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We all know we have a lot of options at the back but at the moment this is how I see it. Mavropanos and Retsos haven’t been playing for a while and Mavropanos is injury prone. Kyriakos Papadopoulos is a solid option but is very injury prone and isn’t playing right now. Players like Lampropoulos, Kolovetsios and Triantafylopoulos are not really good enough compare to Manolas and Sokratis. Now I’m all for having Manolas and Sokratis sit out, as the team seems to have a good rhythm going and I don’t any disturbance. The CBs that are the most reliable now are Hatzidiakos, Siovas, Risvanis(who is underrated and should be given a chance) and Kourbelis who can also play there. You have them and Sokratis and Manolas to choose from. The rest need to prove themselves more or play at a higher level. If you have Manolas and Sokratis in the team then common sense tells you to start them. If you don’t have them then you have to rely on players I mentioned and the one that are not playing at a higher level. JVS continuously says he wants to try new players that are young and players that haven’t been given a shot. He’s also said playing in the Greek league doesn’t make a difference in terms of selection. He’s also said Greece are capable of playing aggressive and attacking style of football. Which is true. He is not freezing out anyone and welcoming all options. This is a smart decision. I would rather have Manolas or Sokratis instead of Lampropoulos or Triantafylopoulos. But if Mavropanos and Retsos start playing and are in form then they should be considered the next that take over from Manolas and Sokratis. If we want to prepare for the World Cup in 2022 than we shouldn’t be playing players that are 30 and over. That’s the way I think it should be. Sokratis will be 34 and Manolas will be 32 by then. Sokratis has stated that if we don’t make the Euros then he will retire, as he wants the new generation to prove themselves. These were his words. JVS wants to give players like Pelkas, Bouchalakis, Masouras and Mantalos the leading roles as they are in there mid 20s and by the time the World Cup comes around they will be in their primes. He also wants the youth to be in the team like Limnios, Hatzidiakos and Pavlidis in the mix. A rebuild is about playing the youth and building the team from there. Not playing 30 year olds and over which is made me think why Zeca and Siovas were picked. They are still decent options to have. As far as strikers go Pavlidis should be the starter with Koulouris and Donis behind him. I would prefer Donis out wide where his pace would be more useful as he wouldn’t have a CB marking him so tightly and would have more space on the wing where he can do damage. As we have seen JVS is capable of making some of our average players like Bakasetas play there best game. He has made every single play at their best which is incredible. I hope this momentum continues and wins in our next matches.

2:0 HT Let's keep up the momentum. Ideye and Gama the scorers. We penetrate the opposition in their yard more and more. We are dangerous again, but then again our defensive operations have been upgraded obviously.

If we continue to improve under JVS I think I would keep Socrates, Manolas, off the time for a while as I don't want these guys coming in and disturbing the culture of the team and all the hard work JVS has done. Even though they are great players there attitudes might be a cancer in the dressing room. Its much easier to get young guys and a new team to buy into a system sometimes then veterans who play for big clubs and big coaches that might have egos. We have guys that can fill there roles who offer good pace. I personally would finish this entire qualification without them and only bring them back in a friendly leading up to the Nations leagues and see if it improves the team if not I say leave them off and move forward with a new core of players and new mentality..