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Greece - Japan


Omonoia9

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Well what can be said.

The situation looks grim.

Mitroglou is hurt and shouldn't play the rest of the way.

The captain takes two yellows in the first half against a ball control team leaving the rest of the team in a tough spot.

Feta is either not being played properly or has been a major flop in the tourney.

 

On the plus side, the team did hang in there to get the point and is still in the tournament.

But what do they do now.

Who can they bring in off the bench who will make a difference.

I'm open to suggestions but something has to be done to spark this team.

Ivory Coast is good buy not great. A win gets Greece  to the next round.

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Not the end of the world, especially considering Mitroglou getting hurt, and Katsouranis getting sent off. We did it the hard way last time, we can do it again.

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Bad game by 2 crappy teams. Sorry, but I can't believe the accolades in the Greek press (for the most part), that Greeks fought like 300 Spartans. I'd say maybe it was like 10 boys from Sparta at best. And, this wasn't against a good team. I expected the Japs to be much better, but they are not serious.

 

I've watched most of this WC games--very entertaining--but this one was probably the worst.  This was amateur league. Yes, there have been teams with worse records and more goals allowed, but as a fan of the sport (and a supporter of the Greek team), nobody has played like this. They can't string 3-4 passes together. Plus, they argue with each other and they don't seem to know the movements of each other.

 

It's laughable that Santos said if it weren't for Katsou's red, Greece would have won! By the way, when you have your captain, a veteran committing such a stupid foul (he wasn't playing the ball, nor the foul was necessary), then he should have stayed home, along with Maniatis to continue their brawl there.

 

When there's no hope, people invent one. So, for a few days, we can tell ourselves that Greece has a chance. Yeah, crazy stuff happens in this sport--which is one of its beauties--but realistically, this team is the worst put together in any major tournament in the last 10 years.

 

I can't help but feel sad since this was perhaps the best opportunity for Greece to advance against Japan and IC. :xxx:

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Bad game by 2 crappy teams. Sorry, but I can't believe the accolades in the Greek press (for the most part), that Greeks fought like 300 Spartans. I'd say maybe it was like 10 boys from Sparta at best. And, this wasn't against a good team. I expected the Japs to be much better, but they are not serious.

 

I've watched most of this WC games--very entertaining--but this one was probably the worst.  This was amateur league. Yes, there have been teams with worse records and more goals allowed, but as a fan of the sport (not as a fan of the Greek team, which I support), nobody has played like this. They can't string 3-4 passes together. Plus, they argue with each other and they don't seem to know the movements of each other.

 

It's laughable that Santos said if it weren't for Katsou's red, Greece would have won! By the way, when you have your captain, a veteran committing such a stupid foul (he wasn't playing the ball, nor the foul was necessary), then he should have stayed home, along with Maniatis to continue their brawl.

 

Tsk.

Well said. I actually think we played better after Katsouranis got sent off. Glad to see Karnezis was a lot better, and Manolas really held strong. 

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You're right, Omonoia. For all his past contributions and skill, Katsou doesn't have a good influence. The team played better after he left. I haven't followed him at PAOK, but from his PAO days, the team would perform better when he wasn't in the lineup. He should not have gone to Brazil. But, Santos, well, we've discussed this already....

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You're right, Omonoia. For all his past contributions and skill, Katsou doesn't have a good influence. The team played better after he left. I haven't followed him at PAOK, but from his PAO days, the team would perform better when he wasn't in the lineup. He should not have gone to Brazil. But, Santos, well, we've discussed this already....

This better be the last tournament for him, Karagounis and Gkekas.

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My opinion on performances:

 

Karnezis: looked a bit dodgy only on one shot otherwise could not have performed better.

Torosidis: his usual good self

Papastathopoulos: just a step below Manolas but still a good game

Manolas: probably our best player

Holebas: big improvement over game 1 both defensively and offensively.

Katsouranis: a big liability. An investigation should be made as to why this player is on the NT.

