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Euro 2020 Qualifying


Blackhawk

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Greece were disappointing in Nations League, definitely should have finished in 1st. Losing in Finland with an uninspired effort was what cost us the group. Although I will give Finland credit they have improved over the last year with a good run of results even recording a draw in Croatia in World Cup qualifying. Skibbes tactics and call ups screwed things up for us in this competition as was the case in Hungary bringing on Tzavellas. He was at fault for both goals in the 2-1 loss and couldn't keep up with the pace of the Hungarian forwards. Had the last game vs Estonia still mattered for first place Ange would have played the best starting 11 possible and I believe we at least get a 1-0 win. So now with the new coach starting off the Euro campaign and hopefully having our key players available from injury ie. Donis I can see us being much better. My prediction is Italy, Greece, Bosnia, Finland, Armenia, Liechenstein.

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I do believe playing Donis will make a huge difference only because of his speed.  Defensively,  by and large we can agree that we are pretty solid (for the most part).  Having a player being able to beat other players with speed will make all the difference.

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4 hours ago, Brklyngrk said:

I do believe playing Donis will make a huge difference only because of his speed.  Defensively,  by and large we can agree that we are pretty solid (for the most part).  Having a player being able to beat other players with speed will make all the difference.

Yes Donis will absolutely help with his speed and taking on defenders. Hopefully he can get off to a great start in the first two matches and our attack can be more potent going forward. Defensively we are solid with 2 world class CBs but overall we should be better in keeping more clean sheets as we did under Santos. Hopefully in these qualifiers the team improves in this area, we can't be conceding 2 goals to the likes of Finland and Hungary. 

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It was a stroke of luck that Greece avoided Belgium, France and Spain who are the toughest sides in Pot 1 and dodging Germany was crucial. In this group we should be able to get 2nd . Bosnia tend to lose or drop points to weaker sides as was the case last WCUP qualifying when Cyprus beat them. I could see them faltering vs Finland and maybe even Armenia. If Greece are sharp and at there best will be punching our ticket to Euro 2020!

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As much as I want to be optimistic for this upcoming Euro its difficult.. We have nothing positive to go on. Unfortunately we don't know what style of play this team is going to adhere to, We don't know which players are going to be called up. This to me looks like it has the potential to go south pretty fast as with a new coach a new system and new players implanted will always have a learning period and usually is not successful right away.. Italy has issues but they will be fine in this group and will not miss another tournament, Bosnia are in great form right now and have been playing the same players and style for a while and they easily won their Nations Group. Finland are in great form as well and they will be riding on a high with a lot of confidence after winning their nations League group.. I mean from all the teams the most unsure team is us we have no clue what team is going to show up... We have nothing in the past 4 years to hang onto and be positive about leading into this euro qualifiers other then 1 draw with Belgium and 2 draws with Bosnia… I hope I'm wrong and we come out with a new look and new energy  but I just don't see it right now....

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I am more optimistic about the Italy games then the ones against Armenia. I know against Italy we will do what we do best and defend and catch them on the counter. Against Finland I believe we will beat them twice. I really do. If we go in these qualifiers as underdogs then we should do well and even claim 2nd spot. 

Edited by Dean97
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Assistant coach Basinas  what he said about the style of play the Greek Nt was accustomed too. He says everyone was complaining that we weren't playing good soccer and they were sick of seeing 1-0 results so they changed their philosophy and look what happened. He's pretty much saying it all has to start from defence first and keeping the 0 goals against..  I agree 100% with what he is saying..

