ECQ: Hellas VS Bosnia

[Reaper]

Bakakis is just like a wild horse out there.

[Don Giovanni]

Bravo. A deserved win.

[Amorgos]

We did it guys!! A big decent win!! It’s been a long time!! Team played well

[Don Giovanni]

Van't Schip had some balls playing Stafylidis as a CB!

[Reaper]

If Fetfa had started instead of Bakasetas, we would have seen a high score today.

Bakakis is just shit. I can't articulate better. He can't control the ball, he is lost. He is not able to play at this level. Even at AEK you got Hult on one side - perfectly respectable player and this Kreas on the other? What is wrong with AEK?

Still not content with what I saw.

[Reaper]

Van't Schip had some balls playing Stafylidis as a CB!

He said a few days ago he is basically safe for over a year and will be allowed to experiment and take the team into the next tournament whatever happens. No balls required. He can do as he pleases - as Skibbe did for what felt like decades. Also media love Stafylidis. Each mistake, each own goal, the media was behind him.

[Don Giovanni]

Of the players I saw today, only Bakakis, Giannoulis, and Galanopoulos looked like they didn't belong on the pitch. Pavlidis at times struggled, but he scored a brilliant goal and did well in the end. I don't think Koulouris can score a goal of that quality.

Stafylidis and Hatzidiakos looked a little lost on the goal we conceded. Neither were on the same page, which was understandable, but someone has to take command. Hatzidiakos looks awkward at times. Stafylidis is no center-back. They did well no less and looked at ease with the ball when put under pressure. They attempted a number of passes forward, none of the sideways stuff we have become far too accustomed to for more than a decade. This was great and a lot of that success is owed to Van't Schip.

Kourbelis for me did very well today. He wasn't perfect, but I think he completed more passes and won more balls than any other player. He got forward into the opposition box, he dropped back into our own, and was almost anywhere and everywhere in between. He easily covered the most ground of anyone on the pitch I think. This is his best performance in a Greece jersey yet.

Mantalos did very well too. He played the pass to put Pavlidis in on goal and he won a number of balls. He has that natural chemistry with anyone and today we saw it with Pavlidis. The two of them combined well more than once.

Fetfatzidis only needed two minutes and one chance to make something happen. With a man to beat in the penalty area, he beats him, then swings in the sort of cross into the 6-yard box that so often ends up in a goal, regardless of who gets on the end of it. He proved the difference today and I think Van't Schip should give him more of a chance to shine. His only flaw was the foul he conceded near our box to put Pjanic in a position to do something towards the end.

Pjanic looked tired and uninspired. This was not the Pjanic who tore us to pieces in Zenica.

[Reaper]

Of the players I saw today, only Bakakis, Giannoulis, and Galanopoulos looked like they didn't belong on the pitch. Pavlidis at times struggled, but he scored a brilliant goal and did well in the end. I don't think Koulouris can score a goal of that quality.

Stafylidis and Hatzidiakos looked a little lost on the goal we conceded. Neither were on the same page, which was understandable, but someone has to take command. Hatzidiakos looks awkward at times. Stafylidis is no center-back. They did well no less and looked at ease with the ball when put under pressure. They attempted a number of passes forward, none of the sideways stuff we have become far too accustomed to for more than a decade. This was great and a lot of that success is owed to Van't Schip.

Kourbelis for me did very well today. He wasn't perfect, but I think he completed more passes and won more balls than any other player. He got forward into the opposition box, he dropped back into our own, and was almost anywhere and everywhere in between. He easily covered the most ground of anyone on the pitch I think. This is his best performance in a Greece jersey yet.

Mantalos did very well too. He played the pass to put Pavlidis in on goal and he won a number of balls. He has that natural chemistry with anyone and today we saw it with Pavlidis. The two of them combined well more than once.

Fetfatzidis only needed two minutes and one chance to make something happen. With a man to beat in the penalty area, he beats him, then swings in the sort of cross into the 6-yard box that so often ends up in a goal, regardless of who gets on the end of it. He proved the difference today and I think Van't Schip should give him more of a chance to shine. His only flaw was the foul he conceded near our box to put Pjanic in a position to do something towards the end.

Pjanic looked tired and uninspired. This was not the Pjanic who tore us to pieces in Zenica.

Agree with everything.

