georgelaz

AEK is and always will be a top 4 superleague team. the relegation did ruin a lot of our confidence in selecting their players... this year I predict AEK will finish 3rd. 1) Oly 2) Pao 3) Aek 4 Paok 5 ) Atromitos / take your pick I'm PAO btw. . Let's not be naive and forget that AEK isn't a big name in Greek Soccer.

We missed a lot of very good chances by inches. 3-4 posts/crossbars? I think we were just very unlucky on this game.

I'd prefer if 80% of our players on the pitch are defense oriented and 20% attack oriented. At 60th minute use subs for attacking fresh legs. Clean sheets will return to be the norm for us and that'll give our attackers the confidence to be more creative. Karnezis Holebas Manolas Sokratis Toro Kyriakos Samaris Tachtsidis Karelis Ninis Mitroglou Subs Fortounis Kone Fetfa/Klaus/Samaras/Lazaros/Gekas?

I have a hunch that Greece is going to play the last 4 games very very well. Giving Tsanas a chance to be the head coach into world cup. Everything seems to be aligning. Mitroglou seems to be back. Holebas has a chip on his shoulder. Our 3 Cb stars are finally all healthy. etc. etc.

That's the beauty of Kpaps in midfield. He can patch up the space Holebas leaves when he goes up.

The ultimate euro comeback?!?

i love that lineup 1789. I doubt anybody in the group will score against us with it. That will also give our attackers the confidence to be creative. The subs can be used to just replace attackers to rotate them and see which forward will have his day.

Aravidis popped a goal against Sevilla yesterday. (A very very good team imo). Djebour & him seem to be playing together so his playing time will likely be unhindered! He popped one against olympiakos during the cup too. He's proving little by little his dominance isn't just because he was in 2nd division Greece. Hopefully he has a breakout season again with Aek in the superleague. He would easily be one of the most passionate in the 11ada he's 28 but some players are just late bloomers like Holebas. Similarly in basketball, Steve Nash became good in his 30s and was an all-star till about 35ish. (Basketball & Soccer players have about the same life span in professional level). Anyways, Aravidis, really like the guy right now.

My heart felt we would win. My brain knew a defeat was likely. Our win at home was way too scrappy of a win to give me the confidence of winning away.

I'm for evolution, not revolution. If we update the squad by 4-5 players each euro & world cup we'll have a fresh new squad every 4 years. That's sufficient to adhere to overall class & let the lads get experience under their belts. The 4-5 players that we need to phase in to the starting 11 I would say are Samaris Tachtsidis Karelis Ninis Fefta ? Get these dudes to 40-50 caps. Next euro we can create a new wave. it's too soon to tell now but diamantakos might be on the list since we'll need a striker.

Ninis played really well with Cisse in 2010. amazing chemistry. He also seems to be bubbling this up with Berg, and a more mild chemistry with Mitroglou. In essence, pure strikers + ninis = winning combo. Parma only really has Cassano, who is a CF, not quite the same type of player as the lads above. I think that was one of the many reasons his Italian campaign was abysmal. Mark my words, if he stays healthy. Ninis will be huuuge for Pao this season.

If Greece wasn't in shambles economically the players would be best to return to the patrida to get their legs back. Mitroglou, Ninis, and others in the past are getting their mojo back doing this. The Saudi league economically pays extremely generously, and perhaps he sees it as an opportunity to help his family. Samaras might even go to PAOK? I'd be extremely surprised though. His father urged him from very young to never play in Greece. Though, I can't say that playing for Celtic is better than the top 3 teams in the Greek league, but I digress.

skondras, siovas, stafilidis, lazaros, klaus (form dependin) I'd consider on that list as well

I didn't realize what a beast performance Maniatis pulled against Ivory Coast. Always been of a fan of him though. there's a reason he captains Olympiakos

This game had it all. 2 penalties. A Red Card A comeback. Sitters Missed. bravo Pao.

I like our starting lineup but it seems to me that we've lacked depths for years now on the bench. that will likely be more of a thing for the season down the road.

Doesn't seem to late to get Michel now. We interviewed him, so he was second in line. Would be nice if Markarian stayed - but classy move indeed. I would have been curious if Ranieri's tinkering might have been fruitful if he was given a full euro campaign. (pure fantasy)

We're currently listed 10th most voted league to integrate! Let's get us back in the game folks! It's from the official website. Worth a shot! you can vote at the link below http://www.fifaplay.com/fifa16-leagues-vote/

Despite the blow out. A top 4 finish from all European nations is very very good. If only we could maintain that ranking indefinitely!

I was wondering the same thing

a comeback to smash hungary in the last game for 3rd place would be epic and not completely impossible ;)

Mitroglou was 2nd in the superleague @ 16 goals. He scored against athletico madrid in Olympiakos victory. Was a def threat in champions league. It was his second most productive season in terms of goals this year. He scored a goal against the Faroes that was disallowed because of non-related play That goal, might have totally changed the swing of Greece's euro. Karellis should definitely be in the lineup because he's a hybrid striker/winger. Perfect for our system of counter-attack & to pickup the slack for Mitro. They compliment each other. & Ninis plays well with both of them. Mitroglou is good until after World Cup. UNLESS someone makes a huge splash. Which I don't see. But the game can have surprises ;)

I'd do something like this. There was a study done on form. Essentially, everyone has hot streaks because of inherent randomness of the game. Over time though, the strike ratio per say remains the same. Quality > Form. Karnezis - kpaps - sokratis holebas - torosidis samaris - tachtsi Ninis Fetfta Karelis Mitroglou Subs Kapino Manolas Kone Maniatis Samaras Fortounis Klaus Note ** If we didn't get wiped out for qualifying Euro 2016, I'd actually stick in Katsouranis for Tachtisidis as captain for one last tournament. This is what Santos would have likely done, as well. **