Για το ότι οι επιτυχίες της Εθνικής ήρθαν με αμυντικογενές σύστημα και ότι αυτό άλλαξε στην πορεία: «Ένα μερίδιο ευθύνης το έχουν και οι δημοσιογράφοι. Έλεγαν ότι η Εθνική ομάδα δεν παίζει ελκυστικό ποδόσφαιρο. Μέχρι που ήρθε η επιτυχία έλεγαν “τι να πάμε να δούμε, το 1-0”. Όταν ήθελαν να αλλάξει στιλ η Εθνική, είδαν ότι δεν μπορεί να γίνει διαφορετικά. Δεν λέω ότι πρέπει να παίξουμε αμυντικά, όμως αυτό είναι το Α και το Ω στο ποδόσφαιρο, να κρατήσεις το μηδέν πίσω. Οι επιτυχίες έρχονται με αυτό που μπορείς, όχι με αυτό που θες να παίξεις. Όλες οι Εθνικές ομάδες θα κάνουν κοιλιά κάποια στιγμή. Το θέμα είναι ότι εμείς δεν έχουμε το περιθώριο να κάνουμε μεγαλύτερη κοιλιά. Βλέπουμε ήδη πως αρχίζουν να δυσκολεύουν και οι κληρώσεις. Πρέπει να αρχίσουμε από το μηδέν και να χτίσουμε ξανά. Αν δεν έρθει η επιτυχία τώρα, θα ζήσουμε πολύ πιο δύσκολες καταστάσεις. Θα πρέπει να βγάλουμε το "εγώ" μας και να βάλουμε το "εμείς", για να επιστρέψει η Εθνική στις μεγάλες διοργανώσεις. Πιστεύουμε στον Έλληνα ποδοσφαιριστή ότι μπορεί. Το μόνο που λείπει είναι η νοοτροπία. Αν αλλάξει αυτό, θα πετύχουμε μεγάλα πράγματα», κατέληξε.

Here is the entire interview below..

http://www.sport-fm.gr/article/podosfairo/mpasinas-na-baloume-to-‘emeis’-panw-apo-to-‘egw’-stin-ethniki/3571754

Edited by J1078
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3 hours ago, J1078 said:

He says everyone was complaining that we weren't playing good soccer and they were sick of seeing 1-0 results so they changed their philosophy and look what happened.

Well, actually I was sick of seeing 0-1 results. Not 1-0 results. We never really changed our style of play. We just stopped defending AND attacking.

But yeah. A strong defense is very important, we should stop LOSING so much. Especially against smaller teams.

Edited by LaputanMachine
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In my opinion the problem this team has always had was player selections. I think we have never have fielded an 11 that anyone has agreed with. We’ve neve had a proper 11. The only time I could think we did was when we beat Hungary 4-3 in the 2016 euro qualifiers. Mantalos was very in form at the time and Pelkas too. Stafylidis played LB and Holebas replaced him at the 2nd half. Tachtsidis and Samaris were in midfield which in my opinion are a good combination. That’s the only time where I though we had the RIGHT 11. 

Another problem with us is that we repeat the same mistakes. Eg. Playing Pelkas and Mantalos outwide. Playing Bakasetas and so on. The coach needs to understand what’s not working and start changing things. Like I thought a long time ago Pelkas should be our winger but he has proven he can’t do it there and we’ve learnt that. The logical thing to do is not to play him their again. That’s what smart coaches do. They know what the problem is and know how to fix it.

I believe we can be a decent attacking team that maintains a strong defence. Which then leads to playing the right players in midfield for the balance.

Something like this:

Vlacho

Toro Sok Man Koutris 

Kourbelis

Fortounis Galanopoulos 

Donis Mitroglou Chatzigiovannis 

A 4-3-3 with a balanced midfield. Fortounis a bit deeper than usual is the key here. Donis and Chatzigiovannis provide speed and skill outwide.

I was thinking of playing Pelkas or Mantalos where Galanopoulos is. But the first 2 need to sit on the bench. Kourbelis in the 6 role as he is good in shielding the defence. Zeca can play this role. 

We need to find a replacement for Torosidis. Retsos can replace him but he isn’t good enough in attack. For now though this is a decent line up and I believe the right line up.

Edited by Dean97
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That's a good assessment, Greece coaches in the last 4 years have failed to play our best starting 11. I remember that Hungary match were we won in wild fashion 4-3, but I think that was a strong lineup and the best at that time as you said. How in the world were Tzavellas and Tziolis playing in the last World Cup qualifying and even in the Nations league? There are way better options for those two players. Also Siovas not being on the field except when Ange came in and he played vs Finland, the guy plays in La Liga for crying out loud. 

