Suggested Call Ups/Starting 11

[Don Giovanni]

It looks like the new AEK coach Carerra isn't impressed with him. If it continues on like this, Van't Schip will need to rethink who to play at RB.

George Baldock made a costly error in the match to Liverpool recently. He lost his footing as Liverpool carved Sheffield open on Baldock's flank. Beyond that he looked OK. He might we worth a shot, but he might not be the answer either.

My preference remains playing either Hatzidiakos or Retsos on the right.

[Dean97]

I hope we find a replacement for Bakakis. George Baldock seems like a decent player. Seems better on the ball and has a better cross. JVS and his team should be praised for finding out that he is of Greek heritage.

Giannis Masouras seems to be playing as a left winger for Panionios lately so I don’t think he is an option at the moment. I also don’t know what’s happening with Natsos lately. We haven’t got much going on in this position and we lack serious depth here.

Hatzidiakos at RB might work but I’d rather keep him at CB. Although I also wouldn’t mind seeing him given a chance as a CDM. He’s a ball playing defender. He isn’t really the typical physical, aggressive defender like Sokratis. He can play the ball and can start attacks from deep. I’d rather put Retsos as RB.

[Reaper]

Retsos was good at RB. He should be included in the 11 whether at cb or rb.

[Amorgos]

Mantalos strikes me as another Salpingidis/Charisteas type. He's quick, determined, and incredibly hard working. A complete player. He can also score or create chances. One quality that separates him is his ability to play with a natural chemistry. It's easy to sometimes thinking he's played with others for years even if he has barely played with them. He also seems to have found the fury back into his game. When he plays like a bull seeing red, he's at his best, and we saw that against Finland.

Hmmm, he has a lot more skill and technique then them too, he is not quick but he is a very skilled and technical player that is hard to leave out of an 11 as, as you say, a complete player who is very good at creating and can score, also very good with the header even for his height.

[Amorgos]

at the Bakakis comments - it was one game on rotation, Bakakis is better than Paulinho and I think will be back in the 11 soon enough although it looks like Carrera has taken a liking to the Portuguese player

[Don Giovanni]

Amorgos

Your evaluation of these players isn't wrong, but even Melissanidis and the AEK's board view these players as dispensable. Bakakis is a nice guy and he's been working hard for club and country, but he lacks quality. Even with Bakasetas, AEK benched him for a period before letting him go for nothing. These are not great players. Mantalos is more special to AEK simply because he's been at the club for a long time and he embodies the club better than anyone, but the best players in Greece compete abroad at a good level.

We won Euro 2004 with Seitaridis at right-back marking Henry and Baros. Bakakis doesn't have the quality to mark players like that. We need quality defenders to punch above our weight.

[Amorgos]

I don't disagree with you about Bakakis, I just don't think we have much better at Right Back at the moment, whilst he lacks quality I think his energy and efforts going forward help the Ethniki, it would be great it we had someone better but really, I don't think we do.

Bakasetas is poor out wide and that's where AEK was playing him, I was not a big fan of his, but like Bakakis, I think he helped transform the Ethniki from playing as dangerous as San Marino to what we saw in late 2019, this was done by putting him where he plays best, as a CAM and as much as he let us down in the previous 21 games, he turned it around. Of course Fortounis will take that spot back as he is a much better player but he will also have to deliver where Baka did and I am sure he will.

[Dean97]

We have a big problem at RB as we all know. Bakakis is decent going forward but isn’t the answer. As Don said he hasn’t got the quality. Especially defensively. I’d feel more comfortable with Retsos there but he himself has to learn and do more in attack. I think that would be the short term solution.

I don’t think we should be comparing this generation to the Euro 2004 generation. They are all different players. We’ve been blessed to have Seitaridis and Torosidis over the years as they were big parts to our past success.

I will give credit to Bakasetas for his work rate. He did run a lot in the 4 games I saw of him but Fortounis is way ahead of him in terms of talent. Fortounis does need to hustle more because this team has changed and every player is expected to work hard on and off the ball.

I’d like to see Manolas return. He’s very fast, very strong and great in the air. If he returns I just want him to be more of a leader. He should be the player at the back we rely on for his quality. He is our most gifted defender in my opinion. And now he has got lots of experience playing in the champions league. He just needs to be more vocal. Stafylidis is more of a leader and has a great attitude. But he is lacking defensive quality and that can and will cost us.