[ThrylosG7]

Well Well Well - How long have we waited for a performance like that - apart from the first Bosnia game I havent seen the NT play with the same passion and confidence for 5 years . Its embarrassing for Greek managers how far ahead JVS is in terms of tactics , motivation , and team set up. I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first the "Bak" brothers really are not good enough , however you cannot fault their effort or application , we also clearly lack some quality in the final 3rd in terms of final ball and decision making and finishing I think Fetfa should have been brought on a little bit earlier. Personally I dont think starting him would have been a good idea JVS initial plan was to press hussle and try win the midfield Fetfa is a luxury player - but as the game went on and we were holding our own and even starting to dominate i think around the 60th or 70th min would have been a better time to introduce him. Its fair to say that both masouras and Fetfa benefited a little from Bosnia coming forward more near the end as they needed the win. Galanopoulos has a good engine but lacks some quality at this time...lets not forget how young some of these guys are though.

People rightly questioned Stafy playing as a CB however today IMHO it worked quite well . I like him as a player he was good positionally made intelligent passes to start the attacks , just his size is an issue for that position.

Masouras needs to start , Mantalos has a lot of running in him again great effort but Masouras is just a better player IMHO. The player we really missed out there today is Fortounis if he had the ball at his feet at the edge of the box a few of those times we would have seen a better final ball or decision.

Im not going to get into the nitty gritty of everything - what I will say is that JVS has clearly so far instilled a new mentality into the team and has the players on board with how he wants them to play. Also this group clearly want to play for the shirt and they want to play well Everyone out there today put in an effort even the Bak Brothers regardless of how average they may be....did anyone see at the end of the game how much this result meant to them ? If we had the same passion and mentality from some of the "stars" we may well have been in a position to fight for second place .

Two other important things have been highlighted these lat 2 games. Firstly is how important mentality and attitude is. Secondly the benefits of having a manager who not only understands the players he has but knows how to exploit their strengths , set the team up properly and also has the articulation to convey his ideas and get the players to buy into it completely. Greece cannot have nice guy coaches , t have coaches who try to act like professors - and we certainly cannot have a Greek in charge. At this point in time JVS is walking the talk and for that Im prepared to give him time.

Lastly - anyone see Zeca singing the National anthem at the start - have to pay respects to that

Im not sure who people outside Australia had as the commentator but with the Optus subscription I have here the English commentator was amazing - the guy was up to speed with all the players playing history ,clubs including Greek clubs they played for , youth teams they played for , goals etc etc - he even mentioned Fetfa getting dropped for being late to a meeting , and not just reading of wiki well he may have been but they way he expressed it it sounded like he actually knew ...far more than the Bosnian team.

[Dean97]

I thought Galanopoulos did fine in this game. Seems like with Kourbelis, Galanopoulos and Zeca having good games, this should mean Samaris isn’t needed. We also have Bouchalakis. I really like how Kourbelis played this game. Ran everywhere, played good passes and won possession. In general the team looked very good in attack and this is a positive. Even in defence we looked solid.

Bakasetas played well today and is more useful at CAM than on the wing. I still think we have better players. Mantalos has great chemistry with whoever he plays with. Good touches and good energy. Like to see more of him.

Pavlidis played great and is more useful than Mitroglou. He proved that the future will be exciting. Prefer him over Koulouris.

Im just very happy with what i saw and I hope this continues. We’ve never played like this. Even in our golden years. We played faster and more energetic midfielders that won the midfield. We dominated Bosnia, especially in the 2nd half.

I believe Bakakis is not good enough. Although he has lots of energy and made good overlapping runs, he still doesn’t cut it and that’s why we need to find a better replacement and I believe that’s Giannis Masouras. Better defender and better crosser. I was surprised to see Stafylidis at CB. I thought he did well but I don’t think he should be a long term choice for CB.

At LB Giannoulis did ok but I’m not fully sold on him being a starter over Koutris or Tsimikas. He is an ok player but by no means is he a starter. Paschalakis also should be on the bench.

Masouras and Fetfatzidis should be the starting wingers but now Limnios is making a case for himself with his superb performances. We now have more options to choose from for the wing.

But as long as we continue to play in this way I don’t mind who plays because at the end of the day winning matters. I do believe we still have better options to choose from. We played very good football for once and this is the way we should play. I hope it continues this way.

I believe if we can make a few changes to the line up then we can see even greater things. Also if Vant Schip can get the best out of our players like he has already done then I can’t wait to see what Fortounis and Pelkas do when they come back. All in all this team have shown many positives and we look like a team again. This is thanks to Van’t Schip. Very proud to see our players at the end all in a circle celebrating.

[Dikefale11]

Improvements have definitely been made in thr last 2 games, you cant deny that.

