Nations League 20/21

[Don Giovanni]

Two weeks from today on Thursday, September 3rd Greece play Slovenia to kick-off the Nations League campaign. Ilicic and Oblak are two of the best players in the world today, so this will be a proper test as we gear up for the World Cup qualifying. It's important we finish top of the group, but it won't be easy. Montenegro have a good side too.

On another note, I hope UEFA streamline this competition together with the Euros because, due to the scheduling changes to the Euros, the final four of the Nations League will be held a month after the Euros. I feel having both tournaments cheapens one another.

[Jsoul]

Lets hope Greece can build on our last 4 games of our last campaign and we continue to improve.

[Don Giovanni]

I'm not sure if Hatzidiakos will be available for this game as reports seem to imply he's still injured. Stafylidis (and Retsos too for that matter) has had no minutes since January! That leaves out van't Schip's preferred center-back pairing to date. I'd be very curious to see whether van't Schip keeps Manolas and Sokratis out. There are suggestions Sokratis may sign for Napoli.

Likewise, will Tsimikas and Zeca regain their places given how well they have done in the Europa League? It will be difficult to justify leaving Tsimikas out after his move to Liverpool. And who will be the number one: Vlahodimos or Barkas? Now that Barkas has made the move to Celtic, I think he has a stronger case to start.

[Brklyngrk]

Vlahodimos I would imagine would be the number 1, he plays for a better team in a better league.

[Dean97]

With the Greek cup final taking place on the 30th I don’t know how it will affect the selections. For me, Tsimikas should definitely be starting. Also Vlachodimos. Barkas needs to have a really strong season to convince me of the number 1 spot.

I don’t think Hatzidiakos and Galanopoulos will be selected. Only because they are still recovering from their injuries. In that case I’d put Mavropanos and Vasiliadis in their places. Both these guys can do the job if not better. Baldock isn’t going to play the first 2 games I think.

[Don Giovanni]

I prefer Vlahodimos for the reasons cited, but he too has to convince for Greece still, whereas Barkas has done well when played. Barkas is tall and strong in the air. He has a big frame and stands up well when challenging forwards in one-v-one situations. He has looked good the times he has played for Greece, but he needs experience and he needs to keep challenging himself to get better. Now that he's at Celtic and potentially competing in the UCL, he's got a better chance with Greece. If he had stayed at AEK, I think he would have run the risk of stagnating on his potential. Vlahodimos still needs to settle his nerves and grow more comfortable for Greece.

My gut tells me Zeca should fill the void of Galanopoulos. He deserves it after the success he has enjoyed with Copenhagen. Vasiliadis deserves a chance too, but he's now playing in the second division of German football and the fact he has yet to feature and would in effect make his debut against Slovenia may be enough reason to keep him on the bench. There is a chance both may feature.

Mavropanos is at least playing first division football. I imagine Baldock still needs to get his papers in order.

[Don Giovanni]

Van't Schip may call on Dioudis to play in goal! Vlachodimos continues too look poor when dealing with set-pieces. Tragedy struck him again in the Portuguese cup final when he attempted to parry away a cross from a set-piece, but he only half-cleared the ball. Because he didn't get enough on it, the ball fell fortuitously to a Porto player who promptly scored. Barkas is now the number one for Celtic. To be frank, Dioudis would need to leave Panathinaikos for bigger and better things if he is to have a future with the NT. He's not tested nor challenged enough in Greece to make a proper player of himself. Our league is not good enough.

Also he may also call upon Lazaros Rota, who plays for the Dutch based club of Fortuna Sittard. Rota is a right-back and I'm sure he'll be starting. This is clearly a problem position for us as is the central midfield.

I'm very curious to see what he does at center-back. Maybe we'll see Mavropanos make his debut.

[Dean97]

Mavropanos would definitely have to play. We have no else more convincing than him. We might see Lambropoulos aswell. Both these guys have been playing. Retsos hasn’t played and I don’t think he is calling back Manolas and Sokratis. Kyriakos Papadopoulos hasn’t played for a whole year. Also Stafylidis hasn’t played much.

I’m wondering who he puts in midfield. Kourbelis seems the most likely, but Zeca and Vasiliadis are as deserving as Kourbelis. We have Bouchalakis but something tells me he is more of a sub player for Van’t Schip. Fortounis could be recalled along with Bakasetas. I see Fortounis coming on if we are chasing a goal.

