Growth Areas, and More Promising Signs

By Christian Leggas

It's fair to say that the remaining two matches to close out Greece's 2022/23 UEFA Nations League campaign didn't live up to supporters' expectations. The general school of thought was that we'd cruise past Cyprus and Northern Ireland, but that was far from the case. Both teams caused us headaches, and some headaches were also self-inflicted.

Cyprus-away was this September's first assignment, and it was one where there was genuine cause for concern. Before the match, head coach Gus Poyet seemed to be short on answers as to how he and the boys were to combat a Cypriot side under the new guidance of Temur Ketsbaia, which is understandable given he only took that job in late June, but still disappointing. 

Greece seemed to start this match in the "June fashion" by creating good chances and dominating the ball, but Ketsbaia's game-plan to unleash the likes of Grigoris Kastanos, Marinos Tzoinis, and Loizos Loizou soon came into effect and ended up being the defining factor. Cyprus got particular joy on the right-hand side of our defence whenever George Baldock was out of position, the ball would get fed out to that side or in-board to Kastanos, and that was that. 

As well as no effective plan to handle three of Cyprus' best players on the night, our attack was largely toothless. The creativity was off more often than not from our wide players and central midfielders, and Anastasios Douvikas couldn't get into good positions to score as much as he needed to. Having said all of this, had the learnings of this game not occurred, maybe the positive response against Northern Ireland doesn't happen.

Like the beginning of the Cyprus match, how this match would unfold seemed quite evident. Greece would dominate the ball and create most of the chances, but Northern Ireland ultimately didn't always allow that. They tested our defence with dangerous runs and movements from their attackers and got rewarded with a goal shortly after Dimitris Pelkas put us ahead. 

While the first half showed an attacking improvement from the Ethniki to what happened in Larnaca, it still wasn't enough, but then came the second half, and boy! was there some final-product quality the fans craved. Capitalising on a mistake, neatness, patience and selflessness from Petros Mantalos and Anastasios Bakasetas resulted in Giorgos Masouras tucking away goal number two neatly himself. Mantalos' goal-hungry temperament was soon on full display as he unleashed a fearsome shot destined for the back of the net, to which it went, resulting in the three points being safe and secure for Greece.

The Ethniki now play the waiting game when it comes to competitive matches. March 2023 is when the next of those take place. November's friendly against Hungary to Gus Poyet presents an opportunity to blood new and or more faces into the team. 

I am intrigued to see who he decides to give game-time to in that match. The left-field selection this month of promising-striker Fotis Ioannidis paid off to an extent, so we should as fans be trusting Poyet's judgement on these selection decisions, for now at least.

The big area that needs more depth is the wings. Dimitris Pelkas, Giorgos Masouras and Taxiarchis Fountas showed quality this month. But, just glimpses won't be enough against the more-talented opposition we'll face in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying and when we're in the B-League for the next edition of the UEFA Nations League. 

At the very least, the re-introduction of Dimitris Limnios, Christos Tzolis and Kostas Fortounis to the Ethniki and those positions must happen as soon as possible. We've seemingly got the suitable mixes everywhere else on the pitch.

Confidence is high with all involved with the Ethniki at present, and here's hoping that there are more blue skies ahead.

@christianleggas

Hellas Football