Suggested Call Ups/Starting 11

[Don Giovanni]

Anastasiadis has recalled Bakasetas. I don't see the rationale in that decision. It's not one based on merit.

Instead of calling up Torosidis, he calls up Kotsiras of Asteras. I can't imagine Mavrias or Kotsiras doing anything to keep Moise Kean quiet. Whoever plays will look woefully out of their depth. This decision in particular will cost us, especially when we look to secure a result.

Mitroglou hasn't been called up either. I would think he would be useful as a sub late on, but Anastasiadis seems to think one of Kolovos, Durmishaj, or Koulouris will be enough going up against Chiellini. Once again we will be looking to Fortounis, maybe Donis, to pull a rabbit out of the hat if we are to score against Italy.

Bouchalakis, who by the time Greece take on Italy will not have played competitively in two months, is on the team. Tachtsidis certainly comes to mind as a player who should have been called up in his stead.

Manolas and Sokratis aren't going to be on the team until June 3rd. How is that going to work out for us when we play Turkey May 30th?

I think our coach has built a team for the Greek super league, not the international level. He should coach PAOK, not Greece.

[Reaper]

I know Stafi is popular but I was disappointed he was called up - just because he is a such a poor defender.

[Amorgos]

Mitroglou is injured, vs Turkey I think we will see Kourbelis & Siovas, it’s not that bad

[Dean97]

I like both Siovas and Kourbelis. I hope they do their job because they have a big task against Turkey. I hope the team in general are ready. I don’t want to be losing against them. A win at all cost.

[Don Giovanni]

Right you are Amorgos. Mitroglou is out injured. It looks like B teams are playing in the Turkey match.

In the last round of matches, we saw a lack of organization and a lack of experience, but an improved team spirit. If Anastasiadis can build on that, get the team well organized, then we should be good enough to at least make the Euro 2020 finals, but for World Cup qualifying we will look like we did under Skibbe. In the build up to our match to Italy so far, that's the impression I'm getting.

A big problem area for us are the wings.

I still think Holebas is the best option at LB, but that prospect was always unlikely. Given that, I think Lykogiannis deserved the call-up over Stafylidis, or Valerianos for that matter. If Koutris shows any defensive frailties against Italy, Lykogiannis is a good alternative to shore us up; whereas Stafylidis is a like-for-like to Koutris. If anything, Stafylidis has greater defensive frailties than Koutris. In any case, I find it very odd that we have three left-backs on the team when really we should only have two such players.

At least at right-back we can shift Zeca there and have Kourbelis step into midfield in Zeca's place. But really we need Torosidis, even as a sub, to shore us up. Ideally, Zeca would need to stay in the middle. I have no confidence in Mavrias or the Asteras player we called up. Even Bakakis inspires no confidence and to date he has been our first choice. Maybe in time they prove otherwise, but I have no reason to believe so as of this time of writing.

We might see a repeat of our 4-1 loss to Croatia with the way Anastasiadis/EPO has set this team up. The tune-up 'B' match to Turkey is not enough. Many of our players are in vacation mode, whereas the Italians have been playing competitive football up to the last week of May. I see a recipe us coming out very soft and am inclined to think we will lose, more than by 2-0. The wing-back areas are really going to kill us, especially down on our right-side.

[Dean97]

I can count on one hand the players that should have been called up. Bakasetas has no reason to be there. Where is Lykogiannis? I like Stafylidis and I hope he has success in his career but I think for the moment I think Koutris should start. We need as much speed as possible.

[Don Giovanni]

Tachtsidis and Lykogiannis should have been called up. Torosidis too. They're the right options for us.

Tachtsidis especially for his ability on the ball and his tactical nous. He's an improvement over Bouchalakis. Had Tachtsidis played instead in the Bosnia match, I suspect he might have made the difference for Greece early on in terms of settling possession. He would have asserted himself more than Samaris and Bouchalakis had. And he can score if permitted to play higher.

Lykogiannis would be ideal to shore us up on the left if Koutris gets overrun. Torosidis for the same reasons on the right. I think Koutris also would be better off with Torosidis opposite to him and we would look more in sync, more composed.

Jorginho, Veratti, and Bonucci are very smart with the ball. The pace and skill on offer from Immobile and Kean will cause us untold problems. Quagliarella will also use his experience to make the difference. He will find holes to exploit. Vlahodimos has a weakness defending set-pieces and I expect Italy to hit us there too through the likes of Chiellini. Italy will control the game and keep up us pinned deep if we allow them to. This will be a mistake, as Finland discovered, after Italy opened the scoring early through a long distant shot that deflected in.

