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2022-2023 Nations League: Northern Ireland - Greece (2 June 2022, 21:45 EET, Windsor Park, Belfast)


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Here is my take. 

Great first half as we created some chances and gave them nothing. The 2nd half especially from the 70th minute and on we sat back to deep at let them control the ball, where if we played similar to the first have where we gave them nothing it could have been an easier night. Overall good first start for the NT and the coach and a big 3 points. A few player mentions below.

Bouchalakis - Should not be starting he does a few things okay but over all he's a turnover machine especially with his passes and his quick first touch is bad. 

Mantalos - For me does nothing and we have better options and in no way he should be our first option starting.

Siopis - An incredible game and the best I've seen him play for this team and definitely deserves to start again if he plays like that, The guy was everywhere and worked his ass off.

Giakoumakis - needs to be the regular starter and our main striker for this team and if our wingers can open up more space for him he can be dangerous.

Tsimikas - another solid performance 

 The subs were all wrong in my opinion but we can't be to hard on Poyet as he's still learning about this team and hopefully he figures it out sooner rather then later. 

Edited by J1078
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7 minutes ago, J1078 said:

Here is my take. 

Great first half as we created some chances and gave them nothing. The 2nd half especially from the 70th minute and on we sat back to deep at let them control the ball, where if we played similar to the first have where we gave them nothing it could have been an easier night. Overall good first start for the NT and the coach and a big 3 points. A few player mentions below.

Bouchalakis - Should not be starting he does a few things okay but over all he's a turnover machine especially with his passes and his quick first touch is bad. 

Mantalos - For me does nothing and we have better options and in no way he should be our first option starting.

Siopis - An incredible game and the best I've seen him play for this team and definitely deserves to start again if he plays like that, The guy was everywhere and worked his ass off.

Giakoumakis - needs to be the regular starter and our main striker for this team and if our wingers can open up more space for him he can be dangerous.

Tsimikas - another solid performance 

 The subs were all wrong in my opinion but we can't be to hard on Poyet as he's still learning about this team and hopefully he figures it out sooner rather then later. 

Good analysis. Game should have been over by half. Mantalos has no confidence. He should be coming in off the bench. Bouchalakis is too slow and gave the ball away in some bad spots. Siopis was great! Giakoumakis should have scored on the ball in from Rota. His hold up play is very good. He is our best striker. He will get his goals. Imagine having a fully fit Fortounis playing in this game and pulling the strings. 

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If we want Greece to be at the level of qualifying for tournaments consistently, they need to beat a team like NI by multiple goals. How many 1-0, one-off victories have the boys put in over the years only to never have consistency? 
 

But, a win is a win. 

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26 minutes ago, Soprano76 said:

If we want Greece to be at the level of qualifying for tournaments consistently, they need to beat a team like NI by multiple goals. How many 1-0, one-off victories have the boys put in over the years only to never have consistency? 
 

But, a win is a win. 

I completely agree with you but on the other hand it is the coaches first competitive game so let’s give them a little bit of time and secondly when has Greece ever beat anybody in the past by more then 1 goal. In saying that I believe with wingers like Masouras, Tzolis, Douvikas and a striker like Giakoumakis and hopefully at some point Fortounis  there is no reasoning on we shouldn’t be able to win by a couple of goals against these types of teams..

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30 minutes ago, Soprano76 said:

If we want Greece to be at the level of qualifying for tournaments consistently, they need to beat a team like NI by multiple goals. How many 1-0, one-off victories have the boys put in over the years only to never have consistency? 
 

But, a win is a win. 

Yes true especially vs the Kosovo of the world. I thought we would get 2 today. N Ireland don’t concede many goals. Italy could not score 1 on them. Getting the win is most important especially against countries that are close to our calibre or better. 

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Here is what I will say boys. This is the type of game we let the other team score and draw in the last couple campaigns we have had. That makes this big for me. Don’t forget they beat us twice last time they were in a qualifying group with us. Our biggest match of the nations league will be our Kosovo match in a few days and our subsequent match with them. 1-0 will more than suffice. Hopefully the Irish can keep some points off them too 

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Douvikas is not a winger... 

On the game, very big 3 points and that the main thing.

The defence stood tall for a change and we kept the clean sheet which is good, my big concern is midfield still, the goal we worked well and thank god for that because besides that and the chance Limnios created again that Giakoumakis didnt get to we butchered every other counter attack when we had the Northern Irish players totally scrambling, wrong passes, horrible crosses etc... we could have easily had a second goal if we got some of these right.

Bouchalakis was horrid, could love to see anyone get a run over him right now.

Get someone else on the left wing also. Tzolis couldn't be worse than Mantalos, again, I dont consider Douvikas a winger.

Bakasetas - he can score but he with Bouchalakis in midfield is killing us, I am sure we can look to keep Baka there somehow but combined the can not control a game or keep possession and this is vital for us to get to another level.

