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Everyone complains about how terrible we played.... can anyone here remind me as to when Greece played attractive football?? For the time I've been watching Greece, they've played ugly football, grinding out results that generally end up in a 1-0 victory to us. How many times have we struggled against Moldova, Latvia, Luxemberg in qualifiers ?? Were in a good position for qualification, 3 point buffer on Bosnia, kept them at 1 lucky goal and we go into the Belgium game with a chance to take the top spot.

Funny that the player who score a beautiful goal happens to be the man you guys we're bashing throughout this match. You better kiss his butt. He saved our World Cup Qualifying for now.

For everyone in here constantly hating on Tzavellas: YOU ARE CLUELESS ABOUT FOOTBALL!!!!!! NAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

This goal might be the goal that will change our campaign. after a dreadful first 35 minutes. The boys showed great spirit. we can beat bosnia away if we prepare ourseleves and show up. as for Belgium I just hope the pirate ship shows up.

The problem is we are gonna either have to beat them away which seems impossible based on this form or get something off Belgium which is even more unlikely, our goal difference is never gonna stack up. one of those situations where at least the destiny is in our own hands.

I actually really like skibbe's selections for the match. almost the best we could do under the circumstances. I like tzavellas and given the manolas injury he makes sense at the back. he also came in handy that we had an extra CB because of the kpaps red. Which was totally underdeserved. We could have even gotten a win. Their goalie saved them a lot.

The Bosnians are going to get what's coming, I can't wait till early June!

