting with Ireland on Goal Difference, although we already have the upper hand and easier programme. It's relaly better to look ahead and score a few goals.

no that's wrong. if ireland (13 points at the moment) draw wales (14 points at the moment) in the last matchday  it means that none of them can reach 19 points which will be what greece will have if they finish second. which means beating gibraltar and cyprus only with only one goal doesn't even matter unless we get the 3 points

 

Edited October 1, 2017 by Boxou

[Rockafeller Skank]

3 hours ago, Boxou said:

no that's wrong. if ireland (13 points at the moment) draw wales (14 points at the moment) in the last matchday  it means that none of them can reach 19 points which will be what greece will have if they finish second. which means beating gibraltar and cyprus only with only one goal doesn't even matter unless we get the 3 points

 

Points vs last placed team don't count. I ve made a complete analysis I think in the last Belgium matchday. Go look it up to enlighten you that goal difference is going to be crucial. It's not good to be dependant on other results as well. Taking a good lead will be extremely helpful to put the pressure away from us and torwards Wales/Ireland.

[gsots]

Paidia, God help us if we can't score some goals these next 2 games. Honestly, put our 3 world class cbs out there and let them dominate on defence, they'll literally beat the s#!t out of Cyprus' offensive threats. 

Edited October 1, 2017 by gsots

[Boxou]

12 hours ago, Rockafeller Skank said:

Points vs last placed team don't count. I ve made a complete analysis I think in the last Belgium matchday. Go look it up to enlighten you that goal difference is going to be crucial. It's not good to be dependant on other results as well. Taking a good lead will be extremely helpful to put the pressure away from us and torwards Wales/Ireland.

you're wrong again. if wales draw ireland it means none of them can reach 19 points hence they will be sitting behind greece in the 2nd placed teams table. goals matter ONLY in case we're tied up in points, which we'll NOT be if they drop points and greece win both their upcoming games finishing second in the group. 

on other words since you bring up the last placed teams onto discussion. greece have 11 points atm, if greece wins cyprus we'll be in 14. wales have 8 and have 2 games that both can give them points (georgia and ireland) IF they don't win both it means THEY CAN'T reach 14 which is the key number.

[J1078]

1 hour ago, Boxou said:

you're wrong again. if wales draw ireland it means none of them can reach 19 points hence they will be sitting behind greece in the 2nd placed teams table. goals matter ONLY in case we're tied up in points, which we'll NOT be if they drop points and greece win both their upcoming games finishing second in the group. 

on other words since you bring up the last placed teams onto discussion. greece have 11 points atm, if greece wins cyprus we'll be in 14. wales have 8 and have 2 games that both can give them points (georgia and ireland) IF they don't win both it means THEY CAN'T reach 14 which is the key number.

You're wrong we currently have 13 points and once you minus the firs win against Gibraltar we are currently sitting at 10 points NOT 11 which means the best we can finish is19 points in our group minus 6 points for the two wins (if we bet Gibraltar) is 13 points NOT 14. That's why goals will play a role. We can only reach a maximum of 13points that's why what @Rockafeller Skank is saying is right.

Edited October 2, 2017 by J1078

[Rockafeller Skank]

Check my post in the matchthread against Belgium. It can inform you abou the situation. 

[Rockafeller Skank]

14 hours ago, gsots said:

Paidia, God help us if we can't score some goals these next 2 games. Honestly, put our 3 world class cbs out there and let them dominate on defence, they'll literally beat the s#!t out of Cyprus' offensive threats. 

Torosidis on the Right and Tzavellas on the Left are good offensive options. I would not waste an extra spot with a player who can't contribute offensively.

Cyprus wants the win as well so they ll play open and try to attack as well. I do not believe we ll find it hard to score against a Cyprus who is not parking the bus with our complete roster and with the welcome addition of Lazaros 

[Boxou]

1 hour ago, J1078 said:

You're wrong we currently have 13 points and once you minus the firs win against Gibraltar we are currently sitting at 10 points NOT 11 which means the best we can finish is19 points in our group minus 6 points for the two wins (if we bet Gibraltar) is 13 points NOT 14. That's why goals will play a role. We can only reach a maximum of 13points that's why what @Rockafeller Skank is saying is right.

still it DOESN'T mind. what's so hard to understund? if wales drop points against ireland they CAN'T REACH GREECE'S POINTS and they will be sitting behind. they have 8, if they fail to win once, they can't reach even 13 points!!!!!!!!! goals will not matter in that case...........

[Ellada2004]

^^Thats right

[Rockafeller Skank]

@Boxou

What you re not taking into account is the fact that Wales DO NOT have the 2nd spot for Granted. If Ireland wins them or if another team ends up being on the run for last worst placed 2nd, the Goal difference is going ot be a key factor as many teams will probably end up with the same points as us when u decrease the points from the last placed team.

A 2-0 or 3-0 win over Cyprus sorta locks our spot, as there are other teams with equal points to us  who have a GD similar to us. 

