An Alternate View of the Ethniki Omada

An Alternate View of the Ethniki Omada

By George

We are drawing and winning and the team looks like they are a bunch of guys who are together and harmonious but there's still some things that aren't being addressed properly and they will eventually come back and haunt the coach.

This isn't a witch hunt - I believe John van't Schip is doing a formidable job considering the circumstances which lead to his appointment but we should always be striving for better or at the very least, know the direction we are moving in with clarity.

Our inability to kill off teams

Yes, this has been an issue for as long as we can remember. Even with our Euro 2004 squad we couldn't kill teams off. But saying all this, it is still an issue and with the Nations League group we are in, if we are gonna be honest this needs to be addressed.

Yes, Otto and Santos could only scrape winning results against minnows too but they showed that they could also get results against the top nations too. 

Today we drew with Kosovo. The coach instructed his right back Hatzidiakos not to make too many runs upfield as the play two strikers. In essence play tentative football at home against a team ranked 120th in the world... in a match we needed to win seeing as Slovenia were battering Moldova. Crazy. 

The coach also stated post match we still control our destiny which is true. But really what does it matter at this point in time when we cannot get results against the likes of Kosovo? 

No sane fan will be filled with confidence we can get a result against a firing Slovenia in the last match... and don’t forget we still need to beat Moldova away which after today’s performance isn’t a certainty either. 

From the outside looking in, we are a tentative team with a tentative coach that is happy to be safe and go for a draw or a lucky win, and the individual players chosen have left any flair in the locker room and have become a gritty team.

All this from a coach who cut his teeth playing and learning football for one of the greatest Ajax teams in the history of the game. 

Inform players not getting a start and odd selections

Okay not all, but its a worry that for the first time we have a genuine player in Fountas that has been banging in the goals and he cant seem to get a start. Goal scorers in form are a rarity for us so its a shame he's not getting more game time or trying to work the attack to suit him... Once again, against weaker opposition. 

Can someone remind me why Bakasetas is an automatic starter these days? How many poor performances does he need to have before someone else is given an opportunity? 

Why is Tzavellas in the team? At 32 playing for a team in Turkey should not be the catalyst for a recall into the Ethniki regardless that his club side sit top of the table.

Zeca. I like him and I don’t wanna blame him for anything but has his time passed as an automatic starter considering Bouchalakis has been a lynchpin in this Olympiakos squad that did the double? 

The other issue is that Fortounis always seems to cop it from the coach in a not so pleasant way. Yes, the media always ask questions but it seems that the coach enjoys putting the boot in. 

His latest take when asked why Fortounis isn't starting was that the player needs to reestablish himself in the starting 11 of the Olympiakos squad. Fair point indeed (even if you disregard an inform Valbuena ahead of him in a highly successful current Olympiakos squad) but I can imagine, it wouldn't sit well with anyone let alone with the player considering he hasn't said anything and has knuckled down. 

Man for man in his natural position he's probably our best option. Why does he need to be so tough on him in front of the media. Why does he even need to say that in the first place? 

Is it unnecessary flexing by the coach? 

He says one thing about one player and what he needs to do but doesn’t back it up with other players. 

Which leads us to this.. Kostas Stafylidis being in the starting line up (when fit) is a hard one to understand. 

Should he even be in the squad? 

Getting injured late in the first half against Kosovo earlier this year pointed out what sadly everyone can see. He might be talented but he's held together by bubblegum. 

Maybe he's a top guy to have around the place and that's fine but a quick look at his stats show since 2017 he's only participated in 25 odd matches, either starting or off the bench getting minimal game time. Food for thought. 

Sokratis, Manolas and now Siovas

(let me preempt this. Anyone that knows me, knows I'm not a fan of Manolas the person. He embodies everything that I hate in modern footballers)

Fact - Sokratis and Manolas right now are our two best defenders by miles and both are fit. Siovas isn’t far behind.

As fans we think we know what is going on but really, we don't. The assumption by some that we do is ludicrous. 

After the first Kosovo match Siovas made a comment that the likes of Manolas and Sokratis should be considered back in the team as they would help grow young guys like Svarnas, similar to the way experienced players did with him when he was a youngster in the national team. 

Low and behold Siovas was scolded on a television interview and promptly removed from national team duty for a throw away comment made.

Sok in turn puts up a cryptic Instagram post that didn't really say much, but left a lot of us wondering.  

Manolas says nothing.

Siovas who has hit the peak of his career at the moment in Spain is left on the outer. 

Who is the winner in all of this. It's not the Ethniki Omada that's for sure. 

Comparing what King Otto did with axing certain players to what is happening now is garbage too. Otto was clear and told the EPO at the time, "these guys are out, back me or sack me". They backed him and the rest is history. 

It looks to me that our coach doesn't have the ability to deal with these players or this situation and whilst we are getting results I cant see anything changing. 

Interesting times.

Overall bigger picture stuff

At the time of writing this, the last 8 matches we have played and gotten a result, be it a close win or a draw have been against Finland who are ranked 56th, Bosnia 50th, Armenia 101th, Slovenia 64th and Kosovo who are ranked 120th and a friendly against Austria who are ranked 27th

For what its worth we are ranked 53th.

The litmus test would be a few friendlies against Top 15 nations as 2-1 and 1-0 wins and 0-0 draws against the these teams really don't gauge what the team has truly become (on the pitch) We saw us recently lose 2-1 to Austria. Friendly match yes but that cuts both ways.

A quick glimpse into the coaching career of John van’t Schip sees there’s a lot of drawn matches at his former clubs when he was in charge. 

Has he brought the same mindset into this job?

Some coaches stat pad and make themselves look good on paper. 

Some coaches make easy decisions and aren’t rigid. 

The great coaches can grab a team full of egos and have them focused on the job at hand... 

What will JVS be remembered as? 

Hellas Football

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