GREECE - S. Korea

[Genome]

Hey folks,

In terms of protests that would be the worse thing ever. You know it would get ugly. Why don't people contact the MLA's; send in letters; contact the media before protests and fighting and riots kick in?

:nono:

:nono:

:nono:

:nono:

:nono:

When I wrote protests I didn't mean fights and "let's break" everything ... but a peaceful (but loud) voice to show that we won't take this any longer!

[gcp]

After watching the matches over the weekend I’ve become even more sickened with the NT because I am once again revalidating that all of the WC teams would easily stump on us, karpasoispractores tou kosmou! But I think Alexis Lalas was once again spot on when he said “Greece has been wonderfully boring to this game but on Saturday they were very exciting in their INEPTITUDE”. This word describes 100% the Greek national team, utter and complete ineptitude! And I’m afraid this NT is a depiction of our overall society, a lot of talk but no action.

[mangas21]

"But it could be difficult for Rehhagel to strike the right balance between defense and attack." from an article i just read......

anything in life - anything - requires A N T I C I P A T I O N - NOT REACTION.

otto should have anticipated this problem and planned for it as a contingency - especially after all the matches leading up to the world cup. was it not clear the D was not as string as it used to be? was it not clear that our midfield is weak at best?

now he has his dikc in his hand and the team is equally as paralyzed....after sweden in 08 it was clear that his defensive minded game plan needed at least a plan B or C with different players here an there that would be READY for the next major tournament.....

it just goes to show u, just becuase u beat up on latvia / israel / luxembourg, does not mean everythng is ok.....when a few come on this thread and are still critical after a 5-2 win in latvia, the majority of people take aim at those criticisms with comments like " we won, so it does not matter"....

thats BS....we lost to swiss twice - a wea team - and tied Israel - the coach should not be content with those results, example after after example after example that otto missed the boat on preparation. with all his experience i just dont understand the players he chooses and the moves he makes.....

how do u sit kyriakos? head and shoulders above all th koreans? how do u continue to use avraaammmmm after he consistently is two steps behind every freakin play and was undressed again against the koreans and papastathopoulos is on teh benckh.........take out karagounji and put in who? patsa? why do u bring nini with you if u are not gonna use him? that was the perfect opportunity...and if u hear what otto said "i replaced kara becuase he was not agile or too slow" I parphrase.....so u put in patsa?????? with the best option on the bench.....

i thinnk most of us would be satisfied if nini went in, and even if he stunk, he said "the koreans were too quick for karagouni, and nini is 19, has some creativity and we needed a boost from midfield"...that makes sense and its logical....so could accpet teh result....but u bring in patsa? and now u have NNNNNOOOOO midfield offensive minded palyer when u need a goal to tie....?

i dont get it...please please someone explain this to me.....any explanation .....

[HellasHab]

The plot thickens!

Just heard on the ANT1 news that Otto the Great (:rolleyes:) made changes to his starting 11 for the opening game at the very last moment (2 hours before game time)- why?! Apparently the players were quite shocked when they heard what the starting lineup would be (as everyone probably was). Looks like he is trying to embarrass the team and the country for some unknown reason- damn Germans! <_<

Me thinks its time for a mutiny here, time for the players to throw Otto overboard and assume command of the ship themselves. B)

[zenon]

Ottos tactics are clearly crap and so is his chioce of players but the worst thing about the team is the attitude. They play every game like scared rabbits allowing the other team to dictate. It doesnt matter who they play.

Theres a new generation coming through they need to be given a chance and encouraged to be fearless.

Noplias or the current manager of Cyprus would be my choice. It doesnt have to be some sexy foreign manager. Just Greek with some balls.

[Genome]

Ottos tactics are clearly crap and so is his chioce of players but the worst thing about the team is the attitude. They play every game like scared rabbits allowing the other team to dictate. It doesnt matter who they play.

Theres a new generation coming through they need to be given a chance and encouraged to be fearless.

Noplias or the current manager of Cyprus would be my choice. It doesnt have to be some sexy foreign manager. Just Greek with some balls.

I'd like Nioplias. No nonsense guy who isn't content with a loss or even a draw, I saw that this year (albeit in a different context) with PAO.

I'm also shocked by what you wrote HellasHab ... he prolly had an "ok" line up and then for some reason went crazy and changed it all up... WHY?

