val

Falling out with dabiza, shame.... The part about kapino is bullshit and i don't believe we can't financially accommodate abeid. Perhaps NC are asking for too much? I found it interesting what he said about risvanis.

^^^

Good draw, ajax or cska would've been okay as well. Regardless of the opposition, these games require clever tactics and a cool head. I would opt for a more conservative approach, simply because it's worked in the past. I worry about anastasiou in these type of games. The standard games, were we were leaving space in behind still haunt me.

I'm also against the essien signing because it means we have to nurse him back to full health before he can play, not to mention he is the wrong type of veteran but you can't include pranjic and petric in your rant. Both croatians have contributed to this side, not to mention petric being arguably our best player in the second half of last season. You keep bringing up their poor performances in europe, but you fail to mention that the team as a whole didn't perform, anastasiou didn't perform.

I think if they are tight fitted they will look a lot better. The shorts are annoying.

Is the blue one the third kit? Don't we have a white one?

Ouch!

We have seen too many has beens come over, so naturally we are concerned.

^^I like asteras, i was in town in 2013, beautiful place. I watched a few games with the locals, they almost view their organization as a little dynasty. They always look to play an attractive brand and have a great recruitment team.

We need more maturity this season, accumulate more points than last season so when they do screw us over, we are mathematically still vying for the title.

^^Well said. If puma financed this move, then Anastasiou and co. probably thought 'whatever let's take a chance on him'. If the club financed this move, then i think it's already an epic blunder.

I agree kaltzas seems more of a fit than lod at the moment. Showed good work rate as well i might add. Lod is slightly slower than what the scout report suggested but seems to have good feet and plays with his head up.

You're right but you are forgetting how well we were set up in those games. I remember against sevilla, malesani had us set up perfectly in a 5-2-3 or 5-3-2, i can't remember exactly but i remember having outplayed them and if it weren't for gekas lack of proficiency in front of goal, we would've blown them away. Munez later on also used 3 centre halves. Actually now that i think about it, even before that we were using this system when we threatened europe's elite. Anyway I'm not trying to make a case for the 5-2-3 but rather admit that even in the tzigger days, we had some competent managers come over only to fall victims to a revolving door. Nioplas was a terrible coach but i disagree that we had a great side back then. We had some good individuals, that's how i'll remember that side. Ferreira attempted to create something special, but then leto went down and the lack of depth killed us. This latest attempt from Anastasiou is best we've seen since the glory days, but he has the backing of the management.

Match fitness is one thing but quality or rather lack of quality is another and it just feels that we are a few signings away from competing in Europe. Don't get me wrong, we are strong in certain areas. We have berg up front and I have confidence in our fullbacks. Vermer already looks a steal and pranjic, yes pranjic! I think can have a super season at left back. Keep nano as a back up and send xoumounis on loan. I've already mentioned my admiration for tavlaridis but sanchez is going to have to have to fill Gordon's shoes. You can see where I am going with this...the midfield worries me. The likes of zeca, Lagos, ajagajun, dinas are hard workers at best whilst Ninis who mind you is more confident these days, is still inconsistent. If I were to offer you a trade, chori for all those guys, 9/10 you'll take it. I know essien is yet to kick a ball, but I'm not holding my breath. Not to repeat myself but his game revolves around energy and he won't age gracefully like a chori. And for that kind of money, you can lure someone that can pull the strings in the midfield. At this point,it feels like a rant but I'm just expressing how I feel. On a final note, although it's early, I like what I'm seeing from lod but more so angelopoulos who might just surprise a few this season.

I don't think i can endure 3 years of puma. They already have us looking like levadiakos.

Did you see tavlaridis play the other day? He was eating up those brugge attackers. As long as he keeps performing, age is not a factor.

What's worst is him paired with koutroubi, which is a pairing i hope to not see during the regular season. I guess it is one of those things that will baffle us, because he keeps screwing up. He doesn't have a cool head to play at the back and is not talented enough to play anywhere else. It's obvious what we need to do and that's send him packing but management thinks otherwise. Donis is the other one that doesn't look like he is progressing and i don't think a loan will help him. Liked what i saw from Angelopoulos, strong in the tackle, not to mention great vision.

I didn't really see any star quality in this Brugge side but they are very fine tuned, their players are in sync. They caused us a lot of problems going forward. We came off second best today but there were a lot of positives such as our ball retention and high pressing most notably in the second half. Just lacked that final ball. Ninis is going to have to step it up if he is to make the ACM position his own. Our fullbacks provided width but the crossing was terrible to say the least. I expect to see nano and wemmer starting soon.

From what i've read, Anagnostopoulos is supposed to be the most promising. Is Angelopoulos the only outfielder promoted from youth team? What about staikos, niouman?

^^You scratch me right where I itch with that post, exactly how i feel about the game. Prior to the fall of communism, those sides from the East were untouchable and because the players would all stay together, they would in turn show up and perform well for their national sides. Even in the late 90's, I still remember that great dynamo kyiv side trouncing barca 4-0 in the camp nou.

I don't think he was as astute as his predecessors. The period between 00-04 was truly special, we had a great side and gave a lot of teams a scare.

Was that not the following season? Markarian fine-tuned the mentality that was always his speciality.

The Faroe Islands played a nice brand of football and they played as a team. That second goal was wicked. There's nothing more pleasing than when players take to the coaches instructions. I'm hearing that some of their guys had jobs in the morning which is quite incredible. On a final note, i have a lot of respect for markarian. Okay so he inherited a great side from kyrastas but nonetheless he got the very best out of the players. I hate to see him involved in the current mess that is the ethniki.

Bielsa is adamant on his style of play, it demands the right players. Just consider the sides he has coached in the past. You throw a few names around that you believe shouldn't have made the squad but bar holebas, you fail to list the other replacements. You need to accept that the current national pool is flawed. It doesn't matter who gets the call and who doesn't, the outcome will still be the same. Only solution is to fix the grassroots. It might take a decade, but it's the only way. Just read this article. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/may/23/germany-bust-boom-talent

These guys were great servants to the national side but were sadly used as scapegoats by the end of it. It's not their fault that they were used past their expiry dates. We were all crying out for new faces to enter the national set up, but once we saw what they had to offer, it was a rude awakening. I do see hope however but it doesn't come from looking at the national pool, in fact it's probably the worst it has been. The hope comes from a general decline in player quality all around europe and beyond. The difference between the middle tier sides and the once worst sides has become negligible. This is why you see the likes of lithuania and northand island achieving better results.