Dean97

I agree Torosidis is ageing quickly but the thing is we have nobody worthy enough to use as a replacement. Same can be said for ST. These 2 positions are very, very limited. Masouras and Kitsiou are both young but are not playing week in and week out. I also agree Bakakis is inconsistent but with the right system and the right direction I can see Bakakis being successful with his overlapping runs as I have analysed his game play. But he is also very untrustworthy in defence. So I’m 50/50 with him. Tsimikas and Koutris are good options for LB. I don’t mind who starts between those 2.

Yeah i agree. Mitroglou would just need good service and then it’s up to him to finish it off. He is nothing more than a target man. He is slow and would need someone to put it on the plate for him and Fetfatzidis can be on the to do it. Donis by the way scored a very good goal against Bayern. He seems to turn it up against them.

I would love to see this in the sooner rather than later. Vlachodimos Sokratis Siovas Manolas Bakakis Kourbelis Galanopoulos Koutris Fortounis Fetfatzidis Mitroglou thw only problem with this is most of our players play in the GSL. Luckily for Donis he went away at 16 and progressing abroad. I would’ve put Pelkas in this starting team but he dosent work well with Fortounis. Fetfatzidis would be useful for that quick counter and his clever feet. We have no one better than Mitroglou at the moment in form or not. He’s tall and would perform if he had 2 behind him feeding him the ball constantly. Donis, Tsimikas and Samaris can come on for whoever is tired or isn’t working. Retsos and Papadopoulos are proving to be unreliable because of injury so Siovas is the worthy replacement. Torosidis is getting old and is now more useful as an impact sub. Bakakis is inconsistent but we have no else there as well. Also to mention most of our midfielders and wide players play in the GSL. This might mean something because the level is really low and slow paced which could be the reason our players don’t perform so well. Donis as soon as he made his debut he was very impressive and was the light of the team going forward. Our best positions are CB and GK and I see Gianniotis and Barkas going abroad soon. Fortounis I would say is the best of the bunch in terms of GSL players. But even he is somewhat limited. I forgot to mention Koulouris scoring form. It’s funny how Giannoulis got called back to PAOK when it should have been Koulouris. We need players like Pelkas, Kourbelis, Fortounis and Tsimikas playing abroad because it will only lift the team to a higher level. We also can’t have Fortounis walking around and looking like he dosent want to be there. We need to see more hustle and running from him if we want something more from this team. If not then I’d put Pelkas in who I know would not stop running and is fast.

I just wish Samaris had more vision as a player. Would only benefit us in the national team and himself with a better team abroad. I hope he gets in form because I think he is a decent midfielder for us I would just like him to do more when playing for Greece.

The Dutch league has proven to improve Greek talent. Look at Tsimikas also the keeper Lamprou. Hatzidiakos is improving slowly and the winger Lamprou is proving himself. With now Pavlidis and Vrousai playing now they will start improving and hopefully in the near future they start playing for the national.

Has Vrousai pledged allegiance to Albania?

I don’t know re I think Samaris seems more of a metrosexual. Also Karnezis.?

This article has been up for a while in Greece. I think we all knew this about Holebas. I do believe he would’ve added something special for us. But our main problem is very much to do with CDM/CM, ST and RB. Torosidis is ageing and Bakakis can be very inconsistent as seen in the past. Then in the middle we have Zeca and Kourbelis who I don’t mind as they are our starters. But they are known mostly at doing the dirty work. They can run and run. They tackle well and mark dangerous opponents. But what about going forward? They have proven to be very average at best in building up play. That’s why I have always been saying here we lack and that we need a proper CM. I’ve been advocating for Fortounis to play a deeper free role. Where he would play sort of a Xavi like role. Pick up the ball, look up and play. Someone who can control the midfield and someone who can effectively link midfield to attack accurately and wisely. Pelkas or Mantalos can be that SS or CAM further forward. We can have 1 destroyer (CDM) who can win most of the ball back and cut out the opposing teams attacking play. Zeca fits that role just like Maniatis did back then. We need a go to guy who can take control of the tempo our team plays and I can’t think of anyone better than Fortounis. Androutsos is also that type of player but has fallen out of favour with Martins. Whether we play a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 we need someone deeper to create a play going forward. If you see in the past both Kourbelis and Zeca want to play forward but don’t have the forwards to make the correct option. Then make a wrong pass or inaccurate pass. This is what happens when you play players out of position and especially roles that don’t suit them. Our attack is anything that should spoken about on a later date. Greece’s players in all honesty are average in terms of world football. Our ranking does not help that statement. But the majority of this team plays in the GSL or unknown teams in Belgium or Holland. We need to use our players properly and understand where they are most effective.