My guess in the match to Italy we will see Zeca play on the right and Siovas at CB in a three-man line with Manolas and Sokratis. Koutris on the left. Middle of the park we'll see Bouchalakis, Samaris and Kourbelis, with Bouchalakis pressing higher. Up top, Donis and Fortounis leading the line. Kolovos/Durmishaj and Masouras/Pelkas as eventual sub options for Donis and Fortounis. Realistically, with this setup we'll be hoping to score from a set-piece via a header from one of our CBs or Kolovos/Durmishaj, and to keep the Italians from scoring at all.

I think pulling Zeca from the middle is a mistake. Kourbelis should be playing over Siovas in defense and allowed to push forward to add numbers in the middle, giving us more dynamism and tactical flexibility. I think Tachtsidis should play over Bouchalakis. I think Holebas (alternatively Koutris) and Torosidis are the ideal wing-backs. That's what I would change. I would also encourage the players to force the game into Italy's half and force them into long balls. They have no one up top who can hold the ball if we forced Italy into that tactic. I think a stronger, more balanced team would make life more difficult for Italy. The Italians are conservative and would be forced to play like the wounded lions they are.

I see Italy winning, possibly by a result rivaling that of Croatia's in our first leg 4-1 loss, if we invite them to take the game to us (i.e., if we fail to learn our lessons against Bosnia).

[Dean97]

I think a 5-3-2 is the way to go. I would prefer Zeca in the middle to annoy the Italians but we haven’t got enough quality and solidity at RB/RWB. Kourbelis does well at CB and we look more composed with him their, especially playing it our from the back. Sokratis and Manolas pace will be need in order to stop the faster side attackers like Insigne. I like the idea of Fortounis and Donis upfront. Fortounis can drop a little and collect the ball and orchestrate passes.

I believe Durmisaj will provide a threat if given playing time. Kolovos should be introduced in the last 20 minutes. I also forgot we have Pelkas and Mantalos. I don’t know what you would do with them since we have Samaris and Bouchalakis in the middle. Pelkas would do well at pressing and being in the right place at the right time in the box. It will be interesting in what formation we go with but I’m with Don’s formation. We must attack and go at them. We can’t absorb too much pressure and sit back. We must control the game too and this is where Samaris and Fortounis come in.

I would have liked Lykogiannis and Tachtsidis to be called up because of what they provide (defence and ball playing). Also Fetfatzidis would be better to have than Mantalos or Bakasetas.

[Don Giovanni]

For me it's some kind of variation of 3 central defenders. And I think our best 11 right now probably looks like this:

Vlahodimos
Retsos----Manolas---Sokratis--------------
------------------------------------------------------Koutris (Holebas)
Samaris
Zeca--------------------Kourbelis
Tachtsidis
Donis---Fortounis

I think we need Torosidis and Lykogiannis at least from the bench. Koutris isn't a whole lot better than Stafylidis, both are very similar players, but I think Koutris deserves more of a chance. Ideally, Holebas would play at LB. He could be a big star performer for us and provide the attacking width we'll need at Euro 2020.

We need Samaris to plug away at the back. Kourbelis and Zeca to press and harass. Zeca can stretch defenses on the right, Kourbelis can threaten with runs into the area.

Tachtsidis needs to connect the pieces together, combine with Donis and Fortounis, and drop back to settle the ball down a bit. He needs to dictate our game. We need to try and build Pelkas up to avoid issues if we lose Fortounis. Pelkas' set-piece taking abilities set him apart from Mantalos, Masouras and Kolovos, who I consider secondary options to Donis. I'm not sure Pelkas will be much of a solution long term, but at PAOK he has a chance to grow and improve for now. I think Vlahodimos has to improve still, but he will be Greece's number one unless Kapino gets it together or Barkas heads abroad to a decent side. The standards of football inside Greece is very poor and we need to build a team around players who ply their trades abroad.

Against weaker sides, we could see Kourbelis dropped for Koulouris. Durmishaj may be good enough to start for Greece soon enough, depending on how he does at OSFP. I think if that were to happen, we'd need to drop Samaris, keep Tachtsidis deeper, and play Durmishaj on the right, with Fortounis leading the line and Donis on the left. That might not be something we do until 2022 World Cup qualifying.

[Don Giovanni]

Vlahodimos
Torosidis---Manolas---Sokratis
Samaris---Kourbelis
Zeca---Tachtsidis---Stafylidis
Fortounis---Donis

A 3-5-2 with a "W" midfield. I go through a lot of different ideas and formations, but this one is probably my best yet for a preferred formation. It's nearly identical to the one I touched on last time, but I think this finds a much better balance. It's also more consistent with what we have used in the past. For example, we still have wide men who can track back opposition wing-backs. We can easily adopt a back four if Donis and Stafylidis drop back:

Vlahodimos
Torosidis---Manolas---Sokratis---Stafylidis
Samaris---Kourbelis
Zeca---Tachtsidis---Donis
Fortounis

I have to credit Anastasiadis for proving to me that Fortounis can have a role against a big side. I wasn't sure of that, but after how Fortounis was played against Italy I'm now convinced he's a false 9 who can split some of his creative duties with Donis and Tachtsidis.

