Leaderboard

Game will be broadcast free on Laola1.tv Bravo Ivan.

Now this I agree with 100%. However, I think that the Veria game can't be the only one we judge those three together though because it was their first time playing together, we had a short rest after the PAOK game and only 3 days of practice to prepare the lineup, and historically under Dellas we are very poor in away games, even in G ethniki we struggled playing away. All these together plus the questionable calls by the referee give me a reason to believe that they will do better in this game. That being said, Barbosa is on some great form, he's starting to play like he did in the first half of last year, we shouldn't waste this form by benching him. We need him in Karaiskaki because we will need his defense and he's already played there before which should help.

Tziolis is on fire (by his standards) for PAOK. He's actually scored a goal, won a penalty and provided a couple of assists. I know, I was in shock too when he scored the goal.

Some observations. If you had asked Savvidis, Arnesen, Tudor or the fans before the game, if a draw is a good result, everyone would have said yes. So in terms of the result the game was a success. It is fair to say Dortmund are in the top 3 or 4 contenders for the competition, at least until the CL teams get involved in the knock out stages. Even then, based on what I saw, they'll be up there. In terms of the game itself, I was a little disappointed. But, I think my expectations were unrealistic. I wanted PAOK to "play" ball ie. have possession and go toe to toe with Dortmund. After watching the game, I think my expectations were foolish. Even Dortmund's "second string" players are a class above. Each player for Dortmund traps, passes and moves 10% quicker than the PAOK player, but all this combined meant we couldn't get and hold the ball. Still, I'm happy we played them, so that the players and the club realise what is involved in playing the big teams. I still think we played a little too deep though. This meant that Dortmund were always lurking around the penalty box. This is too dangerous for my liking. On another day, if everything clicked for them, they could be hitting 3 or 4 goals and this is the risk you take playing so deep. Tudor has every right to disagree though ... ;) Mak's goal was not luck. Dortmund I assume did their homework on him. They would've seen the goals he scored vs Brondby. They know he has pace. If Dortmund want to "roll the dice" and play a high line, then I'm fine with that. Cop a goal. They are probably fine with that too, because they are confident they can outscore the opposition. But either way, it wasn't luck. If that goal was a through ball from Iniesta to Messi, we'd all be like "ooh Barcelona" but if it's PAOK, it's lucky ? It's just a good play. Olsen ... buddy. I'm going to go against the grain here and say I think he did well. Sure the goal was his fault, but I've seen so many goals go in like that. Dozens. Hundreds. It happens. It's a split second call. Do you track the man or the ball ? The ball say the experts. In that case, why do I see these sorts of goals all the time, at the top level ? It happens. Glykos wouldn't have copped that goal! Sure, maybe not. He would have copped 3 goals instead. Overall, I think Olsen had a good game. Guys, I've said it before. Wake up. The GK you want doesn't exist. We can't go out and buy a GK of the class you want. It's not even a money issue. We can buy him. But a GK that good won't come to PAOK. We have to "make" a GK. Olsen is 25, good age. Let's see how he goes. If he doesn't work out ... he doesn't work out. We'll try again, but I'd have him over Glykos or Itandje.

We basically figured we'd get no points out of Dortmund for either match. Getting the draw is huge, and I can't see either of the other teams doing the same. I still don't know how good the soviets really are, but Toumba is a great equalizer.

9 defenders? Is Vyntra really necessary? No natural attacking wingers? Just Aravidis Karelis Kone and Karelis who are not natural wingers and get lost when they aren't playing in the middle? Mantalos, the kid is quality, he's got some amazing technical ability, but he's played a full 90 minutes once this year and has had 2 substitute appearances, sure he was solid in all 3 games but I don't think he should be called up already so soon after injury. Hopefully Samaris' Mitroglous and Fortounis' solid club form can carry over to the national team, we need all 3 to get their heads out of their asses when they play with the ethniki. Let's get a win! I'd start --------------------------/Karnezis Torosidis -------Sokratis-----Manolas ------------Holebas -------------Samaris ---Kyriakos ---Tachtsidis------------ ----------------------------Fortounis----------------------------- ----------------------Karelis---------Mitroglou------------------ We have no natural wingers, so we might as well stack the midfield with 4 players. K Pap sitting in front of the 4 man defense has been used before in the Hungary game, and he did better than Tziois or Samaris could do in that spot. Having him there allows Samaris to play in a more natural position for him and play as an 8ari, he won't have to worry as much about his defensive duty because he has K Pap back there covering for him. Tachtsidis should play just to get some more experience in these meaningless games, Tziolis isn't a long term answer and shouldn't play. Fortounis has just been incredible this year, in his only Champions League start he made the team of the week just for JVC. Mitroglou has done well so far for Benfica, and Karelis has done ok for Panathinaikos. Klaus I believe is coming off of injury and hasn't done much this year so I wouldn't start him. Aravidis' style of play does not match well with the Ethniki, he's a player that pressures the back line and makes runs off the ball, for the ethniki this doesn't work because he is the only one doing it and it's not effective. On the ball he isn't great, I'd compare him to Salpigidis post Euro 2012, a great professional, works hard, but on the ball he's just not good enough for this level, even though he's better than Salpigidis was the last few years. Truth be told, in his only two caps he was played out of position, much like Salpigidis was, but his performance was still shocking. With this lineup we'd have lots and lots of height. K Pap Manolas Sokratis Tachtsidis and Mitroglou are all tall. Karelis Torosidis and Samaris aren't as tall as the others but they aren't short and all have solid headers. With Fortounis and Holebas, we should threaten from set pieces. But with this clown Tsanas as coach we wouldn't use that lineup, we'd probably start this: Karnezis Torosidis Sokratis Manolas Holebas Samaris Tziolis Karelis Fortounis Aravidis Mitroglou

balte sthn mpizou ton xontro kai rixte ton gayro b' e8nikh na teleiwnoume re ! B)

All good, ticket purchased