Suggested Call Ups, Starting 11

[Bananas]

I've never personally liked the precedent of selecting *star* players that are out of form, purely because of who they've played for or play for.  Mitrogoal out.  Klaus out.  Giannou in.

 

If the *star* players don't like it, *sta*****a* mou.

 

I also forgot to mention Vellios.

[Dean97]

Vellios is big he is very good with his head. He is a bit more faster than Mitroglou and has more expirience in a top league such as the Premier League. he is in good form and in my opinion is better that Giannou in a technical aspect. Klaus and MItroglou are our better players and are both 27, but Klaus is in bad form and MItroglou is in good form. So, players like Diamantakos and Bakasetas have time, Karelis is another option but now Mitroglou should be starting and our main striker should be him. Vellios should play when MItroglou is not scoring for the NT. Also Vellios has more potential in the NT than Klaus. 

Edited November 30, 2015 by Dean97

[J1078]

I personally think the main problem Skibbe will have is the exact problem we seem to have when mentioning our starting line up. I don't think guys like Kluas/karelis/giannou/vyntra and others should be playing for this team in September. we all know the core players that must start we just need to find good structure and see where that takes us. Flipping back and fourth with guys like the ones I mentioned above every game is not going to build consistency with our team. Before you can start introducing young guys with no experience at all at the NT level you first need to build a NT with consistency and structure so that way when young guys come in they know there role and they won't look as lost out there. Right now the way the team is its not fair to judge these young guys because they're coming up to a NT with a s%$#! attitude and a losing mentality and theses boys look lost out there. For now we need to stick with our main pieces and see if Skibbe can get them to play a different way and bring a positive attitude and if that still doesn't work then scrap these guys and start a true rebuild.

[ausgreek]

Imagine Vellios alongside Kerem Bulut up front @ Iraklis. Bulut is going to explode into action soon, the new Vasilis Hatzipanagis. 

[RED SHERIFF]

he's Australian (when he's not Turkish)...  a superior species...god like figure that can't be questioned...

[ausgreek]

Red, I wasn't going to tell anyone, but you finding Olympic Hellas attractive is not right. Anyway, watch for Kerem he will lift Iraklis to a new level of goal scoring.

[RED SHERIFF]

its December he has not scored yet?

 

what's this about Hellas? Olympic? attractive?

[ausgreek]

Hey man I'm not a so called god that doesn't take criticism, I have no beef with anyone on here brah. Go Hellas!

[Chriskiato]

I would like to see Vellios paired with Diamandakos and get rid of the disinterested Miytroglou and Athanasiadis.

 

These young guys will play with heart backed by skill.

 

I would also like to see Mavrias too. We have no wingers on the right.

[Dean97]

Diamantakos scored his 2nd goal. I think this player will do well for the Ethniki. I agree with playing Mavrias also, but he is not playing regularly for the 1st team in Sunderland. Vellios for sure needs to be given a shot.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Dean97

[Chriskiato]

There is a chance the may have played together for the Ethniki youth teams when I looked at their profiles on Wikipedia.

 

They will compliment each other being different type of players. One with power and the other with finesse. They are just what we need plus some decent wingers that can cross.

 

There is good video on YouTube on Vellios but I just cant seem to be able to upload it here on the forum.

[Rockafeller Skank]

Diamantakos scored his 2nd goal. I think this player will do well for the Ethniki. I agree with playing Mavrias also, but he is not playing regularly for the 1st team in Sunderland. Vellios for sure needs to be given a shot.

 

There s a difference between "not playing regularly for the 1st team in Sunderland" and "never played for the first team of Sunderland". Even on their worst days so far, they won't play him.

[Ethnikiman]

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.

[georgelaz]

haven't seen oikonomou play, but Siovas did almost score a goal from a nice header.

[RED SHERIFF]

he has gone down hill after his injury, he was OK, prior to that....

 

The Olympiakos CD is a disaster.....it cost us a R.16 appearance the last two seasons.....

 

it was our weak point in our fist 10-12 years in CL.... we are going back to those days...

 

our only good CD's at UCL level were with Mellberg-Avraam, later Manolas...combinations worked well between 2011-2014..been horrific before that and since..

