Euro2004

I think everyone is exaggerating again :) Casillas is a million times better than anyone in the Greek league. He's in the top 5 keepers in the world today but certainly not the best ever. js1000 surely you don't rate him above Schmeichel, Buffon and Seaman? And that's just in the last 10-15 years! Back to Papadopoulos, i like him but think he's a bit top heavy and immobile. He also seems to lack grit and that's not something that can be taught. I want to see some of that psychotic-Gattuso-fire-in-the-belly type passion. Kyrgiakos had that too. The sort of attitude where he'll go on the field tomorrow, look at Rooney in the eyes and think "who do you think you are? You're not better than me mate! You're going in my back pocket. I'm stopping you at all costs!". He's a great talent though and i'd love to see him here in England. Hopefully he puts in a great performance tomorrow and attracts some interest

FULL TIME: Schalke 0-2 Man Utd Schalke should have lost 0-6 but Neuer once more proved that there isn't a better keeper in world football. Papadopoulos played 90 mins but he really struggled, as did the rest of the team. His ball distribution was terrible, when he went up for set pieces he was dominated aerially, he didn't show much passion, but worst of all he looked slow and unfit. He wasn't pressing effectively at all and for much of the time he was just walking around aimlessly. Poor performance from the kid. Hopefully he analyses his mistakes and learns from them. It's an experience

HALF TIME: 0-0. Papadopoulos made one good defensive header but overall he isn't having a good game at all. His ball distribution hasn't been great and he has struggled with their tempo. Rooney is dropping deep but Papadopoulos hasn't pressed at all. If it wasn't for Schalke's keeper, Neuer, they'd be getting killed. He is without doubt the best keeper in the world.

Papadopoulos starts in Schalke's Champions League semi final match against Man Utd. If he's booked he'll miss the 2nd leg. COME ON SCHALKE!

Samaras' goal drought continues as he missed an 81st minute penalty as Rangers drew 0-0 with Celtic. http://www.sportdog.gr/emvideo/modal/26187...ube/nYGZzdQt7ss

He has to play for them. Despite the fact that he misses so much, his movement is great and he makes chances for himself. He has 16 goals for them this season, their second top scorer has 2! So they desperately need him for goals. XRISTOS ANESTI EVERYONE :)

CalGreek his finishing has been woeful for a while now. He has missed numerous sitters since the start of 2011. There was one game recently where they drew 1-1, i think it was against Werder, he missed about 5 chances, 3 of them in particular were sitters. His own fans were booing! He's not as clinical as he used to be

Unfortunately i don't think he can complain. When you're a young player at a big club your chances will be limited. You can't afford poor performances. Look at Chris Smalling at Man Utd. Whenever he's been called upon he's been solid. He's not a first team player but has a future now. Papastathopoulos has played 6 games now, in 3 he was poor, 2 mediocre and has had just one good game. That's not a good enough output.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/moy...n-class-1577341 Moyes says Vellios proving himself Everton class Everton boss David Moyes is pleased with the progress of Greek striker Apostolos Vellios. Vellios only arrived in January from Iraklis and is already tasting regular Premier League action. Vellios, known at Goodison at Tolis, is yet to start for the Toffees but went close to capping his latest cameo with a goal against Blackburn Rovers. "Tolis understands what is required here, he runs around, technically he's very good and he was very unlucky not to score," said Moyes :tup:

Goal.com have compiled a list of the top 10 worst transfers in Serie A this year and Sokratis was in at number 3. I know many of you disagree with goal.com's player ratings but alot of the time i think they are fairly accurate and every Italian mate of mine i've spoken to says he has flopped. He's play 5 games they say. In 1 he was absolutely terrible. In another he was below average. In another he was good and the other 2 he was average. That's not good if you want to make it at a club like Milan. goal.com's comment was: The young Greek international was purchased for a reported fee of between €5-7 million, but has offered no return on that value for Milan thus far. Making just five appearances in all competitions, the former AEK Athens star has been only used in the most dire of circumstances for the current league-leaders, when their backline is decimated by injuries and suspension. Youth is on his side, but Milan may decide he isn't worth having around any longer after his failure to impress Personally I think Milan are idiots though. He's being linked with a transfer away from the San Siro but he hasn't been given time to settle. They haven't given him a chance at right back either and they've ignored long term planning with Nesta and Yepes aging http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zo...worst-transfers

If by future captain you guys mean a decade from now then maybe yeah, but come on. Let's allow him to focus on developing his own game before being branded "a leader of men"

no way is he ready to be captain. he's a kid.

Made another sub appearance in the last few mins as Everton beat Blackburn 2-0. i didn't see the game but apparently it was too late an introduction to make an impact. Nonetheless it's good experience for the kid

Although i agree with you 100% who are we kidding? Greek players seem to be idiots, mitro and fetfa aren't going anywhere. Even Papastathopoulos is being strongly linked with a return to Greece! These fools want the big contract. They'd rather earn 25k a week in Olympiakos' squad than earn 15k a week in Hamburg's squad for instance.

Yes and Papadopoulos played very well. Some good running on the box, great positional sense too. His ball distribution was very poor in the first half though and if he's to have a future as a holding midfielder that's a thing he must improve on. He has the attributes to be a world class defender though, it will be interesting to see where his future lies. He should be in the NT first team now though. Goal.com gave him a 7/10 and the comment: Showed no fear when running at the heart of Inter’s defence, winning a dangerous free-kick after outfoxing Thiago Motta and Ranocchia. Also came close to scoring in the second half but couldn’t keep his header down. Unlucky to be booked for a foul on Julio Cesar (Charisteas didn't get a rating because he didn't have time to make an impact)

That was the initial report, apparently Tzavellas has come out and rubbished them. He said that he's out for 3 weeks.

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/8606...ahill-bid-fails He's now being linked with a possible move to Arsenal if the Cahill deal falls through. Papadopoulos is def one for the future but he's not ready for Arsenal yet

yeah his delivery is superb, are u sure he's out for the rest of the season though? I heard it's only a 3 weeks.

According to the latest reports Inter Milan are interested in him. After Papastathopoulos' treatment at Milan i have my reservations about this. I'd rather he went to England. Nonetheless I believe they will focus alot more on defending than the German's do, so it would be a better move for him in my opinion than staying at Schalke

Came on for the last 15 mins again today in Everton's 0-3 win at Wolves, it was already 0-3 when he came on. After the game Moyes suggested that the young players have been given a chance because Everton have injuries. Nonetheless he said that Vellios did well and indeed he did. He won a great sliding tackle to set up and attack. He also put in a cross that found Anichebe with the latter shooting wide. Looks a little slow but does the "ugly stuff" well and works hard. It looks like he has a good attitude so hopefully he improves considerably at Everton :tup:

http://www.thescore.com/buzz/articles/1298...l-fans-go-crazy Amazing atmosphere

Yeah as far as I'm aware the last time a Greek got this far was Akis Zikos who went to final with Monaco in 2004

I didn't see the game but I do know that they had some major defensive issues in the first half, did he contribute with mistakes? I do know that generally speaking Schalke have major defensive frailties so it's unusual that he isn't used as a centre back. He certainly is a massive talent and could really develop into a world class player

Any idea how he played?

I'd rather he stayed in Italy, France or went to England. The Germans have stopped developing top level defenders. They completely focus on expansive football and all their games are high scoring now. So I'd want our attacking players like Ninis to move to Germany, but the defensive ones to play in a league where defenders are taught how to defend.