NT Friendly Games

[Jimmyp]

My sons u12 team can win that group. 

[georgelaz]

13 hours ago, Alphonse said:

Correct, we need a new coach ASAP, sadly that will only come with the failure to get first place in the below group

Group C2: Hungary, Greece, Finland, Estonia

We should be able to take this but it'll probably still be a heart attack knowing Greece NT lol

thing I like about this nations league is that the games will all be relatively competitive as it's pretty merit based. If we deserve to be ranked better then we will can work our way through the ranks unlike the previous system where teams like England/Switzerland face chum opponents because of their pedigree.

Edited June 9, 2018 by georgelaz

[J1078]

If we don't win our Nations league group then we need to fire Skibbe before the euro qualifiers in the spring.

[Alphonse]

Watching Hungary now... this is no walk in the park fellas... if Tziolis & Tachtsidis are walking our midfield... we will struggle 

[Dean97]

28 minutes ago, Alphonse said:

Watching Hungary now... this is no walk in the park fellas... if Tziolis & Tachtsidis are walking our midfield... we will struggle 

Haha no doubt. You see the problem is he has a trust in them. He dosent want to know about Siopis. The reason being he hasn't played him. 

Edited June 10, 2018 by Dean97

[georgelaz]

tachtsi decimated hungary last time he played them and plays decent for olympiakos. i think he'll be alright. tziolis is a problem though for sure

[Alphonse]

georgelaz, did you see Tachtsi's performances against Egypt and Saudi Arabia? His passing was horrible, give aways every time! Tziolis looked like Tsartas against Egypt because Tachtisdis was that bad... to put it in perspective. 

I don't think he was anything special for OSFP, certainly not NT starter material IMO. The Hungary game was back in 2015...

[Blackhawk]

Don't understand why someone would use the friendlies against Egypt and Saudi Arabia as a comparison to anything. In both games the player's minds were on the vacation spots to visit during the summer instead on playing football. And most of those players will not see a call up in the future anyway. Specially some players that dressed up for the Saudi game. 

 

[georgelaz]

i watched the friendlies. you can't always take friendlies super seriously it's a time to experiment. tachtsi played very well in big games for olympiakos this year when other players were slacking. he has a place in the team. especially for weaker opponents where his passing can slice through stubborn defenses. his head vs. AEK & his assist to mitroglou vs. belgium were also this season too.  not saying he's an auto-starter but he has a place in the team.

[J1078]

Nah man i disagree if we are starting Taxi and Tziolis we are toast..  Not sure why Skibbe didn't experiment with new players at Mid during the friendlies... What was he looking to get out of th Taxi Tziolis combo??? Taxi has two left feet and is slow, from time to time he can look okay at Olympiacos because he has much better players sourounding him. We need to find two guys that can move with speed and also take control of the game badly.

[Dean97]

There is no doubt Tachtsidis is a good midfielder. His vision and passing doesn't compare to other midfielders in my opinion. I also believe he needs decent wingers to pass to. But he hasn't been showing that he is a good midfielder lately with his performances. I wish he was more consistent like with games @georgelaz has said. If we can get Tachtsidis playing well consistently, I believe we can be competitive with any team. He has the size and is strong, he just needs to be consistent in his midfield game such as his passing, shooting and ball control. I believe we are lucky to have a player like him now that Karagounis is retired.

[Rockafeller Skank]

Tachtsidis lack of talent aint a problem. His vision for through balls and his tower body would make him a decent regista at 6. A creative defensive midfielder. His laziness is the problem. He could be the new Katsouranis if he wanted but he forgot how to run and at his 27 looks like Katsourani at his 33. If a team can trust him and revive him by training him with ergometrics and running with proper breathing Samaris - Tacthsidis Zeka in a 4-3-3 compliments well. Samaris is a mobile defensive midfielder and Zeka is a pace baby who never quits and can help in transition. Tachtsidis is a toweri n the midfield winning high balls and his transition game is lit as f*ck. 3-4 years ago I'd tell you we got a hell of a midfield and with Mitroglou and this defence we re looking to close the gap between us and the big teams. Right now I am just hoping someone else gets produced like Galanopoulos Siopis or I can't see any hope.

