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True, but team needs a lot of work. Team lacks pace in key areas. Wingbacks aren’t fast enough. We need better options. These are important positions if we are going to score goals. Not enough players in the box when we get into dangerous positions. We make bad decisions going forward. Shoot when we should pass, shoot when we should cross. Pass when we should shoot. Forwards and striker are static a lot of the time. Team lacks belief and confidence going forward. Players don’t trust each other. Remember the Pelkas non pass to an open Fortounis vs Finland. If you look at this game we could have created chances to walk the ball in. Sorry, but Bakakis is not very good at this level. Gianoulis didn’t take on one defender. Too scared to make a mistake. Tzimikas and Koutris are better but are still young. I think there are others who play in Europe that we need to look at. Greek SL is not a good standard. I think some of the guys playing in Holland, Belgium and Germany are better. We need to start looking outside SL for answers.

Another disastrous loss. It’s becoming a habit. This one hurts even more. The over head shot by Karelis, the goalie stuck his hand up and the ball hit it. I’m surprised the coach didn’t get his worry beads out in the 2nd half.

Some changes anticipated for the match vs Estonia http://www.sport-fm.gr/article/podosfairo/allazei-proswpa-diatirei-ti-diataksi-o-aggelos/3566967 Pashalakis Bakakis?-Lambropolos-Risvanis-Gianoulis Samaris-Bouhalakis? Bakasetas-Kareli?-Masoura Koulouri ?Or may include usual starters Torosides, Zeca and Fortounis

Yeah, I saw the game. Νικοπολίδης played a 4 2 3 1 with Ανδρούτσο in the striker position and left on the bench more classic forwards Καμπετσής and Κωτσόπουλος. I think that decision he would regret, as Greece had most of the possession but lacked a cutting edge in front of goal. Austria started well and had better chances in first 30 mins, but Greece controlled the ball and kind of dominated the match until the last 5 mins when Austria scored. Although Greece had most of the possession (65%), Austria had more attempts on goal 13 vs 8. Greece played a lot of back passes and I got the feeling Νικοπολίδης was playing for 1-0 win. Main objective was not to concede at home, but it backfired in the end.

"Δεν παίρνει Χριστοδουλόπουλο για λόγους όχι ποδοσφαιρικούς αλλά για βιολογικούς. Θέλει παίκτες φρέσκους όχι μπαγιάτικους." http://sportdog.gr/blogs/article/488494/gi-ayto-efage-ton-lazaro-koro-deyei-ton-kosmo-o-palaimaxos-mono-lathos-to-ereipio-toy-paok

I have to agree with you. Though he did say that he left some players he wanted in the U21 squad. I expect to see a couple of surprises in starting line up. That match we lost 1-0 was vs Luxembourg on 13.11.2015.

Yes, it may be ballsy move by EPO, but honestly Jimmyp, I can see why you are a rookie. As an Australian Greek I take that as a bit offensive. Ange is no mug. He took an Australian team that qualified for a WC and got spanked 6-0 in consecutive friendlies and then had them lead 2-1 vs Holland in a world cup Group match, 6 months later. Holland were eventual runners up in the WC. Ange will go seek out and find Greek players you haven't heard of. Also, he was born in Greece, played and coached youth teams at national level, coached clubs and a NT successfully and he can at least speak the language. And of course, he played and coached SM Hellas FC. Enough said. I will say though, Paokara's analysis on p20 is a good read.

Yeah, it make no sense. It is easier to qualify for Euros now compared to the Rehhagel and Santos era. All we needed to do is draw with Finns and we would be in a strong position to top Group with home games to come in Nov. Ντροπή.

With all the negativity in Greek NT what a great story this is turning into. Donis is doing a great job. I streamed the match last night and I enjoyed the way PAO play. Had 20 shots with 6 on target, 61% possession and averaging 2 goals a game. I would take the starting 11 for PAO in place of the NT all day long.

For each League there will be four play-offs i.e. 16 teams. League A and B have 12 teams ea. Each group winner takes a spot in the semi finals. If the group winner is already one of twenty qualified teams rankings will be used to give the play-off spot to another team of the league e.g. 4 from League B and 8 from League C. So it will be important to try and finish as high as possible to preserve our ranking, It will be interesting to see how it works out.