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2 hours ago, kolokotronis99tripoli said:

Here is what I will say boys. This is the type of game we let the other team score and draw in the last couple campaigns we have had. That makes this big for me. Don’t forget they beat us twice last time they were in a qualifying group with us. Our biggest match of the nations league will be our Kosovo match in a few days and our subsequent match with them. 1-0 will more than suffice. Hopefully the Irish can keep some points off them too 

Good points. Greece kept a clean sheet and we did not give up some late cheap goal like we saw under JVS. The important thing is we follow up this result with a win vs Kosovo and not repeat what happened last wcup campaign when Greece got a great result in Spain but then dropped points at home vs Georgia.

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6 hours ago, Ellada2004 said:

Limnios has been solid even defensively 

Limnios has always had the defensive side of the game down pat. He tracks back and supports his full-back and its why coaches like him. Limnios biggest challenge is his attacking play and more specifically when he doesn't have space to use his pace he can be rendered ineffective due to his lack of dribbling ability. Good to see he had a hand in the goal but again once he beat the defender diving in, he had space to work in. 

Never the less, I have been encouraged by the season he had in Holland and am curious to see if he's learnt a new trick or two. 

I didn't see the game but good to win especially away to one of the trickier road trips in the group. Must back it up, Kosovo will be plucky as they always are.

Wonder if Poyet will rotate given only 2 days between games, back-to-back road trips and there are another 2 games on the horizon. 

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37 minutes ago, paokarag4 said:

Limnios has always had the defensive side of the game down pat. He tracks back and supports his full-back and its why coaches like him. Limnios biggest challenge is his attacking play and more specifically when he doesn't have space to use his pace he can be rendered ineffective due to his lack of dribbling ability. Good to see he had a hand in the goal but again once he beat the defender diving in, he had space to work in. 

Never the less, I have been encouraged by the season he had in Holland and am curious to see if he's learnt a new trick or two. 

I didn't see the game but good to win especially away to one of the trickier road trips in the group. Must back it up, Kosovo will be plucky as they always are.

Wonder if Poyet will rotate given only 2 days between games, back-to-back road trips and there are another 2 games on the horizon. 

Limnios whole game was impressive. He has been playing well in the Dutch league. Greece was passing the ball around really well especially in the 1st half and were not hitting aimless long balls. The N. Ireland commentators said we we deserved the victory and it should have been a more comfortable win as well. N. Ireland hardly threaten until late in the match. There best chance was Laferty free kick just outside the box that just went over the     net.
Kosovo played well in the second half and scored a couple nice goals. They will try and push forward but they are vulnerable at the back. I hope Greece can score 2 goals and keep another clean sheet.

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I thought we played well in the first half but took our foot off the gas in the 2nd half. We always play back passes, they have to stop playing it safe all the time. Also when we are up 1-0 we should keeping going instead of trying to slow the game down. This always happens.

Siopis had a good game today. If it wasn’t for him being full of energy and working hard our midfield would be way worse than it already is. Bakasetas scored which was great so I can’t complain about him even though I’m his biggest critic. We won because of his goal. Bouchalakis needs to sit on the bench the guy gives the ball away and is very slow. I’d put Alexandropoulos in his place next game.

Happy to see Limnios back in form. I thought Mavropanos and Hatzidiakos did well. Tsimikas and Vlachodimos are always great. But we need to provide better service and work with Giakoumakis more. This is where our wingers and midfielders are responsible.

Also I have to point out. Greece is playing its 3rd, 4th and 5th best players in each position. Apart from Tsimikas, Vlachodimos and Giakoumakis, we are not playing our best players in the other positions for various reasons. Manolas and Sokratis are our best CBs but are not playing, Baldock our best RB only played 5 minutes, Alexandropoulos and Galanopoulos our best midfielders didn’t play, Fortounis our best CAM didn’t play, Masouras and Tzolis our best wingers didn’t play. So we are really playing our actual bench and reserve players instead. It’s crazy to think about.

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3 hours ago, Dean97 said:

I thought we played well in the first half but took our foot off the gas in the 2nd half. We always play back passes, they have to stop playing it safe all the time. Also when we are up 1-0 we should keeping going instead of trying to slow the game down. This always happens.

Siopis had a good game today. If it wasn’t for him being full of energy and working hard our midfield would be way worse than it already is. Bakasetas scored which was great so I can’t complain about him even though I’m his biggest critic. We won because of his goal. Bouchalakis needs to sit on the bench the guy gives the ball away and is very slow. I’d put Alexandropoulos in his place next game.

Happy to see Limnios back in form. I thought Mavropanos and Hatzidiakos did well. Tsimikas and Vlachodimos are always great. But we need to provide better service and work with Giakoumakis more. This is where our wingers and midfielders are responsible.

Also I have to point out. Greece is playing its 3rd, 4th and 5th best players in each position. Apart from Tsimikas, Vlachodimos and Giakoumakis, we are not playing our best players in the other positions for various reasons. Manolas and Sokratis are our best CBs but are not playing, Baldock our best RB only played 5 minutes, Alexandropoulos and Galanopoulos our best midfielders didn’t play, Fortounis our best CAM didn’t play, Masouras and Tzolis our best wingers didn’t play. So we are really playing our actual bench and reserve players instead. It’s crazy to think about.

