Estonia vs. Greece (10 October 2016, A Le Coq Arena, Tallinn)

[georgelaz]

hopefully we have a fully healthy side against bosnia and belgium. we'll need it.

[pash]

Played average, allowed ourselves to get shaken up. Mitroglou completely invisible. We probably would have won more convincingly had Tzavellas been playing. Hopefully we can clone him for the future, he can easily play 6 positions.

 

I believe our next match is away vs Bosnia. This will be our first real test in a year. At least now our guys have some confidence, coming off of four wins. A little bit of improvement will go a long way.

[Dean97]

I thought Stafylidis did well with his touches and passing needs to improve in other areas. 

Tachtsidis when he came on started well for 15 minutes and then started to give away basic passes. But he was a breath of fresh air. 

[Original Sydney]

Our next 3 games will be make or break Bosnia (H) - Belgium (A) - Bosnia (A)

Edited October 10, 2016 by Original Sydney

[stealth]

With this win hopefully confidence keeps growing within the team.

Just heard on sport-fm that Holebas will no longer play for the NT.

 

 

[Giourkas]

 

[Akritis_1944]

The next 3 matches will determine everything. At least we are where we wanted to be in terms of points before the challenges.

[HellasLEAF]

After seeing the Italians scrape a 3 - 2 in the dying seconds from FYROM I'll take these 3 points and clean sheet happily.  

The early goal was both a blessing and a curse as Estonia felt pressure to equalize as we sat back.  I felt the midfield play to be very disappointing as they simply were not able to hold the ball under the Estonia pressure.  They were a decent team to be fair.  

Our defence was actually pretty decent not allowing many top notch chances against.  Absorbing much of what they threw at us.  Attacking play was not existent at all really.  Felt like a performance from Otto's playbook today.  Fortounis and Samaris are vital to this team and some adjustments are surely needed before we play Bosnia I do hope we don't become complacent with this recent run of form or could let the Bosnians take advantage.  

[andreas99]

Hey everybody.   'How's you going ?'

my first post since Greeksoccer folded;

didn't get to see the game;  I PVRd it and will watch it later. 

My dad told me that after the game, Holebas gathered the team around and announced he's retiring from international football.  

If I were him, and not starting; I have to agree with his decision.  He's too good to not be in the starting 11.  A slap in the face if you ask me. 

 

 

 

[HellasLEAF]

14 minutes ago, aek66 said:

why is samaris vital to this side? samaris played in every single qualifier (10 matches) and we had 1 victory. 

samaris played against gibraltar....ok, gibraltar. then we defeated cyprus & away estonia without him. 

i believe what is vital is for skibbe to get the player selection correct. stafylidis i never had a problem with and i want taxi along with an actual winger. i guess i can put up with mandalos/giannotas wide. bakasetas is the karelis of the last qualifying round and karelis is still played on the wing in this round. not good for the side.

other stuff has just stabilized (the CBs playing to their talent and mitroglou in decent form).

Well I'd rather put Modric in our central midfield but seeing as we don't have him and our central play was the worst I've seen in years I feel much better with Samaris in the side vs Bosnia coming yes.

[Dean97]

He is definitely a starter in my opinion.

[val]

40 minutes ago, HellasLEAF said:

After seeing the Italians scrape a 3 - 2 in the dying seconds from FYROM I'll take these 3 points and clean sheet happily. 

The italians can actually play, unlike us.

[Argy]

I am such a supporter of Tachtsidis, he has the build and the tools to be a rock for Greece for maybe the next 7-10 years, but, man oh man was he soft today. 

Edited October 10, 2016 by Argy

[georgelaz]

holebas is more like 27 than 32 which his name suggests. I always wonder if it's because he started late so his body has less mileage?

 

[Rockafeller Skank]

Skibbe probably has a personal beef with Holebas. It feels weird to end up playing with Kyriakos as a RB and having Tzavellas as a starter , while Holebas is a world class counter attack flanker with average defensive duties. And yes, average defensive duties, he is nothing super, but how many levels up from Tzavellas is he?
 

Skibbe has a beef with him so he is disrespected. Skibbe could just sit down and talk with him, but instead continues benching him. Maybe he had in mind to use him for bigger games, but he should have said it. I am totally 100% with Holebas on this.

There were 2 options for him, since its obvious he doesn't want to play under the current manager:
A) He refuses National Team call ups, which is considered disrespectful to your country/EPO- something similar has happened before so i dont think he has any more chances to do it.
B) He gets called and just keeps getting angrier and angrier seeing our Left Flank being every opponent's favorite becauze Tzav is slow and can't offer much up front.

It would ruin the climate in the changing rooms, so partially, his removal is better than that. However not deserved.

One of the best in WC 14.

[Dean97]

We all know what he is capable of and is a solid player but he chose the path to retire and that tells me he is not a team player and thinks he is better than the whole team.

[Dean97]

Anyway doesn't matter now we got Stafylidis and with more experience he can only get better.

 

[Antaeus7]

Greece got the 9 points as expected, the next 4 matches (twice against Belgium and Bosnia) will determine if Greece are worthy of qualifying for FIFA World Cup 2018. 

[georgelaz]

mitroglou was decent. he helped cancel out their best defender which let our other players to come forward. without mitro, we might've not scored the other goals. he had a nice deak attempt that if a few inches went his way would've been a goal. also he was a key part of staf's goal. with the wall, confusing estonia because they thought he was gunna take the shot as well, and i think he helped draw the foul too. he played with a lot of passion too.

[NikotheGreek]

33 minutes ago, ELLAS75 said:

I just read a report Holebas is quitting the NT? wow that sucks!

Where did you read this?

[J1078]

5 hours ago, The Taxman said:

 

[J1078]

First off I don't blame Holebas at all, why should he continue with this NT when he is a world class player and Skibbe chooses to play hacks in his positions instead. He's given Holebas like 15 Minutes in the last 3 or 4 matches. I have no respect for this coach at all. This will bite us in the ass wait and see. A line up that includes Holebas is so much more dangerous for us especially on the counter. The 9 points is great, but let's be real Bosnia and Belgium will get 9 points against those 3 teams as well. I just heard the Skibbes press conference I truly can't stand the guy.

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by J1078

[MykinesFC]

27 minutes ago, Pana97 said:

Skill wise he is a good option, but the guy has an attitude problem. Better for us that he left. Now we can have Tzavs play Leftback I feel secure with him there. 

He likely has an attitude, but he also derseves some respect. He is been a key member of the NT for many years through good and bad, and at 32 is finally getting his due as a Premier League starter. I don't blame him for retiring from the NT, I don't think that loyalty is an issue - he has put in his time and then some. 

I do blame Skibbe and the EPO. You don't jerk around your stars in favour of the old boys who have no reasonable reason to get a start or a cap and yet still do.

[ausgreek]

Gre365.com has Cholevas as quitting the team.

[pash]

29 minutes ago, J1078 said:

First off I don't blame Holebas at all, why should he continue with this NT when he is a world class player and Skibbe chooses to play hacks in his positions instead.

Hahahaha! This place is the best