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Friendly: Greece - Lithuania (27 Mar. 2023, 19:00 EEST - Opap Arena, Athens)


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The result is very disappointing but if we can build on these type of performances the goals will come. We played solid and the Lithuanian Goalie made some great goal line saves as we could have won this game by 3 or 4 goals.. We played better today than we did against Gibraltar. Lots of positives to take out of this game..

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32 minutes ago, J1078 said:

The result is very disappointing but if we can build on these type of performances the goals will come. We played solid and the Lithuanian Goalie made some great goal line saves as we could have won this game by 3 or 4 goals.. We played better today than we did against Gibraltar. Lots of positives to take out of this game..

First half was great how we moved the ball quickly and created so many chances. Their goalie made some great saves especially in the opening half. Our problem is as always we barely get goals from our strikers. Pavlidis was really disappointing couldn’t take a chance & he even took a through ball away from an open Mantalos running in at the back post. Giakoumakis didn’t do much coming on. Douvikas should have got a call up! Bakasetas was strong today. Fortounis spreads the ball around so beautifully and his vision is stellar. Good thing this was not a qualifier but we need to be winning these matches vs Lithuania and Malta to get our ranking up so we don’t get another horrible draw for the 2026 World Cup. 
 

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18 hours ago, Ellada2004 said:

First half was great how we moved the ball quickly and created so many chances. Their goalie made some great saves especially in the opening half. Our problem is as always we barely get goals from our strikers. Pavlidis was really disappointing couldn’t take a chance & he even took a through ball away from an open Mantalos running in at the back post. Giakoumakis didn’t do much coming on. Douvikas should have got a call up! Bakasetas was strong today. Fortounis spreads the ball around so beautifully and his vision is stellar. Good thing this was not a qualifier but we need to be winning these matches vs Lithuania and Malta to get our ranking up so we don’t get another horrible draw for the 2026 World Cup. 
 

I don't know why Douvikas and Tzoliz were not called up it makes no sense unless there were reasons I'm not aware of.  Poyet now has his core players he's comfortable with but more tinkering needs to be done on the wings and Douvikas needs to be called up in June. We can also see what a difference Fortounis makes on the field when he's playing. The Line up for me looked so much more dangerous against Lithuania then it did against Gibraltar. Siopis has really impressed me with his work ethic, I also thought Rota had a strong game. Mantolas i don't mind in the midfield position since that is our weakest position i think he can do a decent job there. 

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Douvikas - not sure why he wasn't called up. He has been in good form.

Tzolis - Just got recalled to Norwich, just started getting game time

Tzavellas is a mystery.  Overall though, I think most of us would pick the same 18 guys.  It's the last few which we question.

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On 3/28/2023 at 9:21 AM, J1078 said:

I don't know why Douvikas and Tzoliz were not called up it makes no sense unless there were reasons I'm not aware of.  Poyet now has his core players he's comfortable with but more tinkering needs to be done on the wings and Douvikas needs to be called up in June. We can also see what a difference Fortounis makes on the field when he's playing. The Line up for me looked so much more dangerous against Lithuania then it did against Gibraltar. Siopis has really impressed me with his work ethic, I also thought Rota had a strong game. Mantolas i don't mind in the midfield position since that is our weakest position i think he can do a decent job there. 

Yes I was very impressed with Siopis he’s a pit bull running and throwing great tackles all over the pitch. Douvikas should have got a call up for sure. He just needs that one decent chance and he will finish like he did in a NL match vs Kosovo. I like Pavlidis he works hard finds the space but there’s been a number of matches where he has not been sharp. Last friendly was one of his worst performances and he looked really frustrated. We need him to score especially vs these weaker countries. The guy scores some spectacular goals in Holland so I expect more from him. If we get our strikers scoring at just a decent rate then we will be really difficult to beat as our mids are producing goals too. 

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On 3/29/2023 at 12:36 AM, Brklyngrk said:

Douvikas - not sure why he wasn't called up. He has been in good form.

Tzolis - Just got recalled to Norwich, just started getting game time

Tzavellas is a mystery.  Overall though, I think most of us would pick the same 18 guys.  It's the last few which we question.

I can understand the team having experienced warriors around the team when they are preparing for matches. Having Tzavellas in the squad taking up an actual playing spot is going too far. 

If the gaffer picks the likes of Tzavellas going forward from here when there is no injury crisis, that is clear evidence that he has not got enough trust in his players and he can say whatever rubbish he wants, 'it does not compute.'

Having experience around the squad is important and can be in the form of ex players or certain coaching staff, not in the form of a player taking up a playing position in the natonal team squad. He was never going to play in any of these two matches. 

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3 hours ago, ausgreek said:

I can understand the team having experienced warriors around the team when they are preparing for matches. Having Tzavellas in the squad taking up an actual playing spot is going too far. 

If the gaffer picks the likes of Tzavellas going forward from here when there is no injury crisis, that is clear evidence that he has not got enough trust in his players and he can say whatever rubbish he wants, 'it does not compute.'

Having experience around the squad is important and can be in the form of ex players or certain coaching staff, not in the form of a player taking up a playing position in the natonal team squad. He was never going to play in any of these two matches. 

He may be a good team influence.  It's not a coincidence that every coach has picked him.

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On 3/31/2023 at 12:40 AM, Brklyngrk said:

He may be a good team influence.  It's not a coincidence that every coach has picked him.

Thats true but now the gaffer hopefully has learn't to finally trust the players that are all ahead of Tzavellas.

He can be brought in as an assistant coach if he is that great off the pitch, not to take a playing position. That means someone else missed an opportunity to represent they're country.

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