I don't think Barkas should start for Greece. Even if he makes the move to Roma, I doubt he starts. It should be Vlahodimos at #1.

I think due to Torosidis' age, he can't be expected to launch forward much, but with Samaris or Kourbelis offering cover, he can maybe pick and chose the right moments to get forward and offer the width that Zeca will not. Retsos could easily fill this role, but let's see how he comes back from injury and keep this spot warm for him.

Realistically, Zeca is not going to be great attacking threat, but he's serviceable and can offer our right-side better protection than Masouras had done against Italy. Options like Bakasetas are simply not good enough for the right-wing. I think Mavrias will be more at home in this kind of role if we need to tuck Zeca in for whatever reason. I hope Mavrias and Stafylidis can rekindle some of that youth level form to the senior level.

I'm not sure whether to start Stafylidis or Koutris, but Stafylidis is playing in Germany, which is a higher level than Greece, and he's capable of scoring from distance, boxes Koutris doesn't check; however, Koutris may make more sense with Torosidis in the line-up and deserves more of a chance to prove his worth with Greece. I'd really like to see Holebas here, a role I think that could make him a big star. Whatever the case, the wings will need to apply lots of pressure. Stafylidis/Koutris could combine with Fortounis or Donis to launch crosses into the box.

Hopefully we can get Tachtsidis, Kourbelis, Samaris, Torosidis, Manolas or even Sokratis to make runs into the box. We need a strong aerial presence in the box, something Donis and Fortounis can't really offer, but something one of those others players can offer via late runs. This is a big ask. We saw Kourbelis try to do this against Italy. It's a good idea, to let one of Fortounis or Donis occupy central defenders, which might let someone like Kourbelis sneak into openings for free headers from crosses.

Players like Masouras, Lamprou, Vrousaj, and Durmishaj need to continue progressing at the club level before I think they can really earn a place in the Greek squad. Specifically, they must adapt their games to become more dogged and determined, to show real fight like Salpingidis, Giannakopoulos, and Charisteas showed in these roles.

[Dean97]

Koutris pace I believe will help recover in defence. Stafylidis hasn’t got the pace like Koutris to recover any mistakes such as positioning and getting beaten. Once Stafylidis gets beaten it’s over. Koutris can still get back and make a challenge. I think Koutris should be starting until Stafylidis can get his positioning right. Lykogiannis is heaps better in this part and is bigger physically. He would provide good cover on the left. The problem I have with him is his speed but his great positioning helps his situation out.

Against quality sides Lykogiannis is the way to go. It’s the safe option. Against same or weaker sides than Koutris/Stafylidis can be given a chance. That’s the way I see it. Also to mention If Bakakis plays RB then Lykogiannis has to play LB. Just to balance it out. Holebas is never coming back and it’s too late anyway.

I like your formation Don, something similar that I would put out. Though I would like to try actual wingers for once in our usual 4-2-3-1 and see how it plays out. If we could get fast and smart wingers than Fortounis and Tachtsidis would have players to work with and play great/smart passes to. Masouras should be a 10 like Reaper said once I think. He isn’t slow but you need someone who can get there faster and take it further down the line. Donis is capable of that and so is Lamprou. Zeca is not going to cut it for us on the wing. I know he assisted but he was in the right place at the right time in my opinion.

We should be putting more emphasis on keeping possession. We have become to predictable with the long passes and waiting for something to happen. We need to keep the ball at all time when possible. Wait and look for an opening. We might not have the players who have the expertise to hold the ball and pass it around for long but with the right adjustments it could work. Samaris doesn’t like to get into space. You need players to pass and move into space to keep the ball and have other players ready to receive. Kourbelis and Galanopoulos pass and move. Bouchalakis is decent and so is Androutsos. Tachtsidis and Fortounis can hold possession too. Zeca will lose the ball a few times and won’t help our rhythm. That’s why Zeca and Samaris won’t help us here. They are either too static or too clumsy.

I would like to try Galanopoulos and Kourbelis as the DM/CM and either Taxi or Fortounis as the 10. Then playing Lamprou and Donis outwide to give us good speed then we have something good. Upfront depending on form it should be Koulouris or Durmisaj or even Pavlidis from the U21.

