We're probably never going to have a better chance for a while to make a real mark on European competition and the Greeks, by all accounts are a very good side.

Of course, the PL games have to be borne in mind, but would you risk it to get through this big step?

Should we just go for it?

I think we need to be more 'full strength' than we were for the Istanbul games for us to progress.

ElectroClaret wrote:We're probably never going to have a better chance for a while to make a real mark on European competition and the Greeks, by all accounts are a very good side.

Of course, the PL games have to be borne in mind, but would you risk it to get through this big step?

Should we just go for it?

Have they got better players than Istanbul had?

Yes

Yes, although I think we will have a couple more bodies to choose from, so we should be stronger anyway.

I asked the same question(are Olympiakos better than the Turkish side) on another thread and got the emphatic answer of 'No'. So now I'm confused.

Pre-season has finished and we've just about got through with half the reserves in, which has given them some game time and fitness. But this will be a more difficult test, even if they are not the team they once were, and a much more partisan atmosphere.
After all the hard work to get here it'll be a shame if we don't put our best team out.
I suspect we'll tactically do a similar thing to the Istanbul tie; try and sneak an away goal if possible.

Yes

MACCA wrote:Yes, although I think we will have a couple more bodies to choose from, so we should be stronger anyway.

Do they have any top class players like Istanbul had that we need to be wary of?

Even though he wasn't playing, Turan showed the level of player Istanbul can attract and as I'm not familiar with Greek football I just wondered if Olympiakos have any players that are good enough to play for the elite sides in Europe?

I think the team want to progress. Their reaction at the end last night showed getting through meant a lot to them.

1 Greece GK Lefteris Choutesiotis
2 Greece DF Stefanos Evangelou
4 Guinea DF Mady Camara
5 Greece MF Andreas Bouchalakis
6 Israel MF Bibras Natkho
7 Greece MF Kostas Fortounis (captain)
8 Greece MF Thanasis Androutsos
9 Spain FW Miguel Ángel Guerrero
10 Greece MF Giannis Fetfatzidis
11 Greece MF Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
12 Greece MF Giannis Gianniotas
14 Norway DF Omar Elabdellaoui
17 Iran FW Karim Ansarifard
19 Albania FW Mario Vrusaj
20 Tunisia DF Yassine Meriah
21 Greece DF Kostas Tsimikas
22 Greece GK Andreas Gianniotis
23 Greece DF Leonardo Koutris
25 Portugal DF Roderick Miranda (on loan from Wolverhampton)
26 Serbia DF Jagoš Vuković
27 Greece DF Giannis Masouras
28 Iran DF Ehsan Hajsafi
33 Greece FW Dimitrios Manos
35 Greece DF Vasilis Torosidis
56 Portugal FW Daniel Podence
66 Senegal DF Pape Abou Cissé
77 Greece DF Dimitris Nikolaou
99 Greece GK Dimitris Skafidas
— Brazil MF Guilherme
— Egypt FW Kouka

Do any of these names mean anything to anyone......?

5 Greece MF Andreas Bouchalakis

Used to play for Forest

14 Norway DF Omar Elabdellaoui

Played for Hull I think

Selby Claret wrote:1 Greece GK Lefteris Choutesiotis
2 Greece DF Stefanos Evangelou
4 Guinea DF Mady Camara
5 Greece MF Andreas Bouchalakis
6 Israel MF Bibras Natkho
7 Greece MF Kostas Fortounis (captain)
8 Greece MF Thanasis Androutsos
9 Spain FW Miguel Ángel Guerrero
10 Greece MF Giannis Fetfatzidis
11 Greece MF Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
12 Greece MF Giannis Gianniotas
14 Norway DF Omar Elabdellaoui
17 Iran FW Karim Ansarifard
19 Albania FW Mario Vrusaj
20 Tunisia DF Yassine Meriah
21 Greece DF Kostas Tsimikas
22 Greece GK Andreas Gianniotis
23 Greece DF Leonardo Koutris
25 Portugal DF Roderick Miranda (on loan from Wolverhampton)
26 Serbia DF Jagoš Vuković
27 Greece DF Giannis Masouras
28 Iran DF Ehsan Hajsafi
33 Greece FW Dimitrios Manos
35 Greece DF Vasilis Torosidis
56 Portugal FW Daniel Podence
66 Senegal DF Pape Abou Cissé
77 Greece DF Dimitris Nikolaou
99 Greece GK Dimitris Skafidas
— Brazil MF Guilherme
— Egypt FW Kouka

Do any of these names mean anything to anyone......?

Guerrero sounds familiar

I won't enter into the full strength debate again because Dyche for better or worse has set his stall out to prioritise the Premier League so I'm just going to go to Athens and enjoy it regardless.

