General Chat

[Don Giovanni]

He's a dynamo. Loads of energy. Runs all game.

[Dikefale11]

We were drawn into Group 3 in League C.

Moldova
Slovenia
Kosovo
Greece

[Soprano76]

Tough group. Kosovo has a bunch of Albos who received their football training in western Euro countries.

[Don Giovanni]

Slovenia (Ilicic, Oblak) and Kosovo are decent sides, but we ought to top the group.

[Reaper]

^^ Easily.

[Dean97]

^^ Easily.

Greece always make it harder for themselves against smaller teams. Hopefully this time it’s more straightforward then other times.

[Amorgos]

It's never easy when the Ethniki is involved

[Dean97]

Great article about Sokratis and Manolas. In my opinion if we bring back Manolas then Sokratis would have to be brought back. Both, when at their best are unstoppable together. It’s sort of a rarity to have to CBs on the international stage who have a great understanding of each other and work so well together.

This would mean Retsos or Hatzidiakos would have to play RB or RCB (if we play 3 at the back.) If they get their attitude together then we should fine but if they don’t then we don’t need them. The team has done well so far and I don’t want anything to disrupt the positive flow. Also Samaris and Mitroglou haven’t been playing lately and seem to be on the decline. It’s important we do find the right replacement for Mitroglou.

At the moment Pavlidis is doing well. But I’m not entirely convinced yet. If Donis can go to another level then we should be fine because Donis has great pace and can put them away when he wants to. For example the game against Bayern last season. https://hellasfooty.blogspot.com/202...orget.html?m=1

[Reaper]

I think Sokratis is around 60% of the player he was 5 years ago. I would keep him away.

[Don Giovanni]

Sokratis needs to become a straight up bully and hard man. He might not have the pace and jump of old, but he can make make himself more menacing, play more like Claudio Gentile. And he scores a lot for a defender. I'd also like to see him carry the ball more and perform simple layoffs. We don't need him to play extraordinary long balls, it's enough to carry the ball up, dribble as far as he can go, bully players, and lay it off. He was always good at that and he can be very dangerous in terms of starting counters on the break that way. I think if he makes those adjustments to his game, we may yet see the best of him.

We need him. For me, he could very well be our best player scoring massive goals for us and shutting teams down to the point where he'll make their fans cry. For Sokratis to realize that potential, he needs a great coach. Zagorakis had Rehhagel. It's up to Van't Schip to see Sokratis the way I do, as the Greek Van Bommel.

As things stand though, he's a bench player for Greece because he's not starting for Arsenal. I can't see him staying at Arsenal, but a return to Germany, which is being rumored, means he'll still be competing at a strong level. It's a mistake for us to dismiss.

Manolas, 100%, needs to stay with Greece. Losing him would be a massive loss. I can't see us qualifying for 2022 without him. And he's getting better with age. His levels of concentration are the best I've ever seen. In the next season or two, he may well be considered the best defender in Italy, especially with Chiellini retiring very soon and Koulibaly likely to leave this summer. If he continues improving on the ball, his finishing, and becomes a more commanding passer, he may well be considered among the world's best players, perhaps not as great as Van Dijk, but still exceptional. From what I can see, he has a lot of good natural ability on the ball, but his passing and finishing will require a lot of work (those aspects of the game come less naturally to him) and his potential there is more limited. He can improve, but perhaps not become as good Van Dijk--who score directly from free-kicks and possesses an excellent sense for delivery into the penalty area (so much so that he tends to instruct the man taking the kick).

[Dean97]

I agree, Manolas definitely needs to stay in this team. Sokratis seems to be on the decline but at the same time playing at the highest level in world football. It’s tough to say Sokratis shouldn’t be in the team because he is has given us so much. He’s been the rock our golden era of 2001-2014.

But in the last 4 games we’ve played Hatzidiakos has made me a believer. He has exceeded expectations in my opinion. He has to be involved in this team. We haven’t got expert ball players in the midfield who can transition well. That’s why JVS played Hatzidiakos and Stafylidis at CB because they are effective in playing our from the back. Big question marks if Stafylidis plays as the LCB as he has been named captain. JVS seems to want to have a left foot CB. That’s why we’ve seen Stafylidis and Siovas play there.

Also there was speculation that JVS was going to put Kyriakopoulos as a CB even though he is a left footed LB. So I don’t know if Sokratis will have a place anymore because of this. But Manolas needs to be involved no questions asked. But what does that mean for Hatzidiakos?

I would have Hatzidiakos as the starting CB from now on. Maybe a back 3 is the way to go.

[Don Giovanni]

Sadly Fernando Santos has lost his mother. Given the coronavirus pandemic, he was unable to be by her side, so her loss was made even more difficult. May she rest in peace and forever in spirit.

[Amorgos]

http://hellasfooty.blogspot.com/2020...ualifying.html

[Don Giovanni]

Good read, but I thought Greece finished bottom of the group because Faroes had the better head-to-head record.

We had problems at LB and with certain players simply in decline or lacking maturity to handle the responsibility of representing Greece, but I think losing both Karagounis and Katsouranis without adequately replacing them was the biggest reason for Greece's Euro 2016 failure. I didn't like how Holebas was made into a scapegoat either.

Looking back on it, we should have gone into a back three with Katsouranis at CB. Playing him in the midfield would not have worked (that became obvious after his sending off against Japan). I don't think it would have been practical for Karagounis to continue, but he may have been able to from the bench.

Had we kept at least Katsouranis at CB, I think we would have fared better and would have done a better job ushering in the next generation.

[Dean97]

I was going into this campaign with so much optimism thinking that our new generation were going to shine when Kara and Kats retired. The players that disappointed be the most were Tachtsidis and Samaris. Two players I was heavily praising at the time. I was hoping they were the ones to fill the shoes of Kara and Kats. I was wrong.

Kone and Lazaros didn’t perform as they were supposed and Samaras and Salpingidis were at the tail end of there careers. Fetfatzidis and Ninis were no where to be seen for most of the campaign. Fortounis was still finding himself along with Pelkas. I still find it hard to believe that we couldn’t get the job done. Kone, Lazaros, Samaris has great world cups and they struggled so hard when Kara and Kats left.

I’m so optimistic now that we have players like Limnios, Pavlidis, Galanopoulos and Hatzidiakos in our side.