Dean97

I have to agree with the Lazaros comment. We need to move on. We have a lot of others that can do the job on the wing.

That’s true especially about Pelkas. He is not the issue. We have plenty of defensive midfielders. Creative midfielders we don’t have enough of. I think Taxi was more of a deep lying playmaker. Pelkas can be box to box. He is also more creative in the middle. We also have lacked a midfield general since Karagounis or Zagorakis. We need someone with passion and energy that can be reliable defensively and score goal here and there. We won’t do much with defensive midfielders such as Zeca and Kourbelis. Yes they help in ball winning and running everywhere but won’t do much for us in terms of vision. We need that CM that is willing to do everything and capable of doing everything. That’s why all teams should have balance in a team. Pelkas and Zeca would be an ideal partnership. Balance. You can’t have to many midfield maestros and you can’t have to many midfield engines. I would like to see Pelkas and Kourbelis behind Fortounis. It would be better in a 4-3-3 with. Kourbelis holding and doing the dirty work with Pelkas and Fortounis higher up and creating for our forwards. A modern day midfielder needs to be like a pit bull, fast and they should know how to read the game. A mix of an engine and a maestro is ideal. Pelkas isn’t afraid to get into challenges and can carry the ball and has a bit of a mongrel about him. We haven’t got a deep lying playmaker CM, were better off playing a DM who can win the ball and a good tackler (Kourbelis) next to a creator and box to box (Pelkas). Fetfatzidis is the type that can create something out of nowhere. He would suit CAM but would still be effective outwide. He has the intelligence on the ball and has great ball control. Every time he has worn the Greece jersey in the past he hasn’t dissapointed. Consistency is key but there is no doubt he should be part of our national teams plans.

Yes that’s true... What I also meant was that Pelkas and Mantalos should atleast do the job on the wing and they don’t. I think they are better than what they are showing. I truly believe that but they are not proving it. Whether they are really not good enough or they have regressed as players. That is the problem. We need to start playing a system where we would get the most out of our players. We had Samaris and Taxi as our midfielders and are now are not playing and not good enough for their teams. We now play Kourbelis and Zeca where one is the captain for a suprisingly impressive team and other is killing it and also captain for his team abroad. But yet they are CDMs that don’t offer much in attack and are useful for running and shielding the defence. We need a runner with the ball that creates and is a jack of all trades. Like a Pogba, Modric, Iniesta, Vidal and so on. We haven’t really got a true number 8 apart from Androutsos. In order for us to achieve anything we have to attack. I know some don’t think we should do that but if you play the right players in the right positions and with the correct approach we can score goals. Maybe play 3-5-2 formation or a 4-4-2 diamond. I’m over having 1 striker we need 2 in the box at all times from now on. Koulouris and Donis should be the players going forward. Mitroglou is too slow and is inconsistent. If we want to play with actual wingers and we do have them, then those players need to make the correct runs and deliver accurate crosses. If you also think about it too, other younger players aren’t setting the GSL on fire aswell. Chatzigiovannis, Bouzoukis, Galanopoulos and even Pelkas are not even showing standout performances against teams like Aris, PAOK, Olympiakos and so on. They only seem outstanding against the “smaller teams” We don’t even have good attacking options from abroad apart from Donis. I believe Donis, Retsos, Sokratis, Siovas, K.Papadopoulos, Manolas, Vlachodimos and maybe 1 or 2 from the GSL are truly our best players currently. I would probably put Fortounis and Koutris in that list too.

Merry Christmas everyone... Erikson plays on the wing when he is a CAM. Many others can play on the wing around the world. I don’t know why some of our players can’t be useful there. Pelkas has played on the wing at times for PAOK and looked ok. Mantalos same. It’s just when it comes to the national team it’s like they don’t know what to do. Bakasetas same thing. We should just play our best players in positions we know they can thrive in. To me your not good enough if you can’t play another position. Maybe that’s a bit harsh but in reality I think our players are not good enough in general than the rest of the world in my opinion. I thought Pelkas could play both wing and CAM it’s clear that he can only play CAM. Fetfatzidis can play both as I said before.

I have to agree that we do get more out of the Olympiakos players. What has Mantalos, Pelkas and Bakasetas done for us? Fortounis has scored and assisted twice for us. Tsimikas has an assist on his debut. Koutris also impressive. We haven’t seen Lazaros or Fetfa enough to make judgments. Bouchalakis is just a filler in my opinion as we have no one else. What this team needs is to play the best players possible in the right positions. I also think Kourbelis is a good addition to the team. He is fast, good tackler and reads the game well. We need someone next to him who is a pure CM that is an all rounder. It’s time that we add some youth. Galanopoulos will be in team but I have question marks over what will he bring for us going forward. I have been impressed by Bouzoukis. Talking about allrounders....

