Suggested Call Ups/Starting 11

[Don Giovanni]

IDK about captain, I think Bakasetas will keep the armband, but hopefully he's fit enough to play. If he's only good enough to play 70 minutes, we might see someone else get a chance too.

[Dean97]

I’d really like to see him return to the team. I’d put him back in the team even if he wasn’t playing, but we all know it’s not the way to do things. I’d go even further and put him captain.

[Don Giovanni]

Hatzidiakos is fit to play again, but he has yet to complete a match. I'm not sure if he's ready to play for Greece again come the weekend following, but we don't have any options now that van't Schip decided to drop Siovas.

[Don Giovanni]

He has the option of representing Switzerland, Serbia, and Greece. So far he's been on track to represent the Swiss, but if he wants to play with Turks and Albanians, being that he's Greek and Serb, that might make for interesting times. I hope he chooses Greece and continues his impressive progress.

[Amorgos]

So Leonidas Stergiou of St Gallen in Switzerland... only 18 and was very impressive against AEK! Doesn’t play like a 18 year old, would be very good if he played for Greece

[Don Giovanni]

As far as this Bakakis debate goes, maybe we should drop Bakakis and play Limnios a bit deeper as an inverse winger, like what's being done with Giannoulis now. Van't Schip seems to believe in him. Maybe Bakakis does gain in confidence and learns to play more like Giannoulis, but that's a strong maybe.

Stafylidis is another player van't Schip refuses to give up on. Maybe it's best to stick him in central/defensive midfield. As a center-back or left-back, Greece can do better, players like Kyriakopoulos and Michailidis are just two of the untested options who will put that theory to the test eventually. But in central midfield, our options right now are not really good enough. Players like Casemiro and Kante aren't as difficult to mold as say Pirlo. It takes a lot of hard work and a sharp mind that anticipates intelligently to play like those two DMs, but Stafylidis can be developed in that way even at this stage in his career.

Greece should play Tsimikas wide left of a three-man defense. Let Giannoulis play a bit higher as an inverse winger, basically as he does now, and let's find a place for the new Liverpool man on the pitch. We really shouldn't be debating which of the two should start. Rather they both need to play.

Bring Manolas back. Put Hatziadiakos or Mavropanos, or whoever, at wide right. Our defense is still a major strong point and I think we should try to get away with a man less. Atalanta plays a back three to amazing success and I think Greece can do it too.

[Don Giovanni]

I think he's serviceable. He's a good guy, but I do think he needs to do better and try to get more on the front stick. Against Kosovo, he invited defensive pressure by not being more of an attacking force. And when you have a player like Limnios in front of you, that can be as simple as making the overlap runs. Granted, against better opposition, he will be defending and getting forward in a much more limited capacity, so in games like that I would prefer Retsos or Hatzidiakos assuming Manolas returns for those kind of games. For now, he has shown he deserves to play and he's our best right-back option.

[Dean97]

You really don’t like Bakakis hey, as Don said, he does a lot of good that we don’t mention.

Ok he has some limitations but you wanna hope, who ever plays there does all the hard work he does

He’s just not good enough. He does work hard though I must admit. But he’s just not a good enough footballer. I’ve watched him closely. He panics a lot and isn’t effective enough. He doesn’t give you confidence watching him play. He seems like a nice guy but I don’t think he should be playing.

[Amorgos]

You really don’t like Bakakis hey, as Don said, he does a lot of good that we don’t mention.

Ok he has some limitations but you wanna hope, who ever plays there does all the hard work he does

[Dean97]

The problem with our set pieces is not only the service or the person taking it, most of our players are under 6ft. How can Svarnas, Mantalos, Bakakis, Stafylidis etc win the ball in the air? Only Siovas is a threat in the air.

I remember the days we relied on set pieces to get us through. Now we can hold onto possession which is great to see. But I do believe certain players are letting us down. Like Kourbelis and Bakakis. We should be able to find replacements for them. Hopefully Galanopoulos plays again.

[Don Giovanni]

Salpingidis wasn't a great winger either. I don't think any of us would consider us fans of his wing play, but he provided that perfect assist to Samaras against Germany and he scored enough crucial goals to justify his place.

I don't quite believe Bakakis will have a similar impact, but he's not the liability he was and he's not frustrating his teammates like before.

