Dean97

I'd have to say Klaus, Diamantakos and Vellios are equally bad. But if I had to chose one of them in my team it would be Vellios. I would put Donis on the wing. Since we don't have anyone better. I'd like to ask who would be a better option Gianniotas or Mantalos on the wing? We know how Mantalos plays on the wing, we have seen Gianniotas play on the wing only 3 times and he's been threatening there. But Mantalos overall quality is better than Gianniotas.

I agree 100%

Barkas is better than Gianniotis and I'm a Olympiakos fan. I've always said Mantalos is not good on the right wing but Skibbe plays him there.

Mavrias plays for German 2nd division side Karlsruher. He played 20 or so matches with no goals. When he was 18-19 he went to Sunderland. He was regarded as the next big thing. Unfortunately his form has dropped off ever since he signed for Sunderland. He is still young. He is 23 this season he needs to improve and get back into form the way he was before signing in the EPL in order to warrant a call-up. So far I don't see it happening.

That is a good idea red sheriff. That is probably our best young squad. The thing is the players in the 17-20 age bracket still have time to improve and grow as footballers. I am more concerned with the players who are in the 21-26 age bracket who are not progressing as they should or not involved in the Ethniki. Players like Pelkas, Bouchalakis, Gianniotas, Karelis, Kourbelis, Lykogiannis, Diamantakos and so on should be the players that will carry this team from and now and the next few years. The first problem is: - They have not been given enough chances (Kourbelis, Pelkas) - They have not had enough matches (Bouchalakis) -They are not good enough with their clubs for whatever reason (Mavrias, Kone, Diamantakos) - There is no real desire ( Ninis, Fetftatzidis) - Continuously playing players like Tziolis and Maniatis instead of Siopis and Tachtsidis. Yes Tziolis and Maniatis are need at time for example (Tziolis=Height, Maniatis=High Workrate) But in my opinion Siopis and Tachtsidis are like for like replacements. Bakasetas is a player who has been given enough chances. Diamantakos got a chance and didnt grab it. Karelis got chances and has done well, he is now coming back from injury. Vellios who is now 26 has gotten chances and not taken them. There are also players in thee 21-26 age group that have not even been called and have the chance to, like Koutris and Bouchalakis. Ive also noticed that all our wingers are in this age group excluding Lazaros. But there are players who are doing well for themesleves and thats Stafylidis, Manolas, Papadopoulos, Tachtsidis, Fortounis and Mantalos. Players like Retsos, Manthatis and that have time but can also be in the team if players in the 21-26 age group are not up to it. Now players who are 27 and older are the players who have expirience and are the players who hold the team together. Karnezis, Torosidis, Sokratis, Tzavellas, Samaris, Zeca and Mitroglou. They are the players who are no doubt starters in this team. Tziolis is 32 and Maniatis 31. All im saying is the talent is there but how hard are the players in the 21-26 age group willing to work and take there chances and lead the next generation (17-20).

I hope your right. I'm very optimistic but also concerned.

I would like to talk about Greek players. I've just realised why we don't produce player like other countries for example Brazil, Spain, Portugal and so on. Our youth are the problem. They prefer the Greek lifestyle of having a good time rather than working hard and earning your way in the football world. Gifted players like Fetfatzidis and Ninis have not lived up to expectations as we thought. There was a player called Koutsianikoulis. He was in the same mould as Ninis and Fetfatzidis. A winger/attacking midfielder who could take players on with skill and produce good passes. Another name is Andreas Tatos. Who has excellent technique and vision. Also has not lived up to expectations. The problem is some players standards are not that high as its a shame because if these players did have high standards they would be playing for teams like Manchester United or Barcelona or even Tottenham. But there are some players like Manolas and Sokratis who want the best out of there careers as much as possible. Passionate players like K.Papadopoulos will stop at nothing until they get where they want to be. Fortounis looks like he is capable of bigger things aswell as Mantalos. Tachtsidis is not giving up. I can't say that for players like Kone or Fetfatzidis. Tachtsidis made a good choice in going to Olympiakos. He's guaranteed more minutes and exposure in Champions League. He also played a lot in Serie A for Cagliari last season. Siopis looks like he has a good work ethic. I'd like to see how he goes this season for Olympiakos. I just hope players like Retsos, Manthatis, Androutsos, Galanopoulos and Limnios step up their game and start becoming young stars. Gianniotas should not give up. This is the 3rd time he has been cut by Olympiakos. He is a good winger. Kolovos and Karelis look as they are ambitious in Belgium and like to take chances. I hope they continue there form they left from last season. Pelkas and Bouchalakis I'd like to talk about another day as I believe in these players. Donis looks very promising. I'd like to think that the future of Greek football will look bright but I don't see it, unless some of these youngsters rise up and make a statement. I hope Samaris, Mitroglou and Torosidis have good seasons with Stafylidis improving even more. Karnezis and Kapino look as if they will be the keepers of the Ethniki for at least another 5 years. Barkas looks promising. I believe we are safe for now, but I'm a bit worried about what the depth of talent will be be in 5 years or even 3 years. Torosidis is 32 Karnezis is 33 Sokratis and Mitroglou will be 30 next year which is fine. We have no other striker other than Mitroglou. Vellios, Diamantakos don't look good enough take over. It's a bit concerning as we don't have good enough replacements for the players mentioned. Is anyone else concerned?

