Dean97

Great to Mouzakitis included. Also great to see Alexandropoulos back in this team. 👍

📰 Genk midfielder Konstantinos Karetsas has started the process to obtain a Greek passport & will decide soon whether he represents Greece or Belgium. Heerenveen striker Dimitris Rallis is also considering his options 🇬🇷 (@sport24) #Greece #Ethniki This is from the Hellas football page. Good news so far. 👍

What happened there lol. That’s what I thought too. Maybe Koulierakis was aiming to kick it out who knows. Was surprised the referee didn’t call a penalty. All in all so happy for this victory. Pavlidis best game ever for Greece. As a team we looked solid and everyone helped each other. Can’t ask for more after this win they all played for each other and Jovanovic is proving to be a great coach for us. This was for George Baldock🙏

I think if Fortounis ever wants to commit and put his heart into the Ethniki again we should welcome him back. He’s done a lot for Greece in the past and he is quality.

We should get Karetsas. Great option to have on the wing and CAM. He can score goals too. There’s a player named Antonis Papadopoulos who has German citizenship at the moment. Don’t think he is the answer but he plays CB and CDM. He could provide good cover when needed. We lack a physical number 6 and he seems physically strong and a great tackler. Played at Dortmund (mostly for the 2nd team). He now plays at Lugano in Switzerland 1st division. He plays regularly according to transfer market. Just an another option I guess. By the way, you created a great topic. 👍

I think Jovanovic brought in Zafeiris to solve the 8 role in midfield. It will take time for him to get used to the team but for now he can be the solution. He’s 21 aswell so he can still get better. He’s our most highest valued midfielder in the country so that says a lot. We need to fix the 6 role. Bouchalakis is not playing for his 2nd division side and looks like he’s finished at international level. He’s declined in my opinion too. Siopis is a great ball of energy that can close down players fast but his lack of height is an issue. On the ball he isn’t that much better. Kourbelis plays in Saudi so his level will drop. We lack height in this position in general. Alexandropoulos is more of an 8 or 10. He can play the 6 role but I think he needs someone next to him. He’s got the height which helps. I would like to see him get 90 minutes for once. We have Thymanis and Nikas who play for PAOK and PAO respectively. But they don’t play. Which is an issue because we need to find a new defensive mid who plays regularly at a good level and someone with height over 5ft10. I don’t see players like Bouchalakis Kourbelis and Siopis being dropped for this reason. With Zafeiris being included now I hope we see Kourbelis and Bouchalakis dropped entirely. We don’t need both of them. I was thinking maybe moving Retsos or Mavropanos in that 6 role just so we have some height. Both decent with passing too but I don’t think this will happen. Zafeiris and Siopis seems to be the best combination for now for what’s happening now. Both are short which is a bit concerning but both play regularly and seem to be the best we have. We are very limited with options. After all these players I mentioned we have no one else with good enough quality or experience.

This is just the beginning. I’m hoping for the best. I just wanted and expected changes in the line up in the beginning. I just hope the coach realises now we need younger personnel in place of the likes of Mantalos, Bouchalakis etc. I just hope it’s not a reoccurring theme where we play the old guard continuously when we know these players haven’t helped Greece make a tournament. Good result can’t complain too much. Now let’s see what happens in the Ireland match. Thanks re maik.

Grateful for the result. But that was the worst line up I’ve ever seen. Was a let down. Bouchalakis is finished and hasn’t played. Chatzigiovannis is not good for this level and starts. Finland were awful. Luckily we had Ioannidis. Only one that wanted to play and looked lively. Scored 2 goals and contributed to the own goal. Bakasetas did nothing for me again. Tried to find positives in his game but nothing there. Fortounis need to replace him. I thought Tsimikas should’ve done better especially with his passing and decision making. A lot of players shouldn’t have started but it is a reoccurring theme with this team no matter who is in charge. Konstantelias was great as usual. Honestly I expected better. The players look flat I think mostly because 70% of the starting line up don’t play for there clubs. We also had no attacking intent. If it wasn’t for ioannidis then I think we would’ve drew 0-0.

