Suggested Call Ups, Starting 11

[paokarag4]

Squad announced for the do or die games against Georgia and Sweden. No real surprises, Stafylidis returns as well as Pelkas and Masouras who are fit again. No love for Kolovos, Athansiadis and still no Giakoumakis who is yet to play for Celtic since moving. 

Full squad

Οδυσσέας Βλαχοδήμος, Αλέξανδρος Πασχαλάκης, Σωκράτης Διούδης, Θανάσης Ανδρούτσος, Μανώλης Σάλιακας, Παντελής Χατζηδιάκος, Κυριάκος Παπαδόπουλος, Κώστας Μαυροπάνος, Γιώργος Τζαβέλλας, Κώστας Σταφυλίδης, Δημήτρης Γιαννούλης, Κώστας Τσιμίκας, Λεονάρντο Κούτρης, Κάρλος Ζέκα, Δημήτρης Πέλκας, Γιώργος Μασούρας Τάσος Μπακασέτας, Σωτήρης Αλεξανδρόπουλος, Ανδρέας Μπουχαλάκης, Μανώλης Σιώπης, Μάριος Βρουσάι, Δημήτρης Λημνιός, Χρήστος Τζόλης, Πέτρος Μάνταλος, Βαγγέλης Παυλίδης, Τάσος Δουβίκας

[Alphonse]

Stafylidis… wow… hopefully he does not see the field.

Besides that pretty identical to last call ups and without the injuries.

Inform Masouras and Limnios could make a huge impact 

[PaokCT]

Really thought Athanasiadis might get the call, but Pashalakis has improved greatly. He’s the reason PAOK is on a decent run. Not saying he should be the #1.

[Brklyngrk]

Vlacho will start either way.  Don't want Stafylidis starting.  Giakoumakis is not ready as he hasn't played at all this year.

[Ellada2004]

Stafilidis gets the call up? He has just seen some substitution time at his club in Germany. 

Fountas didnt get the call up? 

Squad overall looks solid if our key players are fit I am optimistic..

[Dean97]

Fountas or Giakoumakis should’ve been called. Both are our best in front of goal and the numbers they have done in the past speak for themselves. Doesn’t make sense to call Stafylidis as we have way better LBs now and he isn’t a CB. There shouldn’t have to be 4-5 LBs in this team.

Athanasiadis deserves to be here. He has been doing very well for a long time and was man of the match against Real Madrid. He’s been impressive. Kolovos also seems to be inform aswell. 

I’m hoping we see the old Limnios because he can be dangerous for us when he’s playing well and Masouras is in the best form he’s ever been.

[Ellada2004]

1 hour ago, Dean97 said:

Fountas or Giakoumakis should’ve been called. Both are our best in front of goal and the numbers they have done in the past speak for themselves. Doesn’t make sense to call Stafylidis as we have way better LBs now and he isn’t a CB. There shouldn’t have to be 4-5 LBs in this team.

Athanasiadis deserves to be here. He has been doing very well for a long time and was man of the match against Real Madrid. He’s been impressive. Kolovos also seems to be inform aswell. 

I’m hoping we see the old Limnios because he can be dangerous for us when he’s playing well and Masouras is in the best form he’s ever been.

I cant understand why JVS didnt call up Fountas and called up Staf? 

Your right he called up alot of LBs. Athanasiadis deserved a call up after his CL form but Vlachodimos is going to get all the starts. Kolovos could have been more useful for us in the midfield and he has helped the NT in the past.

Lets hope Masouras brings it like he did today for OLY. He was unstoppable.

[Brklyngrk]

Athanasiadis wouldn't have started but does deserve consideration.

Giakoumakis played his first game today in months.

I do agree Fountas deserved it over Stafylidis.

 

 

[Dean97]

1 hour ago, Brklyngrk said:

Athanasiadis wouldn't have started but does deserve consideration.

Giakoumakis played his first game today in months.