Obviously scrap the win 0-1 and i ll take it but it would definately not hurt to score 2 or 3 which I think, is managable, since the team itself wants to prove themselves after two bad results in September.

[Boxou]

7 minutes ago, Rockafeller Skank said:

@Boxou

What you re not taking into account is the fact that Wales DO NOT have the 2nd spot for Granted. If Ireland wins them or if another team ends up being on the run for last worst placed 2nd, the Goal difference is going ot be a key factor as many teams will probably end up with the same points as us when u decrease the points from the last placed team.

A 2-0 or 3-0 win over Cyprus sorta locks our spot, as there are other teams with equal points to us  who have a GD similar to us. 

Obviously scrap the win 0-1 and i ll take it but it would definately not hurt to score 2 or 3 which I think, is managable, since the team itself wants to prove themselves after two bad results in September.

with a draw in that game (wales-ireland) it means none of these teams can potentially grab as much points as greece can, and in that case goals won't matter because we'll be sitting above them. that's what im talking about all day long.

[georgelaz]

if kpaps is healthy, he's an automatic starter. we must adjust the lineup for him to play. he's not only a great defender. he's extremely great on set pieces because of his aerial ability. The Greek Sergio Ramos in that regard haha ;)

also LOL

 

Edited October 2, 2017 by georgelaz

[Rockafeller Skank]

3 hours ago, Boxou said:

with a draw in that game (wales-ireland) it means none of these teams can potentially grab as much points as greece can, and in that case goals won't matter because we'll be sitting above them. that's what im talking about all day long.

yep. and if that draw does not come?
Why not take the matter to our own hands. with a 3-0 win we re sorta locked to be above Wales/Ireland. That's what we ve been saying all along. Waiting for others to get your result is way too much anxiety for a team.

[Boxou]

if the draw does not come then the most likely result to happen is a welsh victory and then they will be a point above us. so yeah if a draw doesn't come we can score 100 goals to cyprus and still sit behind wales.

at the moment it's MUCH more important for the results to go our way than caring about how much goals we'll score.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Boxou

[Boxou]

up to date news; simunovic and bicakcic are injured for bosnia and zukanovic is suspended. all of them are defenders. and also aside of pjanic, prcic will also miss that game...

[Ellada2004]

Martinez has called up his A players for the game vs Bosnia and Cyprus with the exception of Naingohlan as the two are not seeing eye to eye. Still they should field a quality side vs Bosnia and with Pjanic out along with others Belgium should win comfortably.

[ausgreek]

The obvious issue with Kyriako is that he is overwhelmingly the least reliable player the pirates could choose. He can't play 2 games in a row, over a long period of time. It's been the case for the National team.

Who else gets suspended for 2 matches in soccer?

Edited October 3, 2017 by ausgreek

[Boxou]

up to date news about belgium; kompany, witsel, dembele and naingolan are out and lukaku with fellaini have a serious chance of missing the game as well with an ankle injury..

 

[Rockafeller Skank]

Dembele , Kompany weren't even going to be starters. The only real player they are missing is Naingollan and Lukaku. Although they have CFs who are too good to not score at the bad defenders of Bosnia (since even their starters will be missing).

[Boxou]

kompany was going to be a starter over vermaelen, so would dembele instead of fellaini, chadli or tielemans (whoever is going to replace him). although i suspect they can pull of those absences. what i do expect;

(3-5-2)

courtouis

alderweilerd-vertonghen-vermaelen

fellaini/tielemans, chadli

meunier, hazard

de bruyne, batshuayi/lukaku, mertens

 

bosnian team should be like this

begovic

kolasinac, sunjic, dumic/cocalic, vrsajevic

hajrovic, besic, cimirot, lulic/visca

dzeko, ibisevic

 

[Argy]

Bosnians are heavily outmatched in this one. Hopefully that translates to the field. 

19 hours ago, georgelaz said:

if kpaps is healthy, he's an automatic starter. we must adjust the lineup for him to play. he's not only a great defender. he's extremely great on set pieces because of his aerial ability. The Greek Sergio Ramos in that regard haha

 

K Pap can't put two games together for Greece it's mind-boggling. I agree though when healthy you play 3 CB or have KPap and a DM. Too much talent to leave on the bench. 

[Boxou]

i also like the idea of a 3 man defence and a 3-4-1-2 formation, but i doubt it's going to work out for a team like greece. also torosidis unlikely to be able to play as a full back for a whole game but i expect someone like mpakakis or koutris in a few years to be able to do so. not many teams are able to pull off such a formation effectively but i would give it a try in a couple of friendly games. too much of a 4-2-3-1 formation even at times when it's obvious it can't work out (see estonia game)

ps cholebas would fit perfectly in such a system imo; 

karnezis

sokratis papadopoulos manolas

stafylidis samaris kourmpelis cholebas

fortounis

donis mitroglou

Edited October 3, 2017 by Boxou

[Boxou]

im reading de bruyne is also doubtful for the game 

i still think however that with all those misses it's just less likely for belgium to win rather than bosnia to get what they want from that match. what i see if all of them miss the game is a draw