What a tragic night for Greek football. Where do we go to from here? I agree, the loss of Holebas and Siovas has hurt us.

Tziolis coming on was a good decision. Scibbe was getting ready to sub Mitro and he scored. To be fair Mitroglou looked like he didn’t want to get injured out there, but he’s got class and talent. Tzimikas debut is a huge plus for the team. The result was the main thing and the team should go to Finland with some optimism and confidence. We do need more of a goal threat from Fortounis, Bakasetas and Pelkas. Christodoulopoulos and Tziolis could be starters in the next match.

Looks like he picked up a knee injury vs Everton https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news

The League of Nations and how it impacts Euro2020: League A:12 teams; 4 groups of 3 League B: 12 teams; 4 groups of 3 League C: 15 teams; 1 groups of 3 and 3 groups of 4 League D: 16 teams; 4 groups of 4 (55 teams) -------------- Teams that top their group in League A go into a semi final and final to determine the UEFA Nations League winner in Jun-2019. Teams that top their group in Leagues B, C and D get promoted to Leagues A, B and C respectively for 2020. Teams that bottom their group in Leagues A, B and C get relegated to Leagues B, C and D respectively for 2020. One League A group has Spain, England and Croatia; and so one of these nations will be relegated into League B for 2020 -------------- UEFA Euro2020 Qualifiers: 5 Groups of 5 and 5 Groups of 6 (55 teams) (Groups A-J) Top 2 in each Group automatically qualify for Euro2020 i.e. 20 teams automatically qualify. -------------- Remaining 4 position in Euro2020 will come from League of Nations. How? In each of the Leagues A-D, the top 4 ranked teams that did not qualify for EURO2020 will enter a play-off in Mar-2020 with one finals place on offer per League i.e. a semi-final and final per League. E.g. if Greece tops it's group in League C and doesn't automatically qualify for Euro2020 then it will be guaranteed a semi-final play-off match in Mar-2020 with other top ranked teams in League C that also did not qualify. This means that 1 team from League D will make it to the Euro2020 finals. What about if all the nations in League A automatically qualify for Euro2020? Then, the top 4 ranked teams in League B that did not automatically qualify for Euro2020 takes the place of League A and then the next 4 ranked teams in League B enter a play-off for Euro2020. -------------- What does this mean for Greece's chances? We need to top our Group in League of Nations! Not only does it give us a 2nd chance to make Euro2020 in the event we don't automatically qualify, but it also means we get promoted into League B in 2020.

Are you sure? It looks like it was cancelled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZRB960NWNI

If Scibbe stays or goes is an EPO decision. If EPO sign him for another 2 years, is because they are satisfied that a) the players like him and b) we didn't lose to Gibraltar, Cyprus or Estonia and c) we made it into a knock out playoff for the WC. In other words, they see progress with Scibbe. I don't think EPO would take notice of these boards or what that Alefantos fella saying on YouTube.

For me, these are some of the things that cost us and lessons learnt, Manolas FIFA suspension in game 1 <If he plays, no way we lose 4-1> Injuries to Donis and Mantalos <if they play, we score at least 1 in Athens> Failure to mark Modric in game 1, i.e. the incorrect use of Zeca in the flank in game 1 Loss of form of Karnezis, Stafylidis and Samaris Use of name players not playing for their respective clubs, Karnezis, Stafylidis and Samaris Reliance on Tziolis, as the DM <maybe no better option here> Loss of form Fortounis Lack of or non-development of Vellios & Diamantakos Mitroglou not at 100% Not trialling Bakakis Lack of playing time for Lykogianis, as backup for Tzavellas Holebas retirement, for Tzavellas Scibbe's summary at the end was a correct assessment. We need to develop the offensive side to our game but we are currently limited with few solutions from the League. Most of the big clubs and even mid tiers don't have many Greeks in attacking positions like another Mitroglou. The reason he picked Velios and Diamantakos is because of their potential at a young age, but unfortunately they have not developed to the required standard for international football.

He's young and inexperienced, but is a great talent for the NT in the years to come. For me he was over cautious, which is understandable given what happened in the previous game. He needs to develop an attacking side to his game, which should come with more experience in the Bundesliga and with the NT in the next Euro campaign. For me his and Donis inclusions were one of the big pluses for the NT during this campaign.