[Dean97]

id like to know as to why Tasoulis was called up by Ranieri. What did he see in him in the first place. I do believe though we now should be playing younger players more often but this player has not done much. I also want to discuss each player in this Euro Qualifying campaign and other players in general from what i know.  Also were we are heading in the future.
 
1st i start with Karnezis. I believe he was not  bad but could have done better in this campagin. He is the only decent keeper we have that is playing in a top league. But there were times where i wanted him to not be in the squad because ithing he could have done better in the games especially with the Faroes.
Kapino has time still to improve but is not that far off. Glykos is not bad. I think he is better than Vellidis. So for now Karnezis is still the number 1 keeper for the Ethniki.
 
Our right back position is one of my biggest concerns, not because Torosidis cant play because he still can and is good enough to still play but we have no proper back up meaning there are no up and coming Rbs from Greece that can take over Torosidis position in the next 5 years. Kitsiou is good but is noth there physically and defensively. Skondras is slow, Konstantinidis needs more time, and Bakakis is not playing as much as before but is my chosen to player to take over from Torosidis. So for now Torosidis is still the RB.
 
Cbs we have a lot of depth there. Manolas, Sokratis and K.Papapdopoulos have that covered. Aswell as players like OIkonomou coming up and Tzanetopoulos. Siovas is good also.
 
My other concern is who is the new Lb going to be because Holebas is more useful for our attack which i will speak about later. Stafylidis shows potential but is like Kitsiou. Tzavellas is slow but a decent back up. there is no else really this is one of the biggest problems that the Ethniki need to fix. Maybe a new formation is needed such as a 5-3-1-1. 
 
Next is the most trickiest. Defensive midfield. This is where Samaris has played most of our games this campaign and is on the most dissapointing players along with Lazaros. He is our only decent option and i am fan of this player but he for some reason he has not done that extra thing where you would think he would do something to save the team. He is a world class contributor in the passing sense but hasnt got the real vision that Tachtsidis has. ive watched a few replays of the Greece games where i watched how Samaris likes to play a simple a pass. A simple is not going to create anything for goal scoring opportunities. The only way your going to creating anything its if you play more riskier passes. For example like the one where Samaris played a nice through ball in the air to Torosidis who delivered a good cross for Aravidis to score against Northern Ireland. Another example is the one Tachtsids played to put MItroglou on through goal against Hungary. The more risker passes we play forward the more  opportunities we have. This is why Tziolis should not be in tharting line up. He would be good as a bench option, so when you want to slow the game down when we are leading. If the coach can say this to players like Samaris, Tachtsidis and Petsos more often then our attack is going to look more dangerous. 
 
Our attacking mid options are not bad. We have Fortounis, Kone, Mantalos, Pelkas, Ninis and Lazaros. Only 2 of them should play more central. Im talking about Fortounis and Mantalos. Fetfatzidis can play there also. Ninis is also good there but can be used on the wing. Kone can be a good option off the bench. Out of all these players Fortounis should be starting more often. 
Our wingers should be Holebas he is the only one than can spark something into nothing and create something for a goal scoring chance for himself and for the striker. we seriouly lack natural wingers. Pelkas is closer but is not athletic as Holebas. Maybe Lazaros can play there but if your going to get the same thing with Lazaros such as being selfish then play Fetfatzidis or Pelkas. Mavrias can also be a good winger.
 
Strikers. Mitroglou is going to play more often because he has an eye for goal. He dosent work as hard in runnig wise as to Karelis but all he needs is good service and were good. Vellios should be a back up. Players like DIamantakos and Vergos need more time. Giannou is 3rd in place in my opinion before Vellios. MItroglou needs to show himself more for the ball and run into space more often aswell.
 