I think if we put Retsos, Manolas and Fortounis in the starting line up it will boost the team even more in my opinion. I’d also would like to see K. Papadopoulos back. I just hope he can turn his career around as he would also be a valuable asset to the team.

[Amorgos]

Retsos is a good player. He does not offer good attack that Bakakis does so both have pro's and con's. And also, Retsos needs more game time at club level, anyone playing as little as he has will struggle to get into peek form.

[Don Giovanni]

I would agree he is more limited going forward. Retsos is only 21 though. He's on the move in January. He can develop more of the qualities needed to succeed on the wing. Same goes for Hatzidiakos. A lot of CBs start on the wing. That was true of Puyol, Ramos, Chiellini, and even Sokratis when he was at Genoa, and who just the other day played at RWB for Arsenal against Leeds.

How many runs or crosses will Bakakis produce that will result in goals? How much width can he really offer in attack? He's able to get forward and he can put the odd cross in, but he's not a quality player on either end of the pitch. Retsos has a big future ahead of himself and is a Bundesliga/UCL level player. He was excellent in the play-offs against Croatia, when he was asked to play both RB and LB over the course of the two legs. He's too good a player for us to ignore. And then who do we leave out? We play Bakakis, but leave two or three of Sokratis, Manolas, Retsos, Stafylidis, or Hatzidiakos?

[Dean97]

I agree, Retsos is a quality player. We need him at RB for now. A back for of Retsos, Hatzidiakos, Manolas and Giannoulis would get the job done. Personally I would play Koutris LB but he hasn’t been playing. Giannoulis is good enough for LB and has a dangerous cross. If Retsos plays RB we would have to attack more on the left side with Giannoulis bring in crosses.

Bakakis is fast and has lots of energy but he is going to cost us if we don’t find a long term replacement. Retsos needs to develop in attack and I think we should be fine if he does that. We have too many CBs to choose from and Retsos suits RB the most out of all our CBs.

[Dean97]

2 players I personally like (Pelkas and Lamprou) has great games against OFI in the Greek cup. If you see the goal Lamprou scores it would remind you of Fetfatzidis. No other Greek apart from Fetfatzidis can pull off a goal like that. His skill and technique are what stands out for Lamprou. He also worked well with Pelkas. Playing passes to one another and reading each other well. Pelkas also had a good game with 2 goals. His speed and runs are his best attributes in my opinion. The goals will give him much needed confidence going forward. Here are the highlights. https://youtu.be/posBmGmsR8E

As for Olympiakos, Fortounis returned and is slowly getting back into the rhythm. From the highlights he had one explosive shot, which would’ve been a great goal. Lazaros and Koutris looked good. Both combined well on the left. It’s still early but Lazaros and Fortounis seem to be back from where they left off. https://youtu.be/MKeVMIWukLE

[Amorgos]

Lamprou is getting wasted at PAOK, hopefully this gives him more game time

[Don Giovanni]

Lamprou has much to prove still. Pelkas is letting his career slip away too. I'm not expecting great things from these two anymore. Limnios is the one youngster at PAOK making a breakthrough and he has a hard road ahead if he's going to make it. He's been linked with Mochengladbach, so we'll have to wait and see.

Lazaros is 33 years old and I don't think he has much football left in him. Hopefully Fortounis gets his rhythm back, but also lights a fire under himself to press and defend better. He needs to hit the gym. It's a real weak-point in his game.

[Dean97]

Lamprou had a great season in the Netherlands. Like Amorgos said he is wasting his time at PAOK. The game I posted above should indicate how good he is. I’m not taking anything away from Limnios but I don’t think he could’ve pulled that move off the way Lamprou did with his goal. He had 2 players on his back and he expertly and smartly turned both of them. Only Fetfatzidis is capable of doing such a manoeuvre. The only difference is that Fetfatzidis probably wouldn’t of scored.

The more chances you give Lamprou the more he will succeed. He is ambitious and a hardworker. Just look at his Instagram posts. The majority of his posts are him training to better himself.

As for Pelkas he does well for PAOK. For the national he is a different player. He can’t express his talents the way he wants to like at PAOK. I don’t know if he it’s because he needs more detailed instructions or if it’s a psychological thing. But he has the talent to succeed, just like Lamprou.