[Euro2004]

Me thinks its time for a mutiny here, time for the players to throw Otto overboard and assume command of the ship themselves. B)

It's well known that there is a clique in the Greece squad. According to the reports it's the same clique at PAO plus a few others: Karagounis and Katsouranis are the leaders, plus Seitaridis, Vintra, Haristeas and Gekas. In his recent interview Henk Ten Cate also spoke about the disruptive influence of those first 4, particularly Karagounis who "wants to control everything and everyone".

Their quotes also show how highly they rate Otto (of course they would, and they have the support of others like Avraam too, because if it wasn't for Rehaggel they'd probably be dropped! So having him at the helm is beneficial for them). They say things like:

Gekas: "When Rehaggel leaves the problems will begin for the national team". Instead of saying, "at the moment we're focussed on the World Cup but the fans can rest assured that whatever happens after that tournament, we will always give everything for the national team", he says that we're going back to the dark ages?

They have a loser mentality and yet they are loved and highly rated, despite being bums. So if there was a mutiny, whoever came in would have to be accepted by them anyway. The fact is, unless that clique is broken then forget improving and forget a mutiny.

Genome, forget Nioblias, his quote yesterday was "we'd have lost whoever played for us yesterday because South Korea are a better team". He has a loser mentality too! I want either Santos, Ketsbaia or if we really want a major signing, Felix Magath

Furthermore, when the draw was first made I said "i bet we don't train at altitude, we'll do the typical greek thing and approach it unprofessionally". I can't remember who replied to me, but a member here said something along the lines of, "why do you assume we won't be pros and that our people won't take the necessary action?"... well ladies and gents, i found out yesterday that although our team is playing at altitude our players at staying at ground level near the coast! Why am i not surprised? <_<

[gcp]

Oriste pou zitaei kai resta o xontroma%^$#$!

Apo ta Nea:

[gcp]

Euro2004, Neoplia's exactly right, SK was/is the better team, most all of the teams in SA are, matter of fact, and that's what most of us have recognized for years now, the greek powers that be don't give a damn about anyone but themselves and that's the bottom line (oute iero oute osio)! BTW, I am not saying Neoplia's the right man but I am saying he is right on what he said and you can't hold that against the man. I said it before and I'll say it again, 2004 was a wonderful fluke, and at the epicenter of it all was Zagorakis, a true leader that led IN THE FIELD by example. It wasn't Otto's doing but the few key players the team was built around that made the magic happen but hey that's JMHO.

Lets think of this logically, what decent coach in his right mind would want to come into this snake pit? If anyone said yes we probably shouldn't even want him. Rizikes alages h nootropia mas xriazete alla afto apokliete so get used to being the stumping boy of the world, and get to enjoy being ridiculed because that's bound to last for a long-long time.

[CalGreek]

Every coach is going to have "his" guys, fine. It is the EPO's responsibility to see that a coach's favoritism is holding the team back. That line-up was a joke. A coach should put his players in the best possible position to succeed, and instill a positive attitude within the team. No one seriously expects Greece to win the WC, but if they came in with a hard working team, that tried to accentuate it's positive attributes, then we all would at least not feel cheated. That's how I feel, cheated. If another team is better, more talented than Greece, then fine, I can accept that, but to just see a collection of jokers, who seem to not even care enough to prepare for these games, pisses me off.

[HellasHab]

I'm also shocked by what you wrote HellasHab ... he prolly had an "ok" line up and then for some reason went crazy and changed it all up... WHY?

Well, they actually mentioned one other thing- Otto consulted with someone in Germany (friend?, colleague?, not sure they didn't specify) before putting together the lineup. They seemed to hint that he changed the lineup after consulting with this person, whomever he was?! This sounds highly suspicious in my mind, however I am not very familiar with the Greek media and whether this is how they act (jumping to conclusions and trying to create a story with hearsay & speculation). The members from Greece would have a better say on whether this has merit or something the media has concocted to create controversy?!

It's well known that there is a clique in the Greece squad. According to the reports it's the same clique at PAO plus a few others: Karagounis and Katsouranis are the leaders, plus Seitaridis, Vintra, Haristeas and Gekas.

Well, well isn't that interesting!? These are the same players that suck and should get the boot and be relegated to the bench. That explains a lot, perhaps some of the blame should be shifted from Otto onto these clowns?! Also, if I am not mistaken these same idiots are the ones who are trying to downplay things and don't really like all the criticism that is coming their way. If you don't like it then there's the door, make sure it hits you on the way out! :tdown:

[GreekLunatic]

How does charisteas gets a game still. What upset me is the players were walking on the pitch. Also south korea were nothing spectacular in my opinion we made them look good.

