Dean97

He deserves the call up but I don’t think he is going to change much. Van’t Schip needs to find the right players for our midfield, otherwise we will see no goals. Our team has a problem with scoring and we’ve brought in Koulouris who was on fire last season and we’ve brought in Pavlidis and Fountas are doing very well in their respective teams. But we still can’t get these guys scoring for Greece. The service has to be better otherwise these guys won’t score and now with Giakoumakis involved it will be more of the same if nothing is changed.

I hope he realises that Zeca and Kourbelis are not the answer. They shouldn’t play together especially against Moldova since we are going to have more of the ball. He should put Mantalos there or Vasiliadis. Haven’t seen much of Vasiliadis but from what I’ve read and and the little that I’ve seen I think Vasiliadis should be given a chance just to see what’s he’s got. After all we have a friendly against Cyprus before our last 2 nations league games...

I’d put Fortounis to start over Bakasetas, there’s no doubt about it. We seem lost in the final 3rd and I believe it’s because Bakasetas isn’t capable of dictating the play. He’s too slow also. Atleast Fortounis is technically superior and can actually score goals for Greece.

Now that Garcia is coach, we will probably see a few more youth players in the team.

Or current midfield.

Will EPO actually do that?

I hear a lot of people say that we don’t have options at RB. We actually do we just haven’t tried them. Like Kitsiou, Kotsiras, G.Masouras, Kivrakidis, Natsos and Rota. That’s 6 names that we haven’t tried. Rota hasn’t been given a good enough chance. He seems promising.

Do you know how long Retsos is out for? Hopefully nothing serious.

I see a lot of people are fans of Donis. Myself included. But what has he done recently to warrant a starting spot for Greece? He didn’t do much last season and is having a slow season now. When inform I would definitely have him in my team but something tells me he isn’t the same player like he was a few years ago. When he debuted for Greece he looked like Greece’s best LW and when time went on he started to be close to non existent in games. Perhaps he is a failed talent along with the likes of Ninis and so on. He’s had his good and bad moments. Limnios seems to be the most consistent Greek player for the national team. He’s not perfect but he’s better than expected for a side that doesn’t play its best players in my opinion. Greece needs players like Limnios, Donis and even Pelkas to be inform. There speed and dribbling ability can cause problems for any team.

If we don’t WIN our next 2 games and we see more of the same from the last 3 games then we have gone backwards. Van’t Schip better think smart about his selections or we will continue to suffer: I hope we he looks at these players to call up: Vasiliadis: EPO and Van’t Schip tried desperately to acquire him and now they got him. Use him let’s see what he’s got, if they are that desperate to have him, try him. Masouras (the RB): Not many people like him but I think he has something to offer. Loads of speed and professionalism about him. Can be our future RB. He just needs to play consistently without injury. Retsos: By far our most professional and mentally strongest player. He can play anywhere and do well. With more game time it would be a crime not to have him involved. If we see these players called up then we would possibly fix our issue in midfield and at RB. We have another friendly coming up aswell so it would be a good time to integrate these players.

It seems like every nt manager we’ve had have played Mantalos as a LW. I don’t know see what they see. We only need one of Fortounis, Pelkas and Mantalos on the pitch. They are all more valuable than our wingers it seems. That’s why we’ve seen 2 out of the 3 if not all in the starting line up over the years. Nobody knows how to control the game better than Fortounis. He should be our starting CAM. Even in our darkest times he was the one that stood out as our best along with Manolas. All the managers we’ve had don’t seem to trust our wingers. Lamprou, Chatzigiovannis, Fetfatzidis and even Masouras. The one number 8 that could potentially be a star for Greece, Vasiliadis, is being ignored even thought Van’t Schip and EPO wanted him and had to go through all the trouble to make him a Greek citizen. Regarding EPO, we don’t know exactly what goes on behind closed doors but you’d have to think that there’s something going on with selections. Sometimes the best players don’t get to play like how is Lampropoulos or Svarnas better than Retsos or Mavropanos?? Retsos is probably someone every Greek should look to in how to progress yourself as a footballer. Retsos has the right mindset and seems the most professional Greek player we have. He even debuted and came back after a long time without game time and performed really well for St Etienne. He even played 3 different positions that game. He can be very useful for us. We’ve had players like Chatzigiovannis and Lamprou have good seasons for their respective teams in the last couple of years and are in my opinion long overdue a call up and opportunity. We are seeing Limnios excel. There’s no reason why they can’t do the same. Theres seems to be trust issues with our talent pool. Every coach we’ve had don’t want to risk a few things. We had friendly to try things out... But we didn’t. Who knows maybe playing Mantalos and Vasiliadis together at CM could work better than Zeca-Kourbelis-Bouchalakis combo. Try it, if doesn’t work don’t do it again. Don’t have to always play 2 DMs there. We struggle for goals so we need someone more creative and attacking in that CM role.

