Argy

We are better than a lot of teams ahead of us and within that period we also drew Croatia, Belgium and Bosnia 2x, but point taken.

Very flawed ranking system. We are easily top 30.

Soccer, unlike more physical sports, like American football, relies more on finesse than size, strength and speed, and there is surely a lesser drop from modern players and those of eras past. That said, conditioning, training and nutrition have evolved immensely. Brazil of today would likely have their way with Pele`s Brazil, pound for pound.

On August 28, 2017, Zeca was transfered from Panathinaikos to F.C. Copenhagen for a fee in the region of €1.5 million.

Can you explain this more in depth. Were they worried about bad press leaving the match to be played out at Toumba? Is it punishment in terms of lost revenue for PAOK because of this past weekend? Are they legitimately worried of fan demonstrations? What exactly coerced this move?

Nono guys come on this will never happen, it`s not even worth a conversation.

That was a timely goal and a great finish. Should buy him some more opportunity going forward.

Thanks for the rundown. That could also fit nicely into the ''Other Greek Abroad'' thread which concentrates on lower profile players outside Greece.

Lots of reports out of England that Mourinho has been scouting Sokratis hard lately and has him on his shortlist for a summer transfer. Also some word that Chelsea and Arsenal are paying close attention. http://metro.co.uk/2018/03/09/manchester-united-lead-chelsea-race-borussia-dortmund-star-sokratis-papastathopoulos-7376006/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/5773605/manchester-united-borsussia-dortmund-sokratis-papastathopoulos/ https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/manchester-united-eyeing-summer-deal-12158917

No Mitroglou should still be our main striker. I was alluding more to his club career.

Yes you are not wrong about that. Just would like to see him in Germany or France sooner than later. I think a lot of us see him as a 22 year-old; He's 26 - only 3 years younger than Mitroglou - and it`s time to make some noise.

I want to see Karelis in a more competitive league.

Lazaros is in form and experienced, and has grown into a well-rounded player, but I still think Donis is a more dangerous player and offers more to the Greek squad. Ideally they both play.

Hamburg have some pedigree, but unfortunately they are on hard times right now. I am a fan of KPap and want to see him on a quality side now that he seems to be healthy and entering his prime as a CB. Definitely don`t want to see him in 2.Bundesliga.

We simply cannot afford to ignore a shifty, attack-minded, dynamic player like Fetfa. We are so thin in the attacking positions, it`s embarrassing. Just imagine him and Donis behind Mitro.

He is probably our best left wing, even though Stafylidis can probably do the job. He is still replaceable, since we don`t necessarily have to play a LW scheme, as we can play with a LM, and besides he is not that far ahead of the rest of that pack. Irreplaceable core is really guys that stand out and that other teams circle on the game sheet; a player whose team is automatically better when he steps on the field. I consider Laz an important player for this campaign, but fact remains that the ship wouldn`t sink without him.

Much has changed from when this article was written two months ago. Notably Karnezis now looks like a regular for Watford and Kapino found a team in Notthingham Forest.

There must be something more to this Fetfa fiasco. Cannot be systematically ignored because of the league he plays in. There are many players in their prime playing in China for the paycheck that currently get called up for their NTs, including Axel Witsel and Yannick Carrasco (just found this one out!) for Belgium, Renato Augusto for Brazil, and many more. There is certainly some kind of rift between his people and EPO.

Should have definitely added Mavropanos as a dark horse. He deserves to be somewhere on this list. Will probably not play because of our CB depth, but should be around the team seeing he and Retsos, at the moment, are in line to be our CBs of the future.

Good rundown overall, but as much as I think Lazaros will play an important role, he is not irreplaceable. That is too strong a statement and he doesn`t belong in the same category as Sokratis and Manolas. Some very good points in there. The writing is on the wall for us to play a 3-CB formation. We have one of the deepest pools of quality CBs in Europe and we have mobile wing backs. Our best players have to play in order for us to have the best shot at succeeding. Koutris is definitely an interesting name I left our in my initial assessment. Tzavellas, I agree, I don`t mind having him as a sub for the next campaign. When I placed him on players on their way out, I didn`t necessarily mean all of them right away. Torosidis and Tzavellas may still have a role to play for the next 2 years. I'm all for Pelkas to be given a shot over Fortounis, who seems lackadaisical with the NT. Paschalakis and Barkas, another couple of names I initially overlooked. I have Retsos as irreplaceable more due to his talent and potential rather than his current role. What I mean is that he should be a shoe in callup every time and will likely end up playing a big role, even if it is as RB.

My view of Greece leading up for the upcoming Nations League and Euro campaign: Irreplaceable core: Sokratis (C), Manolas, Papadopoulos, Donis, Mitroglou, Retsos Important but replaceable core: Karnezis, Fortounis, Stafylidis, Zeca, Lazaros, Samaris, Mantalos, Tachtsidis Players who can earn a place in core: Gianniotas, Bakasetas, Pelkas, Lykogiannis, Galanopoulos, Androutsos, Kourbelis, Kapino Players on way out: Torosidis, Tziolis, Tzavellas, Maniatis Fringe players that may be in and out of squad: Oikonomou, Koutroubis, Bouchalakis, Anestsis, Vellios Dark horses that may play a role: Siovas, Bakakis, Lamprou, Masouras, Limnios, Siopis, Kone, Fetfatzidis

Even if he can, we don`t need to force feed players positions anymore. Right now, we already have Retsos that is a CB and can play RB, and he is much better than Hatzidiakos. Vs Croatia, we had Maniatis, Zeca and Retsos playing out of position, and although 2/3 fared pretty well individually, all things considered, the team was in shambles. This isnt a sustainable solution and we need to start developing and playing guys in their natural positions. All that said, in Retsos' case, if he is truly our best option at RB right now, then he should start in that position, also considering he has three bulls in front of him in the CB pecking order. He is an exception rather than the rule.

Informative AgonaSport article on some potential future NT players. http://www.agonasport.com/agonasport-allnews/18-greek-talents-for-the-future

Getting lots of experience on a decent club (currently 3rd) in a pretty good dutch league. Too bad there is a log jam in the CB position for Greece.