Greece v. Argentina

[gcp]

clove, and anyone else who cares -

euro04 said it and so have i for many years - the mentality of the greek player must change form "im just glad to be here" to "fukc them, we are here to hand them therir heads on a silver platter"........

Manga, my testicles send you their full support and a big double thumbs up :D

All kidding aside buddy, it's scary how muxh alike we think, you have personal email.

[gcp]

Quote from CBS:

The 2004 European champions can return home with their heads held high after acquitting themselves well in the tournament, only the second World Cup they have qualified for in their history.

Despite a disappointing 2-0 loss to Korea Republic in their opening game, Greece came from behind to beat Nigeria 2-1, and finished their tournament by holding off an extremely impressive Argentina for 77 minutes before conceding twice and although it wasn't enough to progress, Samaras insists the experience was a great one.

"The players are disappointed by the game against South Korea but the last two games against Nigeria and Argentina we did all we can, gave 100% and in the end we were really happy with our performance as a team," said Samaras.

"We enjoy the football because that is what it is all about. It has been a great experience. It is a world football party."

The Celtic striker started twice and came off the bench for the other match in Group B.

I am glad for you Samara, and the rest of you, party on, especially because you are being paid for it. But what about the fans that have to pay big sums only to have their party spoiled because their NT didn't give it but 1/3 of the effort? What is it about us Greeks and our fun seeking attitude above and beyond all else? Maybe it's a young man's immaturity but they are not that young so is it just plain ol, long term immaturity?

[warzycha]

Most people have said everything and I agree and disagree with comments. The match against South Korea was crucial and a game where had Greece drawn they would have advanced to the last 16.

Of the players I thought for the time Salpingidis and Papastathopoulos played were probably the pick.

What I cannot understand is the tactics for the Argentina match. It was Greece was relying on Nigeria to beat Korea either 0-1 or 1-2. Surely you must look to win and even against Argentina the times Samaras had the ball their central defenders looked shaky. Someone like Salpingidis to support might have shone in the game.

Even if both games ended 0-0, Greece still would have been knocked out. We just needed to show some "balls" and put some pressure. At the end of the day Greece basically lay down and hoped for the best.

[jarvis1981]

Most people have said everything and I agree and disagree with comments. The match against South Korea was crucial and a game where had Greece drawn they would have advanced to the last 16.

Of the players I thought for the time Salpingidis and Papastathopoulos played were probably the pick.

What I cannot understand is the tactics for the Argentina match. It was Greece was relying on Nigeria to beat Korea either 0-1 or 1-2. Surely you must look to win and even against Argentina the times Samaras had the ball their central defenders looked shaky. Someone like Salpingidis to support might have shone in the game.

Even if both games ended 0-0, Greece still would have been knocked out. We just needed to show some "balls" and put some pressure. At the end of the day Greece basically lay down and hoped for the best.

Just watching the Germany - Argentina game and it's at the 30 minute mark in the 1st half.

Germany is ATTACKING....why?....because Argentina have a weak defense.

Germany is up 1-0; doesn't mean that they will win as Argentina can put the ball in the goal but the point is they aren't sitting back playing for a scoreless draw.

If the Germans go down then they go down attacking.....

Good for them.

Greece could learn something from this. Hopefully the next coach is taking notes.

[Akritis_1944]

Most people have said everything and I agree and disagree with comments. The match against South Korea was crucial and a game where had Greece drawn they would have advanced to the last 16.

Of the players I thought for the time Salpingidis and Papastathopoulos played were probably the pick.

What I cannot understand is the tactics for the Argentina match. It was Greece was relying on Nigeria to beat Korea either 0-1 or 1-2. Surely you must look to win and even against Argentina the times Samaras had the ball their central defenders looked shaky. Someone like Salpingidis to support might have shone in the game.

Even if both games ended 0-0, Greece still would have been knocked out. We just needed to show some "balls" and put some pressure. At the end of the day Greece basically lay down and hoped for the best.

Just watching the Germany - Argentina game and it's at the 30 minute mark in the 1st half.

Germany is ATTACKING....why?....because Argentina have a weak defense.

Germany is up 1-0; doesn't mean that they will win as Argentina can put the ball in the goal but the point is they aren't sitting back playing for a scoreless draw.

If the Germans go down then they go down attacking.....

Good for them.

Greece could learn something from this. Hopefully the next coach is taking notes.

Yeah well we have many typical Greeks on these forums who display that pessimistic psychology that my people is doomed by.

Argentina lost 4 nil. Did Germany crush them? No, in score alone but they hit on the counter something Herr Otto refused to allow the NT to play in this way.

He started the Argentina match with 10 men behind the ball. I said that Argentina is defensively fragile but no one listened.

The best form of defense is to try to attack at any chance...not to do what we did against them.

Anyway Otto is banished to our history and I am happy with that and if it merans we are in the wilderness for a few tournaments then I can live with it.

I hate aspiring to mediocrity and that's what we did under Rehhagel.

[Irlandos]

Akriti,

Our team has no speed to its name, attacking the way Germany did yesterday is not an option for us.

If we want some speed, we need to start Ninis and get Koutsianikoulis some playing time on the left side.

It's not right to have a team where speed and NT experience are mutually exclusive.

[Euro2004]

Akriti,

Our team has no speed to its name, attacking the way Germany did yesterday is not an option for us.

If we want some speed, we need to start Ninis and get Koutsianikoulis some playing time on the left side.

It's not right to have a team where speed and NT experience are mutually exclusive.

Although I agree that we can't play like Germany with this team i have to disagree about Ninis. He is not at all quick. In fact he doesn't have any physical attributes. The only pacey players we have are Toro, Papasta, Salpi, Avraam and Koutsianikoulis. Baring in mind that Avraam is abysmal while Koutsi has more chance of playing for Senegal then he does for Greece now that Santos is in charge, and we'll still be left with a squad that lacks pace. Our lack of pace makes it necessary to keep it tight. There's nothing wrong with being defensive guys, it's Rehaggel's selections that were poor, not necessarily his approach.

Look at all the "small" teams that did well: Ghana, Uruguay, Paraguay. All are defensive teams. Their equivalents that were attacking: Mexico, Japan, and Chile didn't do as well. The fact is, these teams cannot out-attack the "big guys" on a consistent basis. The best bet is to keep it tight because as long as it's 0-0 you always have a chance. This isn't just at international level, look at our clubs. When was the last time a Greek club did well in Europe with free-flowing attacking football? PAO of 2001 was probably the last. Since then Olympiakos under Bajevic, Lemonis and Zico, and PAO under Ten Cate were all defensive teams in Europe.

So i dont want greece to become attacking. We don't have the players for that. I merely want to see the following changes under Santos:

- The end of the old guard that are clearly past it but were close to Otto, esp: Haristeas, Seitaridis, Dellas (if Otto had stayed he'd have probably called Dellas up again now he's back at AEK).

- I want to see the RIGHT players being used. They might happen to be young, but i don't want youth for the sake of it. I don't want to start seeing Athanasios Papazoglou for instance just because he's young. I want the right players and a good balance. So no one that isn't ripe yet (Manolas, Gentzoglou, etc) and no one that simply isn't good enough (Kapetanos, Makos, etc). Instead i'd like to see more of Mitroglou, Ninis, Papastathopoulos, Pliatsikas, Fotakis maybe, etc.

- A change in mentality (NOT APPROACH, but mentality), in other words I want to see an improvement in self belief, confidence, passion, etc.

This is what I want, not wholesale changes in the line-up and style of play because that will back fire