[mangas21]

i agree....we made sk look much better than they actually are.....

i have said this 10000x..........soccer u need to imposes your will on the game. that comes from confidence and swagger.....we dont have it.....we never did......and otto has killed the confidence by continuing to pick players and justify the defensive / donkey ball style....

we will never know what really goes o behind the scenes.....but. how do u sit kyriagos? how? was he hurt? the guy has played every game, and to sit him for the whole game in what was the most important game o fthe tournament, for avraaaam ? and also sit papastathopoulos? r u kidding me?

look there is was and will alwyas be so many tings wrong with the national team....but its the mentality of the greek soccer player and the greek power that be that trickle down....just like the economy, the soccer team is bankrupt as well.....

this is why nobody fears our team, and they use and abuse us like a cheap rented whore...

[Genome]

Well, they actually mentioned one other thing- Otto consulted with someone in Germany (friend?, colleague?, not sure they didn't specify)

Chinese gambling mobster?

[plato-ny]

How does charisteas gets a game still. What upset me is the players were walking on the pitch. Also south korea were nothing spectacular in my opinion we made them look good.

South Korea didnt play great but played well enough to win. They looked fit, played organized ball, had passion, and took advantage of whatever chances they had; elements that were completely devoid of the Greek NT in that match.

[gcp]

Friends, as much as it PAINS me I'll say it once again, this team is a true representation of today's Greek society, faflatdes kai tipota allo! When I was growing up I remember Greeks used to derogatorily refer to the USA population as Amerikanakia. Osa den ftanei h alepou ta leei kremastaria.

The US as usual gave it its all and overcame the English obstacle where as we??? Yea, yea I know some will call it luck, blah blah, blah.....

And please stop with the conspiracy theory with Otto and his mystery German friends, we are underachievers and have grown accustomed to it so please lets call a spade a spade or we’ll never change for the better!

[plato-ny]

(from sport24.gr)

[Irlandos]

What did you expect, guys?

Being a Greek, I could clearly view in my 11 countrymen's faces the word...

[HellasHab]

And please stop with the conspiracy theory with Otto and his mystery German friends, we are underachievers and have grown accustomed to it so please lets call a spade a spade or we

[zenon]

If only the Greek football team would play like the basketball team.

They are like a well oiled machine, they are respected and feared by their opponents. The basketball media talk about them with respect.

I know Greeks like a conspiracy theory but I personally do not believe anything untoward happened in the south korea game. Greece were just crap I'm sad to say.

But if there is one country where dodgy dealings can go on its from the gambling dens of Korea.

You only have to see the dodgy refs decisions in favour of korea during the world cup in korea.

[Clover22]

Hey folks,

In terms of protests that would be the worse thing ever. You know it would get ugly. Why don't people contact the MLA's; send in letters; contact the media before protests and fighting and riots kick in?

:nono:

:nono:

:nono:

:nono:

:nono:

When I wrote protests I didn't mean fights and "let's break" everything ... but a peaceful (but loud) voice to show that we won't take this any longer!

YOU are absolutely right on the money! This is exactly what I was going to encourage. GUYS, if anyone knows any fans in S. Africa right now contact them and tell them to make some noise! Go to the hotel, the stadium, whatever but voice your anger! It can be just a few hundred fans. This is the true spirit of sport; I e-mailed those jack asses at EPO. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

[gcp]

Epitelous, Ta Nea are finally calling a spade a....German....I mean a spade :LOL:

[gcp]

Na giati den nikame, alimono an h efxaristish ths omadas den aksizei panw ap'ola! Ore sfaliares pou theleis! Kai pali tha to pw, panw ap'ola fteei h Elliniki nootropia.

Apo Ta Nea:

[gcp]

Autos einai o perifanos Ellinismos oxi h omada twn 11 pou anti na antagonizete mexri thn teleftea stagona aimatos arkite na xerete kai as trwei ksilo apo ton kathe allo epaggelmatia podosferisth!

Apo Ta Nea:

[gcp]

This is my final post cause I'm going to bed but I was wondering, why in the hell does our NT always attacks by going backward? Do they get confused on which goal they should score upon or is it a new strategy that the rest of the world has not caught onto yet? Pragmatika mistiria pragmata!