[Ellada2004]

Tachtsidis play has fallen off from a few years back, the Euro qualifier vs Hungary where he smashed a rocket goal he was tremendous. The last year watching him he’s not the same even his mental approach to the game is off. The match in Belgium we were up 0-1 he was on a yellow card and then was not thinking and committed an unnecessary foul which led to him being dismissed. Then we were under pressure for final 25 minutes and it allowed Belgium to equalize. Greece could have come out of Brussels with a huge win and it may have changed our run of results after that and allowed us to be neck and neck with Belgium going into the rematch in Athens. 

[georgelaz]

4-3-3 would be sick and i'm glad people are still okay with Samaris. he had a lull but he definitely is one of our best dm's hate it or love it.

 

hmm

        mitro

donis  fortounis laz

  tachtis samaris zeca

staf sok man bakakis

     karnezis

 

might be decent and then we also got pelkas / fetfa / mantalos as impact subs. also got kpaps/retsos to park the bus if needed

 

siovas might need to take a look as elefantos said he's a very intelligent player with superior positioning. playing great in la liga and he can also play cdm unlike kpaps.

Edited June 12, 2018 by georgelaz

[Dean97]

I am also in favor of playing Samaris again. Tachtsidis needs to be taken care of. He has so much talent. I don't know why he is playing the way he is now. If we play a 4-3-3 who will be holding. I don't want Samaris to because we've seen it many times. Also the only goal he scored was when he played higher up. Zeca needs to be in free role where he is always moving around, like pressing, tracking back, making runs. He has the energy and pace to do it and cause problems for the other teams. Tachtsidis can offer more height in the box for goal scoring chances. That's if he doesn't play the holding role. We also the goal against Hungary and the assist against Belgium. So the number 6 position has to go to someone else or maybe we are better off and putting Tachtsidis there. I'd really like to see Samaris further up in midfield.

[trotsk13]

When is Greece's next match?

[Dean97]

I'm not sure there should be one as the nation's cup starts in September. 

[Antaeus7]

Is the UEFA Nations League only a EURO qualifer? 

[Dean97]

Can someone who knows on this forum explain how this nation's league works and what happens with normal qualifiers?  

[Alphonse]

Basically if we finish first in this group and don’t finish first or second during Euro Qualifying campaign we will have an automatic playoff spot for Euro 2020

[trotsk13]

The way Belgium/Croatia have looked underscores how tough Greece's path to the WC really was. And how much improved the team is from Euro qualifying

[Antaeus7]

In the 2018 Mediterranean Games at Tarragona, Spain, Greece beat Turkey 1-0 in the first match. 

Edited June 24, 2018 by Molon Lave

[Ellada2004]

On 6/23/2018 at 8:55 AM, trotsk13 said:

The way Belgium/Croatia have looked underscores how tough Greece's path to the WC really was. And how much improved the team is from Euro qualifying

Greece had a very tough draw getting Belgium it was almost as tough as drawing Germany or Spain. Had we drawn in with Romania, Wales, England I think we would have automatically qualified. Belgium I believe will get to the finals, Croatia are playing well but they were also steam rolling through the group stage at the euros and then crashed out in a poor performance vs Portugal.

[georgelaz]

On 6/23/2018 at 8:55 AM, trotsk13 said:

The way Belgium/Croatia have looked underscores how tough Greece's path to the WC really was. And how much improved the team is from Euro qualifying

 

I thought the same thing. World Cup expansion will suit European teams more than others perhaps. 

Greece, Netherlands, Turkey, italy. 4 teams right there that could compete for a round of 16 spot.

Meanwhile teams like Australia, Panama,  Costa Rica and Iran are in the world cup regularly because easier confederation.

Edited June 27, 2018 by georgelaz

[Jimmyp]

Costa Rica and Greece were about equal. Panama I agree is brutal. But Greece has struggled against Korea and Japan always so it wouldn’t be as easy as it seems. Korea just spanked Germany too. Never doubt the smaller teams. A lot can happen. The ball is round.