Brklyngrk

Demetriou has been amazing!!

I think Barkas lost his spot in Celtic - hasn't started in awhile...

Great save by the Cypriot gk!

What was Barkas doing????????????

2-1 - Cyprus scored.

Agreed - hopefully he bought in because his talent is obvious.

And say whatever you want (friendly, Cyprus hasn't played well, etc..) we have played well. Passes have been very crisp, ball has been moving around and we have shown bursts of speed. Tsimakis has also played great!!

I am liking Bakasetas playing deeper, Fortounis as the AM.

The announcer can't stop praising him (Giakoumakis)...

ESPN3 in the states...

That can't be...It seems that Tziolis and Giakoumakis are making a good case to start the next game. I loved how Giakoumakis was able to hold on to the ball and get a shot off while having the defender all over him.

Giakoumakis looks great!! Nice goal!!

Glad he is giving Tziolis/Giakoumakis/Xatzi a chance. Good time to experiment. For all those bashing the coach, say what you want with selections, the team HAS been playing better under him. I see more passion, ball control and overall competitiveness. Just before he arrived, we saw players not hustle and generally play poor. Do you guys not remember the game against Italy were we couldn't get out of our own half? We may have had "better" players but we were not a team.

Why would you want Greece to lose??? His selections are ok, he picked a large squad to rotate. Who would you include that he didn't besides the 3 centerbacks??

There is something off with him. Whether or not he has the talent is not the issue, he should be playing in a top league but barely starts for OLY. He is going to miss the UCL game tomorrow - he played on Saturday and is fully fit. He got benched last year after he complained about playing time. The coach pulled him over the weekend as he was not pleased with his performance. Hopefully this gets resolved but I can see why JVS does not fully trust him.

Noticed Barkas hasn't played the last few games. Has he been benched?

I get your frustration with Mantalos/Bakesetas playing. But what would you change other than that? Our CBs are not the reason we are not scoring. Right Back - fine, Bakakis is not the answer and we should get someone there. I believe with a few tweaks, he will have the line up he needs. Vlaho Bakakis (for now) Hatzi Mavropanos (when fit) Tzimakis Zeca Galo Fortounis Limnios Giannoulis (or Masouras) Fountas (Pavlidis) Remember, Galo was hurt before. Masouras also was hurt for these last string of games and so were the entire back line.

I believe the future cbs are Retsos/Mavropanos/Hatzidiakis/Svarnas. It's just that two of the four have been injured and unavailable. Even Hatzi just returned not that long ago.

JVS has tried to get him. EPO reached out to him and he said he would be interested. Apparently there were huge administrative hurdles and it seems unlikely that there will be able to be resolved. Zeca was straight forward because he lived in Greece for 7 years. He speaks Greek fluently and he says he feels Greek. He passed all the language test and relevant history exam necessary for citizenship. If you see him, he sings the national anthem along the other players, maybe louder. I have no problem with him being called up.

I think he starts Bakesetas because he trusts him. He follows his direction and presses which allows us to get the ball back. He fits his system. Fortounis is miles ahead of talent but he doesn't do those things. Masouras has played LW when healthy. He was out these last three games. I would think of putting Mantalos in CM and have Masouras or Tsimakis/Giannoulis (whichever one is not playing LB) in that spot. Regarding the RB spot, Retsos played well there against Croatia but that's only bc his primary role was to play defense. He wasn't asked to create. Bakakis is the better option against these teams. We need a RB but I am not sure who it would be.

Mitroglou hasn't played in over a year and nobody wants to buy him. I think we are passed having him on the team. About Bakakis, he has been useful. He is very fast and teams are aware of his speed. Having said that, his crosses aren't the best and he gets beat defensively. Unfortunately, he is the best right back we have right now.

In 2014, the year we went to the WC quarterfinals, we beat Malta by one goal in extra time by Torosidis. We never played well against worse teams. The only difference now is that we are having more chances, back then, we would have one chance and score. We are missing that striker that can make the finishes needed. I agree with Bakesetas, he should be on the bench or when we want to slow the game down. Should not be in when we are chasing the goal.

Yet they didn't score, the time to experiment is now.

We also need to remember that historically, we have not played well against teams that play defensive. We are not a team that ever scored more than two goals (except for that miracle 4 goals against Bosnia years ago). The fact that we are playing open football will only help us, at some point the goals will come. There are a lot of new players and they are starting to get to know one another. Limnios/Masouras/Hatzi/Giannoulis/Tsimakis/Pavlidis/Tziolis just started their NT careers and are already starters (except for Tziolis, but he is only 18). Limnios in particular has impressed and cemented his place on the right wing. I really believe if we can have both Giannoulis/Tsimakis on the left side, we would be very dangerous. The defenders have not really been tested (because we have been having the bulk of possession these games) and that can potentially expose them. The only way to know is by having them play games.

Bakesetas deserves a place on the team, shouldn't start. Bouchalakis I agree with. Pavlidis couldn't score but could hold the ball up. A few changes and I think we would do really well..