We haven’t been enough out of them when they play with the national team unfortunately. They are not as creative as we want them to be and both are slow. We need someone with real vision and and can execute a pass properly. We need someone who can control the middle well. I just don’t understand why they haven’t performed as we would’ve liked. Tachtsidis has regressed for sure but Samaris I don’t know about.... but I’ve read that Benfica fans saying that he is not good enough.

That is where I disagree. Lazaros hasn’t been the same player he was last season. Here and there he has been good but mostly hasn’t played well. He is regressing in my opinion. Fetfatzidis on the hand can give you an assist or help with the build up play with his quick movement and quick get. He dose need to work on finishing though. Fetfatzidis to me is better than Lazaros.

He should stay at Oly I don’t know who else would buy him. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t be in Olympiakos plans. He has done well in Europe and provides a solid option on the wing or as a 10.

Regarding Samaris I think football has moved on terms of style of play and you need to have faster midfielders. Back in 2014-15 he played his best football post Olympiakos and beginning of Benfica. The one goal he has scored was in the World Cup. The reason why Taxi and Samaris have been dropping lately is because they are slow and have failed to adapt to the current era. Time has moved on and they haven’t. I’ve always liked Samaris though strong, good height, tidy passer but hasn’t proven to provide anything going forward as I think Taxi is better for going forward. Also it would be dangerous to have just 1 midfielder. I would a 5-3-2 if anything. There’s a player called Bouzoukis who is doing very well this season and has a rocket of a shot. His vision is very good also and likes playing that accurate long ball.

I agree Fortounis has lost his speed. I don’t know how he would do deeper but attacking wise it would benefit us. Defensively I do t know and he could get exposed and we’ll have less numbers in midfield maybe. I’d go with Fetfatzidis as the 10 and play Chatzigiovannis and Donis on the wings. If we want a speedier CAM then Fetfatzidis is the man. Pelkas can come on off the bench if need be. Kourbelis can play that 6 role as the destroyer. We have the wingers we just need to get it right in the middle of the field.

Yeah same here lol.

Yeah I agree that game he was everywhere! His slowness didn’t play as a factor in this game as his vision and creativity was on point. I’ve never seen him do so much running like he did. Without him that game we probably would’ve lost.

Why has it plummeted though? Not committed?or slacking off on training? This player would have been perfect for that holding mid role. He is tall and very strong, so he can win headers. His passing on his day if very excellent. I believe a few years ago he improved our midfield with his passing. His vision is the best currently out of all players we got. But he is another player who has regressed. He’s always been slow and positioning hasn’t always been the best. His passing lately has regressed aswell. I feel sorry for him too though. He has had some very good games for the national team in the past like the game against Hungary and Belgium. He seems like he peaked at a younger age and played his best football with Roma and Hellas Verona. I don’t think he has adapted to this current era in football just like Samaris.

I’m expecting big things from this player. Hopefully he stays healthy and fit because he should be in the national team. He’s a natural winger and has the speed and skill to take players on and is very creative and also most importantly scores goals.He is a very ambitious player and should have a great career. Lamprou and Chatzigiovannis should be looked at for the national team. If you don’t want to play Fetfatzidis and Lazaros outwide well these are your next best options and it’s not Mantalos or Pelkas. These are the real wingers we have at the moment: Lazaros, Fetfatzidis, Lamprou, Donis, Chatzigiovannis, Limnios and Masouras. These players are good enough to play in the national team and are heaps better options on the wing than Bakasetas, Mantalos and Pelkas.

Yeah i see what you mean. I’m not advocating to play players out of position but he should figure who can and who can’t like the example I have with Fetfatzidis. I believe Fetfatzidis can do the job on both CAM and wing. Hopefully he now understands Pelkas and Mantalos can’t do the job on the wing. Now that he will have most players available next year he should see players in their correct positions. Chatzigiovannis is an example of a player who will be available. I don’t know if he wants Pelkas and Fortounis in at the same time or Mantalos and Fortounis on at the same time but they shouldn’t be. With Angelos saying he doesn’t care about positions and as long as your good enough you can play any where, that’s clearly not the case with some of our players. I hope we see good performances and good results going forward. National teams do have off periods for a few years and then they bounce back hopefully we start bouncing back now as it’s been 4 years of too many ups and downs but mostly downs from the team. We need to get back to where we belong and that’s on tournaments.

He is right in a way though. You have to dig deep in what he said. To me it dosent make sense how Mantalos and Pelkas can’t play on the wing. Maybe they aren’t as good as they are or they have regressed. There are players that are CAMs that can play wing and vice verca. Does anyone feel the same? Fortounis too slow for the wing. Pelkas makes bad decisions and Mantalos not the player he once was. Only Fetfatzidis can play both roles but yet gets over shadowed by Bakasetas and company. Lazaros could play both roles too. He started off as a 10 I believe.