Kone: had his moments

Maniatis: nothing special

Fetfatzidis: nothing special for 2 games running

Mitroglou: not dangerous enough for the time he was in

Samaras: has played better, has played worse.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Karagounis: contributed even without the ball

Gekas: had his one moment but was denied

Salpingidis: no grade

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I am usually the NT's worst critic because they always seem to leave me hanging but in this game, after Katsou left, they showed heart, and yes mistakes were made due to stamina and weather conditions, but they played their hearts out and for the oldest team of the tournament they proved to be better fit than the much younger and German like methodical Japs (well coached by trying to pull a German stint early on and damn if we didn't let them). The 300 Spartans comparison is laughable because the Spartans were the most well trained, most organized, best fighting machine of the time were as our NT is neither well trained, nor is it well organized, and is definitely not tough as nails!

 

Look guys, we all know our fundamental problems both with the NT and as a nation, so there's no need to rehash. But I'll share with you my own observation that I believe will sum up the attitude, which if we don't shake we'll never be serious contenders at anything we do. While the Japanese players apologized to their fans for not scoring and not winning this game, which they very much expected to win, our team and in extent our media celebrates this tie! Yes they fought hard and with 10 men they hung in there but why was this even necessary? Because we've always been unprepared, unskilled, and mentally weak by not believing in ourselves. Example; the objective for this team was to make it to the 16. Shame on you for not desiring to fight for the gold, being satisfied for a place in 16. I don't believe there's any other team in a WC that thinks like that. And that my friends is the primary reason as to why we don't do well at anything we have to compete at. Frapedaki, tsigaraki, ouzaki, mezedaki, bouzoukaki, poutsobaremataki kai h zwh sunexizete! Now tell the Germans that, tell them to be mediocre at anything they do.

 

And I'll close with a question, why is it that the NT coach is not Greek? I know the answer but I'd like to hear from you, and if you believe I'm wrong in my observations please feel free to counter.

Edited by gcp
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Guest bleedblueandwhite

good points....

 

maniatis is useless...

fet is not being played properly....he can be the center of the entire offense, he needs to touch and keep the ball more in positions where he can distribute and/or move forward...

torosidis our best overall performance , with kone a close second....

karagouni - say waht you want , but he knows how to control the midfield abit and still has a great touch on corners, etc....

 

i would play a 4 2 3 1 ---- toro manolas papa holebas  -- two holding mids tsilois and kara  --- fet samaras kone ---- salpi 

 

this gives the three free reign to create with holding mids as security sitting deep ..it also reduces the running distance for the two holding mids --- three attackers up front to create, with salpi who has a good nose for the goal in big spots...also u eliminate salpis touches by putting him forward because his ball handling and passing are not good

 

of course everyone can collapse if needed into a defensive posture.

 

personel wise we are handtied as santos brought some players that dont contribute much of anything....

 

but again, if we sit back for the forst 15 minutes and do not move forward with some offensive pressure, expect similar results...

 

 

GCP - great points. particularly about happy to get to 16...that is reflected in the way they start the game, every game...sit back, this is a strategy that says "we are not good enough to move forward and play to win" example: when is the last time we won 5-1? or 3-0? 4-1? .....holland was crushing spain anf yet even up 4 goals they were pressing as if they were losing....that's the difference.

Edited by bleedblueandwhite
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bleed, it goes beyond that, our boys never seem to realize that this is a spectator's sport and if you don't please the spectators you're history. They think we owe our support to them and we frankly don't. We love our nation and want to see it do good in every competition, to include the WC, so the individuals are indeed secondary.

 

Your perception about Holland and the rest of the teams fighting every second and until the end is dead on. And I'll add that the ref was against Greece but we must ask why. I'd say because we play ugly football, in comparison to most other nations. So call me suspicious but I do believe that FIFA wants us out of the tournament, ASAP. They care for the funs to continue to enjoy flare and beauty and we have nothing to offer, spectator wise. That's where the money's at and FIFA is all about money.

Edited by gcp
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