Pelkas and Mantalos playing on the outside has proven not to work yet they still keep playing them there. Mantalos has totally lost his confidence in the last year or so and I dont know if I would go with him for the Euro qualifiers.

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Guys I’m going to have to disagree, the only thing that has separated Greece from teams like the Finland’s and Romania’s and so on and has allowed us to compete with the bigger clubs a has been our defence first mentally.. That Hungary game we scored 4 but allowed 3 if it was against a better offensive team then Hungary then they would have put 5 or 6 in against us.. It is very clear that this team to be successful needs to shut it down defensively.. Espescially at the moment where we don’t have a quality midfielder and on average score 0.2 goals a game.. As much as we hate that style I think we need to realize it’s the only way for this team to start climbing the fifa rankings and get back to tournaments.. When people would talk about the Greece team they would say how stingy and how solid we are defensively never have they said watch out for Greece’s offence.. i see our players and what they look like when they are on offence and it’s dreadful it honestly hurts my eyes. We have resorted to allow way to many goals against us from even the weakes of the world teams something we would never do in the past.

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If Greece get back to defending like we did in the Rehagel & Santos era we will be successful. We need to rely on our solid defensive play and hit teams on the counter and take our chances when they present themselves as was the case in Belgium.

Greece will be back in Euro 2020 we have made a final and won a major trophy unlike the eglesi who are still waiting after 52 years ?. Also there friends the Canadians here play in the very weak CONCACAF region and fail miserably every World Cup qualifying cycle. 

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Another observation, since Finland and Bosnia won there respective Nations League groups maybe they will slip up a bit by knowing that they have a second chance to qualify should they not place in the top 2 here and it may open the door for Greece. 

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9 hours ago, Ellada2004 said:

Another observation, since Finland and Bosnia won there respective Nations League groups maybe they will slip up a bit by knowing that they have a second chance to qualify should they not place in the top 2 here and it may open the door for Greece. 

Nations League system is really flawed. We are in a group with Finland. Let's say they need a win against us in the last game and we have no chance to qualify anymore. We can just let them win and take their spot at the Nations League Play-Offs.

I doubt it will come to this, but this is a very flawed system.

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32 minutes ago, LaputanMachine said:

Nations League system is really flawed. We are in a group with Finland. Let's say they need a win against us in the last game and we have no chance to qualify anymore. We can just let them win and take their spot at the Nations League Play-Offs.

I doubt it will come to this, but this is a very flawed system.

It wouldn't matter in Greece's case because we wouldn't get that spot anyways since we finished 3rd but I see what you are saying its a good point if in the future if those circumstances present themselves a team would definitely throw the game..

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4 minutes ago, J1078 said:

It wouldn't matter in Greece's case because we wouldn't get that spot anyways since we finished 3rd but I see what you are saying its a good point if in the future if those circumstances present themselves a team would definitely throw the game..

Oh man. i totally forgot that we LOST to Estonia.

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On 12/11/2018 at 8:47 AM, LaputanMachine said:

Nations League system is really flawed. We are in a group with Finland. Let's say they need a win against us in the last game and we have no chance to qualify anymore. We can just let them win and take their spot at the Nations League Play-Offs.

I doubt it will come to this, but this is a very flawed system.

Actually doesn't work that way. Let's say that scenario came to be. First Greece wouldn't get because of being 3rd. But let's say Greece was 2nd in Nations league. If Finland qualifies their spot goes to best 2nd place Group C not 2nd place of the Finland group. 

