Suggested Call Ups/Starting 11

[Don Giovanni]

We really need guys competing at the UCL level or in a top five league. Maybe at very competitive clubs like Ajax or Benfica, but really it's because those teams competitive at the UCL level.

Just as an example, Zagorakis was a star at Euro 2004. He had played in the EPL for Leicester, but left having little to show for it. Still that experience meant a lot. He returned to Greece, but at least he was playing UCL football for AEK and even helped earn two draws against Real Madrid's Galaticos (despite losing Zidane for one of the goals). That experienced helped him to raise his game and it's why he starred for Greece at Euro 2004. For us to produce a team that is good enough to play against Italy and maybe earn a result, that's the caliber of player we need at a minimum.

Even the standards of the Europa League arguably are not good enough. It's not like it was in the 80s and 90s when Maradona and Ronaldo played at clubs that finished second in Italy and weren't allowed to enter into the UCL unless they were league champions. The Europa League is good, but still not a high enough standard for Greece to produce a competitive enough team.

As for the other names you mentioned, Lamprou is back at PAOK this upcoming season. I don't think he's going to be starting ahead of Stoch. He's also competing with Biseswar and Warda for a place. He might very well go back on loan, hopefully to Germany which is step up from the Netherlands.

With Jaba on the other wing, neither will Limnios start. Due to a lack of RW options, I don't think he will be allowed to go on loan, but he needs game time. Hopefully PAOK give him chances and maybe next season he can make a loan move abroad because it's needed for his development. Players cannot develop fully in Greece. That standards aren't good enough.

Gianniotas plays for Apollon Limassol. He can't play for Greece if he continues at that level. It's too low.

Masouras can hopefully learn from Valbuena and become a more determined type of player like Giannakopoulos was. He doesn't have enough natural talent to succeed any other way. And even then, he has to aim for a move to the EPL or Bundesliga, probably a midtable side. If he spends his career in Greece, he's never going to be good enough. When Greece won Euro 2004 our forwards played abroad; Charisteas was at Werder Bremen, Giannakopoulos at Bolton, Karagounis an Inter bench player, Vryzas at Perugia, and Demis Nikolaidis at Atletico Madrid. These guys played a lot of minutes at Euro 2004. Dimitris Papadopoulos was a young Panathinaikos gun who mostly rode the bench for Greece at Euro 2004 and never made the grade in the end.

We are producing others who are playing abroad in a top league, like Koulouris is now doing after his move to Toulouse. So Masouras will need to move abroad to a similar standard. The same goes for Durmishaj, etc.

Others like Vrousaj need to continue at the Greece national youth level. They can't play for Greece until they progress through the proper levels or unless they're an exceptional natural talent.

[Dean97]

I just had a discussion with someone discussing football and transfers. It came to mind that in order for a team to be successful they must have effective wingers. Manchester United had Ronaldo and Giggs, Tottenham had Lennon and Bale and most recently Manchester City have Sterling and B.Silva.

Ive always felt that you need effective wingers who can create and score goals for the team. Our keeper and defence are great. We’ve got heaps of depth there. The FB position needs work. We have lots of 6s but none can do more from there. We truly lack a quality 8. If we could produce a quality player to emerge there then one part of the problem would be fixed. We’ve got some depth for the time being at CAM with Fortounis leading the ranks with Pelkas, Mantalos, Kolovos and possibly Bouzoukis in the future.

Upfront we seem to be not at a good level yet. Mitroglou is off and on and Koulouris just made a big move and hopefully gets something out of it. Durmisaj is young but can be something more of given the chance. Anyone else is not ready and hasn’t emerged.

Outwide I believe we have a lot of depth here that we fail to use. Lamprou, Gianniotas, Vrousai, Limnios, Chatzigiovannis, Masouras, Manthatis and even Fetfatzidis, If he is even looked at. There’s no excuse in my opinion to not play any of these players. Instead we play CAMs, CMs and FBs in this position and disregarding our actual wide players.