I do agree Fountas deserved it over Stafylidis.

 

 

Why does not playing matter to this coach? He has called up Mavrias and Limnios in the past who weren’t playing for a while and still called them and actually played them. He’s also played Tsimikas, but he should be called regardless if he plays or not as he’s our best LB. 

Giakoumakis off the bench wouldn’t be so bad. Especially if we need to score late in the game. Fountas who is probably our best striker/finisher got left out. On top of that he has skill and speed to add to it. 

[Dean97]

By the way is Galanopoulos fit?

[Lazarus]

Quote

Athanasiadis and Kolovos doing great at Sheriff who stunned Real Madrid 2-1 in Champions League. Must be in contention for call up to the NT squad.

Athanasiadis in particular had a great match.

 

He certainly was. For those that did not get a chance to see the game and the great display by Athanasiadis, here are some highlights worth watching:

 

[Jimmyp]

How can you guys call fountas out best striker and finisher? He’s 26 and has never scored an international goal. That’s absurd. 

[Dean97]

6 hours ago, Jimmyp said:

How can you guys call fountas out best striker and finisher? He’s 26 and has never scored an international goal. That’s absurd. 

For club he is. If you look at his statistics over the past couple of seasons he is our best. At international level most of our midfielders can’t cope and our strikers are left with little to no service. 

[J1078]

That's exactly it we are quick to criticize why some of our strikers on why they can produce for their club team but not the national team and there is a simple explanation and @Dean97 hit on it, most of the time it comes down do we have a below average midfield on the NT and the strikers  just don't get the service they do for their club teams. Calling up Staf is absurd. JVS better understand that he better push forward as its 2 wins or bust for us  in these upcoming games. I hope he's learned a few lessons from the Sweden game and continues with that style and hopefully he now has learned if the team is up by a goal they cant just sit back it has burned us every time he needs them to keep pushing forward. 

[kbxk508]

The thing is, we do have a lot of players who play in same positions and are left out because the coach is picking players he needs to cover different positions both in the starting line up and on the bench. 

However, calling up Stafylidis and Koutris both LBs, and who are not regulars at club level, and then not picking say someone like Kyriakopoulos who plays each week at Sassuolo in Italy Serie A is hard to understand. Unless, he’s worried we’re going to need more defensive muscle in midfield.

I would have left out one of Stafylidis, Koutris, and brought in Kyriakopoulos and replaced Mantalos or Vrousai with Kolovos whose in form at Sheriff, and proving he can match intensity in UCL.  I think Kolovos would be a better backup for Bakasetas. Saying that, we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, so there may be other factors impacting selections.

As it was noted, we need to go for the win in these next two matches.

 

[Ellada2004]

59 minutes ago, kbxk508 said:

The thing is, we do have a lot of players who play in same positions and are left out because the coach is picking players he needs to cover different positions both in the starting line up and on the bench. 

However, calling up Stafylidis and Koutris both LBs, and who are not regulars at club level, and then not picking say someone like Kyriakopoulos who plays each week at Sassuolo in Italy Serie A is hard to understand. Unless, he’s worried we’re going to need more defensive muscle in midfield.

I would have left out one of Stafylidis, Koutris, and brought in Kyriakopoulos and replaced Mantalos or Vrousai with Kolovos whose in form at Sheriff, and proving he can match intensity in UCL.  I think Kolovos would be a better backup for Bakasetas. Saying that, we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, so there may be other factors impacting selections.

As it was noted, we need to go for the win in these next two matches.

 

I agree with what you have said. Especially in regards to Kolovos he has been in very good form for Sheriff especially during there CL qualifying and at Real Madrid in their win he played very well. JVS said he wants to have the opportunity to pick players from clubs that are playing in the CL. Kolovos is their and they just beat Real Madrid a great team with the most success in the CL. I think it merits a callup? but like you said there is more that goes on behind the scenes.