Vlachodimos
Torosidis Manolas Sokratis Koutris

Galanopoulos Kourbelis

Lamprou Fortounis Donis

Koulouris/Durmisaj/Pavlidis

This line up has everyone in their correct positions. So there should be no excuses. We have expirience at RB with very good CBs. A LB that like to bomb forward and create extra width. Also has lots of pace. Galanopoulos and Kourbelis have great stamina and like to move around and create an option further forward too. I believe given time they would be a perfect partnership. Fortounis as the 10 with actual pacey wingers who can take players on and create something outwide. Upfront whoever is scoring and looks dangerous should be the 9. Hopefully Pavlidis outshines everyone.

If this dosent work than 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1 should be next. Something similar to yours Don would be ideal if mine dosent work out which it should.

[Don Giovanni]

That was when Greece played Belgium last. We played the following system:

Karnezis
Maniatis---Manolas---Sokrais---Tzavellas
Samaris---Tziolis
Zeca---Fortounis---Stafylidis
Donis

Stafyllidis dropped back and Tzavellas tucked in at times to create a back five. Zeca would drop back to add numbers to the defensive midfield. That left Fortounis and Donis further up field when Greece defended deep in a 5-3-1-1. Belgium won 1-2, but Stafylidis had a shot from distance ring off the post and we had drawn level when Zeca scored. We had a competitive team, but Belgium's quality won the game.

It's not that different from what I recommended. You still have Zeca and Stafylidis really high up the pitch in roles that may suit them. Donis and Fortounis remain relatively free. Tachtisdis would be an upgrade over Tziolis. We drop Tzavellas, who was a defensive liability anyways, and replace Maniatis with either Torosidis or Retsos, both of whom are superior options to Maniatis.

In my opinion, if we had fielded that team against Belgium in the 1-2 loss, we would have performed better. If we are to play against the big boys and be competitive, this is the kind of team that could do it.

[Reaper]

Just so tired of these players... we only have around 5 players who even deserve to be an international.

............................Vlacho................ ..............

XXXX......Manolas.......Sokratis.........Koutris

..........................Zeca??.................. ..........
..........................................XXXX.... ...............

Gianniotas..............Fortounis............XXXX

...........................................XXXX

[Dean97]

That was when Greece played Belgium last. We played the following system:

Karnezis
Maniatis---Manolas---Sokrais---Tzavellas
Samaris---Tziolis
Zeca---Fortounis---Stafylidis
Donis

Stafyllidis dropped back and Tzavellas tucked in at times to create a back five. Zeca would drop back to add numbers to the defensive midfield. That left Fortounis and Donis further up field when Greece defended deep in a 5-3-1-1. Belgium won 1-2, but Stafylidis had a shot from distance ring off the post and we had drawn level when Zeca scored. We had a competitive team, but Belgium's quality won the game.

It's not that different from what I recommended. You still have Zeca and Stafylidis really high up the pitch in roles that may suit them. Donis and Fortounis remain relatively free. Tachtisdis would be an upgrade over Tziolis. We drop Tzavellas, who was a defensive liability anyways, and replace Maniatis with either Torosidis or Retsos, both of whom are superior options to Maniatis.

In my opinion, if we had fielded that team against Belgium in the 1-2 loss, we would have performed better. If we are to play against the big boys and be competitive, this is the kind of team that could do it.

We had a chance to win that game. I’m so happy Karnezis is not our keeper anymore. I’m all for Donis playing at ST. He was an animal that game. We need to see more involvement from Donis when played at ST. We can’t afford our ST to be in spot for 90 minutes. This game was an example of how the ST should be involved. Donis was nearly everywhere that game. And that’s what we need. Mitroglou is too slow and can be useful only off the bench, just like you said.

I thought Maniatis did ok. He wasn’t great but he wasn’t bad. He delivered in some decent crosses and pushed up when needed. I definitely agree Torosidis and Retsos are better. With Stafylidis I still believe he can be useful just not as a LB. He needs more work there. If we want to use him we should push him at LM/LW. Just like he was used in that game. His shots are needed and he is able to give a smart through balls. We just need to use him correctly for him to be useful. Lykogiannis can be the LB.

I agree we should set out the team similar to that one above but I would like to see how we would do with actual wingers first before we put Zeca and Stafy outwide.

[Dean97]

Just so tired of these players... we only have around 5 players who even deserve to be an international.

............................Vlacho................ ..............

Retsos......Manolas.......Sokratis.........Koutris

..........................Zeca??.................. ..........
..........................Galanopoulos/Pelkas.................

Gianniotas..............Fortounis............Lamprou

...........................................Donis

If I was to fill in the blanks I would put these guys in. It seems a more attacking line up. We have never tried an attacking lineup like this and we should give it a go. If it goes in the toilet then we should do what was recommended above. Retsos should be considered at RB, Galanopoulos or Pelkas should be put there because of the way they press, Lamprou outwide who is a real winger and Donis upfront who can be all fire and fury.