However, I do think that Olympiacos are a better team because the bookies say so! I also think that Istanbul likely have 3 or 4 better players, but a worse team overall. Their two wingers are fantastic, Visca was brilliant in both games and Ward did superb to keep him as quiet as he did, and Elia was injured for yesterday but has played in a World Cup Final for Holland.

I thus expect Olympiacos to be a bit like us - no outstanding player, but solid overall. Leaving Athens with a draw would put us in a strong position, but given that Olympiacos have 120 minutes to get away goals, we will probably need to score over there this time.

If it's anything to go off, watching the highlights of their games against the Swiss team, the opposition looked like a pub team. Some really awful defending so I think we have a very good chance of progressing. Sadly, that's the reason I haven't booked for Athens yet in the hope of making the group stages.

Going off transfermarkts squad values it’s not worth them turning up.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-burn ... erein/1132" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/olympia ... verein/683" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sadly football is played on grass not paper.

Olympiakos aren’t what they used to be.

They have been in crisis. I saw a fan say Burnley should be favourites.

Similar to what SD did yesterday. Fulham (a) the priority, but mix it up.

I don't think we should priorities either the Europa League or the Premier League. The competition we're doing best in right now is the League Cup. We're into round 3 without even playing yet. Imagine what we can do if we decide to play in it.

Celtic just went out narrowly to AEK in the champions league qualifiers. I'm guessing Olympiakos finished 2nd in their league.
Consequently AEK are a better side than Olympiakos. I watched some of the 2nd leg of the Celtic AEK match and in the end Celtic were unlucky, they played some excellent footy and really took the game to the Greeks.
Now, the way some go on about the Scottish premier league being league 1 level, we should sweep past a 2nd rate Greek team that couldn't even win their league.
That's the theory, I'd be interested what others think.

Trust the manager and have faith that all the squad players Dyche calls on - for whichever match - have the ability and temperament to help us deliver.

Have a great time all those lucky enough to be going to Athens.

UTC

Play the strongest side, hopefully Vydra is fit enough to play to add creativity.

chekhov wrote:Celtic just went out narrowly to AEK in the champions league qualifiers. I'm guessing Olympiakos finished 2nd in their league.
Consequently AEK are a better side than Olympiakos. I watched some of the 2nd leg of the Celtic AEK match and in the end Celtic were unlucky, they played some excellent footy and really took the game to the Greeks.
Now, the way some go on about the Scottish premier league being league 1 level, we should sweep past a 2nd rate Greek team that couldn't even win their league.
That's the theory, I'd be interested what others think.

They were third behind AEK and PAOK.

Tall Paul wrote:They were third behind AEK and PAOK.

Great! All the more reason to feel confident!

The Turkish & Greek leagues last season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017%E2%8 ... %BCper_Lig" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017%E2%8 ... gue_Greece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Olympiacos didn't finish as well as Istanbul did by the looks of it.

A packed stadium at their end, might get them going. All these teams keep the ball better than us

Away goals might be essential!

Selby Claret wrote:1 Greece GK Lefteris Choutesiotis
2 Greece DF Stefanos Evangelou
4 Guinea DF Mady Camara
5 Greece MF Andreas Bouchalakis
6 Israel MF Bibras Natkho
7 Greece MF Kostas Fortounis (captain)
8 Greece MF Thanasis Androutsos
9 Spain FW Miguel Ángel Guerrero
10 Greece MF Giannis Fetfatzidis
11 Greece MF Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
12 Greece MF Giannis Gianniotas
14 Norway DF Omar Elabdellaoui
17 Iran FW Karim Ansarifard
19 Albania FW Mario Vrusaj
20 Tunisia DF Yassine Meriah
21 Greece DF Kostas Tsimikas
22 Greece GK Andreas Gianniotis
23 Greece DF Leonardo Koutris
25 Portugal DF Roderick Miranda (on loan from Wolverhampton)
26 Serbia DF Jagoš Vuković
27 Greece DF Giannis Masouras
28 Iran DF Ehsan Hajsafi
33 Greece FW Dimitrios Manos
35 Greece DF Vasilis Torosidis
56 Portugal FW Daniel Podence
66 Senegal DF Pape Abou Cissé
77 Greece DF Dimitris Nikolaou
99 Greece GK Dimitris Skafidas
— Brazil MF Guilherme
— Egypt FW Kouka

Do any of these names mean anything to anyone......?

Not especially but if someone in Greece looked at our squad would they think the same?

IanMcL wrote:A packed stadium at their end, might get them going. All these teams keep the ball better than us

Away goals might be essential!

Not sure of their attendances in Europe but their average attendance in the league was around 14k in a 30k plus capacity stadium. Based on that, I’d be surprised if it was a packed stadium.