Edited by Torontoblue
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4 hours ago, PAOTHEGREAT said:

Are you in Canada?   I'm born in Canada and thank my dad every day for making the decision to make the move over.   That said we don't play soccer over here....Hockey! Lol.    Now you brought up England....I would trade the 2004 trophy,   and in return bring over English soccer to Greece.    Have you seen the SUPA league lately?   How do we expect success on the National level,   when our soccer is at a division 2 pace and quality?    IMO it all starts at the grass roots.   So I'm predicting a 3rd finish at best,   5 points behind Bosnia.  At the end of the day Ellada 2004,   Greece has lost everything they built from the late 1990s and into the 2000s,  on all levels from league play up to the NT level.    Let's look at our peak roster in 2004....almost all the players had years of experience playing as starters on teams that competed in Europe,   CL and Europa.  So tell me,   how many players currently on this squad have that experience playing against the best,  as starters?   Maybe 6?   Are we going to count Mitro,  Fortonis?  We have nothing in the midfield,  our LB, and RB are terrible.   The only world class players we have are playing CB and the goalkeeper....do we have anything else?   

England aside from there rigged win and last finals appearance in 1966 have done squat for the so called "home" of football. They are nothing. Greece have a Euro trophy and I doubt they will ever play in a Euro finals or another World Cup final!

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4 hours ago, PAOTHEGREAT said:

Are you in Canada?   I'm born in Canada and thank my dad every day for making the decision to make the move over.   That said we don't play soccer over here....Hockey! Lol.    Now you brought up England....I would trade the 2004 trophy,   and in return bring over English soccer to Greece.    Have you seen the SUPA league lately?   How do we expect success on the National level,   when our soccer is at a division 2 pace and quality?    IMO it all starts at the grass roots.   So I'm predicting a 3rd finish at best,   5 points behind Bosnia.  At the end of the day Ellada 2004,   Greece has lost everything they built from the late 1990s and into the 2000s,  on all levels from league play up to the NT level.    Let's look at our peak roster in 2004....almost all the players had years of experience playing as starters on teams that competed in Europe,   CL and Europa.  So tell me,   how many players currently on this squad have that experience playing against the best,  as starters?   Maybe 6?   Are we going to count Mitro,  Fortonis?  We have nothing in the midfield,  our LB, and RB are terrible.   The only world class players we have are playing CB and the goalkeeper....do we have anything else?   

I don’t know if I would ever trade the 2004 trophy file. That was done though hard work and determination. We were the ultimate underdogs who played with a correct system and luckily had the right players for it. Our passion and drive got us a trophy with an excellent coach who figured out a way of how to make this team win. He focused on defence and played counter attacking football. We had an excellent leader in Zagorakis, we had the best RB in years in Seitaridis very solid defence and keeper and striker who is known for heading in Charisteas and had Karagounis in the peak of his career. There were some players that missed out still and we still won it like Georgatos, Zikos, Kyrgiakos, Nikolaidis was injured and a few others. 

Right now though I believe the talent is still their. Especially our youngsters. I believe the issue is not the super league but it does a play a certain role. I believe the passion and determination is not at the same level as it was. It has declined for some reason but it dosent mean our players don’t want to play for their country. In my opinion the players and team are not doing enough. If Greece play like the way Olympiakos did against AC Milan the other day then we should be ranked around the top 20 in the world.

I agree with what you said though we have no midfielders or full backs. Torosidis can still be an impact but his time is over at RB. He can still contribute off the bench if need be. We need proper and fast full backs. The best bet would be to play Koutris at LB. Every game he plays he is getting better and better and plays like a real professional. RB there are a lot of ??? to who should play there. For the CDM and CM positions we have a real problem... Zeca and Kourbelis are similar players that like to run down opponents and close down and help shield the defence. That’s what they are good for. They don’t offer anything in going forward. They can’t control the middle and dictate the game. In this modern game you need fast midfielders. Who think and move fast. Galanopoulos can improve the midfield but won’t be our saviour or isn’t the answer we need. We need Vidal type player or a player that we depend on to move the ball effectively and other teams are threatened by. We haven’t got anyone like that now. Also what do we do when Mitroglou is our?!? In my opinion we need a good coach who knows all these things and executes a plan of to turn this team into a respectable and competitive team again! At least we won a trophy so we can look back on and work towards that kind of glory again which has given us a belief for future generations to carry this glory again. The trophies matters more than how you play. At the end of the day a football team plays for a winning result!!

Edited by Dean97
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