The indistinguishable thing that some have is that they are your young. To me, if your good enough your old enough. I don’t understand why we don’t try these players in a formation that needs it. A formation that needs these type of players. I believe we should try these wingers and see how the team performs. If dosent look different then go back to what we have been doing but I believe our performance and feel of the team would be different with actual wingers. Also Fortounis needs support. If he has proper wingers to play he would benefit much more and so would the team. I remember Donis on his debut against Bosnia and he played LW. When he got the ball we looked more dangerous, professional and looked cohesive. All because an actual winger played and Donis had something to prove. I would also use Donis upfront.

Bottom line is we must use our players correctly in positions they know how to play, even if it means Pelkas and Mantalos sit out. Bring in Lamprou and Gianniotas and we all see a better and different team. Gianniotas has proven to be effective for Greece and if Lamprou can emulate his club form to Greece then we have something great happening. I believe Masouras and Kolovos can be useful for this team but they seem to be more effective off the bench for now. Our team dosent seem brave enough to give this a chance hence why we see players out of position.

I believe if we want to be successful in a system like 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 then we need to play proper wingers and players in there correct positions. Also in my opinion if we can produce a strong 8 who can do nearly about everything well with quality then this team can start being competitive with teams same level and higher than us.

[Reaper]

I wouldn't go that far. There's nothing to suggest Anastasiadis or Grammenos are those kinds of people.

Maybe the first, but the second? I wouldn't feel safe buying a tourist T-shirt off him.

[Don Giovanni]

I wouldn't go that far. There's nothing to suggest Anastasiadis or Grammenos are those kinds of people.

If I had to guess, it's that Anastasiadis isn't a coach who can command players competing at a higher level than Greece or Cyprus. Those players expect a certain standard of training from their coaches, not a faith-based, mystical approach. Anastasiadis tends to favor working with lower caliber players who need him as much as he needs them for locker room support. And that's why I think Anastasiadis didn't spend much time, if any, scouting in Italy. Had he done so, he would have called up Lykogiannis.

And it's not like Lykogiannis is going to be a huge difference maker, but he's going to be more reliable at the back than almost any other option we have at LB. He's a better defender than Stafylidis and Koutris mainly because he doesn't venture forward as much and he's got a bigger build. But the times I've seen him, he looks rather timid defensively and doesn't use his body effectively enough. He's too nice when he needs to be more hard-nosed and push himself into challenges.

[Reaper]

Valerianos is now playing at Pafos FC in Cyprus. I will never understand how he came to be a national player.

Could be a well placed agent..

I knew a Greek second division player whose club made him pay the club for starts. I can imagine the EPO sellng caps.

[Amorgos]

I’m really baffled with that whole thing... Aris (UEL) & NT too Pafos FC in the space of 3 months

[Don Giovanni]

Valerianos is now playing at Pafos FC in Cyprus. I will never understand how he came to be a national player.

[Don Giovanni]

Ο πρώην άσος του ΠΑΟΚ και του Παναθηναϊκού θα μπορούσε να επιστρέψει, εάν έβρισκε συμβόλαιο με αποδοχές στα 80.000 ευρώ ετησίως. Συμβόλαιο που αντικειμενικά μπορεί να βρει πιο εύκολα σε ομάδες της «πάνω ταχύτητας», που τερματίζουν στην πρώτη πεντάδα.

That's a very low salary demand for a footballer. I'd have thought Panathinaikos before would be better for him, but now I think Aris is the best club for him.

[Amorgos]

Hopefully he returns to Greece

[Reaper]

News on Ninis..


https://www.pagenews.gr/2019/07/01/a...i-stin-ellada/

[Reaper]

Giannotas is no longer at AEK and it remains to be seen where he will play.

https://www.ant1.com.cy/sports/cypru...-o-gianniotas/

[Don Giovanni]

@Dino

So long as Ninis is in Israel's second division, he will not get anywhere near the Ethniki. A move to Panathinaikos this summer, should it happen, would open the door for him. I would treat him as a back up to Tachtsidis and Fortounis at best, that is should he return to a proper level and shows he can reach form. If we lose either Tachtsidis or Fortounis to suspension or injury, we won't miss a beat with Ninis.