Full Match Preview incoming. We played poorly, I agree, but not as poorly as everyone decides to propose we did. Second half I saw one chance from Bosnia and 3-4 good ones from us. DEFENCE:Ibisevic, Dzeko, Pjanic , Lulic they are world class , all of them. And what did they really get? Their crucial chances were a Pjanic shot at 75' and a lucky static shot at the woodwork. You make it look like their other chances were awesome. Our defence , kept only one lucky goal from that offence, and with one of our starter CBs missing. Maniatis and Samaris were very poor offensively, in fact they were very poor in total, but they never left their defensive duties unattended. The only mistakes I give our defence are 2, and both go to our best player: a) Sokratis failing an offside trap on Dzeko, but shortly after making up for it. b) Sokratis making a foul for almost no reason (since help was comming from Stafylidis in less than 2 clicks o time) which gave them the lead. MIDFIELD: Lost from the beginning, poor game from Samaris, Maniatis running up and down but really nothing useful with the ball on his feet. I really hope Zeka takes Maniatis spot as he is the exactly same type of player (running up and down marking players, and not the best option to help offensively). Tachtsidis creativity would have given us more up front and far more chances. I really believe the whole reason our offense is not working, despite having very creative players like Fortounis, Mantalos, Gianniotas in it , is there exists no transition in the midfield. My belief on this? Skibbe has the "ας κρατησουμε το 0 Priority" so he always fills the midfield with fully defensive and fast moving players. And to be fair, its working, OFFENCE: Mantalos not existent, not at all. Did nothing up front but can't really blame him. Lulic was on that side, and he had to help Toro in his defensive duties( I 'll say more on the rating part.). Mitroglou had some real good chances , like that cross that didnt even realise it could go through, and the tet-a-tet that begovic luckily kept out with his shoulder. Best chance to make sure it goes on was to shoot it that way, it was a good shot, and I liked that he kept his calm and shot so well. Save was even better. Also was ready to receive that cross from Toro with his head with excelent positioning. Guy needs good serving , but when he gets it, u re sure he ll score. Nothing more to say.Fortounis got it with the long shot, Had an exactly same chance with Belarus, boy seems unlucky. Pretty closed from 2 players of Bosnia 24/7 but the other 2 midfielders(Yes im talking abotu Sama/Maniati) didn't take advante from it. What possibly happened? As I previously mentioned, they were only supposed to have defensive duties. If that's what really happened, is Skibbe to blame? Yes. Stafylidis off position, but another player who was playing midfield/offence but was seen lots of time covering for Tzavellas and even helping him. I don't know why Tzavellas took the MVP award and not him. Really proves to be better everytime he plays. I expect him to be in the starting line up against Belgium as well, because we are gonna need someone extra to defend. He and Gianniotas seemed to be the best players who can control high balls in 1 touch. He had a good run which he crossed to Mitroglou but im my humble opinion he should have shot it(even if it was with his right foot). I expect him to get a good signing in 1-2 years, really shows passion with the team, and is a key player of a mediocre bundesliga team at this age. Gianniotas really gives breath to the team. Fast runs, smart no look passes and such. There is lots of room for improvement, but he is better than anyone we ve tried at Right Flank. He is too hessitant to shoot because he is afraid of being called selfish. I hope this changes. GK: He was very very good, Nothing could be done at the goal. Seeing how bad the Cypriot GK is makes it obvious we are lucky to have him. Just lets hope we don't need a penalty shootout, ever? Karnezis :8 Torosidis :7. Why do you hate? He has a guy named Lulic to mark , and that guy is fast as hell, he made him look useless, of course you can't expect him to be as good as he was in previous matches offensively , when we were playing nonamer oppositions. Sokratis: 6 Our worst defender today. Talking about defensive duties only. made a foul for no reason and we conceded from it, failed an offside trap but made up for it. Got more than 4 because he literally kicked Dzeko out of the game by being annoying. This gave us the opportunity to pressure and actually score. Stupid to give that foul, knowing that Bosnians on set pieces are literally beast mode. K. Papadopoulos: 6. Did no real mistake but he was missmatched when marking Dzeko, who was his initial personal opponent. That's why Manolas would be a lot more handy here. At points when he was on Ibisevic, he was fine. Tzavellas: 6,5. He scored, but most of the chances came again from his side, Stafylidis spent half the match helping him. Also scared to go high a lot, probably Skibbe orders. Maniatis 4. Runs a lot, applies pressure to opponents who try to create a chance.Always there when needed in defence, we never were outnumbered in defence because of both Maniatis and Samaris. But, no help in transition, no offensive help to Fortounis who was marked by 2. Maybe Skibbe orders as well. Samaris 4. Looked like he was playing a 3rd Centerback. Poor passes and kept the ball for no reason at points. *Bonus for Samaris-Maniatis combo: Can't really say we saw Pjanic do his usual magic tricks. I didn't really keep an eye on what was happening on the field, Im a guy who keeps looking at the ball, the guys who tape and rewatch the match can tell us. Possibility these 2 were unseen is that their dirty work was to keep Pjanic at bay. Until we rewatch the match we can't tell. If they really did this, they deserve a lot better ranking and a lot less hate. Fortounis: 6 No mistake, no losing the ball on bad spots, has vision but plays very high to utilize it. Was well closed from the opponent mids. Mantalos: 5. Helped torosidis a lot with Lulic. Nothing offensively. Combined well with Toro and Fortounis to make the crossbar chance happen. Gianniotas 6. Pressured the enemy defender but that guy looks buffed as f*ck. 50 kg against 80 can't get you much. Won the crucial free throw that got us the goal, deserves credit. TV presenters said he was not given a couple of fouls. I disagree with them. Stafylidis: 7. The real MVP for me. Running, crossing, defending. Everything, was everywhere. Gonna be a key player for the NT. Slightly overrated because he played out of position, and still made it. Mitroglou: 5,5. Had his chances, didn't execute. He should have delivered at least once. TooLong-Didn'tRead version: We were bad at first half becuase we were afraid to play offensively. We played offensively at 2nd half and I think we dominated it.(alongside bosnian coach helping us). Bosnian offence needed defensive care, and we had what it takes to keep them at bay.Sokratis bad match. Few key chances for us like woodworks and tetatets. Draw deserved in total. Reminds of old Greek NT.

Bosnian fans reacted to "knife wire srebrenica" which to be fair was probably done by Serb fans working in greece. http://www.klix.ba/sport/nogomet/navijaci-grcke-tokom-utakmice-digli-transparent-noz-zica-srebrenica/161113084 greece goes to Zenica now so should be very interesting.

True to an extent. the 2 leg playoff against Romania for the last World Cup we looked like Barcelona compared to the way we are now, outgunning them 4-2 on aggregate, granted you had mitroglou in career best form at the time.

I didnt say such a thing. But he is our 3rd option CB for a reason. Full post after the whole Energy this screamer gave me incoming.

2 points in the next 2 games would almost certainly give us 2nd spot. managing our goal difference will also be crucial, we are currently +4 ahead of Bosnia, they have something like 5 players suspended for the Gibraltar game including dzeko so they may struggle to run up the score. It's important that if we do lose against Belgium its as narrow as possible.