Yeah but when you said big spenders Panathinaikos got most of not all their players for free. You can’t really in my opinion count the wages for anything. Also how do find out the wages for the players??

I don’t think that it means that file. It’s just showing the total market value in descending order.

That’s how we should honestly set up the team. But I over heard Panathinaikos coach Giorgos Donis say that the 2 CDM positions have to know how to mark. That’s why he said he wouldn’t play Mantalos there as the 2nd CDM. Same could go for Pelkas, they need to know how to mark. I was thinking of doing the same but Donis brought up a good point.

I definitely agree we should hope for the best. I think Anastasiadis has to look into the u20s. He said Tsimikas, Galanopoulos, Chatzigiovannis and Koulouris will be given chances. He should also be looking at Masouras, Koutris and Mavropanos. Hopefully Bakasetas stays on the bench for a while aswell as Mantalos. I really hope the people in Crete come and watch the games because we all know the majority of people in Athens and Piraeus have lost hope. Let’s begin a fresh start in a new stadium which hopefully sells out every home game for the homefield advantage.

What this team needs is a proper coach and captain. Torosidis is ok but we need another Karagounis or Zagorakis. Someone who commands every single bit of hard work and passion for the team. I find this group of players too entitle who don’t understand why it means to represent your country. Each player have to work equally as hard. They have to do go the extra mile. Defensively we seem like naturals in defence, we can defend. I want to see more from us in attack, more hunger and determination. I want our midfielders to not stop running and hasstling, I want our full back to bomb forward and create opportunities and be an option. I want the striker to be the hungriest player on the field. Most of all I want players who everything for the shirt with excuses. Fast players and players with good technique is also preferred. We have to play at a faster tempo with the ball and scramble for it to win it back. Play the right players in the right positions. All this would be done with the right coach and the right leader. I believe with the right coach he will pick the right squad and all of our ??? would be answered.

He should go to a better team. Juventus or. Manchester United would be good. Why would he stay at Roma?

We should really start going for youth now. By the time 2020 comes around Mitroglou and Sokratis will be 32 Torosidis will be 35 and Lazaros will be 34. We need a team of players that will play together all the time from here on out. Create that chemistry and unity within the team so we our players familiar with each other all the way to the Euros in 2020. We having nothing to lose as we need to rebuild and that should start with our youngsters. If we want rebuild again we should play our youngsters from now not later.

We can also put Retsos and Mavropanos there aswell.

Good line up. I just don’t think Mitroglou should be by himself anymore. That’s why I put a 3-5-2. Let’s see how Masouras does at Olympiakos. Hopefully he does well. I keep forgetting we have Masouras aswell.

Yeah but what kind of fan would abandon their team? We can’t just give up... let’s not be those people that support the team only in the good times. The reason why we support the national team is because of having pride and passion for the country and the sport. That’s why we are on here file...

