paokarag4

I think only group E would have been better than the draw we got. In saying that Turkey and Czechs won't be easy by any stretch but you would say we are relatively evenly matched, at least on paper. Portugal breezed through qualifying, but I don't know I have a feeling they aren't going to smash the group and will drop points. Remember, 4 of the 6 best placed third placed sides will also qualify for the round of 16! We have a way to go until worrying about that though. Let's get to March with all our key players fit and in form.

Seems Baba won't be fit for this game, as of yesterday he was still training individually. Reports saying he is in a race against time to be fit for Frankfurt in a weeks time. I believe Zivkovic is suspended for this game, can't remember if anyone else is set to miss to card accumulation.

Yep it's confirmed. We will take on Kazakhstan on the 21st of March at OPAP Arena. The other semi is Georgia v Luxembourg.

I agree on your first point, those cases as well as other across the world are clearly the player seeing an opportunity to play international football and potentially go to a major tournament. While a bit of a joke, until FIFA alter their rules this will continue to happen. The 2nd point here I strongly disagree with. A national team should demonstrate a nations' ability to produce footballers. While of course there is room for players who are ethnically from that nation but have grown up somewhere else I disagree with what a national team should be. Messi almost played for Spain, because he had been there from 13. Again wouldn't be the first time that happened. It is also very rare that it happens so I don't think it's a pandemic or anything to fret about. Clubs don't go about signing youth players in the hope of strengthening their NT, they care about number one, themselves. As you said Athens, we have to agree to disagree. Nothing wrong with that mate!?

Our playoff path continues to take shape, with Luxembourg confirming their place in the play-offs with a huge 4-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. We may face them in the final or even the semi (if Kazakhstan manage to qualify directly) On paper they look like tough match-up, they have multiple players who ply their trade in the Bundesliga. Plus a few who play in Turkey and Russia. They have 14 points in qualifying with 2 of their 3 losses coming to Portugal (heavy 6 and 9-0 losses). As it stands the playoff picture for League C looks like this: Georgia v Luxembourg Greece v Kazakhstan Winners playoff for a spot at Euro 2024. As noted earlier Kazakhstan may directly qualify meaning we play Luxembourg, and Georgia would face Azerbaijan (most likely)

Nationality isn't as simple as "play where you're roots are from" Legally I'm Australian, but both my parents are Greek. Therefore my "blood" is Greek. Who should I have played for? (if I actually could have controlled a ball) There are people who have lived in other countries for generations and don't feel or have any connection to their ethnic backgrounds. Why should they be forced to play for their "motherland" just because their great great grandparents were born there. Similarly, some people are super connected to their backgrounds and feel more connected to that nation then the country they live in. In Narey's case, he is a product of German football. He was born and grew up there, went to school there, learnt to play football there etc. No issue with him playing for Germany if he was good enough. No issue with him playing for Togo either.

It should be noted, Aberdeen is saying the abuse came from a section of the fans not one of our players. PAOK is denying it happened.

Fortounis was asked the other day post the game v Asteras if he'd consider a return to the NT. He said that his time with the Ethniki is over and he won't be back. IMO the only thing that may sway him is if we qualify for the Euros and he and Poyet break bread. Even then, it is dependent on Poyet asking for him to return. It seems very very unlikely. And if you take Fortounis at face value, it is 0% chance of happening.

Not the best result but the point was enough to qualify and keep us on top of the group. Not much changes in regards to topping the group, we go to Frankfurt playing for 2 results. A win guarantees us top spot, while a draw would mean we have to beat Helsinki at Toumba on the last matchday. Was impressed by Konstantelias long range passing, I knew he was capable of playing a pass but hadn't really seen his long range passing. He and Taison our best players.