This is what my team looks like:
 
                                                                   Karnezis/Kapino
 
 
                                                      Manolas    Sokratis   K.Papadopoulos
 
                Torosidis/Kitsiou                                                                                                              Holebas/Stafylidis
                                                                             Samaris/Tziolis
                                                         
                                                        Tachtsidis/Petsos/Maniatis           Fortounis/Mantalos
 
 
 
                                                                             Karelis/Kone/Pelkas/Ninis/Fetfatzidis
 
                                 
                                                                                             Mitroglou/Vellios
                                           
 
This is what my team would look like. The bald are players that start. The formation is 5-3-1-1. Its defensive which is good because im playing to our strengths. It can also become a 3-1-4-2 attack formation with the Torosidis and Holebas pushing up forward giving crosses to the likes of Mitroglou, Kone, Karelis, Tachtsidis even Papadopoulos who can go forward when needed on an occasion to support in the air for crosses as Samaris can cover. This a very balanced team which is being played to our strengths which more importantly is to not concede and we can scrape through against any team with a 1-0 or 2-0 victory. All that matters is that we win.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Dean97

[RED SHERIFF]

I am not a fan of the 3 CD....Nor do I think Karelis should start...he is very average to poor..

[Dean97]

Karelis has talent he has that something that most young greek players dont have. He has improved dramatically but form is a problem and consistency. 

[Ethnikiman]

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

[Rockafeller Skank]

To be honest , as long as the defence stays as it is , and if not 3 CBs then 2 CBs and 1 extra defensive mid , i dont really care much about how the attack will go , i pretty much doubt everyone except Pelkas who , even at a paok that has been left far behind , shows talent, and Fortounis. The rest , I care not. Id like to see vellios start at upcommung friendlies. and even Giannou. Moreover , I dont think we should play with players wide , We just dont have extrems apart from fetfatzidis . Ranieri had to use Diamantakos and that AEK tagari whose name I ve even forgoten.

 

My Starting 11 could be something like :

- - - - - - - - - - - Karnezis - - - - - - - - - - -

Torosidis - Manolas - Sokratis - Holebas

- - - - - - Tachtsidis - - Samaris - - - - - - -

- - - - - Pelkas - - - - - - Fortounis - - - - -

- - - - - Mitroglou - - - - - Vellios - - - - -

 

4 - 2 - 2 - 2

In general I was a fan of a 3 - 5 - 2 but we simply cant have K. Paps non injured all the time so we cant rely a lot in that. Siovas good as well but not as good as K. Paps so a 3 -5 - 2 with siovas would mean we re on disadvantage, considering that our bad luck in scoring will keep on following us.

Subs/back-ups:

Goalkeepers : Karnezis is far better than Kapino , playing as a starter everywhere he went , in Spain and Italy , since he left PAO, where he was also one of the most decend GKs.

Also Kapino doesn't play in Oly. I bet even if Roberto leaves they ll get someone else instead of giving the boy a chance. Keep Kapino as back up.

Defenders : K. Papadopoulos and Siovas for the CBs, upcoming talents are Ikonomou and Tzanetopoulos as you said. Kitsiou , Bakakis could make it big in a Spanish/Italian championship. Stafylidis is in my opinion Equal to Jose , but his crosses are Gold. Fuhlam guys loved him 

Midfielders : Maniatis if he ever reclaims his former form, and finally gets a good transfer to a top club could even become a starter. That guy has no shot at all , agreed , but he is fast like hell and very good defensively. Petsos, probably is now free from the Austrian team. If he stays there , or decides to go to a better team he has future. If he comes to Olympiakos as rumours say we are ruined. He cant play when we have Milivojevic Cambiasso and Kassami. The guy can't fit and he ll be left out and be destroyed. Tziolis. I dont care if you dont like him. I do.

Attacking Midfielders : looking back 3 years ago we had noone in that position. Literally. We saw a good star in the Eyes of Katidis who ended up ruining his career at the age of 21(? not sure ?). 3 Years back we have the likes of Fortounis , Kone and Mantalos , and maybe Pelkas if he keeps his form. Also , Ninis was used mostly as a Right Midfielder/Winger back then , now he has taken a more central/attacking mid role. I hope he continues to amaze.

Strikers: Vellios, Giannou , Karelis even Diamantakos.