@Ellada2004 and @J1078 Well said. We should give Ivan some time. I think this new regime at EPO are genuinely aiming to make Greek football and the national team improve as a whole. I actually think these selections seem the most logical and make more sense than previous times. For example 2 RBs and 2LBs.. I agree Bakasetas should be on the bench at least. I’m hoping if Fortounis comes back then he starts instead. We also have young inform players at the moment like Tzolis, Koulierakis, ioannidis and Konstantelias so I hope they are involved in the starting 11. I want to see Alexandropoulos start. I think he has something to give. Give him a full 90 and see where it takes us. Most of our midfielders if not all haven’t had much playing time so we need to start using different players to see what works. I’m expecting a 2-0 win against Finland. Pavlidis is in good form. I’m hoping he starts scoring like he does for club. I’m giving this new era a chance. what I want to see is this Tzolakis Vagiannidis Mavropanos Koulierakis Tsimikas Alexandropoulos Siopis Masouras Telias Tzolis Pavlidis I know Bakasetas is probably starting. But this is what I think the team should mostly look like. Zafeiris should make an appearance. We need him capped as soon as possible.

Zafeiris looks like the type of 8 we’ve been hoping to have all these years. Skilful player that can help the attack. I’m hoping for the best with him. All these years we’ve should’ve tried Pelkas or Mantalos as an 8 to help with the fluidity in midfield and attack. Pelkas isn’t a winger he’s a midfielder. Same as Mantalos. Alexandropoulos I think is capable for that role at the moment. He can be a 6 and an 8. We’ve had Bouchalakis Kourbelis and Zeca all these years and it hasn’t worked. They are all DMs and all very slow. We should have always played a 6 and someone a bit more attacking next to him. Instead of just having two DMs holding and not contributing going forward. We have Konstantelias. Who is very talented. Especially on the ball. I hope he and Zafeiris work together well and if they do our strikers will get the proper service that is needed. It’s time to move on from Bakasetas. I’m sorry if it offends anyone but he was never good enough. He’s too slow and isn’t technically good enough on the ball. His decision making is not there either. He has a powerful shot that’s it. He’s been dropped to the bench for PAO. Fortounis should come back and take his place. Also happy to have Konstantelias as a 10 or wing depending on the formation. We have great strikers so we should be grateful for that. Tzolakis and Mandas are coming through in the keepers position which is helpful. Time to give Vlachodimos some competition. If we can get Karetsas aswell then we are cooking. I’m optimistic with the new coach I just hope he knows that Bakasetas needs to start on the bench from now on. Bouchalakis doesn’t deserve to play either so I hope Zafeiris and Alexandropoulos step up and perform like I know they can. Thought I give my view about the team. It’s been a while. I just want the best for the national team and Greek football as a whole. Thanks 🙏

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/kkmRN5TXxd54bhRT/?mibextid=WC7FNe Jovanovic and the EPO making the effort in securing both Zafeiris and Karetsas. Both have talent. Good signs so far.

It’s encouraging to hear that most people think Jovanovic is good. But I’d like to know what type of coach he is and what formation he prefers. And also if he prefers the younger talent. If anyone can explain it that would be great thank you. 🙏

All I want to say is that we had 1 more match to win to make the tournament and they failed to do that. Smashing Kazakhstan 5-0 is great but it’s inexcusable to not beat a team like Georgia. Just to point out: - Tzolis 20 goals this season - Pavlidis top scorer in holland - Goutas and Siopis play weekly in the championship - Pelkas only played 5 games this season - Konstantelias best player with the ball and plays every week doesn’t start Core players like Bakasetas, Mantalos, Kourbelis and Pelkas have to be replaced. There is a core in this group that are not capable of taking Greece to the next level. Next coach has to see that. Defence and keeper did there job’s in both games. Can’t fault them for today’s loss. Questions have to be asked about the midfielders and attackers.

We looked like we played good football for a while and yes Bakasetas can hit them well from distance. I was mostly impressed with Ioannidis for the way he held up the ball and got into great positions and that finish was a typical strikers goal. Good on him.

If poyet wants to leave then he should leave. But the bigger question is who comes in next? I think for all his faults poyet is the best option to have after the work he has done. But yet again his faults are mainly his player selections like all the managers we’ve had in the past… I think he’s a good manager but his selections haven’t been good enough. I’d rather bring in Santos than a Skibbe type manager in. We need to start utilising players like Konstantelias and Fortounis otherwise what chance do we have of qualifying? We need our best players out there plain and simple.