Squad announced for this game and the qualifier v France. 32 players called-up, you have to figure due the friendly he'll be giving plenty of minutes to a range of players. Vagiannidis from Panathinaikos called-up at right back. Despite the large number of players called-up still no room for Douvikas. Αθανασιάδης, Πασχαλάκης, Διούδης, Βλαχοδήμος, Γούτας, Χατζηδιάκος, Κουλιεράκης, Μαυροπάνος, Ρέτσος, Τζαβέλλας, Μπάλντοκ, Γιαννούλης, Ρότα, Σάλιακας, Τσιμίκας, Βαγιαννίδης, Αλεξανδρόπουλος, Μπακασέτας, Μπουχαλάκης, Γαλανόπουλος, Κουρμπέλης, Μάνταλος, Παπανικολάου, Σιώπης, Χατζηγιοβάνης, Κωνσταντέλιας, Μασούρας, Πέλκας, Φούντας, Γιακουμάκης, Ιωαννίδης, Παυλίδης. Breakdown by position GK (4): Vlachodimos, Paschalakis, Dioudis and Athansiadis. RB (4): Saliakas, Rota, Baldock, Vagiannidis CB (6): Goutas, Chatzidiakos, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Retsos, Tzavellas LB (2): Tsimikas, Giannoulis CM (8): Alexandropoulos, Bouchalakis, Galanopoulos, Kourbelis, Siopis, Papanikolaou, Mantalos, Bakasetas. Wingers (5): Chatzigiovannis, Konstantelias, Masouras, Pelkas, Fountas Strikers (3): Giakoumakis, Pavlidis, Ioannidis.

No Samatta (fever) or Vieirinha travelling for the game. It will be one of Sastre/Kedizora at right back and Thomas up top. Whatever hopes we have of competing for the title this year, this game has massive implications. A loss and we'll be 8 points behind PAO. Yes only 10 games in but it's less than ideal. I'm just looking for am improved performance on last weeks awful showing where the team lost without giving a yelp. I think we'll see a response even if the result doesn't go our way in the end.

It no doubt is, if we come through the play-offs there is no way he would turn down an extension and the chance to lead us to the Euros. If we don't qualify he may leave, but zero chance if we clinch qualification in March.

What a comeback! Huge victory for our European campaign, it means beating Aberdeen in Toumba in 2 weeks time and a draw in Germany will guarantee us top spot and a passage into the final 16! A draw v Frankfurt will be enough to make the final match against HJK(assuming we beat the Scots in a fortnight) a dead-rubber, given we will maintain our 3 point lead over them and also own the H2H tiebreaker. Great fight from the boys to play it out, on a night where we had an average 2nd half we found a way to come away with the 3 points. Team is looking good right now, massive 2 derbies coming up. If Konstantelias is able to improve his finishing he will be a star. Consistency is clearly his biggest challenge atm but his finishing may hold him back in his career. He has all the tools to be quality player, just needs to keep working. Great game from him tonight, created plenty and was by far our biggest attacking threat.

Yeah he loves to talk sh!t all game and act tough. Been like that his whole career but I feel like he has gotten worse with age.

Rocket of a header! Need a 2nd and even a third, because I don't have great confidence in our rotated defense keeping a clean sheet.

Good post, agree with most of this! All the pens are there (even the third that wasn't given probably was). On Bakasetas I do agree that he has struggled against the bigger footballing nations but tbf they are games where as you note our whole midfield has been overrun. The fact that he can boss games against mid-lower ranked teams is important, as in recent qualifying campaigns that is where we have blown our chances. Konstantelias clearly had a role to play in this game, as you note how is the ball supposed to get to the 3 strikers waiting in the box with Bouchalakis and Siopis in midfield. I feel like we are living another version of when Fetfa was playing for the Ethniki, when we would need a goal and various managers would refuse to throw him on?

While I back us to beat all three of those teams, I will say we shouldn't underestimate based on name. Kazakhstan has 4 wins in these qualifiers (same as us) and Luxembourg has managed to collect 11 points in a group which contains Portugal, Slovakia, Bosnia and Iceland.

Yep, a win is the only result that gives a shot at direct qualification. Hoping for the Dutch to drop points against the Irish who have been bang average this qualifying campaign isn't realistic. I expect the boys to be up for this game there is so much on the line, plus the added fact that the Dutch game was our worst performance of the Poyet era. The Dutch are better technically and are probably faster and stronger than us so the lads are going to need be switched on from the start and be super focused. Playing smart and fighting hard for every ball, 2nd and 3rd ball is the way we match it with them. Interested to see if Poyet sticks with Mantalos as an 8 for this game as he did against the Irish. The Kourbelis-Siopis-Bakasetas midfield was blown away in Eindhoven so I wonder if Poyet will rejig the look of our midfield three. FWIW I think Mantalos should only play central if he does start, not out on the left as he did in Holland. Otherwise you think the starting 11 will be the more or less the same as in Dublin. Giakoumakis will start considering he scored a few days ago and he probably is physically our best chance to match it with Van Dijk.