Then why doesn’t the coach do it. Vasiliadis was healthy for our last 3 games. He didn’t pick him. Mantalos on the wing doesn’t work. Maybe he should go 4-3-3 with Fortounis and Mantalos ahead of say Zeca or Kourbelis.

That’s my point.

@gsots your not wrong at all with what your saying. As I’ve said before what good is it to win the ball back and then be clueless and do nothing with it? The truth is when we vs top sides in the qualifying campaign or in the tournament itself we will struggle with the likes of Svarnas, Stafylidis and Tzavellas at CB. I know it’s not a popular opinion but I we have to be realistic and I think Van’t Schip needs to have a conversation with Manolas and Siovas. A top coach knows how to handle the big names and I’m not sure we will go to the next level with Van’t Schip. Manolas and Siovas have a good few years left at the top level. If he continues to play players in midfield who are clueless and have no imagination with no skill and no vision then we will continue to be frustrated with the lack of goals. Pavlidis, Koulouris and Fountas are all decent strikers but my main concern is the quality of service that’s been given to them. Limnios and Giannoulis have been the most positive for me. I’d keep them along with Pavlidis and Hatzidiakos in the team. You can see they have some quality. The rest are lucky to be there in my opinion.

@paokarag4you make some good point but I disagree with some things. The team is not playing like they did at the end of last year. We looked like we struggled for ideas in the final third in all the games we have played so far. He deserves some credit in regards to the team regaining possession and giving Limnios loads of confidence. To me Fortounis v Bakasetas shouldn’t be debatable. Clearly Bakasetas has a problem with his touch and vision. Plus he’s a slow player and when it comes time to play the likes of Belgium, Spain and even Austria I see him being non existent due to his limitations. Fortounis on the other hand has way more creativity and technique. He doesn’t work as hard off the ball but he is by far our most creative and talented player. There’s no denying that. I don’t see Bakasetas scoring the way he did against Austria. Truth is we are not going dominate possession against better teams. We haven’t got enough quality especially at CM. As I said before it’s all well and good to have possession but it’s what you do with it that counts and with some players selections I think we are sabotaging our chances of scoring. I don’t blame the strikers for lack of goals. It seems like every NT manager we’ve had likes to play Mantalos outwide. It just doesn’t work. He’s not a pure winger. He plays more of a left attacking mid, instead of a left winger. We need a proper left winger no doubt. I’d be tempted to play Pelkas on the left because of his speed and agility but he again is not a winger. Chatzigiovannis, Lamprou and Masouras should be considered. All 3 deserve a proper chance. Chatzigiovannis was in good form last season but hasn’t had the chance to prove himself yet for Greece. Same with Lamprou. Regarding your comment about pressing. It’s not that difficult to ask players to press, they should just go out there and do it. Having Bakasetas there to press means nothing when he’s not fast enough or smart enough to make something happen in attack. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner now because now we have to win the remaining 2 games. Van’t Schip sabotaged the team I believe against Kosovo with his player selections and decisions. Also I don’t think we are giving ourselves the best chance possible to succeed and show our true potential as a team.

