Some Changes are Needed

Some Changes are Needed

 

By Christian Leggas,

Greece's most critical stage of matches to date under John van't Schip is now just under two months away, and it is nothing short of vital that van't Schip gets his squad selection right.

 

There's going to be at least one forced change from his last squad that was picked for the final two matches of our UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, with left-back Leonardo Koutris currently recovering from the dreaded Anterior Crucial Ligament injury. And as much as I'd hate to tinker with a winning formula, I think there is a need for more changes to this next squad.

 

Firstly, I'm picking Konstantinos Mavropanos in place of Kostas Stafylidis, why? Because of consistent playing time and form domestically. Ever since his move to FC Nurnburg is January, Mavropanos has excelled in the heart of their defense and has rumored to have attracted interest from the now-promoted VFB Stuttgart, not to mention that his eye-catching performances in the German second tier were rumored to have caught the eye of van't Schip as well before our March friendlies against Mexico and Costa Rica were canceled. On top of that, Stafylidis has played only twice for Hoffenheim since Greece's game against Finland last November, Mavropanos has bettered that with twelve appearances. I understand that it's a big call to drop someone who without a doubt is a leader in the eyes of the head coach, given that he made him captain for our last four matches of our most recent Euro's qualification campaign, not to mention that he undoubtedly plays for the Shirt too. But this is purely a form decision, which Mavropanos currently has over Stafylidis.

 

Secondly, Taxiarchis Fountas in place of Anastasios Donis, why? Again because of consistent playing time and form. This change is for the same reason as the Mavropanos-Stafylidis switch, however, there is nowhere near as much of a case for Donis to stay in the squad as there is for Stafylidis, why? Because of no goals and no assists in his last twelve matches that preceded our last competitive game against Finland (which Donis wasn't a participant in any way). Not to mention not scoring or providing any assists this season on the whole anyway. Fountas on the other hand has produced a whopping twenty goals and seven assists in twenty-eight domestic matches this season, with eleven and six of those goals and assists respectively coming in the period mentioned above. Like Mavropanos, Fountas was rumored to be getting a call up for our friendlies in March, and with statistics like that, it's not hard to see why van't Schip was reportedly going to do so. 

If anybody can make a case for why Donis should stay in the squad in place of Fountas, I'd love to hear it.

 

Thirdly, Zeca over Konstantinos Galanopoulos: This decision was probably the hardest to make. I'm an enormous fan of Galanopoulos and I think he has a massively bright future domestically and for the Ethniki, but unfortunately he just doesn't seem to have recovered yet from an ankle injury that has placed him out of action for almost 7 months, and there haven't been many words on his return to play date. As a result of that, I propose that the experienced Zeca should be back in the squad, who since not being picked in the last Ethniki squad, has produced a plethora of consistent ninety-minute performances for FC Copenhagen, so he'd be a worthy replacement for Galanopoulos.

 

My second last change would be Georgios Kyriakopoulos in the place of Leonardo Koutris. As mentioned above, Koutris is currently still recovering from an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury, and there's a ready-made replacement in waiting in Kyriakopoulos, who's hit some decent form for new club Sassuolo. Since he departed Asteras Tripolis for the Serie A side, he's put together twenty appearances at left-back in Italy's top flight and has contributed three assists, as well as being a part of three clean sheets. Like Mavropanos and Fountas, Kyriakopoulos was rumored to be selected for our March friendlies too, and he'd be very deserving of a spot come the day when van't Schip picks his next Ethniki squad.

 

My final change would be replacing Pantelis Hatzidiakos with Kostas Fortounis. Before your jaw drops, there's no way I'd be slotting Fortounis into the position of center-back for Hatzidiakos. This is purely exchanging someone who isn't currently match-fit for someone who is. By the time our next game comes around, I'm not sure how much match-preparation the latter would have had since his Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury. So as good as he's been at center back for club and country in patches in the last twelve months, I think it'd be too much of a risk to play him with such limited match practice in the last six months, despite him now having somewhat recovered from the injury given that he is back in training for AZ Alkmaar. 

As for Fortounis, I purely think that now that he has fully recovered from his Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury, and the fact that he's finding his feet again for Olympiacos in a form sense, he must be picked for the Ethniki. Despite the fantastic form of Anastasios Bakasetas in the number ten role for club and country himself, there is absolutely no doubt that Fortounis can still play some sort of positive role for the National Team, whether that's a starting role or coming off the bench.

 

Because I think Stafylidis should not be picked in this next Ethniki squad, there is the need to select another Captain, and in my opinion, the man for the job is Dimitrios Kourbelis. Had you asked me nearly three years ago should he be selected to play for Greece let alone be captain, you would have had to seriously convince me. But like Anastasios Bakasetas, he's a much-improved player under van't Schip. A great example of this was our two-one win against Bosnia in Athens in October last year, Kourbelis and Galanopoulos did an outstanding job in nullifying Star Bosnian Miralem Pjanic's influence on the game. Both Kourbelis and Galanopoulos knew exactly where to be to break up and even set up attacks from midfield that night, as well as positioning themselves expertly to not give Pjanic a moment's peace that night. Another aspect that would help Kourbelis' case to be Greece's captain in this next squad is the fact that he's been Panathinaikos' captain for almost three seasons now, so he's a strong influence at club level, and who says he isn't that at National Team level too? Given that since van't Schip took over as Greece's manager, he's played ninety minutes in all but one of the Dutchman's matches in charge or this team. 

My final reason to why he should be Captain is the fact that he plays in positions where he can see most of what's happening on the pitch. Which is quite vital as Captain as you'd want to make sure that everyone else is doing their best to ensure the team wins on the day, plus he's quite good at doing the solid defensive duties required for defensive midfield, and acts like Kourbelis' in his specific positional roles have the potential to have such a positive impact on the rest of the team.

 

So, there it is everyone, five in and five out, plus a new captain, have at it!

Hellas Football 

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