Apart from the first 10 or so minutes, a comfortable evening in what on paper could've been a tricky game. For large stretches we controlled the tempo and showed our quality against the Irish. We all have questions about various call-ups and player selections but ultimately (especially with International football and a nation like Greece) it's a results business. Say what you want but Poyet has topped the nations league group and with 3 games to play in the qualifiers he has in 2nd spot in the group. Massive game against the Dutch now, it will be a packed OPAP Arena and the crowd will be buzzing. They blew us away last month, so we will need to play our absolute best to stand any chance. Their midfield in particular bossed ours and we struggled to break through their pressing. I suspect it will be different in Greece, but interested to see what tactical changes Poyet makes this time around. I'm sure he learnt a thing or 2 from the disaster last month. All in all, it's been a successful qualifying campaign so far and we are still in with a fighting chance. The play-offs are there and waiting worst case and the way this team has been able to win the game they "should", I am relatively confident we qualify one way or another.

Goutas called up to replace the injured Chatzidiakos. Considering the squad flies for Ireland today and he plays his club football in Wales, he will fly directly to Dublin and link up with the squad there. With 4 center backs still in the squad, I feel it confirms Tzavellas is only being called up due to either Poyet wanting a "personality" in the squad or EPO forcing it upon him. He isn't seen as a feasible option unless the game is either comfortably won or lost.

Chatzidiakos ruled out of the 2 upcoming games with an injury. Retsos/Koulierakis in the running to take his spot, I don't give Tzavellas a realistic chance of starting but then again who knows. Considering Baldock was already ruled out pre-call ups, it's less than ideal to lose member of the back 4. Against Holland last month, we all remember what happened when we were without 2 of our starting back 4. A few players without match practice recently, since moving to Nottingham, Vlachodimos has been the no.2 and riding the bench. Mavropanos also with his move to West Ham hasn't been a nailed on starter, but he has at least played three matches in the last month (2 in the Europa League and one in the League Cup). Kourbelis is another who has not seen the pitch since late August for Trabzonspor, so Poyet has some decisions to make on how many potentially underdone players he starts in the game.

Call-ups have been announced, Konstantelias is in. Other new faces compared to last month include: Galanopoulos, Dioudis and Saliakas. Baldock is still out with the injury he sustained during the previous international break. Interesting to see if Saliakas gets the start over Rota at right back. Full squad Τερματοφύλακες: Βλαχοδήμος, Πασχαλάκης, Διούδης. Αμυντικοί: Τσιμίκας, Μαυροπάνος, Χατζηδιάκος, Κουλιεράκης, Σάλιακας, Ρέτσος, Τζαβέλλας, Γιαννούλης, Ρότα. Μέσοι: Μπακασέτας, Μπουχαλάκης, Κουρμπέλης, Αλεξανδρόπουλος, Χατζηγιοβάνης, Γαλανόπουλος, Μάνταλος, Σιώπης. Επιθετικοί: Ιωαννίδης, Μασούρας, Πέλκας, Κωνσταντέλιας, Γιακουμάκης, Παυλίδης, Φούντας.

Always tough to concede a goal so late. The way we played in the final 20-25 minutes really didn't help us see out the result, we just kept inviting pressure and while for the most part we defended well eventually they created a good enough chance to score. I don't mind sitting a little deeper when defending a lead, especially away in a derby. It was inevitable that Pana would get on top in terms of possession, my issue is when we won it back we really had no outlets looking to counter. A hopeful long-ball to one player making a half-hearted run forward was never going to threaten Pana and so they just kept coming. When we won the ball we needed to counter with more purpose and numbers, to push them back and gain meters up the pitch. I'm also not a fan of Lucescu completely exploding about the officiating in this particular match. I only watched the 2nd half, but I don't think anyone would say the officiating impacted the result. I understand the explanation by some media that he was referring to previous games but still. It's not the time to do it, we blew the win because of how we played the final third of the game, not because they scored 5 seconds after minimum allocated stoppage time had elapsed.

My favourite all time show! Followed by Better Call Saul

Always seems to a tricky game in Giannina. Rotation was always going to happen, hopefully Kedziora and Nasberg gel quickly. Our attacking 4 looks good, with Zivkovic and Samatta coming off the bench if things get hairy. We just need to win this, however we can. We've already left 5 points on the table, can't afford to drop anymore at this stage.