 

The NT has a complete Roster. Now that they have seen that failures are possible , and not like last year when we were top seeds and would get easy draws, they are probably

[Dean97]

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

 

Thanks.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Dean97

[Dean97]

To be honest , as long as the defence stays as it is , and if not 3 CBs then 2 CBs and 1 extra defensive mid , i dont really care much about how the attack will go , i pretty much doubt everyone except Pelkas who , even at a paok that has been left far behind , shows talent, and Fortounis. The rest , I care not. Id like to see vellios start at upcommung friendlies. and even Giannou. Moreover , I dont think we should play with players wide , We just dont have extrems apart from fetfatzidis . Ranieri had to use Diamantakos and that AEK tagari whose name I ve even forgoten.

 

My Starting 11 could be something like :

- - - - - - - - - - - Karnezis - - - - - - - - - - -

Torosidis - Manolas - Sokratis - Holebas

- - - - - - Tachtsidis - - Samaris - - - - - - -

- - - - - Pelkas - - - - - - Fortounis - - - - -

- - - - - Mitroglou - - - - - Vellios - - - - -

 

4 - 2 - 2 - 2

In general I was a fan of a 3 - 5 - 2 but we simply cant have K. Paps non injured all the time so we cant rely a lot in that. Siovas good as well but not as good as K. Paps so a 3 -5 - 2 with siovas would mean we re on disadvantage, considering that our bad luck in scoring will keep on following us.

Subs/back-ups:

Goalkeepers : Karnezis is far better than Kapino , playing as a starter everywhere he went , in Spain and Italy , since he left PAO, where he was also one of the most decend GKs.

Also Kapino doesn't play in Oly. I bet even if Roberto leaves they ll get someone else instead of giving the boy a chance. Keep Kapino as back up.

Defenders : K. Papadopoulos and Siovas for the CBs, upcoming talents are Ikonomou and Tzanetopoulos as you said. Kitsiou , Bakakis could make it big in a Spanish/Italian championship. Stafylidis is in my opinion Equal to Jose , but his crosses are Gold. Fuhlam guys loved him 

Midfielders : Maniatis if he ever reclaims his former form, and finally gets a good transfer to a top club could even become a starter. That guy has no shot at all , agreed , but he is fast like hell and very good defensively. Petsos, probably is now free from the Austrian team. If he stays there , or decides to go to a better team he has future. If he comes to Olympiakos as rumours say we are ruined. He cant play when we have Milivojevic Cambiasso and Kassami. The guy can't fit and he ll be left out and be destroyed. Tziolis. I dont care if you dont like him. I do.

Attacking Midfielders : looking back 3 years ago we had noone in that position. Literally. We saw a good star in the Eyes of Katidis who ended up ruining his career at the age of 21(? not sure ?). 3 Years back we have the likes of Fortounis , Kone and Mantalos , and maybe Pelkas if he keeps his form. Also , Ninis was used mostly as a Right Midfielder/Winger back then , now he has taken a more central/attacking mid role. I hope he continues to amaze.

Strikers: Vellios, Giannou , Karelis even Diamantakos.

 

The NT has a complete Roster. Now that they have seen that failures are possible , and not like last year when we were top seeds and would get easy draws, they are probably

Edited December 27, 2015 by Dean97

[Rockafeller Skank]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yG7ZwBfSfE This Goal at 0:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms49FATNrJk This Goal

Also an Assist that he made in a match this season , with a

Edited December 28, 2015 by Rockafeller Skank

[J1078]

I say we start all of our young talent for the next World Cup and start to give them experience. We have nothing to lose there's is no way we are qualifying for the World Cup and come out of our group. I don't think we will qualify for the next euro so why not take this time to slowly get rid of the aging players and just go with a young team. I know there's guys out here that think we have a chance to qualify for the World Cup but that's just guys thinking with there hearts instead of there heads. Since we won't qualify for a major tournament at least for the next 4 years whe have nothing to lose.

[Rockafeller Skank]

If we dont come out of this group as 2nd at least then we really have failed totally. Our group is one of the easiest , if not THE EASIEST. Going 2nd is easy. Also apart from Benteke , the rest of belgium is not exactly in its top form, without me saying that they are gonna lose any match or something , taking them on and maybe drowing with them is something easy. Bosnia is totally off form as well , Dzeko terrible this season and barely playing , they just have some midfielders who are young and talented but nothing our defence cant keep up with in my opinion.