Sokratis still does the job for Greece which is more than I can ask for. He and Manolas are our saviours in other words. Without them I don’t know how far down the rankings we would be. Our fullbacks are not great defensively. An ageing Torosidis is a problem and also the lack of experience our LBs have should be a concern. Maybe Anastasiadis changes the formation and plays a 3-5-2. It would be a good idea as it would allow our young current wingers to mature at club football first and then be looked at down the road. Something like this... Vlachodimos Manolas Sokratis Papadopoulos Bakakis Kourbelis Zeca Stafyildis Fortounis Donis Mitroglou Bakakis and Stafyldis can put in decent crosses in the box. They aren’t great defensively but can be given a bit more freedom going forward and score or assist. Kourbelis and Zeca would be there as 2 workhorses covering most of the pitch and especially shielding the defence. I play Fortounis behind Mitroglou and Donis, but it would have been intriguing if Tachtsidis would play there as the 10 because of his height, passing and vision. Also he wouldn’t have to worry too much defensively as he could have a free role. His slowness is what sabotages him though. This formation works for our players. I believe having a system that benefits our players will only help in getting the best out of them. In the past we have seen the wrong players play and also the wrong players playing in the wrong position. As this sabotages the teams chances for success. I believe this system would get the best out of our players and it seems the way to go. An inform Tachtsidis would be great in this system.

Sokratis I think is not as good as he was 4 or 5 years ago. He seems more clumsier now. But he has been doing well in the EPL. Liverpool team is on another planet lately as the whole Arsenal backline got smashed.

I think it’s more realistic to have Lamprou or Chatzigiovannis on the wing as Anastasiadis is looking to bring up youth. Fetfatzidis and Lazaros seem to be players the coach doesn’t want. But they are worthy candidates. Masouras is a decent option he can score goals and assist well. Let’s see how he does at Olympiakos. Koutris is very good man... has has improved and has got pace. If you watched him closely in previous European games he works very hard defensively and equally as hard offensively in my opinion. He is good trust me. Mitroglou yeah he is big but very slow and out of form. He has regressed in my opinion but is our best option. Karelis does well at ST for the national team. He is always closest to scoring every time he play. We should give Koulouris a chance. I would prefer Pelkas as the 8 but we all know that won’t happen. Galanopoulos is more of a defensive 8 where as Pelkas is the more offensive 8. Depending on the game we should see these players interchanging.

I agree with this post. We should start establishing younger and faster players from now on. Lazaros has done well in his career but nothing spectacular like Samaras, Karagounis and so on. I would’ve liked to see him at CAM but what’s the point. Donis at CAM/SS sounds intriguing. We should look at Lamprou because he is 21 and playing almost regularly in Holland and is scoring some goals. With a healthy team this is what ill do: Vlacho Toro Man Sok Koutris Galanopoulos Kourbelis Donis Fortounis Lamprou Karelis For the national team Karelis has looked decent and can pop in a goal and runs more than Mitroglou. I would give our front 4 the freedom to interchange so we can mix it up and score a goal.

That would be the dream re...

We can’t be blaming other players for one players bad performance. I agree that the way the national team has been set up is poor. An ageing Torosidis can only do so much. Also Fortounis doesn’t run as much as he should. Playing 2 defensive midfielders will get you nowhere. That’s Jose Mourinho football. Look at him now, he has gotten the sack. Balance is important. I always find this team sabotaging itself. Also international football is not easy. They don’t play week in and week out and the games are spaced out in the year. Injuries can happen and there’s not much time for experimenting. 1 bad game and and the managers get criticised. I actually don’t know how Anastasiadis will do. Reason I say that is because as a coach he has to rely on his tactical ability and knowledge rather than going to the transfer market. He has to deal with what he has and has to come up with something of his own when the team is not producing results. He has to be on his toes all year. I believe this team needs 2 things, a good coach and a new EPO. Then we can see the real potential of the team. Right now we just better hope our players perform and be a team. Not 1 player will save this team it’s a team sport.

I rate Donis, Fetfatzidis and Lamprou more than Lazaros. Lamprou is proving to be a good player abroad. Donis is younger and faster than Lazaros. Fetfatzidis has far more technique and more skillful. The only thing Lazaros has over all our wingers is that he can score amazing goals. But that’s only once every 6 months. Ofcourse he would do well in the GSL. Was never this good abroad. I find him too predictable and a bit selfish at the wrong times. Also he hasn’t done much in the national team. I was a fan of his but I rate others more now.