Kourbelis was not good enough in the past two games. He did well to reduce passing lanes, but he struggled a lot. I don't think Kourbelis should continue as a first-choice midfielder. No doubts Galanopoulos would win his place back at Kourbelis expense.

Fortounis too was a disappointment. He really can't defend nor press opponents. For all his guile and ability, it's simply not exceptional enough to make the sort of difference that at times gave Tsartas the freedom he needed against quality teams where we needed 11 men behind the ball. Fortounis is very much a bench option as things stand.

In saying that, players like Mantalos, Bakasetas, etc, are not skillful enough. We don't have anyone on the pitch who can really hit free-kicks with real quality. Greece doesn't look like a threat from set-pieces. So it is up to Fortounis to really push himself and to live up to the standards set by Mantalos and Bakasetas if he's to win his place back. It is there for the taking. There is a possibility that player could be Vrousaj and my guess is that van't Schip does have a bit of a soft spot for him. Maybe Limnios continues to develop into a big star and prove that difference. We shall see.

[Amorgos]

100% Don

[Don Giovanni]

Old man Chiellini is starting for Italy at left center-back. Holland are getting heavily outplayed. Hateboer in particular is having a really bad game. He's not getting into challenges, conceding space and balls to opponents, giving all sorts of room for Italy to operate down their left flank. Bakakis by comparison looks a better player. Granted though, Bakakis would never score two goals in the latter stages of the UCL like Hateboar has, but he can defend better than this guy.

[Don Giovanni]

The central midfield remains a problem area. Kourbelis has a poor touch, he looked indecisive and some of his decision making, like a shot he took from distance against Kosovo that was blocked (while, Zeca presented with a better opportunity simply passed the ball) and then used by Kosovo to counter, makes me question what goes on in his head. He must improve, but it may be best he play as a center-back, not a midfielder. I like Zeca. So much energy and he can be classy at times, but a limited player in many respects. This area of the pitch has to do better.

Bakakis, although not ideal, is proving to be serviceable. Van't Schip has given him confidence and at least now he's defending better. Granted he's not the most graceful of defenders, but his pace and determination make up for what he lacks defensively. There may be hope yet if Bakakis can follow the examples of other players like Tsimikas and Giannoulis. They share a lot of similar characteristics, but Bakakis is older and time is not on his side. We've seen it before with players like Holebas who came in and did poorly, despite being older, and he eventually proved to be exceptional.

I liked the look of Svarnas in some cases. He played offside traps and he was strong enough to contain Nuhiu a little, but he wasn't as good as Kapsis was against Koller. He has some way to go to become the defender we need.

Stafylidis is a good player, but I don't think he's center-back. We can maybe get away with him if we play three center-backs and have an extra man as cover, but to otherwise is close to criminal. He would do better in the midfield I believe. He shares many similar characteristics to Zagorakis and if allowed to develop into such a player he may excel to become one of our best. And given our central midfield options, I see little harm in trying him out. At center-back, he's going to be at fault for persistent errors. When we play him at center-back, we go into the game accepting the fact we have to score more than one goal to win.

Thank goodness Siovas got on the pitch. He made up for his miss against Slovenia with a great swivel-and-turn goal against Kosovo. His touch got away from him a bit and perhaps was a little lucky with the finish, but it was a brilliant goal. Beyond that, he was confident and calm in defense. That experience, confidence and calmness was exuberated to others too. His presence and goal made all the difference against Kosovo.

[Don Giovanni]

As far as the left-wing goes, I think van't Schip will eventually play Giannoulis further up in a left-wing role and Tsimikas at left-back. It will be impossible to justify the exclusion of a Greek player competing for a place at arguably the world's best football club. With the way Giannoulis played against Slovenia, that was definitely the impression I was left with and he's a perfect fit opposite to Limnios, with whom he has an excellent understanding. Donis at this point will be seen more as backup to Limnios. The same applies to Masouras on the opposite wing.

Mantalos is definitely a soldier for van't Schip, some who helps to set the tone and standard for what the coach wants from his players. There is a chance he may be repurposed as a central midfielder. Against Slovenia he did drop into the central midfield quite often when Kourbelis was himself adopted into the back line. Zeca and Kourbelis aren't good enough to connect defense to attack, and truth be told Mantalos too struggled with this due to his limited passing range. We need someone who can play 30-40 yard passes in the middle of the pitch otherwise we will become very stale in possession, something we did see a bit against Slovenia.