Dean97

This line up would be perfect. I’m sick of 2 midfielders that a number 6’s that don’t know how to create. Pelkas or Fortounis in a deeper role would be ideal for us to attack better.

In my opinion the problem this team has always had was player selections. I think we have never have fielded an 11 that anyone has agreed with. We’ve neve had a proper 11. The only time I could think we did was when we beat Hungary 4-3 in the 2016 euro qualifiers. Mantalos was very in form at the time and Pelkas too. Stafylidis played LB and Holebas replaced him at the 2nd half. Tachtsidis and Samaris were in midfield which in my opinion are a good combination. That’s the only time where I though we had the RIGHT 11. Another problem with us is that we repeat the same mistakes. Eg. Playing Pelkas and Mantalos outwide. Playing Bakasetas and so on. The coach needs to understand what’s not working and start changing things. Like I thought a long time ago Pelkas should be our winger but he has proven he can’t do it there and we’ve learnt that. The logical thing to do is not to play him their again. That’s what smart coaches do. They know what the problem is and know how to fix it. I believe we can be a decent attacking team that maintains a strong defence. Which then leads to playing the right players in midfield for the balance. Something like this: Vlacho Toro Sok Man Koutris Kourbelis Fortounis Galanopoulos Donis Mitroglou Chatzigiovannis A 4-3-3 with a balanced midfield. Fortounis a bit deeper than usual is the key here. Donis and Chatzigiovannis provide speed and skill outwide. I was thinking of playing Pelkas or Mantalos where Galanopoulos is. But the first 2 need to sit on the bench. Kourbelis in the 6 role as he is good in shielding the defence. Zeca can play this role. We need to find a replacement for Torosidis. Retsos can replace him but he isn’t good enough in attack. For now though this is a decent line up and I believe the right line up.

I am more optimistic about the Italy games then the ones against Armenia. I know against Italy we will do what we do best and defend and catch them on the counter. Against Finland I believe we will beat them twice. I really do. If we go in these qualifiers as underdogs then we should do well and even claim 2nd spot.

Same here. Imagine if everyone sang it like Manolas. You know how loud and good that would be. I have a feeling Klonaridis will be like Mitroglou and not sing it.

I believe we’ve learnt our lesson with Finland. I don’t know about Armenia as they seem to be on and off in regards to results. They seem more of a challenge than Finland in my opinion. You know against Finland we will be on. I definitely agree that we do better against better teams, so against Italy we should at least get 2 draws against then and avoid defeat as much as we can. Against Bosnia it will be tough but we can manage to get at least a win against them. They are tricky. We all know we will beat Lichtenstein. I predict at best we will be 3rd. At worst we’ll be 4th. Hopefully we can be 2nd. I’m feeling more positive than negative but we know anything can happen with our team. As long as we play our best players and are injury free we should put up a good fight for 2nd place.

Maybe we should consider Klona as the CAM. Villafanez would be a good addition no doubt but I’m not a fan of playing non Greeks in the national team. Zeca is one and that is enough in my opinion. Is Villafanez more of a winger or CAM?

I thought Klona was a striker? Anyways I don’t think he will be massive impact in the team. I agree we need all the help and options needed. If Mantalos is going to play then play him centrally. Otherwise don’t play him at all. Zeca has been a decent inclusion to the team. Koutris has potential to lock down the LB position with Tsimikas as back up. Vlachodimos added more depth at GK. If Klona plays where do you play him? I haven’t seen much of him but I know he can score at times. Maybe play him alongside Mitroglou in a 2 upfront formation. Also does anyone believe Galanopoulos would benefit us? What can he do going forward? He looks talented but has he got the vision and pass from midfield to put some of our players in good positions? He seems more defensive that attacking. We also are all hoping for an 8 to support Fortounis who has the ability to create aswell, instead of sitting back all the time like Kourbelis and Zeca do.

I agree. I thought K.Papadopoulos at 20 years old was better than Retsos at 20 years old. Hopefully Retsos can keep healthy in his career and I think he will. His playing style is more cautious than aggressive. Papadopoulos was way over aggressive and that his bit him in the ass in my opinion.

I don’t think he is injury prone. Just unlucky season. This injury is his first serious one. Hoepfully he doesn’t end up like K.Paps.