The few things I took away from this win is Giakoumakis deserves to start instead of Pavlidis from now on. His bullet header and his positioning to start the 2nd goal told me everything. He is our best ST at the moment outside of Douvikas who didn’t get called. We are lucky to have so many inform forwards at the moment. Wish that could be said at CM. We still desperately need a 6 who is fast and can make quick passes and decisions. I saw Mantalos playing as the 6 at times because I assume poyet thought Kourbelis was getting caught out for his slow moving and thinking with the ball. Which I agree and believe was the case. Midfield in general needs improving and different players. Vlachodimos saved us a handful of times. Especially in the beginning of the first half. He did well considering he had been criticised a lot by Benfica fans. I’m still not convinced in having Bakasetas as our captain and starter. I don’t think I ever will be. Fortounis is way more creative and better player in general and I’ll always stand by that. Happy to see the team win and succeed but there are still a lot of question marks as usual with player selections.

I haven’t watched the game yet but this is what happens when you don’t pick your most talented and inform players… Relying on Bakasetas Mantalos Kourbelis etc won’t get you anywhere. It’s been like this the past 4 or more years.

I’d like to see: Vlachodimos Baldock Mavropanos Hatzidiakos Tsimikas Mantalos Siopis Fortounis Masouras Pavlidis Konstantelias

Regarding the call ups, I’m not totally satisfied with them. I don’t think players like Papanikolaou, Rota are ready to play for Greece. Tzavellas doesn’t need to be there as he’s old and we have better. Nikolaou plays Serie A every week and deserves a call up. Lykogiannis and Kyriakopoulos play in the league too every week and Lykogiannis scored and Kyriakopoulos got 2 assists recently. Players like Tzolis and Alexandropoulos can help this team massively in my opinion. Tzolis was fantastic recently for Norwich and Alexandropoulos is our best CM in my opinion. He should be there instead of Papanikolaou. Bouchalakis, Retsos and Chatzigiovannis haven’t played enough to justify a call up. Although I do think Retsos is good player. What I liked was the inclusion of Fortounis and Konstantelias. Two players that can win you a game. Kotsiras should be there and Douvikas is top scorer for the Dutch league and should’ve been included for sure.

I hope so. We need his quality.

Propably the week before. I’m curious to see what everyone else would like the call ups to be. I want to see some new faces like Konstantelias and even Vagiannidis. I think Nikolaou should be given a shot to see what he’s like. Apparently Donis is doing well again. Always thought he could bring something. I feel like this team needs new players. Apart from Mavropanos Tsimikas and Vlachodimos I’d like to see different players getting a chance. Especially in midfield. Try and test new players there. I’m not excited to see players like Bouchalakis, Kourbelis and Bakasetas starting. It’s time to move on from them in my opinion. I know we haven’t got a great amount of players playing in the top 5 leagues, but I’m keen to see new and especially young inform players given a proper shot.

Nikolaou plays every week in the Serie A. I think he’s over due on a call up.

Well deserved?

I have to agree with most things you said. I just think with Greece it’s different, most players don’t develop or improve over time. I agree the national team is not a place to develop players but at the same time some seem to have more talent than those who are more experienced. A good combination is what we should look for. But I think it’s better to give players a chance when they are inform or have some momentum. Some young players like Koulierakis and Konstantelias have momentum and are playing well. Might aswell give them a chance to get used to international football as they have the talent and are the future. I also think it’s more about what someone can offer over someone else. In the end though the best of the best should playing. Konstantelias pulled off a man of the match performance recently against Atromitos. He’s skilful and quick and would be useful. PAOK seem like to be the only team wanting to produce Greek players. Also interestingly Bouchalakis hasn’t played much football lately as the Korean midfielder Hwang has taken his place and rightfully so. Kourbelis also seems like a rotational player these days. It hard to keep an eye on the league when there are so many foreigners playing but I’d rather keep an eye on the Greeks and see how they are doing.

We haven’t seen players like Samaris and Tachtsidis for ages. So what has Bouchalakis and Kourbelis done so special to play all the time? I’m not saying the first 2 are better but it’s not like the other 2 are much better either. I don’t like to limit our options as everyone should be in contention. Especially if your good enough and can make a positive difference to the team. But in our case something isn’t working since we aren’t making tournaments and our next group for euro qualifiers will be more difficult unfortunately. It’s time to trust our younger players. We’ve given citizenship to Vasiliadis. And we have not seen him once. We have Greek German players that should get citizenship just to expand our options. I understand national teams coaches pick players based on form and matches played but in our case this method doesn’t work. We should try different methods and see what works. Like for example players who are 27 with and not playing in the top 5 leagues should not be called up with a few exceptions like Vlachodimos. Then give young players who are 18-24 more chances to play. The thing is we need to change things around and give everyone a chance because we could find out that some players are better than others. Doing the same thing isn’t working. We need to go the next level.