If soon to be 34 year old Sokratis is our best CB, god help us...

Also, Baldock wasn't even Greek 2 days ago, and we are acting like he's Trippier. He isn't better than Lyratzis, at least not in my opinion. 

Tzolis hasn't played meaningful first team minutes in months. Based off of potential he is, but right now I wouldn't start him neither.

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9 hours ago, PaokCT said:

If soon to be 34 year old Sokratis is our best CB, god help us...

Also, Baldock wasn't even Greek 2 days ago, and we are acting like he's Trippier. He isn't better than Lyratzis, at least not in my opinion. 

Tzolis hasn't played meaningful first team minutes in months. Based off of potential he is, but right now I wouldn't start him neither.

What is the meaning of this? Far too much sense to be posting on the Ethniki forums, show yourself out young man! Absolutely ridiculous.

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16 hours ago, Dean97 said:

I thought we played well in the first half but took our foot off the gas in the 2nd half. We always play back passes, they have to stop playing it safe all the time. Also when we are up 1-0 we should keeping going instead of trying to slow the game down. This always happens.

Siopis had a good game today. If it wasn’t for him being full of energy and working hard our midfield would be way worse than it already is. Bakasetas scored which was great so I can’t complain about him even though I’m his biggest critic. We won because of his goal. Bouchalakis needs to sit on the bench the guy gives the ball away and is very slow. I’d put Alexandropoulos in his place next game.

Happy to see Limnios back in form. I thought Mavropanos and Hatzidiakos did well. Tsimikas and Vlachodimos are always great. But we need to provide better service and work with Giakoumakis more. This is where our wingers and midfielders are responsible.

Also I have to point out. Greece is playing its 3rd, 4th and 5th best players in each position. Apart from Tsimikas, Vlachodimos and Giakoumakis, we are not playing our best players in the other positions for various reasons. Manolas and Sokratis are our best CBs but are not playing, Baldock our best RB only played 5 minutes, Alexandropoulos and Galanopoulos our best midfielders didn’t play, Fortounis our best CAM didn’t play, Masouras and Tzolis our best wingers didn’t play. So we are really playing our actual bench and reserve players instead. It’s crazy to think about.

Yes we were controlling the game and tempo especially for the first half and at the start of the second. Giakoumakis could have finished off the match if he converted his chance of a great ball from Rota. The last 20mins we were hemmed in our own half. The positive is the team got the win and kept a clean sheet over the toughest opposition in the group away from home.

Bakasetas had a good game & scored a nice goal. I am a huge critic of his role on the team. Will see if he can follow it up with a good performance vs Kosovo. The coach should drop Mantalos & Bouchalakis to the bench they struggled. If Fortounis can stay healthy he will be there and Alexandropoulos will get his chance too. Baldock will eventually get a chance to feature after a few games in the team.  It was nice to see Poyet give him a cap late in the game. 
Overall Greece have a good pool of talent to draw from and I think we will win this group and then qualify for the euros. 

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Let's live in the present guys....Sokratis is at best a bench veteran , Manolas has been out for the last 2-3 months Hatzdiakos and Mavropanos deserve at the present moment to be starters and are beginning to find a good chemistry between them. Baldock  and Rota bring some much needed depth to the RB position and along with Kotsiras in a pinch....and I hope as mentioned above Lyratzis continues to develop. Giannoulis had a dismal season at Norwich and I think both he and Tziolis are better off either staying in the Championship or moving to a different league because they were out of their depth in the Premier League.

Galanopoulos is another player that can't stay healthy so let's just forget about him for now. I don't get why Bouxalakis starts : he's slow, sucks defensively and doesn't cover much ground. Offensively he makes to many turnovers and the occasional good pass doesn't make up for his faults. Siopis performances of late means that he is a viable replacement for Zeca who at 33 and coming off an injury is past it.

Bakasetas sucks but he plays well for his club and must be doing all the right things in practice and gets the starts regardless who is manager...at least he's present and accounted for and occasionally contributes. Unfortunately, Fortounis has played a whopping 200 min all year....he won't get any better and if you think he's going to be a difference maker at this point in his career you're kidding yourselves (of course I hope he makes a full recovery and comes back stronger but let's be realistic).

Masouras and Limnios are serviceable wingers and bring an element of speed down the flanks....both are really good at tracking back which makes a difference against quality opponents.

Giakoumakis has all the right tools and timing to become a top striker...let's hope he brings it to he NT. Add Douvikas, Fountas and Pavlidis (who gets a lot of flack for not scoring but does a lot of the dirty work) and the forwards look pretty versatile even if they aren't world beaters. 

What's missing is a credible playmaker who can perform on a consistent basis. I always hoped either Mantalos or Fortounis would pick up that role but I think it's time to move on from them as they both seem to have gotten stuck in the GSL quagmire.

Hopefully Poyet can piece together the puzzle and bring back some success to the NT

Edited by DiogenesLight
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