When we start saying things like I don’t agree with what he’s doing then you know it’s not going to end well, especially for JVS. He’s doing some dumb things Skibbe was doing. Comparing the 2 managers no one is better than the other. My first feeling of him getting the job was a bad one and that feeling may end up proving me right. Something tells me EPO have something to do with it also. Limnios has been our best player since he’s taken over. He in large part is the reason we look more modern in our playing style. Without him how do you think we would look? Just like before he was in charge in my opinion. Limnios is the reason for anything positive. Think about it Mantalos is not any good at LW and always tries to play central. Bakasetas has most of the time ruined our attack because of his poor touch and lack of vision and also his slowness. Pavlidis is the doing the best he can but isn’t getting the right service due to Zeca and Kourbelis not being able to be imaginative. Giannoulis is the other bright spot in this team. In my opinion we should: 1. Find a new RB. Someone who is capable in defence and attack. We should look at Giannis Masouras who plays regularly in Poland. 2. Find a better paring then Svarnas and Stafylidis at CB. I don’t think Svarnas is better than Mavropanos, Retsos and Hatzidiakos. No need to explain the reason why Stafylidis needs to be replaced. We all know why... 3. Drop Bakasetas entirely and bench Mantalos for a few games. That would open up a spot for an actual LW and CAM. I’d go with Fortounis and Chatzigiovanis (I’m curious to see what he’s got) 4. Lastly and most importantly in my opinion find a box to box number 8 next to one of Bouchalakis/Kourbelis/Zeca. We should look at Siopis, Galanopoulos, Vasiliadis and possibly Mantalos for that role. Someone who works hard but also has good ball skills, great vision with good passing also.

Pelkas is way better than Bakasetas in my opinion. Faster and smarter player.

Why not give Rota more minutes or try Giannis Masouras. Someone who is very fast doesn’t get beat defensively very easily. Worth a try. Mitroglou is too slow. Needs to be given the ball to he’s feet otherwise he’s useless. Pavlidis offers a lot more and is younger. With the CMs and CAM we play, creativity and service will be hard to come by no matter who the striker is.

We’ve never truly dominated a game. Even from Euro 2004 until now we’ve either just beaten teams worse than us 1-0 or 2-1 and lost to teams worse than is 1-0, 2-1. We got embarrassed against Colombia 3-0 in the World Cup and somehow drew against Japan. We won by a penalty against Ivory Coast. We somehow held Costa Rica. I’m not trying to be pessimistic but if you look at our history we’ve always struggled in many way either if it’s a win or a loss. This tells me that 1. Our players have been good enough to begin with or 2.we never truly play our best 11. The selections have always been a problem. And I ask why? Why is it so difficult for us to put a proper 11? International games are not played every week. So that’s why teams must choose the players available. A lot of players are young and most haven’t reached their potential yet. I don’t really know where I’m going with this but all I know when your struggling to win comfortably against teams like Moldova, Kosovo and lower then you have ask questions. Who is really picking the team?

Guys I have a question. Is Tzolis more suited on the wing or at striker? I don’t think him playing on the wing shows his true potential. Am I right or wrong?

I don’t want to keep repeating myself but how does having a 2 defensive midfielders, a CB at RB and a slow CAM like Bakasetas who also has poor technique going to help with scoring goals. Pavlidis and Fountas are doing great for their clubs. Scoring every week. The problem isn’t them. It’s the service around them and the IQ levels of certain players. Hatzidiakos I think is a great player. Not suited to play CB but definitely a great CB. Tzavellas shouldn’t of been thought of and we have better in the long term than Svarnas. Giannoulis is fine at LB. Rota seemed alright in the ball, he should’ve played. Limnios has become a star for us. There’s not enough creativity from Zeca and Kourbelis. Bakasetas aswell isn’t that creative. I believe having these guys in midfield is what’s hurting our goal scoring s chances. What’s going to happen if we play 1 DM and 1 CM instead of 2 DMs?? I don’t why we resort to playing 2 holding midfielders. Vasiliadis, Galanopoulos or Mantalos need to play as an 8. At least these guys are more imaginative and better technically. I think Mantalos needs to take a break from being a starter as he hasn’t performed well lately.

This guy should be playing for Greece every time he is healthy.

I think Fortounis and Fountas will start. Stafylidis hasn’t been called up. I hope to see Kyriakopoulos or Lykogiannis at CB since he likes playing LBs at CB.

I thought we were poor today. Apart from the lead up to the goal and the goal itself we looked disjointed. We need also find proper replacements at CB. Svarnas, Tzavellas, Stafylidis and Michailidis are the not the answer to replace Manolas and Sokratis. The only CBs I would put faith in is Hatzidiakos, Retsos and Mavropanos. With them all fit and playing they should be in the team every time.

I think we will see a back 4 with Kourbelis dropping deeper and the full back going forward in attack. Kourbelis seems to have a role to play in this team but the one next him is the most important. We need someone with a bit more creativity there next to him.