[Dutch Eagle]

Athanasiadis replaces Dioudis in the Ethniki!

[Dean97]

1 hour ago, Dutch Eagle said:

Athanasiadis replaces Dioudis in the Ethniki!

Great to see. Even if he doesn’t play he is a great back up and this call up will give him loads of confidence.

[Jimmyp]

7 hours ago, J1078 said:

That's exactly it we are quick to criticize why some of our strikers on why they can produce for their club team but not the national team and there is a simple explanation and @Dean97 hit on it, most of the time it comes down do we have a below average midfield on the NT and the strikers  just don't get the service they do for their club teams. Calling up Staf is absurd. JVS better understand that he better push forward as its 2 wins or bust for us  in these upcoming games. I hope he's learned a few lessons from the Sweden game and continues with that style and hopefully he now has learned if the team is up by a goal they cant just sit back it has burned us every time he needs them to keep pushing forward. 

I agree that the midfielders need work, but I’m pretty sure it’s easier to score in the Austrian league than it is to score on an international level. 

[Ellada2004]

1 hour ago, Dutch Eagle said:

Athanasiadis replaces Dioudis in the Ethniki!

Good for him! The experience of being with the NT for crucial World Cup qualifiers will be amazing for him.

[Alphonse]

On 10/1/2021 at 8:39 AM, Dean97 said:

By the way is Galanopoulos fit?

Nope... he is gona have yet another surgery... he is KPAPS V2

Edited October 4, 2021 by Alphonse

[trotsk13]

Greece were to call up and start the best players at every position, ages 30 or under, what would that lineup look like? Can even include potential future eligible players (like Baldock, etc…)

[Dean97]

If I was to pick a team and choose the best players for each position, this is what I would do:

Vlachodimos 

Masouras Manolas Mavropanos Tsimikas 

Alexandropoulos Galanopoulos

Masouras Fetfatzidis Tzolis 

Douvikas 

Subs/Reserves: Retsos, Ninis, Bouchalakis, Hatzidiakos, Athanasiadis, Tzolakis, Androutsos, Fortounis, Pelkas, Giannoulis, Limnios, Pavlidis, Fountas

Someone very underrated is Giannis Masouras. Had a great season in Poland. Don’t know why he never got picked. Douvikas I think is our best striker. 

In total we have 3 keepers, 3RBs(Retsos and Androutsos can fill in there), 4 CBs, 2LBs, 3DMs, 1CM (Ninis), 3CAMs, 3 wingers and 3 strikers. A great balance. In my starting 11 JVS would start 4 of those players. 

[Brklyngrk]

15 hours ago, Dean97 said:

If I was to pick a team and choose the best players for each position, this is what I would do:

Vlachodimos 

Masouras Manolas Mavropanos Tsimikas 

Alexandropoulos Galanopoulos

Masouras Fetfatzidis Tzolis 

Douvikas 

Subs/Reserves: Retsos, Ninis, Bouchalakis, Hatzidiakos, Athanasiadis, Tzolakis, Androutsos, Fortounis, Pelkas, Giannoulis, Limnios, Pavlidis, Fountas

Someone very underrated is Giannis Masouras. Had a great season in Poland. Don’t know why he never got picked. Douvikas I think is our best striker. 

In total we have 3 keepers, 3RBs(Retsos and Androutsos can fill in there), 4 CBs, 2LBs, 3DMs, 1CM (Ninis), 3CAMs, 3 wingers and 3 strikers. A great balance. In my starting 11 JVS would start 4 of those players. 

 

I would put Baldock over Masouras as he was playing at a higher level,  Fortounis over Fefta. I would add Giakoumakis to the bench. 

[skinny]

Vlachodimos 

Baldock Manolas Mavropanos Tsimikas 

Alexandropoulos Galanopoulos

Masouras Fetfatzidis Tzolis 

Douvikas 

 

 

this would make for a great team