I agree

I’m in for either Pelkas or Mantalos as the 8. I saw total football, a Greek show that talks about the league and Giorgos Donis was on it along with Basinas and Katsouranis. A subject came up and they were discussing should Mantalos play as the 8. Katsouranis and Basinas believe that he suits that role.(the 2nd DM) Giorgos Donis went on to say that if I coached him he wouldn’t play him as the 8 in a 4-2-3-1 because he can’t mark. He said in a 4-3-3 he can play as the 8. It’s interesting what he said. I believe Donis should be the coach of the national team. He is very intelligent about the game. If we play either Pelkas or Mantalos as the 8 in a 4-2-3-1 our midfield would get over run because of the marking situation. What we are all hoping for is to have a pure CM that can mark and tackle and also control the midfield with clever passes and vision. I believe in the future Androutsos should play that role in a 4-2-3-1 as the 8. For now if we play that system Kourbelis and Galanopoulos should play behind Fortounis. We all know Mantalos and Pelkas won’t do it for us on the wing. Also Fortounis is better than both. The only problem with Fortounis is his pace. He is a bit too slow.

Hopefully we learn from our mistakes.

The players we have we really shouldn’t be having a hard time against those type of teams. Maybe this current generation is not creative or as talented as we think. We definitely aren’t creative that’s for sure because if we were we would score more than 1 goal.

We have to move on from what’s happened in the past. We should be optimistic and the team should be aswell. Like someone said Italy is beatable. We know what Bosnia is about and we will be prepared. Finland, we won’t make the same mistake again. Hopefully against Armenia we get the right result because we haven’t face them and we know how we do against minnows. Hopefully we create the right team going into March.

Yeah true haha.

We can at least draw Italy twice. We can beat Bosnia I believe. The rest should be a walk through.

Terrific player Lamprou is. He will develop even further with more playing time their something special with this player.

The way we set up as a team and the players that get chosen shows that we should be parking the bus. Samaris, Bouchalakis, Kourbelis and Mantalos are not good enough in attack. Why are we playing a 4-2-3-1. We should be playing 5-4-1 or 5-3-2. We play 2 tall physical players in the midfield all the time. How about switching it up and playing Fortounis or Pelkas in the deep midfield role and play actual wingers. A 4-2-3-1 is a formation that needs creativity from the players and it doesn’t help when most of not all our players are limited as footballers. My point is there is no excuse for not showing up and supporting. It shouldn’t matter what style we play eg. Attacking, defensive or balanced. The fans should help the team as much as possible as they are an ingredient in the teams drive and success. I say the fans should start showing up now as this will a good 1st step. The EPO needs an overhaul that’s for sure but let’s do our best with what we got. Also it’s actually harder these days to play against Minnows. They all park the bus and make it hard for teams. Also when our attack lacks creativity it also doesn’t help.

Yeah it’s not good news but it’s not the end of the world. He is till very young and has time but I would’ve liked to see what he could do this season.

Hopefully not too serious. We need him for the national team. He is useful all across our backline and is still young. He is our best youngster.

It shouldn’t be like that though. Your country should be first. We should all unite for Greece. @paokarag4 your propably right, it’s a Greek thing. If your going to support the national team you should go all the way. Don’t just go for them in the good times. Be with them through the bad and the good. We are all on this forum because we care too much and as a big fan I don’t agree with just caring about your clubs.

It’s simple. If your patriotic about your country and passionate about football you show up regardless of how the team plays. It’s disgusting see no fans or barely any. Where’s the pride. We were underdogs in 04 and we won the whole thing. It just doesn’t make sense. I agree there is no excuse to not support your country.

I know where your coming from. But in my opinion the best option would be to play in Crete. New environment and hopefully the fans show up. I feel like they will show especially in a smaller stadium. With the fans not turning up in Athens and Piraeus respectively, it goes to show how much this team has dipped in the past 4 years. Especially with corruption and politics behind the scenes. Our players don’t help the situation with bad performances.

Holebas has improved drastically over the years. He looks like he gets better with age. But i do agree that we should have a younger team going forward. Build towards the future from now. Yeah im not to sure about the media thing. Let’s hope that with Anastasiadis there a big changes. I hope agents and owners don’t play apart with anything and let the coach do what’s best. Apparently I just read that AEK owner ostracised Simoes, Lampropoulos and Bakasetas. I guess they won’t be playing in AEK jersey for the rest of the year and could leave in January if they don’t sign contracts. You’d think with this information it would give us some optimism or excitement thinking that Bakasetas won’t play in the nt. Probably still won’t happen. I could think of a good replacement for him and that’s Bouzoukis.

Yeah I’m for Masouras. See something special with him. I believe Manthatis has more potential due to his age but he is injured at the moment. Regardless of we want we will probably not get what we want as there are internal politics in the nt. The media have favourites also. Don’t tell me how the media influences the team, I don’t know. Players like Fetfa and Holebas are not liked by the media. They are our most creative players in my opinion are left out. The country of Greece is truly sabotaging this team.