Central Midfield: the Best Choices 

By Christian Leggas 

With Kazakhstan fast approaching, the most well-balanced and cohesive midfield trio will be an imperative aspect of Greece's starting line-up for the first hurdle presenting the Ethniki in their quest to reach UEFA Euro 2024. 

With specific variations, it's no secret that Gus Poyet has favoured three players in central midfield during his tenure so far, and there's one particular trio who takes the cake in terms of being our most effective as a unit in this department. Those three being Dimitrios Kourbelis, Petros Mantalos and Anastasios Bakasetas. 

In the six games the three have started together during Poyet's tenure, this selection choice has resulted in five wins. Three of those wins had clean sheets to go with them. With a handy ten goals also scored, with the only loss coming due to a stoppage-time penalty, not conceded due to any of the three's work. Some of the Ethniki fan base may have a sceptical attitude to these three, which I was once guilty of, but these are facts and here's more of what they each bring to this team from a positive perspective. 

Dimitrios Kourbelis: 

Pure and simple, he's Greece's best choice in the #6 role. His ability to be that imposing and brick-wall-like presence in the middle of the park is something we severely lack from a depth perspective. While his minutes domestically have not been ideal in the way of a total amount this season, he can have as many get-out-of-jail-free cards as he likes, as the positives outweigh the negatives. He has also played in thirteen of Poyet's twenty games in charge so far, with eight of those thirteen being wins.

Petros Mantalos: 

After the friendly defeat to Montenegro in 2022, I didn't want to see him as an Ethniki representative anymore, not that he did anything drastically frustrating. I thought it was time to blood younger faces there, and I still do, but boy! Was I wrong to want him out. If Kourbelis' thirteen of a possible twenty appearances under Poyet were impressive, try seventeen! Adding to that a goal and three assists in his usual central role in this period, he's a vital cog in this machine with his passing, movement and finishing. 

Anastasios Bakasetas:

Lastly, we come to the man who's appeared in every game of Poyet's reign, our inspirational leader. It's obvious how positive Bakasetas is to the whole team. Where there is good done by him, his team follows. Then there's the seven goals and four assists in the Poyet era, which speaks for itself. 

Kourbelis, Mantalos and Bakasetas can't do it all on their own in midfield, so that's where the likes of Manolis Siopis, Andreas Bouchalakis, Kostas Galanopoulos, Giannis Papanikolaou, Giannis Konstantelias and Sotiris Alexandropoulos must step up, in my view off the bench at this stage, to play their part in achieving a stable and attackingly-dangerous midfield that will be too hot to handle for all future opponents. If you want to start the best possible balance of attack defence amongst our current midfield crop, you're best off going with this trio.

@CrazyEthnic

Hellas Football