Dean97

So what do you think we should do to make players like Samaris perform.

A Defensive midfielder should be good at tackling heading passing marking and reading the game. An Attacking mid should have great vision, passing shooting dribbling setting up play. A Central midfielder does all the of the above and must run a lot which you need to have amazing stamina. In my opinion you need to be strong off and on the ball in any position. I believe Samaris is the closest to having everything. I also believe when he is inform Ninis is a perfect Attacking MId.

I heard some people say that you cant play Tachtsidis and Samaris in the same line up as the statistics show: http://www.transfermarkt.com/andreas-samaris/nationalmannschaft/spieler/140032 http://www.transfermarkt.com/panagiotis-tachtsidis/nationalmannschaft/spieler/62415 in summary the both game that Samaris played he started and played 90 minutes against the Faroes and lost, he also the one that assisted Karelis goal against Finland. He scored against Ivory Coast coming off the bench. So thats 1 negative and 2 positive the rest of the games he was very average. Tachtsidis debut match agianst in Ireland in 2012 (Friendly) played 90 minutes and the team did not concede. Also 90 minutes against Austria in a friendly and the team did not concede. played 90 minutes against Northern Ireland and the team conceded 2 goals. Played 90 minutes against an inform Poland team and the match ended 0-0. Now when they both played 90 minutes and started in the same game against Romania, Finland the team concede 2 goals 1 in the Romania one and one in the Finland. To finish off i believe Samaris has contributed more on big occasions for the Ethniki. While Tachtsidis in the team did well in conceding less in less important matches like Friendlies. So i believe its important that CM or DM play a big role in helping defensively. Its indecisive of who should start or sit on the bench next game or if they should play in the same line up. What are your thoughts?

I believe both of you have good points. For me the only 2 players that are essential to the team are Sokratis and Torosidis. Everyone else needs to be either replaced or not even on the team. For eg. we must have Karelis and Kyriakos on the team. Kone and Lazaros should not play unless they pick up their form. Ninis and Fetfatzidis should play in the next game. Samaras and Salpingidis should be on the team as we have no proven striker. Players like Samaris and Manolas are the players that should make the difference in winning a match as they both of them had an outstanding season (2014-15) and both are really talented players in my opinion. Also Karnezis, but we need a keeper who plays at his best in every match no matter what team we are versing. I also think that Fortounis, Tachtsidis and Stafylidis will all have a break out season well im hoping cause these players should be the few core players in the future on the national team.

Thats why i think we should change it up and play Torosidis there for a change if that doesn't work put a midfield combo of Katsouranis Ninis and Maniatis. As you see this midfield gives a balance of experience, creativity and stamina. I set that in order. I beileve if we want to go back to our old system we need to have Maniatis there doing the defensive work.

Hold on a second we had a 37 year old Karagounis, a 35 year old Katsouranis, and a 34 Year old Salpingidis in the World Cup and made history for the first time making the last 16 in a massive tournament and everyone wished we played more younger players instead of them. Now that we got that we cant even beat the Faroes. This is ridiculous. Dont get me wrong i was in favour of playing the younger players but now i am now seeing what Santos was doing and how we were achieving. I dont care what people are thinking now as i believe now that we need players above 30 in our squad but to a point. We need to have Katsouranis Tziolis Salpingidis Samaras and Torosidis playing and starting well the majority of them accept 1 maybe Tziolis cause i believe they are the players that are the most experienced players and the players that will provide success as shown in the past with previous coaches. The players that i dont want and will not provide any chances for the team are Gekas, Vyntra there not needed as Tziolis, Samaras and Torosidis should play in the WC2018 they will only be 33 by then. As i said experience is the way to go if we want any success. The defensive system we should go back to and this way we can focus on the details like counter attacking and set pieces. We dont have a world class team thats why we need experience more than anything.

I know what ur saying i suppprt it but without Karagounis we are not that strong. Yes there were times when he wasnt playing and we did well but him as a TD wont do much we need him on the field it was never this bad before his retirement and i believe were not going to find someone like him. Whoever said that Torosidis should go defensive mid is not a bad idea. I would also put Samaras and Salpingidis in the team. For extra expirience as they know how to play the defensive system and then we can slowly ease the players we want like Lazaros, Fortounis and so on.

Re reaper are we the only ones on the Oly forum where is everyone?

Does anyone know the stream site for Greece vs Ukraine.

Marco Silva is expected to be in Greece on Tuesday.

his goals this season

i also dont understand how the veterans in Santos era did so well in not conceding when you think about it speed and strength and being younger should make you more capable of keeping a clean sheet because you can keep up with the game. Unlike Katsouranis who cant keep up with the game since post euro 2012. Like i said the system worked and we need to find replacements for Salpingidis, Karagounis, Katsouranis and so on. I believe we need to find players that have similar characteristics and playing styles to those players and go back to the old system of defence first..... Eg. Salpingidis=Mavrias/Karelis Katsouranis= Samaris Karagounis= ??? there is know one like him maybe maybe Kone thats about it.