^RS, well summed post above. Here is a translation <for gsots> It’s easy to pass judgement and criticism after the results my friend @gsots. That Tachtsides would see a red we all saw that coming (vs Belgium). We all criticized it, but it’s not something that you would say “that was a mistake by the coach, the m@l@k@ should not have kept him on the field” On the howler by Karnezis, what can you say for Scibbe. Wasn’t Karnezis a first team starter in 9 matches? There is no merit to leave him out. Anestis is in form, but he doesn’t play in a team that has the Back-pass all the time. Karnezis, how many matches has he experienced it. To be pressed by oppositions and constantly see the Mids/Backs pass it back to him. The right back Maniatis is the only serious mistake by Skibbe on Thursday night and in the end, that determined the result. Let him put the left footed Lykogiannis, how much worse would he be? He has the height to cope with Perisic in the air and the freshness and thirst for recognition to chase him. The rest tells me nothing about Skibbe. Tziolis, no coach preferred him. But in this matter his hands were tied. The fact that out of the 3 "final" coaches accepted, only Skibbe accepted and the other 2 did not, because they wanted their own coaching team, while the EPO imposed that they include Tsana, for me says something that these laughable call ups and inclusions (Tziolis), and where was he (Tziolis) during Santos call ups, Ranieri call ups and Markarian call ups, in which none of them took a liking to Tziolis. If some players have the dignity, and they say regardless of result tomorrow, there is no chance for us to qualify - and the issue is the appearance and maybe a psychological effect - they will have to announce their withdrawal from the national team tomorrow. In my opinion Tziolis-Maniatis. Tzavellas has had good matches. Let us not judge him from this last one. However, Torosidis has also arrived outside of his age. Modern football is clearly a matter of fast players at the end and Torosidis is better than anything else we have, but his time has passed. PS: I may have some of it misinterpreted.

^gsots. Open Google translator and get it translated. I hope they sit back and play on the counter. We need changes, need run in the midfield and the flanks. Pin them back and get 2, 3 and 4 in the box. To score 3-0 we need to open up the play.

Reality is, our chances are 0.1% or less. Many would say 0%. Real pity. Our only hope is, if we can score 1-0 in 1st half and find a 2nd without conceding and with enough time to make them sweat. This guy Alefantos makes a lot of sense. Zeca has to man mark Modric. We need run in the midfield and on the flanks. It's doable. We will know in the first 15 minutes if the players give it a go. After the match, Scibbe said "Όλοι μπορούν να κάνουν λάθη. Είμαστε ομάδα και όλοι μπορούν να κάνουν λάθη στο γήπεδο. Ακόμα και ο προπονητής μπορεί να κάνει λάθη. Σήμερα δεν νομίζω ότι εγώ έκανα πολλά λάθη". He needs to do better.

Bet365 has a Croatia win at 1.36, then 4.60 for a draw and a Greece win at 13.00. So what. Not long ago we came through with a lot worse odds than that. Greece has been written off before. That's good. Good thing is we still have a fit, Karnezis, Tzavellas, K Pap, Retsos, Stafylidis, Tziolis, Zeca, Samaris, Tachtsides, Laz, Bakasetas, Fortounis, Gianniotas and Mitroglou. K Pap and Tziolis experience are going to be key. In the absence of Toro, Soc (maybe) and Manolas, they will need to play smart, and show as leaders on the field. Backs, are firmly against the wall. Yes. It would be awesome if we could catch them by surprise, and counter with an away goal or two.

Yeah, I think that we need to believe that this team has goals in it. Tziolis scored in Cyprus so who knows he may go on a roll and get a 2nd. K Pap is good in the air. Stafylidis and Tzavellas can hit them from outside the box. Fortounis scored 3 and is due another soon. Zecca, Samaris and Laz have all scored for the Ethniki. Gianniotis has scored 2, from limited chances.

Yeah it looks like Soc will be ok, what a relief, http://www.contra.gr/Soccer/Germany/Bundesliga/dortmund/kala-ta-nea-gia-papastathopoylo.4923040.html This last month of news has been freakish to say the least. It's only 4 days to go. What more can happen.