It's really unfortunate he got cut. He is not a bad player. He can offer something different from the bench. The board probably prefers Manthatis instead.

That's was a good goal by Mantalos against a very average to bad Cyprus team. What I'm saying is you can't miss a chance like he had against Bosnia. It was on a plate for him. These important games are crucial. I am still frustrated and annoyed that he missed. Also Sokratis had a few mistakes against Bosnia, but imagine him not being there at all, we would've suffered a 3-0 defeat. I think what he does for for club and country is a bit underrated by some people. Manolas is more prone to mistakes than Sokratis. But they a very good centre backs. So is K.Papdopoulos. I am very content with where we are at the moment. But I can't stand seeing better opportunities being lost because of the circumstances I pointed out. We should have beaten Belgium and Bosnia when we had the chance but what do you do, I'm happy so far because we have improved from where we were from 2 years ago and we all have seen massive improvement from the team.

Maybe the coach doesn't have all the say. The board might want the coach to play Risvanis, Siopis and so on. Apparently Marin is set to be a key player for Hasi as he sees him as an important player for the team. Which means there will be competition for the number 10 spot. In my opinion Hasi rates Kasami and Marin so we might see them in the midfield and it could work. Which also means Tachtsidis and Fortounis will fight for those positions.

I wonder what is going to happen in a few weeks when everything is done. Who will be sold? Who will be loaned out? Who will be released? These are the few things i want to happen 2017/18 season with Olympiakos: - Win games obviously - Play the younger Greek talent - The younger talent to step up (Retsos, Manthatis, Androutsos and Nikolaou) - Play more Greek talent (Tachtsidis, Siopis, Risvanis and Kourtis) - Sign a gun right winger - Sign a gun striker - Loan Bouchalakis to Nottingham Forest - Do well in the champions league - Sell Viana, Elyinoussi and Da Costa Dominguez, Cambiasso and Cardozo have already left and Besnik Hasi has already said that we are trying to replace them with quality. Tachtsidis was just signed as i assume he replaces Cambiasso. Emenike is rumoured to join us. Who will replace Dominguez? I hope Fortounis stays or we should sell him for a good price im guessing around the 10-15 million mark. Nothing less. Bouchalakis should be loaned now that Tachtsidis has arrived. Kasami is good enough for the Greek League. Romao looks like a good defensive midfielder. Kasami is good enough for the Greek League. I dont know if Botia is good enough for champions league. We might need to sign a solid defender. Elabdellaoui is good enough to be in the starting 11. We need to sign a back up keeper to Kapino. Does anyone think that the reason Marinakis bought Nottingham Forest was to loan out good potential players so they can experience football outside of Greece in a suitable level?

Bouchalakis might sign for Nottingham Forest on loan.

Yes they did but now there on good terms. I personally think this move is a rubbish move. Why didn't he stay at Atromitos and help the younger players. He has a good work ethic. Also Atromitos is a decent club he would have helped them even more.

Very good signing. He is a good player and will do well in the Greek League. Can't wait to see him and Fortounis combine and play passes to each other.

It was Sokratis fault but look at all the other times he has saved our asses. Without him we would have lost against Belgium and Bosnia. He can't do everything even though I think he can. He is the most important player in this team.

He does do well in defence but missed that chance to give us the three points. Gianniotas would not have missed that. Donis and Mitroglou did well to setup up that chance. This would be my team: Karnezi Toro Mano Kyriako Stafy Samari/Taxi Zeca Gianniota Fortouni Bakaseta Mitro/Kareli We should put Mantalos and Donis on the bench and bring them on when we need them. Against Estonia Sokrati is suspended. Either Samaris or Tachtsidis should start alongside Zeca. Hope Kourbelis shows how good he is to warrant another call up and hopefully start in the future. Siopis should be Maniatis replacement in the future aswell.