Crucial 3 points ahead of Bosnia. Next 2 games (Belgium & Bosnia away) are the big ones that will determine if we go to Russia or not.

Shame we didn't get maximum points at home but we played average at best and that's being generous. But main thing is we got a point at the death and it keeps us in 2nd spot with a big chance. Great hit by Tzavellas also. Papadopoulos is just stupid for what he did infront of the Assist Ref now he's out for Belgium away so we better hope Manolas and Sorati don't get injured and are fit in March.

In your face grown up! TZAVELLAS!!!

By the way. Greek mode on. ΡΕΖΙΛΙ. ΑΠΛΑ ΡΕΖΙΛΙ Ο ΚΥΡΙΑΚΟΣ ΠΑΠΑΔΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ ΕΝΑΣ ΤΟΣΟ ΕΞΥΠΝΟΣ ΠΑΙΧΤΗΣ ΝΑ ΤΡΑΜΠΟΥΚΙΖΕΙ ΤΟΝ ΔΙΑΙΤΗΤΗ ΕΠΕΙΔΗ ΔΕΝ ΕΔΙΞΕ ΚΟΚΚΙΝΗ ΣΤΟΝ ΝΤΖΕΚΟ, ΕΠΕΙΔΗ ΔΕΝ ΘΥΜΟΤΑΝ ΟΤΙ ΕΧΕΙ ΗΔΗ ΚΙΤΡΙΝΗ. ΕΝΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΑΡΑΠΑΝΩ ΠΟΥ Ο ΜΑΝΟΛΑΣ ΠΡΕΠΕΙ ΝΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΒΑΣΙΚΟΣ. ΔΕΝ ΕΧΩ ΤΙΠΟΤΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΠΑΙΚΤΗ, ΤΟΝ ΙΜΠΙΣΕΒΙΤΣ ΠΟΥΤ@Ν@ ΤΟΥ ΤΟΝ ΕΚΑΝΕ, ΑΛΛΑ ΑΝ ΠΡΕΠΕΙ ΝΑ ΔΙΑΛΕΞΩ ΜΕΤΑΞΥ ΤΟΥ ΤΕΛΕΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΛΥ ΚΑΛΟΥ, ΣΟΡΥ ΓΚΑΙΖ ΑΛΛΑ ΘΑ ΠΑΡΩ ΤΟ 1Ο.

I would have taken a draw away so this isn't bad for bosnia. See you in Zenica !!!!! :)

TZAVELLAS MVP OEOEOE!!! HAHAHAHA

no we are not, he played poorly whole game, scored a goal and deserves credit for it.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Here's the problem with thisshit version of a 4-2-3-1. if you're gonna play with just four attackers you need: two outstanding wingers, a target man and a number 10. weve got the number 10 in fortounis. But Mitro has the first touch of a garbage truck and can't hold the ball up. Mantalos is another 10 forced out wide. Staf is a left back for F*** sakes. you also need fullbacks who can make forward runs. Toro has lost that part of his game and Tzavellas never had it. Plus defensive mids who know how to retain possession and control a game. Maniatis is a joke. And Samaria has shown no aptitude for game management. But hey, skibbe got the center back pairing right!!

When we pressure them we create chances. Manolas missing is a big minus as he has the physical ability to stop Dzeko one on one , and doesnt need 3 defenders on him. I know everyone has been praising K pap being a starter since like 2010 but honestly he is far inferior to the Manolas-Sokratis duet. Mitroglou nice chance, smart run to not let defenders even think what he is about to do. Mantalos unexistent in the game so far, I hope 45' Gianniotas gets a shot.

Where's Otto Rehhagel when you need him?

Offical!

Now imagine a player as good defensively as Manolas and as creative as Mantalos. His name would be Mantolas.

I dont know if we started out as favourites by the bookmakers, but i just checked now on bet365 and we are slight underdogs. The best bet for this game is Under 2.5

With full roster and our full potential we are far better than Bosnians. Manolas Tachtsidis and Holebas missing are and all should be key factors of our defensive play. Mitroglou and Dzeko but we have a good striker as well. Gianniotas Mantalos Fortounis (Taxi also) help in creative game and making chances out of a run or a good pass. I can't decide now because of these missing.

You are very pessimistic, in our media and fans we are also very pessimistic and think Greece will win :D. Wait to see what happens, I suppose. I should just highlight that anyone who watched our 4-0 loss to Belgium shouldn't be nervous about this game.