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Nations League: Kosovo - Greece (6 Sep. 2020, Stadiumi Fadil Vokkri, Pristina)


Omonoia9

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At this rate Bakakis who has had full seasons with AEK and is a regular NT member, the only club that can attract some interest to sign him is Leganes of Spanish second division and we are actually arguing wheather a premier league player would do better than him?

Sokratis is also moving to Napoli and would be a good test to see how he will be doing there with Manolas pairing him up, perhaps he might prove he is better than his NT replacements who so far have been a 30year old Greek league reject in Lambropoulos, AEK's 3rd CB choice in Svarnas, some Michailidis guy who recorded 4-5 caps with Paok in the playoffs and that's enough of a sample to get a NT invitation, and a left back in Stafylidis who last played meaningful football 2 years ago, not even in January?

And I read that he might drop Siovas as well because he stated that experienced and world class players shouldn't be excluded from the team?

Sorry if I hurt your feelings about Tzolis but he is the same case with Michailidis. A game or two mean nothing and definitely don't prove if you are NT material which he obviously isn't at this point.

Also Samaris is the only midfielder we have at this point who is an actual number "8". Not Kourmpelis, nor Zeca, Vasileiadis, Galanopoulos can play this role having to carry the ball in the offensive end. Bouchalakis who is a similar type of player is quite limited in this section. And if I recall correctly he is 31, unless that means most players in their early 30's are garbage?

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Just now, Boxou said:

At this rate Bakakis who has had full seasons with AEK and is a regular NT member, the only club that can attract some interest to sign him is Leganes of Spanish second division and we are actually arguing wheather a premier league player would do better than him?

Sokratis is also moving to Napoli and would be a good test to see how he will be doing there with Manolas pairing him up, perhaps he might prove he is better than his NT replacements who so far have been a 30year old Greek league reject in Lambropoulos, AEK's 3rd CB choice in Svarnas, some Michailidis guy who recorded 4-5 caps with Paok in the playoffs and that's enough of a sample to get a NT invitation, and a left back in Stafylidis who last played meaningful football 2 years ago, not even in January?

And I read that he might drop Siovas as well because he stated that experienced and world class players shouldn't be excluded from the team?

Sorry if I hurt your feelings about Tzolis but he is the same case with Michailidis. A game or two mean nothing and definitely don't prove if you are NT material which he obviously isn't at this point.

 

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8 hours ago, AchillesHeel said:

It sounds like Boxou is shooting for the Schipmeister's job....fortunately I will be easily able to adapt his name to playful nicknames : Boxster, Dropboxou, Boxmaster, Boxcutter, Boxoucles, etc. Seriously though 4 wins and a tie in the last 5 games, the Schipster deserves some slack for the underwhelming performances especially considering the circumstances.

What about Box, like from Logan's Run.  Now I'm showing my nerdy side.

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17 hours ago, Boxou said:

If it wasn't for Manolas and Sokratis talking in public about Anastasiadis' inability to manage the team we would still be stuck with that old man blaming Holy Mary and the wheather for the poor performance of the team.

Regarding the second part of your question, I do find it ridiculous that Stafylidis who just earned 7 caps with Hoffenheim last season being chosen of Kyriakopoulos or even Lykogiannis who did much better than him in Italy. I do find it ridiculous that since the Dutch took over, he keeps starting Giannoulis over Tsimikas who had a hell of a season. I do find it ridiculous that Vlachodimos without any explanation was left out of the team, in order for Paschalakis and Dioudis to replace him?

And what the hell have the likes of Michailidis, Rota, Lambropoulos, Svarnas, Tzolis etc done in order to get a call up instead of Retsos, Chatzigiovannis, not even talking about Manolas and Sokratis. Why the hell start fcking Mantalos as a winger when he is not one and dont call up Fetfatzidis or start Fountas there?

Another point is that since we have no creation with that Kourmeplis/Zeca midfield, why Samaris and Bouchalakis are still overlooked? Why Vasileiadis who had a full season in Bundesliga has still to record a cap for us? Why the team prefers to play with Bakakis and Rota out of all players instead giving the citizenship to Baldock who had a full season in premier league and has claimed in public he would like to represent his grandfather's country?

There's a huge quality gap between some players in the squad and some others outside of it and I wonder why you fail to see it. This team's limit is beating the likes of Kosovo and Slovenia and nothing more than that.

I agree some of the selections don't seem to make sense.  But what are we to do when we're speculating with incomplete information.  All we can go by is how the team is playing.  Even that is a bit hard to judge since the level of the teams in the Nations League is definitely lower.  Either way, it is obvious the team morale is much better, and the team just seems happier.  I would add to that I think the player in general are enjoying the new style of play compared to the old defense first approach.

