Seems Bakasetas has been dropped by AEK. Wonder how much Anastasiadis thinks he needs him now he is without a club and out of form.
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Originally posted by Dean97 View PostInteresting as I just read that. Do you think he will still get called up Reaper?
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It’s also interesting that Pelkas who is a better player than him isn’t doing much in the same league, in terms of goals. Mantalos hasn’t been the same and seems like he is on the decline already. Probably a bit harsh but could be true. Fortounis hasn’t scored much himself this season. Our problem is lack of scorers in the nt. Our creativity is also piss poor. I read a comment the other day on Facebook where a guy said that every national have bad periods. It’s been 4 years now and we‘ve been up and down, but mostly down. These are the players we have to deal with now. You could probably squeeze a good match from Pelkas but then go missing in the others. Mantalos not effective enough these days and Fortounis is left to carry everything. Yet he himself isn’t fantastic at times.
Ninis and Fetfatzidis kind of screwed things up for us aswell. Two talented players who could have given this team a creative spark. Yet their careers have not lived up to expectations. Masouras, good player but isn’t our saviour I believe. Lazaros hit and miss all his career. He is hitting 33. Never was anything special in the nt. Donis is the future but we have to wait and see. Hopefully he isn’t wasted and doesn’t make the wrong decisions. Our CAM and wide attackers aren’t really solid maestros, playmakers or assist kings. If there is anyone sort of close to these things its Fortounis. Yet he isn’t someone incredible. He is excellent in set pieces eg. Corners, Fks and Pens but isn’t entirely magnificent in open play like Fetfatzidis and Ninis were in their best days.
This team needs a couple of players to emerge and breakout into superstars, to a point where EPO, agents, owners and the media can’t say no to these players. Attacking players and midfielders mainly. It’s really up to the next generation eg. Bouzoukis, Limnios, Lamprou and so on to capture everyone’s attention and become beasts in top level leagues and hopefully be marquee players. Can it happen?... I don’t know, I can only hope. It’s kind of hard when Greece doesn’t invest and put all their focus in the academies to develop future stars like a Spain, Portugal and England. It would be a good start for these youngsters to play and be tested abroad.
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The EPO is picking Toumba as our main location for upcoming matches. The stadia in Crete, Larissa, and Xanthi were also listed, but Thessaloniki is the first choice. I'd much rather have Crete picked, but it may not meet all of FIFA/UEFA's standards.
Zagorakis may become part of the Greek technical staff. He and Basinas will make a really positive difference. I'm a huge fan of Zagorakis and it would be fantastic to have him back at the Ethniki in any capacity.
Also a first team player is thinking to retire from the NT. My guess is Torosidis.
Bakasetas isn't good enough. I'm not surprised he is being benched at AEK. Gianniotas is a superior player.
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Thats interesting Amorgo. You would think Simoes would be a huge loss....
Interesting interview with Holebas. Looks like him returning to the national team is out the window. Here are the quotes from Holebas about the national team. From The Times (London) article on him (24 Nov 2018 - article is behind a paywall):
Holebas reluctantly concedes that approaches have been made via some Greece players but they can beg all they like. He will not return. Holebas retired two years ago, disillusioned with Skibbe, exasperated by his treatment as an outsider. If there was a problem, he was blamed and the final straw came when he was accused of disrespecting his country after a 3-1 defeat in Belfast in 2015.
"I don't want to go back. I have finished, I have closed this door and it will not open again for me. I have family and the club, they are more important to me," Holebas says.
"I'm born in Germany, my father is Greek and they treat me in a different way, an outsider. We lost against Northern Ireland. I was sad, I wanted to smash everything and I took off my shirt. I had it in my hand but they said I threw it to the ground and I showed disrespect to the shirt, so why should I go back there when there is always bad news about me in the national team? I don't need that."
It is a shame, though. Holebas chose to play for Greece as a way of connecting to a part of his heritage that had been neglected. His parents split up when he was one year old and he lived with his mother in Germany. Only as an adult did he explore what being Greek could mean, so did he not experience some joy when playing for his father's country? "I really didn't enjoy it," he says.
"When Fernando Santos was there he was stopping everything [the sniping] but when he left it was a disaster. They need a serious coach over there. Skibbe saw me as an older player and was not choosing by performance but who he knows. I played in the Premier League and was sitting on the bench, I don't really get it."
Last edited by Dean97; 11-28-2018, 06:20 AM.
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Originally posted by Dean97 View PostThats interesting Amorgo. You would think Simoes would be a huge loss....
Interesting interview with Holebas. Looks like him returning to the national team is out the window. Here are the quotes from Holebas about the national team. From The Times (London) article on him (24 Nov 2018 - article is behind a paywall):
Holebas reluctantly concedes that approaches have been made via some Greece players but they can beg all they like. He will not return. Holebas retired two years ago, disillusioned with Skibbe, exasperated by his treatment as an outsider. If there was a problem, he was blamed and the final straw came when he was accused of disrespecting his country after a 3-1 defeat in Belfast in 2015.