Exactly. Donis is one example of us playing good. Why do our coaches have to play Mantalos and Fortounis in the same line up? Why is Bakasetas put out wide when he has done nothing for us there? We need to change our formation... We don’t have many wingers as it is. Donis is one and Chatzigiovannis is another. Fetfatzidis, who knows if he will ever be called up again.

I agree with this post. A few players will change everything. That has been my issue with the team. It’s also is the fact that we never use our players correctly. Mantalos is better centrally for example. We can’t afford to play slow wingers either.

I do believe Greek players work hard. They do just as much as any nation. Pelkas is an example of this. Some say he has regressed and some say he has improved. The fact most Greek players peak too early. They play to their true talents between ages 18-24. Then they somehow start declining. Sokratis and Manolas are an exemption. They decisions some players make determine there progress. Other things like being unlucky with injuries and inconsistency play vital to a players development.

I don’t know if I would ever trade the 2004 trophy file. That was done though hard work and determination. We were the ultimate underdogs who played with a correct system and luckily had the right players for it. Our passion and drive got us a trophy with an excellent coach who figured out a way of how to make this team win. He focused on defence and played counter attacking football. We had an excellent leader in Zagorakis, we had the best RB in years in Seitaridis very solid defence and keeper and striker who is known for heading in Charisteas and had Karagounis in the peak of his career. There were some players that missed out still and we still won it like Georgatos, Zikos, Kyrgiakos, Nikolaidis was injured and a few others. Right now though I believe the talent is still their. Especially our youngsters. I believe the issue is not the super league but it does a play a certain role. I believe the passion and determination is not at the same level as it was. It has declined for some reason but it dosent mean our players don’t want to play for their country. In my opinion the players and team are not doing enough. If Greece play like the way Olympiakos did against AC Milan the other day then we should be ranked around the top 20 in the world. I agree with what you said though we have no midfielders or full backs. Torosidis can still be an impact but his time is over at RB. He can still contribute off the bench if need be. We need proper and fast full backs. The best bet would be to play Koutris at LB. Every game he plays he is getting better and better and plays like a real professional. RB there are a lot of ??? to who should play there. For the CDM and CM positions we have a real problem... Zeca and Kourbelis are similar players that like to run down opponents and close down and help shield the defence. That’s what they are good for. They don’t offer anything in going forward. They can’t control the middle and dictate the game. In this modern game you need fast midfielders. Who think and move fast. Galanopoulos can improve the midfield but won’t be our saviour or isn’t the answer we need. We need Vidal type player or a player that we depend on to move the ball effectively and other teams are threatened by. We haven’t got anyone like that now. Also what do we do when Mitroglou is our?!? In my opinion we need a good coach who knows all these things and executes a plan of to turn this team into a respectable and competitive team again! At least we won a trophy so we can look back on and work towards that kind of glory again which has given us a belief for future generations to carry this glory again. The trophies matters more than how you play. At the end of the day a football team plays for a winning result!!

I definitely agree. I think players like Ninis and K.Papadopoulos were very unlucky in my opinion. Some just not professional enough. Even Tachtsidis who at 21 signed for Roma and showed quality and a lot of promise. Another would be Stafylidis I remember at 17 years old was PAOK best player in that Europe game against Spurs where he got sent off. I think it’s a very good idea Young talented Greek players leave Greece. Players who could have made more of their careers like Torosidis who was very wanted by top clubs at around age 25 but instead stayed at Olympiakos until age 27. All I can think of now is for our young players to get the most experience in a country with good football culture and training programs to get better is too leave right now for eg. Galanopoulos, Androutsos, Nikolaou, Tsimikas, Koulouris and so on should test themselves in leagues where they play constantly and especially in a learning environment. Your not going really far in the GSL. Hopefully players like Fortounis, Pelkas, Kourbelis, and Mantalos don’t start declining because they are all in the same age group and we could agree they played their best football a couple of years ago.

We could all agree that Olympiakos is the best team in Greece. I am so proud of this team as I’m a Olympiakos supporter and from Pireaus. In my opinion Fetfa has had better games, but yes he did fine tonight. Cisse and Camara are bosses they will bought with big money. Guierlme is by far Olympiakos best CM and was a bargain. I wish we had a player like that in our national teams midfield. Fortounis did well but he is a bit slow and that is his only problem. Also to mention the goalkeeper is a beast.

I think most Greek players peak too early in their career then the professionalism somehow fades. Eg. Koutsianikoulis, Fetfa and Ninis. Some haven’t like Sokratis, Manolas and so on but if you think about it the majority of talented Greek players show their talents at this age bracket of 18-23.

I think he is in the past now... Too injury prone and you can’t count on him anymore. Time to look at the now and future like Androutsos, Bouzoukis and Chatzigiovanis.

It’s sad how his career has turned out...