What we can deduce is that JVS has an attitude of out with the older veterans and he'll be using the Nations League to try out new players in preparation.  Remember, the Nations League is essentially a replacement for friendly games, but now it's got an added attraction with promotion/relegation and the carrot of making tournaments.

Vlachodimos I believe in the long run will be the GK for the NT.  I think JVS is just seeing what some of the other players have to offer.  Retsos it's too hard to say - he's been injured for a long time.  Kourbelis and Zeca in the middle is not ideal except under circumstances where you want to lock a game down.  Hopefully he can find a third option - and by that I don't include Samaris who I have never rated.

As for the veterans who have been shown the door, I don't feel sorry for any of them.  They had their chances - the only one who might make it back is Manolas.

As to the overall quality gap, you may be right, I'm not denying it.  All I know is the old boys just weren't cutting it anymore.  Let's see what the next 12 months show us.  I would expect nothing less than to win this group with ease and hopefully a few players are discovered that can be potential squad players.  Where were Giannoulis and Limnios 18 months ago ?  And now all of a sudden they are options.  They aren't necessary, there are options for both.  But it's nice to know they are available and capable.

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21 hours ago, J1078 said:

I don't get why all the anger. Guys when we weren't qualifying for tournaments and losing to the Faroe Islands there was less anger and now that this coach has us unbeaten in 5 games and the top of our group for the first time guys are still bitching.. Were we all happy the way Greece played against Bosnia ,Armenia and Finland with this same coach? Yes. Was this the prettiest football we played this week?? No, but did we find a way to get results?? YES.. Its not always going to be pretty but a team that has confidence and is building towards something better finds a way to grind out some wins in some ugly games and the exactly what this team did. Everyone needs to chill out and let the guy do what he's paid to do as he is getting us RESULTS.. In a perfect world we would not see Staf starting or Bakakis or Svarna who i thought played okay but it's his call and as long as he keeps getting results no one should bitch.. We've tried it with Manolas and Socratis for 5 years and it didn't work, I'm not saying i wouldn't give Manolas another chance but if you call him up and play him limited minutes or don't call up Socratis with him this wont sit well with him and i don't think JVS wants to disrupt the team he's trying to build.

Regarding Fetfa JVS gave him a chance and what did he do? he was late for a team meeting and he bitched about playing time so good on JVS to not select him. He's showing the players that the days of Players dictating who plays and when are not going to fly with this Coach.

I'm not happy with all the players that were called up and starting but we got results so until JVS starts losing i think we need to give the guy a chance. Like F*** we are winning and guys are trying to run this coach out of town..

The only thing i think JVS needs to be careful of IMO is trying to develop players that's not his job that's the club teams job, JVS should be looking for guys that will fit his system and work there asses off for the NT.

I think we can all agree the Ethniki is an a much better place in recent times. The only other time in the last 5 years we have had a good run of performances was when we reached the 2018 World Cup playoffs before bowing out to Croatia the eventual finalists.

I agree with some posters about some of the call ups. Personally I definitely would have wanted Vlachodimos over Barkas in goalkeeper as he is clearly better. Overall JVS has done a great job in changing the culture and instilling a solid work ethic in the side. I’m all for seeing Manolas make a return to the NT as he is a great defender but he has to have the right mindset.

I am looking forward to the matches in October hope to see our play improve as we saw back last year and we need to get 2 wins..

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I agree I wasn’t happy with all the call ups either and I think we can field a stronger line up, but I think JVS is using these games to to see what he has and to build a system that everyone buys into. Vlachodimos was a head scratcher for me why he wasn’t called up, also I don’t think Svarnas can hang with better opponents and Bakakis is not the answer. As I said before in regards to Manolas who is one of if not the most solid defender we have as long as he can come in and not distrupt the team morale and buy into the coaches plan them I’m for it. I also think we need to find a better combination for our two midfielders, Zeca is a work horse and he plays with heart and hustle but he lacks the skill needed in that position to help drive our offence. I like where the team is headed right now but I do agree we need some tweaking done to our line up. Also Staf should only be a bench option when everyone is healthy and not a starter.

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I have always rated Stafylidis.  But right now he shouldn't be anywhere near the pitch.  If you're not playing in your club team, how can you be expected to perform in the NT games.  I don't buy the argument of because he's captain he has to be selected.  There are plenty of other players capable of wearing the arm-band.  Just hand it over to them and let Staf know he needs to start playing club football if he wants to be playing in the NT.

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  • Lazarus changed the title to Nations League: Kosovo - Greece (6 Sep. 2020, Stadiumi Fadil Vokkri, Pristina)
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