We now have Tzandaris, Loria and Martinez. http://www.contra.gr/Soccer/Hellas/Superleague/olympiacos/anakoinwse-loria-o-olympiakos.3558127.html

this would be my team.... Karnezis Kapino Torosidis K.Papadopoulos Sokratis Holebas Bakakis Manolas Moras Stafylidis Tachtsidis Samaris Tziolis Fortounis Maniatis Ninis Karelis Aravidis Samaras Fetfatzidis Mitroglou Kaltsas other options: Mantalos Oikonomou Kone Lazaros Vellidis Glykos Klaus These players should be the core, ill do another team on the next generation see what you think.

Im also finding it hard there is not one player that is like Karagounis i saw a glimpse of Tachtsidis in the Poland match hustling and fighting for the ball but thats about it. Kyriakos is going to lead and lift the team if he is playing because of his passion and aggression. He is the only one who comes close to Karagounis and therefore he needs to play but not midfield. Its going to be hard to choose between Manolas and Kyriakos.

Im also finding it hard there is not one player that is like Karagounis i saw a glimpse of Tachtsidis in the Poland match hustling and fighting for the ball but thats about it. Kyriakos is going to lead and lift the team if he is playing because of his passion and aggression. He is the only one who comes close to Karsgounis

I dont think K.Papadopoulos will cut it in DM i know he had 1 good game against Hungary but that does not mean we play him there. We need players who can distribute the ball like the way Katsouranis, Tziolis, Fotakis, Karagounis, Basinas, Zagorakis and Tsiartas have. We also need a real number 10, Lazaros is not the person for this position im talking about players like Ninis, Mantalos and Fortounis. For 6 and 8 positions i think Samaris and Tachtsidis will be the next two players in a midfield that will be given the 'torch' by the players mentioned before the next 5-10 years. We are gifted in central defenders we have good depth although we do have a problem with our full backs there Torosidis is ageing and Stafylidis is not ready but will be soon with more expirience, but upfront we havent got that world class striker for eg. Cavani, Suarez, Benzema, Falcao. We have mediocre strikers like Mitroglou, Klaus, Aravidis, Vellios, Gekas. In the next games we need to play the striker that is in form scoring few goals players and first preference goes to those who are playing in top leagues. The wingers have to be for now Samaras and Karelis. The Goalkeeper has to be for now Karnezis if he is not living up to expectations we have Kapino and Vellidis as back ups. To sum everything up we need to find a balance of inform players and players suitable for our formation system. Even if its putting older players, in to balance the system out and slowly putting the next generation of players in for their place and so on. We need to win games like we did in qualifying with Rehaggel and Santos and keep the same system they used and try to expand on it slowly. We need more friendly matches and better training methods and stick to our defence first mentality and counter attacking football.

His home is Irakleio not Thessaloniki. Yes i do agree he should come home to Greece and play for team like Iraklis maybe Panionios, Panatolikos or Veria. He will get playing time for sure if he joins one of these clubs and get back into form. The Greek League is not bad and now with some more competition in the League now its gonna be worth watching and its not a bad idea for him to get some form back.

Apparently Makos wants to return to the national team and wants to play in Greece. He been playing for Anthorsis in Cyprus and wants to go play in Greece and Karagounis is making major changes in the National Team. http://www.contra.gr/Soccer/Hellas/National-Greece/o-karagkounhs-etoimazei-th-rhksh.3541052.html

Maniatis is right for Greece's midfield because he can run and run in other words he can be the engine for the team and can tackle well as seen in games from qualifying and world and euro cups. I just wish every player in the midfield had his work rate.

Mavrias i reckon will be the next Salpingidis they play similar and are passion and hardworking, also Karelis. I think we have no other good option up front i would try Mantzios, Aravidis, Dimitris Papadopoulos or even Samaras. We can t trust Mitroglou or Klaus to do the job. Gekas is out of the question. Who else does everyone think could do a consistent job from here on out for the National Team.

I think someone must of mentioned something about Mantzios who used to play for Levadiakos and now plays for Platanias. I thought I show everyone some highlights of his goals. I think he should be given another go on the team since we cannot score with the players we have now.

Akritis just out of curiosity about Kourbelis do you know what his main attributes are like his strengths.

Just read an article about Katsouranis about his future in the Ethniki here it is: http://www.contra.gr/Soccer/Hellas/National-Greece/katsoyranhs-tha-doume-an-tha-synexisw-sthn-ethnikh.3532436.html

I thought i show this to everyone: