Friendlies

[Reaper]

LOL @ Papa putting freeze spray on both his shins as Androutsos pretends he is injured.

Mantalos on (and made captain? wtf) for Baka.

[Reaper]

Papa needs to start as one of the CBs.

He should have been captain today.

[LoneHorseman]

He should have been captain today.

yes he should've... What a warrior he is, doesn't have the legs like he once had, but the intensity and the smarts are still there. Still reads the game beautifully to disrupt and breakup attacking forays and still puts the fear of GOD in his teammates. Shouted ELLA PISO ANDROUTSO on a Belgian throw in, CLASSIC PAPA

[Reaper]

Some thoughts.

Bakasetas did not nothing.

Both Tsimikas and Koutris were flawless.

Masouras my MOM. Missed two shots but key - he was there to miss them and secondly - both shots were at least on target. He was Greece's biggest threat and put in a lovely freekick for Papa to head against the post.

Pavlidis can't play as a striker - needs to be a 10 - but Bakasetas players there so...

Papa should be made captain. All that pure bullshit about Bakasetas, Mandalos, Zeca etc being leaders - they are not, Papa is. He was everywhere today. A force of nature. I think I will remember him using freeze spray on both his shins for a long time.. most players asking for water - him asking for freeze spray like a terminator trying to repair itself..

Vlaxo played well. Good save first half.

Tzavellas scored so he will be in the team until he chooses retirement.

Androutsos was solid.

Bouxa was ok today. Nothing more, nothing less. Beautiful through ball to Masouras second half.

Belgium didn't want to get any injuries so barely went in for a tackle and didn't accelerate on the break to protect the hamstrings . Norway are not in Euro 2021 so I expect a more realistic game. Massive victory for VS but even if we were beaten 5-0, he would still be safe so that is not saying much.

[Amorgos]

Lol guys it was Pavlidis with the stupid, carless pass into the middle where I am sure he expected Bakasetas to be but thats not his fault, they need to talk more and you dont just whip a ball like that into the center of the field... school boy stuff.

Well Reaper, not often this happens but I agree with your fill time thoughts (although I think Tzavellas did fine again today)

For me we played well HOWEVER, for long patches we struggled to get anything going in attack, I dunno what JVS is seen in Bakasetas and I hate to be singling this guy out but he is killing us, we are playing with 10 men and with Baka at CAM we are really gona struggle against most teams as he kills every attack with sideways and back passes, look how many times we couldnt properly transition into attack because:

1. He gets the ball and then passes back or sideways to a marked or very flat player
2. He has no speed or technique to move forward and allow the flow on to continue
3. We don't have a target in the middle cause he is jogging there
4. We then revert the ball back to the full backs, our counter attack is finished and we have to start again

Masouras was a beast today and did the work Baka couldn't do, of course many times he was left with no options and our attack died.

We couldn't really see what Giannoulis could do at LW as we lacked flow until Mantalos and Pelkas came on who showed immediately what this team can do with attacking midfielders who can run and go forward .

Androutsos veru solid today, I think he just landed the RB role, Vlahodimos made some fine saves also. Pelkas looked improved to me, it's only one game and not massive minutes but I liked what I saw when we had him, Mantalos and Masouras out there.

What we need to do to improve.

* Drop Bakasetas ASAP - the team will change drastically, we are gona struggle to win most games with him there
* Improve our passing!!!!!! This is a big one, we gave away the ball so many times so cheaply, unacceptable at this level and well, it cost us a goal today, surprised it didn't cost more

Also wanna give credit to Papadopoulos and Tzavellas who scrambled and did all they could in defense, well played. At times though I want KPaps to mark closer

Keen to see what we do with Norway.

[Dean97]

Great points by everyone. I thought Masouras was man of the match today. He was very lively and in good positions. Unfortunately he didn’t have much to work with in attack but at least he was doing things. Great game by him and he delivered a good cross from that free kick.

Androutsos was solid today. Way better than Bakakis and Mavrias and that’s not even his first position. Has a great first touch and can get himself out of trouble by dribbling around players with skill. He has good crosses aswell. Should start again.

Bouchalakis did ok. I think he’s a better passer than Galanopoulos and speaking of Gala he disappointed me today a bit. Wasn’t influential whatsoever. Gave the ball away too many times. But I’d still have him in the squad. Vlachodimos made a great save and a good game overall.

I agree to put Papadopoulos captain. Absolute beast. Tzavellas scored again but I’m not entirely convinced to keep him as a starter. Greece produces too many good CBs and he shouldn’t start over them. But happy he scored for the team.

We need to get rid of Bakasetas entirely. I don’t know how many time we have to say this. The guy just ruins everything. No technique, no pace and isn’t smart enough. Just gives the ball away or passes backwards. I don’t know how he’s the first name on the starting 11. We are playing with 10 men when he plays.

I think we tried to keep the ball as much as we could but I got to say that most of our players have to improve there first touch. Player I pointed out were Masouras and Pelkas especially. Androutsos has a great first touch. I feel like Pavlidis should’ve played on the right or CAM. He’s lost most of the time up there by himself.

To conclude, we did ok against Belgium for what it was but I think if Bakasetas didn’t play we would’ve played better. Both in defence and attack.

[Reaper]

I agree on Pavlidis, seems VS shipped him out as a LW at times, again, simply to accommodate Bakasetas in the 11.

Galan disappointed today as you said. However I would take him over Kourbelis in a second.

Let's all pause and reflect, this the first game in ions where Greece were not ripped apart on the wings. Simply, I believe that is because of the quality of Tsimikas and Androutsos. Clearly they need more games to gel, but let's not forget, when our fullbacks were Tzavellas, Mavrias, Bakakis, Stafy etc, we were getting raped hard on the flanks. Tsimikas can also put in a great cross and Androutsos powers into the box trying to get on the end of something.

Seems also while Masouras is in form, he should be starting most games.

Seems now all we need is to get rid of Bakasetas or find a coach that will. Even with more stability at the back, Bakasetas will always sabotage our forward movement and we can't rely on set pieces.

[Dean97]

Yeah I’d take Gala over Kourbelis aswell. Gala can hold possession better.

Androutsos is just a good footballer and I believe he needs to keep on playing for this team. As time goes on he will improve even more. He already has quality and was solid in this game. But as time goes on he will get even better I believe. Don’t forget he’s a midfielder too.

All we need to do I believe is get rid of Bakasetas.

[Brklyngrk]

Remove Bakasetas (play Fortounis) and put in a natural LW (Tziolis). I would put Siopis instead of Bouxa.

Bakasetas plays backward and slows down play. How does he get praised in Turkey???

[Reaper]

Remove Bakasetas (play Fortounis) and put in a natural LW (Tziolis). I would put Siopis instead of Bouxa.

Bakasetas plays backward and slows down play. How does he get praised in Turkey???

Standards are very low in Turkey. They did worse than Greek teams in Europe last season.

[LoneHorseman]

I agree on Pavlidis, seems VS shipped him out as a LW at times, again, simply to accommodate Bakasetas in the 11.

Galan disappointed today as you said. However I would take him over Kourbelis in a second.

Let's all pause and reflect, this the first game in ions where Greece were not ripped apart on the wings. Simply, I believe that is because of the quality of Tsimikas and Androutsos. Clearly they need more games to gel, but let's not forget, when our fullbacks were Tzavellas, Mavrias, Bakakis, Stafy etc, we were getting raped hard on the flanks. Tsimikas can also put in a great cross and Androutsos powers into the box trying to get on the end of something.

Seems also while Masouras is in form, he should be starting most games.

Seems now all we need is to get rid of Bakasetas or find a coach that will. Even with more stability at the back, Bakasetas will always sabotage our forward movement and we can't rely on set pieces.

Agreed Reaper, outside of a couple of dribbling exhibitions by Doku on Giannoulis and Tsimikas and Carrasco on Androutsos, our fullbacks more than held there own. For next game, I'd take Bakasetas out and put Tziolis in and move Pavlidis to CAM. Won't happen, but with what we have, that's what I would go with. Now on to Norway and the Erling Braut Haaland show.

[Dean97]

Having Bouchalakis, Alexandropoulos, Galanopoulos and Siopis as midfield options are the best we have. Those 4 can do the job for this team. Zeca and Kourbelis are not needed anymore. Those 4 I mentioned can do the job better in defence and attack. Mantalos can be an option there too. I’m interested to see what line up we’ll go with against Norway.

[LoneHorseman]

16
Evangelos Pavlidis
18
Dimitrios Giannoulis
11
Anastasios Bakasetas
7
Giorgos Masouras
5
Andreas Bouchalakis
6
Konstantinos Galanopoulos
21
Konstantinos Tsimikas
3
Giorgos Tzavellas
4
Kyriakos Papadopoulos
15
Thanasis Androutsos
1
Odisseas Vlachodimo

No changes for JVS ... Ahh Bakasetas plays 80 min against the Belgians and gets the start against the Norwegians. He indeed leaves
a charmed life. Where can I get a boss like jvs, where I can slack off, don't meet expectations and get payed royally

[Brklyngrk]

I think he wants to see if his dream line up works. In many aspects, it does. The key difference is the AM role that Bakasetas occupies. It changes everything bc that role touches the ball so much and is involved in every aspect of the attack. Tziolis should be given a run at LW as well. Can we also rest Tzavellas and put it on Mavropanos?

[Reaper]

This one will be interesting. Norwegians are a side Greece has to be able to beat if ever Greece wants to qualify for a tournament again. VS is putting out what he thinks is the best possible side with the best possible tactics. These players have been broken in over 2 failed qualifying campaigns so no excuses about needing time.. Norwegians won't be playing at 25% like Belgium.