Haven’t seen Lazaros Rota play but apparently he will be called up. Can’t be worse than Bakakis.

[Dean97]

Also I expect to see Tsimikas and Giannoulis called up as the only LBs. There’s no need to have 4. These 2 are our best. But I can see Van’t Schip calling up Kyriakopoulos as I’ve read reports from a while back that he wants him to play CB the way Stafylidis did.

[Don Giovanni]

Αναλυτικά οι κλήσεις: Μπάρκας, Διούδης, Πασχαλάκης, Τσιμίκας, Γιαννούλης, Μπακάκης, Ρότα, Σιόβας, Μιχαηλίδης, Σταφυλίδης, Λαμπρόπουλος, Σβάρνας, Κουρμπέλης, Ζέκα, Μπακασέτας, Φορτούνης, Μπουχαλάκης, Κυριακόπουλος, Μάνταλος, Φούντας, Παυλίδης, Κουλούρης, Λημνιός, Τζόλης, Μασούρας.

Fountas has received a well deserved call-up. Interestingly he got his break under Markarian in the away loss to Faroes Islands, so I'm sure he's been waiting for this moment. Fortounis is back too. I think he performed well against Wolves, but he'll need to follow the examples of Mantalos and Bakasetas to really make it back into the Greek eleven. Surprisingly Vlachodimos is out, Dioudis takes his place. Also Mavropanos is left out due to a muscle injury, at least I'd like to assume that's the reason why he's missing.

Svarnas? Lambropoulos? Michalidis? These are center-backs. I can see why Siovas was called up despite the fact he now plays Segunda Division, but Lambropoulos? He's 30 and playing in Germany's second division. He hardly has any past appearances with Greece. Also I don't see how Stafylidis, who hasn't played in 6 months, makes the team and Retsos doesn't. The criteria this coach applies has to be more consistent. For me, Retsos should be in this team ahead of someone like Lambropoulos at least.

I don't wish to be too critical because the fact is van't Schip has done better than expected and he deserves room to do what he thinks is best, so I'll leave at that for now. Let's get behind the team and support them as best we can.

[Dean97]

I like the call ups. Everyone that’s been called has played regularly. Only one that shouldn’t be there is Stafylidis. I guess we know now that he is going to be there as our captain regardless if he plays or not. I wanted to see Fetfatzidis called up but you can’t always have your way. He has called up all those CBs because Manolas and Sokratis are exiled. I don’t think Svarnas is better but we do have to find replacements. Michailidis and Tzolis rightly been called up. They both have been playing very well. Also Van’t Schip has an obsession with left footed CBs.

No Vasiliadis and Vlachodimos which is interesting...

[Don Giovanni]

Lucky for us Kosovo's Muriqi is out injured. It seems to me van't Schip is trying to build off existing chemistry which many of the players have already developed at the club level. He places a lot of importance on the players having familiarity and chemistry together.

[Dean97]

The only thing that I hope doesn’t happen is that we see Stafylidis starting instead of Tsimikas or Giannoulis. That would be shocking. Stafylidis shouldn’t be playing. He can be there to give the team a lift and encourage them but nothing more. He hasn’t played for 6 months...

Siovas seems like he will start. Maybe alongside Michailidis. We’ve got Fortounis and Bakasetas which means Mantalos will probably play outwide which is a mistake. He should be central. I can see Kourbelis and Zeca starting with Limnios and Pavlidis in there positions. It will be interesting when Lazaros Rota will play.

By the time we play Kosovo it will be interesting to see how he goes if he plays against the players he has the same origin with.

[Reaper]

Good Tzolis straight into the men's team and none of this bullshit 'working his way through the under 21's' crap Greece usually does.

[Don Giovanni]

Some players are good enough to make the jump right away. I don't know if Tziolis is one of those players, but van't Schip must have been impressed enough with his performance against Besiktas to believe he's ready. I like this approach if the player is talented enough, but I do think it's better for many to go through the ropes first. Santos was this way at the start, as was Otto, but both developed favorites and got tough on young talent. Right now van't Schip is still trying to figure which players he can trust and who can perform well enough for the team to play better and improve results.