They have been nothing special as it is what we have expected from the team from yesteryear but definitely an improvement on recent times. A lot of people just need to remember that we are going through a transition, we dont know our best 11 yet, where we have a lot of players trying out to see what fits and what works.

I cant think of a manager of ours who has had the cojones to drop stars of the team, that shows me Van is not just here for the ride or a yes man, but actually has intent on making changes.

Lets hope for more of the same in the last 2 games and although it may not mean a anything, finnish 3rd place.

Those games vs Lichtenstein and Armenia have come back to haunt us as we would have been in with a shout but tbh, I dont think we are ready for a major tournament. Hopefully we find a core group of players out of these games and the next few games and have a better idea of our best players and of what works well together going into the WC 2020 qualifiers.

[Dean97]

Of the players I saw today, only Bakakis, Giannoulis, and Galanopoulos looked like they didn't belong on the pitch. Pavlidis at times struggled, but he scored a brilliant goal and did well in the end. I don't think Koulouris can score a goal of that quality.

Stafylidis and Hatzidiakos looked a little lost on the goal we conceded. Neither were on the same page, which was understandable, but someone has to take command. Hatzidiakos looks awkward at times. Stafylidis is no center-back. They did well no less and looked at ease with the ball when put under pressure. They attempted a number of passes forward, none of the sideways stuff we have become far too accustomed to for more than a decade. This was great and a lot of that success is owed to Van't Schip.

Kourbelis for me did very well today. He wasn't perfect, but I think he completed more passes and won more balls than any other player. He got forward into the opposition box, he dropped back into our own, and was almost anywhere and everywhere in between. He easily covered the most ground of anyone on the pitch I think. This is his best performance in a Greece jersey yet.

Mantalos did very well too. He played the pass to put Pavlidis in on goal and he won a number of balls. He has that natural chemistry with anyone and today we saw it with Pavlidis. The two of them combined well more than once.

Fetfatzidis only needed two minutes and one chance to make something happen. With a man to beat in the penalty area, he beats him, then swings in the sort of cross into the 6-yard box that so often ends up in a goal, regardless of who gets on the end of it. He proved the difference today and I think Van't Schip should give him more of a chance to shine. His only flaw was the foul he conceded near our box to put Pjanic in a position to do something towards the end.

Pjanic looked tired and uninspired. This was not the Pjanic who tore us to pieces in Zenica.

A bit harsh on Galanopoulos man. I don’t think he did anything bad. He gave one great pass over the top to Limnios which he didn’t get his foot on it in time. Giannoulis and Bakakis are not starters. They are also not good enough for this level. Bakasetas played well 2nd half. Gave decent balls and got involved in the play a lot. I’ve been very critical of him but he showed to be slightly more effective as a player in the middle where he belongs. I also though Mantalos was underrated on the wing this game. Usually he isn’t effective there but played well and smart.

I definitely agree with you on Kourbelis. This was probably one of the best game he has played in his career in my opinion. He was everywhere and his passes were very good. Our whole teams touches and passes were very good which is very encouraging to see.

I believe Hatzidiakos has a place in this team and starting 11. He plays passes well from the back and is very confident. Manolas and Sokratis don’t do it as good as he does. Also defensively Hatzidiakos is great. This is great to see. I don’t think Stafylidis should be his partner but Hatzidiakos definitely deserves to play again. I believe Siovas is a good partner for him to have.

Koutris needs to be given a chance. They guy has pace and a great left foot. Stafylidis seems to have earned his spot now. Tsimikas is also an option. Our best 11 should involve Limnios and Hatzidiakos now. With Fortounis coming and Fetfatzidis starting we can be dangerous. Kourbelis and Galanopoulos combo worked well this game. Credit to Van’t Schip for changing the mentality and putting the right tactics in place. I’ve been waiting to see a performance like this for a long time. We all have. I also agree with Reaper, if Fetfatzidis came on earlier we would’ve scored at least 2 or 3 more goals.

[Taxman]

That was as good of an attacking performance as I can remember from us. Definitely the most fluid our passing has been.

Not much hope of us reaching the WC but if we can keep this form up, at least we'll have an easier draw.

[Don Giovanni]

Dean97

He wasn't terrible, but Zeca is definitely a better option. I still feel we need someone with more quality on the ball in the middle. Even if we play Fortounis in place of Bakasetas, we need someone else to play passes. Having Hatzidiakos, Stafylidis, Kourbelis and Galanopoulos pulling the strings doesn't strike me as a good enough balance.

[Reaper]

Koutris needs to be given a chance.

I suspect Koutris' agent made sure with Van Shit he did not play.