"I don't want to go back. I have finished, I have closed this door and it will not open again for me. I have family and the club, they are more important to me," Holebas says.
"I'm born in Germany, my father is Greek and they treat me in a different way, an outsider. We lost against Northern Ireland. I was sad, I wanted to smash everything and I took off my shirt. I had it in my hand but they said I threw it to the ground and I showed disrespect to the shirt, so why should I go back there when there is always bad news about me in the national team? I don't need that."
It is a shame, though. Holebas chose to play for Greece as a way of connecting to a part of his heritage that had been neglected. His parents split up when he was one year old and he lived with his mother in Germany. Only as an adult did he explore what being Greek could mean, so did he not experience some joy when playing for his father's country? "I really didn't enjoy it," he says.
"When Fernando Santos was there he was stopping everything [the sniping] but when he left it was a disaster. They need a serious coach over there. Skibbe saw me as an older player and was not choosing by performance but who he knows. I played in the Premier League and was sitting on the bench, I don't really get it."
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Originally posted by Dean97 View PostInteresting how he said in the beginning how some Greece players contacted him to come back... He has come a long way since his Olympiakos days and has become a top player. Especially in the EPL.
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I find it disappointing that Holebas has rejected calls to return. Whatever issues he had with Skibbe picking Tzavellas over him, that's history now. Lienen did the same thing when he brought Holebas over to Olympiakos and that's how he got his big break. Sometimes that's how it goes. Also the ethniki raised his profile internationally, outside of Greece. He's wrong to turn his back on the ethniki. At most he will last two more seasons in England. Maybe he's looking at retirement. If Watford decide to bench him tomorrow, he won't have the Ethniki to turn to in order to get playing time and the same kind of exposure he had before. More importantly, he would be a big star for Greece.
He misses Santos because he didn't drop him after the Poland and Colombia matches, despite his poor performances. He gave him his debut. I disagree Santos cut out problems within the team. Gekas, Amanatidis, and Kyrgiakos all retired due to Santos. Gekas only came back when his career was tanking. Chalkias undeservedly became the Greece number one. Katsouranis and Karagounis became too central to the team to point where it did irreparable damage. Santos had to go for that last reason alone. He couldn't build a team without Karagounis and Katsouranis in it. And Holebas had to pay a price for putting Roma before the ethniki, but *not with* a permanent ban. Anyone who couldn't see that then should be able to see it now.
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Originally posted by Don Giovanni View PostI find it disappointing that Holebas has rejected calls to return. Whatever issues he had with Skibbe picking Tzavellas over him, that's history now. Lienen did the same thing when he brought Holebas over to Olympiakos and that's how he got his big break. Sometimes that's how it goes. Also the ethniki raised his profile internationally, outside of Greece. He's wrong to turn his back on the ethniki. At most he will last two more seasons in England. Maybe he's looking at retirement. If Watford decide to bench him tomorrow, he won't have the Ethniki to turn to in order to get playing time and the same kind of exposure he had before. More importantly, he would be a big star for Greece.
He misses Santos because he didn't drop him after the Poland and Colombia matches, despite his poor performances. He gave him his debut. I disagree Santos cut out problems within the team. Gekas, Amanatidis, and Kyrgiakos all retired due to Santos. Gekas only came back when his career was tanking. Chalkias undeservedly became the Greece number one. Katsouranis and Karagounis became too central to the team to point where it did irreparable damage. Santos had to go for that last reason alone. He couldn't build a team without Karagounis and Katsouranis in it. And Holebas had to pay a price for putting Roma before the ethniki, but a permanent ban. Anyone who couldn't see that then should be able to see it now.
I agree that Xolevas should have returned to the Greek NT this Nov if it is true he was invited by players.. but I think what hurt Xolevas the most was not the Skibbe wars. I think what made him go rogue was the Greek media's hatred of him. To be honest, I don't blame him. Tzavellas, Stafylidis, Lazarus and Tziolis made a career with the help of the Greek media - that is how powerful they are. I mean heck - they are truly unified. Not one article blaming the police in the AEK vs Ajax game.
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If anyone has the time they should see the link below. It’s a pretty good show total football. Giorgos Donis was on the panel along with Basinas, Katsouranis and Nikolaidis. I really wish Donis would coach the national team.
Anyway they go over the game of where AEK lost to Panaitolikos. They also go into if Mantalos should play as an 8 and if they would play him there. For both AEK and the national team.
https://youtu.be/Bbv_eH1WZSY
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https://sempreinter.com/2018/12/10/i...kos-bouzoukis/
I don’t know where to put this but I though I’d put it here. Some are even comparing Bouzoukis style of play to Modric. It would be so good if he would play abroad and play in the Seria A at the end of the season.
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Originally posted by Dean97 View Posthttps://sempreinter.com/2018/12/10/i...kos-bouzoukis/
I don’t know where to put this but I though I’d put it here. Some are even comparing Bouzoukis style of play to Modric. It would be so good if he would play abroad and play in the Seria A at the end of the season.
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