Ethnikiman

All valid points. Good call Nick. I threw a rose at your float on Mardi gras night Olympic Hellas and you ignored it. Even Greek Lunatic thought you were out of line there next to you.

True perception, although evidence shows quite a different story. There were 9-10 different scorers during the Asian cup.. Who is the standout behind Mitroglou? I cannot believe the criticism this man has received over the years, for his supposed inferior showings in front of goal and being lazy, by his own supporters!! Was all that true from our very well informed posters on this and previous forums?? Is he now the gun saviour for the Ethniki? We might have people with twin personalities on this forum. Mitro has been painted as a guy who should be blacklisted from the Greek side. Now he is a superboot. Your kidding!

Fair call. Who would you back for your life BASED on international performances against anyone; Mitroglou or Cahill-at 36 even? Vellios hasn't played yet, don't know if he will succeed. Karelis played on the wing. He was awfull, spraying shots over the bar. In the middle he might well be a genius, have't seen it though. I'll take Sainsbury or a fit Rhys Williams over Manolas. I don't care if he plays for Barcelona. These upcoming matches will be tooth and nail..

I respect ur honesty Reap. I hope Hellas win 4-2. I feel the greek player are not light years ahead like these dreamers. Difference is, these guys worship whereas taking an objective, realistic view is difficult for most. People in other countries haven't heard of many players everywhere. Ask people here who Tachtsidis, Pelkas, Fetfa are, they will tell you they work at the Yeeros shop up at Brighton.

Stath and Manolas are excellent cb's, Mitro is showing consistency thankfully. Look, I'd say Roos 3-1 over Hellas in June, game 1.

I would like to see both sides take June seriously as they Both have World Cup Qualification not too far away. I admire most how Greece didn't lose in Turkey last year, with all that was against them. What an effort that!

I can own you Oly Hellas.

Good point there Sheriff, although Al Hilal would be much more difficult. I took a level view of a comparison, then I am accused of coming to a Greek forum to tell of how superior Socceroos are. That is my view on both sides. Going with form really..

Ye brah. You know hey?

Hahahahahah Asia is becoming the new power with their money. Italy is going the way of Greece with economy. Hahahahahahahha.

Toro is not there. Holebas is still competitive. Brad Smith at Liverpool doing very well in particular. YES, Sainsbury and Spiro/Wright right up there with Stath and Manolas right now. Bulut doing very well and Troisi very good. Hellas need to work on midfield the most. Socceroos are most settled in that area.

Lets see; Hellas Socceroos Karnezis Ryan winner: Ryan Torotsidis, Holebas Risdon, Smith/Gersbach winner youth: Risdon, Smith/Gersbach-lacks exp. Stathis, Manolas Spira/Wright, Sainsbury winner: draw. Tziolis/ Samaris Jedinak/Milligan winner: Jedinak/Milligan Tachtsidis, Fortounis Luongo, Rogic/Mooy winner: draw or Luongo, Rogic/Mooy Pelkas, Kone Leckie, Kruse winner: Leckie, Kruse MItroglou/Vellios/Karelis Cahill, Giannou/Juric/McLaren winner: draw. Interesting to see the results in a few months. Team chemistry playing a huge role too.

Your so right you know, you wouldn't have any hesitation in putting your house on the line cause you have no doubt, right? I'm an armchair warrior like you too.

Like to see if there is a huge gulf between Greek and Aust clubs. Every three years have 3 vs 3 clubs. Raise the stakes up to 650-750k perhaps.

Faroes wiped us so Socceroos may really wipe us with that non-star quality. I think you have had bad experiences with Australians Akriti. Road rage incidents or the like, ye?

From relying on older experienced heads, Ethniki have started to settle towards a starting team, have again found hunger and steel, based on last two performances. Very impressed by the fact they didn't lose to Turkey, away in those howling conditions. Unfortunately it took all the Euro campaign to get some sort of rhythm again.

I like Joe Jonas as second stricker, and guitarist too.

I would imagine Samaris and Taxi. Kone has to come up a couple of pegs. Petsos at interchange perhaps.

Good points allround by the posters. If though, Samaris isn't a good partner for Tachtsidis, where is the evidence that someone else can do better as either DM or at Midfield? Samaris and Taxi were never given a decent chance as a combination before. They did v. Hungary and it went well. Taxi was a runaway man of the match,. If it has to be tweaked again, that means obviously that Samaris is sub par. That furthermore means, we are obviously asking for Kourbelis, Petsos or Maniatis. I don't think anyone can do better atm at DM. At least they deserve two more goes at it. For those with long memories,Taxi was a runaway train through the middle on that day, so was Pelkas for that matter. I believe all the defenders didn't play and one of the Hungary goals was through a plasticine Samaris cover defensive effort unfortunately. I'll forgive him on that one as he played quite well overall.

Good call. The first loss to Faroes should of brought them back to earth. The second loss says that they are lacking serious talent. Thought they have come fwd since the enterprising win against Hungary and the draw vs Turkey in hostile conditions.

Dean, my changes to your indepth analysis, also based on the last Ethniki game too, would be Pelkas as a wide mid, with Fortounis up higher just behind Mitroglou. Karelis may grab a bench spot. I would also trust Bakakis as a RB back up. My back up DM would be Petsos. I would not touch Tziolis. Good work though man. I

I understand it was Apostolos Vellios who scored that wonder-goal for Iraklis vs Asteras Tripolis. What an individual effort, he is a serious talent. Hope the national coach watched that.

I hope Skibbe can do with Hellas what Ranieri has done with Leicester.