Gianniotas works hard aswell in my opinion. Donis doesn't. Donis just knows where to run and attacking. He doesn't run back much. They should be our wingers. If we need to have Mantalos/Bakasetas in the starting 11 have one of them on the right wing and one of Gianniotas/Donis on the left. Manthatis has potential to be a great winger. I've seen some Olympiakos games and he is a workhorse. He doesn't give up in defence and plays with heart.

No but we played Salpingidis on the wing and he is a striker. This was when Greece were doing well with Karagounis and Katsouranis. We have to score goals if we want to win. We can't just rely on the defence. That's why we need actual wingers to create something. Donis is an example against Bosnia. Mantalos and Bakasetas do well to come back and defend but are not providing a threat on the wings. I appreciate the form we are in at the moment. I just hope it continues with a few more goals.

Manolas is apparently going to Russia to sign for Zenit. I don't know if this is true I hope it isn't. I was hoping he would sign for an English premier league team.

Who do you suggest should play on the wings? Have you got any ideas? You always say this player is not good enough or it's to early play this player. Who is good enough then? Limnios and Lamprou have potential to be in this team. Mantalos and Bakasetas are not wingers. Fetfatzidis does not get chosen. Pelkas is overlooked and Manthatis needs more game time. Gianniotas is the only option aswell as Donis.

I agree with ausgreek and J1078. We should have natural wingers on this team. Manthatis and Gianniotas are good enough. Other wingers like Lamprou and Vlachodimos need to prove themselves more. Lazaros should be given another shot. Fetfatzidis is an obvious choice to have on this team. It's unfortunate as he is capable to change the game for us and is a greater threat to any teams defence. Pelkas is another option. He is a number 10 aswell. Winger/Striker like Limnios can also be on this team. He is fast and skillful and has a good shot. I see a lot of potential in this player. Also people should have a look at the Olympiakos friendly today. 4 academy players were involved in the goals scored. Also I wanted to talk about Mantalos and Fortounis. There is no doubt these players are going to be the difference for us in creating chances. But they look like there positions are home and hosed. They need some sort of push as they are not as effective as they usually are. Maybe Androutsos or Pelkas need to step in and put pressure. It's very unfortunate that we don't have enough attacking midfielders. Ninis and Kone are always out of form, Fetfatzidis won't get called up, Bakasetas is not good enough, Androutsos is still young but is good enough to be given a shot. Who else is there? This not our major problem though it should not be ignored. Our main problem is our wingers. We don't play natural wingers. That is our problem. It's simple, Donis should be on the left with Manthatis as the back up. The right wing position should be Gianniotas. I don't know if Kolovos is good on the winger as he is central. Maybe if we play natural wingers our central midfielders can play better passes. Defensively we are very good. We also have a very in form striker. We just need to get it together in the midfield/wide midfield.

Yeah I agree about Bakasetas. But what does Skibbe see in him to start instead of Gianniotas? I like Bakasetas as a player but he is not worth to start at the moment especially on the wing. Can anyone guess why he started some matches? I believe he has decent touch and a good shot. That's about it. He can give a good ball now or then but is sometimes not as effective does everyone agree?

Yugoslavia was a country. Who had many different states that broke up in the late 90s. My point is that those states are now countries and are no different with one another. I'm not saying all are bad but I'm saying you Bosnian's should be ashamed for what yous did. I saw this happening weeks before the match and I was right. Yes there are football hooligans and they do these type of this things. What about the police,the coaches and players from your team that provoked the whole situation. Also how could you Bosnian's speak so badly about us Greeks on social media or the internet in general. Saying we are this and that, who do you think you are. To talk down to us and speak very badly about us. Yous are nothing You have only been a country for only 15-20 years and yous think you can speak like that, the arrogance is unbelievable, where most of your problems are with Serbians. I think it's time to move on from this as I am just stating how I feel about this situation.

Yes football hooligans do that. That doesn't mean you get away with it. Also the police were hitting the fans for no reason. Is that football hooliganism aswell? I was probably just speaking of the way I feel about Bosnian people who are Slavs and who are not far away from another Slavic country who think they are high and mighty, who are clueless just like some Bosnian's. I'm talking about the Skops who say Alexander the Great is a Slav when he clearly is not where his mother and father spoke Greek and he was born in a ancient Greek city called Pella. Not all Slavs are bad but there are some real clueless morons who need to be taught a lesson.

This should be the line up against Estonia.