Giannotas is no longer at AEK and it remains to be seen where he will play. He's a gifted dribbler and he can poach goals, but he didn't have confidence at AEK and really struggled to produce anything. Unless he finds form and proves his quality, I don't think he can find a place on the Greece squad. He would be a good option from the bench though and he could have an impact on games should he find form. He's not a bad option for us.

Lykogiannis is at most a back-up option or option from the bench to close out a game if Stafylidis or Koutris struggle. Truth be told I'd rather play an extra CB who can offer more defensive quality, but he may have his merit in at least being a squad player for Greece. Nikolaou is another such option and he's left-footed too. The problem is he's not nearly as developed nor experienced as of yet, but I think he will overtake Lykogiannis in rank as a left-sided defender in a couple of years time. Tsimikas is another left-sided defender. He got a lot of games in at Willem II and he's been coming along nicely at OSFP and the Greek national youth levels. We'll have to wait and see. Right now, my preferred choice is Stafylidis or Koutris in the midfield, with an extra CB and 2-3 three defensively capable mids for cover.

[Dean97]

Ninis is sadly finished file... I was hoping to see SOMETHING about him returning at least to Greece with a mid table team but nothing

What do you mean by finished? If he can return to a decent side in a decent league then he isn’t finished. I think he still has something to offer. I don’t know how much he has declined but he seems like he did alright in Israel. If someone can confirm that’d be great, but I haven’t seen him play lately. As I said, one can only dream. Especially with the way Greek national team is being handled I don’t see him returning to the national team even if he gets back to Greece.

[Amorgos]

Ninis is sadly finished file... I was hoping to see SOMETHING about him returning at least to Greece with a mid table team but nothing

[Dean97]

Then there is another problem. We lack pace to strike on the counter. Fortounis, Fetfatzidis, and Tachtsidis can't light up the field. Donis is quick, but he'll more than meet his match against quality teams with pace in the middle and back, like France or Holland should we play them. This means Greece will need to work the ball up from the back more often than not. There is only one player who can change that: Holebas. I'm tempted, truth be told, to play Holebas somehow. I'm thinking in place of Fetfatzidis. He's another player who for Greece can be a big star. Just consider the goal he almost scored on the counter against Ivory Coast (on the counter when he hit the post) and the cross he made against Costa Rica. That sort of quality can win us games. And having him means we don't defend another player less.

I think for Greece, these are the kinds of players we need to look at. As time goes one, we can look at Lamprou and see how he progresses. Maybe one day he can be that player because he is fast, tall, and technically very good. Then there's players like Pavlidis, Kampetsis, Michelis, Bouzoukis, etc, who could fit into the frame of things.

We can easily fix this problem with implementing certain players. I whole heartedly agree that Greece need to start looking at these kind of players such as Fetfatzidis and Holebas. To me that’s common sense. It shouldn’t take a genius to realise that either. We can’t afford to not play these players especially with the player roster we have. I remember Fetfatzidis at 20 years old was already making waves in Olympiakos and Ninis the same at PAO even younger. Ninis is also still the youngest scorer for Greece ever and he scored on his debut.

Its unrealistic at this point but if we were to play an inform Ninis, Fetfatzidis, Tachtsidis, Holebas and Pelkas right now in the team and starting 11 it would change the whole look of the way we play and be better for it...

Vlachodimos

Retsos Manolas Sokratis Lykogiannis

Zeca/K.Papa

Giannotas Ninis Tachtsidis Holebas

Fortounis

Subs Fetfatzidis, Donis, Pelkas

This totally would never happen but it definitely would be our best team. The left side is solid and Holebas has free reign in attack. Gianniotas on the right who can cross with his right. Tachtsidis or K.Papadopoulos can bomb forward in the box and be an aerial threat. Ninis and Tachtsidis can give great through balls to Fortounis, Gianniotas and Holebas. Retsos and Lykogiannis can concentrate more on defence. We can use this team against anyone. This team I believe have the most quality. One can only dream...

If you want to make it more realistic:
Vlachodimos

Retsos Manolas Sokratis Lykogiannis

Zeca/Kourbelis

Masouras Fortounis Siopis Koutris

Donis