ECQ Italy vs Greece

[Reaper]

I'll take what I can get. Van Shit showed that Manolas and Sokratis are not indispensable. That is massive positive. If ever they return, they will know they have to pull finger out as hopefully the Greek media will no-longer act like they are Greeks Gods sent down to earth to help the NT.. if they can be bothered to.

The rest however is more of the same except a new klika lead by Stafylidis who was protected all game by Zeca and bizarrely - Koulouris - who was standing a few yards in front of Stafylidis everytime Italy had the ball. As Don stated both FBs are garbage when it comes down to it.

The team is not going anywhere. Special shout out to Xatzidiakos who I think played well besides the yellow that could have been a red with a more aggressive ref.

[Dean97]

I'll take what I can get. Van Shit showed that Manolas and Sokratis are not indispensable. That is massive positive. If ever they return, they will know they have to pull finger out as hopefully the Greek media will no-longer act like they are Greeks Gods sent down to earth to help the NT.. if they can be bothered to.

The rest however is more of the same except a new klika lead by Stafylidis who was protected all game by Zeca and bizarrely - Koulouris - who was standing a few yards in front of Staylidis everytime Italy had the ball. As Don stated both FBs are garbage when it comes down to it.

The team is not going anywhere. Special shout to to Xatzidiakos who I think played well besides the yellow that could have been a red with a more aggressive ref.

Yeah Hatzidiakos did play well. I still think Sokratis and Manolas are needed. But if Hatzidiakos plays the same way then he should be in the team still and starting. I also thought Siovas was good too.

I thought Stafylidis did well defensively in this game. Most of the time he is a ghost at LB but here he was better than usual defensively. Even the commentators said he was doing very well at LB. I still prefer Koutris there though because of his pace. This team clearly needs pace. As Bakasetas clearly showed that whenever we played a long ball over he was too slow to pounce on it. Donis would’ve been better there.

I also thought the tactics and formation were spot on, especially with the teams limitations. Bakakis and Bakasetas are clearly the problem of the team. They are too limited and can damage the team going forward. But I really liked the way the team was disciplined in defence and how they made it really hard for Italy to do anything. We need to continue this. Zeca really helped us this game in terms of running and closing down. I’m thinking without all his running the game could’ve resulted differently. I think he is needed in their for his stamina and work rate.

[Don Giovanni]

I'm in total agreement with Dean. And I too was impressed with Hatzidiakos. Van't Schip was right to trust him and it was the correct call allowing Kourbelis and Zeca, former clubmates, to play in the middle.

Zeca reminds me of N'Golo Kante or Zagorakis. He has unreal stamina and at times can contribute a surprising element on the attack, but technically a very limited player.

Bakakis is a clear problem and worse yet we have no obvious alternative. I think Retsos or Hatzidiakos may end up at RB or we go with an outright three-man defense down the road.

The left-back position is equally troubling. Stafylidis isn't a proper defender, but since the defeat to Faroe Islands he has gained in experience and looks a little more dependable. I still feel his shortcomings which were evident against Croatia remain. He's still a liability. He needs to become more aggressive and confident in his challenges. He's too nice. At 25 years old, he still has time on his side to improve, but I think Koutris, Tsimikas and Giannoulis may find themselves abroad in good leagues while Stafylidis is likely to return to Greece within the next two years.

[Reaper]

I'm in total agreement with Dean. And I too was impressed with Hatzidiakos. Van't Schip was right to trust him and it was the correct call allowing Kourbelis and Zeca, former clubmates, to play in the middle.

Zeca reminds me of N'Golo Kante or Zagorakis. He has unreal stamina and at times can contribute a surprising element on the attack, but technically a very limited player.

Bakakis is a clear problem and worse yet we have no obvious alternative. I think Retsos or Hatzidiakos may end up at RB or we go with an outright three-man defense down the road.

The left-back position is equally troubling. Stafylidis isn't a proper defender, but since the defeat to Faroe Islands he has gained in experience and looks a little more dependable. I still feel his shortcomings which were evident against Croatia remain. He's still a liability. He needs to become more aggressive and confident in his challenges. He's too nice. At 25 years old, he still has time on his side to improve, but I think Koutris, Tsimikas and Giannoulis may find themselves abroad in good leagues while Stafylidis is likely to return to Greece within the next two years.

Excellent post.

[Don Giovanni]

A tactical analysis of how Italy and Greece approached the game:

https://footballbh.net/2019/10/15/eu...lysis-tactics/

The one big problem with our performance was we lacked defensive quality on the wings and we played too deep, which invited Italy to score the goals they did. Bouchalakis did make a mistake that cost the game and Giannoulis perhaps should have done better at closing down the shot on the second goal, but that's splitting hairs. The real problem was we played too deep. If we had more quality at the back, we could have pushed higher. Having Siovas on the pitch meant we had to play deep. Hatzidiakos also was making his debut and he's very inexperienced.

We did really well in the middle though. Zeca in particular can run and cover ground like almost no other player on the planet. He's vital player for us and this game proved it.

[Dean97]

A tactical analysis of how Italy and Greece approached the game:

https://footballbh.net/2019/10/15/eu...lysis-tactics/

The one big problem with our performance was we lacked defensive quality on the wings and we played too deep, which invited Italy to score the goals they did. Bouchalakis did make a mistake that cost the game and Giannoulis perhaps should have done better at closing down the shot on the second goal, but that's splitting hairs. The real problem was we played too deep. If we had more quality at the back, we could have pushed higher. Having Siovas on the pitch meant we had to play deep. Hatzidiakos also was making his debut and he's very inexperienced.

We did really well in the middle though. Zeca in particular can run and cover ground like almost no other player on the planet. He's vital player for us and this game proved it.

I agree with what your saying. It was a good idea to drop Zeca for Galanopoulos though in the Bosnia match. Kourbelis and Zeca similar in terms of hustling. They both have a amazing stamina and run all game. Against better sides it’s smarter to play both of them. Against other sides Galanopoulos or Androutsos (whenever he gets the chance) is the best option to have in terms of keeping possession and dominating teams of the level of Bosnia, Finland and even teams ranked in between 10-20 in the FIFA rankings.

We need to solve the problems in the full back positions. Bakakis doesn’t cut it and a better RB would’ve closed down the incoming cross that led to Bosnia’s goal. Giannoulis is not the player we need at the moment. We have better. The only way we can fix this is by playing better defenders. It’s that simple. We don’t have to tweak the system or tactics. Giannis Masouras is very fast and I just as capable of doing Bakakis signature overlapping runs if not better. Also a more solid defender. I believe he would’ve stopped the goal Bosnia scored. Bakakis and Giannoulis should be used if we have injuries or suspensions. Not the other way around.

Same can be said for Bakasetas but he was the surprise in these last 2 matches. I still prefer either Pelkas, Mantalos or Fortounis at CAM. We played Zeca there for the match against Italy only because of his pressing game. Then in possession Bouchalakis was supposed to be the ball carrier make things happen. We need better from Bouchalakis otherwise he will always be a bench option.