That's strange DCWat. They are allegedly Greece's most popular team worldwide. They also have 90,000 paying members. Obviously not bothered about attending actual matches!

They arent anywhere near as talented as istanbul and are nowhere near as good as they have been themselves in the past.

But it will still be the tougher test. More pedigree and experience in europe as a club and that passes on to the players and fans. Every game is a new experience to us. The atmosphere, especially if they sell out will be like a 12th man itself. And I think they will sell or come close to selling out.

Will be a very tough game. A score draw away would be an excellent result.

We should play our strongest possible team and go for it.

I believe the Greeks pose a far bigger threat - they just scored 7 in two games against Lucerne. Okay not the best team in the world but 7 goals means they can score. I think they'll keep our defence a little more busy than last night. As a few have mentioned as well if the fans get behind them in any numbers a Greek football stadium can be very intimidating.
I sincerely hope that Dyche takes the next games more seriously, okay we got the result last night but when I saw the line up I shuddered. If he plays those games against Olympiakos I think they'll bury us.
The other side note is that because of fielding weakened teams we have now twice been drawn into extra time that I believe wouldn't have been necessary had we fielded full strength. Surely that is more tiring than winning in 90 minutes?
On a good note I suppose that last night showed we have more strength in depth than we thought but it is still going to be risky continuing down that route.
Full strength next Thursday or I will have no sympathy if we lose.

We really should, i hope Vydra is fit for this game as we urgently need pace up front.

To get to the group stage would be a great achievement. Surely we wont put out a second string for these next two legs, maybe Dyche and co will see what they can get away with in the first leg, last night felt very much like that with the initial line up.

Shame we didnt strengthen enough in the window meaning we are stuck playing players completely out of position....

Giftonsnoidea wrote:Shame we didnt strengthen enough in the window meaning we are stuck playing players completely out of position....

Which players are those?

Yes lets get into the group stage.

Tall Paul wrote:Which players are those?

Wouldn’t say Taylor is a left winger....

Giftonsnoidea wrote:We really should, i hope Vydra is fit for this game as we urgently need pace up front.

Can we register additional players now? I know the likes of Heaton and Vydra weren't selected by us for the games up to now.

FactualFrank wrote:Can we register additional players now? I know the likes of Heaton and Vydra weren't selected by us for the games up to now.

No idea, hope so tho, think Vydra will be a good signing

I think he will be too.

Long and Gibson both earned their corn last night, as did Bardesley...no case at all for dropping them...not quite as convinced by Taylor at left half.

Giftonsnoidea wrote:Wouldn’t say Taylor is a left winger....

Taylor is only one player, who has played left wing before and left back isn't completely different to left wing, so it'd be more accurate if you'd said we're stuck playing a player slightly out of position instead of the hyperbolic phrase you used.

FactualFrank wrote:
Can we register additional players now? I know the likes of Heaton and Vydra weren't selected by us for the games up to now.

Yes we can change the registered squad between qualifying rounds.

Just for information: it's Olympiakos.

chekhov wrote:Just for information: it's Olympiakos.

I believe either spelling is acceptable. Their official Twitter account spells it with a "C".

Regarding Vydra, isn't he playing again for the under 23s, which could make him more likely to possibly feature in the return leg, if he's selected for this round.

'I think they'll keep our defence a little more busy than last night'

I hope not. Our defence was tested last night,both physically and mentally and came out on top ............albeit very tired.

Something close, for sure.

I'd have no objection to Vydra being pitched in for a first start next week instead of one of the strikers, or indeed to a couple of players being rotated. But we owe it to ourselves to take this competition seriously and had we lost last night, I think there'd have been a bit of a sense of dissatisfaction in the crowd that could have permeated into our league campaign.

We also forced Hendrick, Ward and Taylor - two of whom I assume will have to play on Sunday - into 120 minutes of hard work up and down the length of the pitch last night, when arguably a stronger starting eleven would have stood a much better chance of getting the job done in 90 minutes. Long and Gibson did absolutely fine, but the impact of playing with such a makeshift team - only the two centre forwards have ever really paired up before - was that at times, especially when we were under a little bit of pressure, we were completely incapable of keeping the ball and building attacks cohesively.

Silkyskills1 wrote:I asked the same question(are Olympiakos better than the Turkish side) on another thread and got the emphatic answer of 'No'. So now I'm confused.

I'd say yes Olympiacos are way ahead of Basaksehir. Looking at most up to date UEFA club rankings
Olympiacos are 37th
Basaksehir are =111th

just to give that some comparisons with premier league

Man City 8th
Arsenal 9th
Liverpool =14th
Man Utd 17th
Chelski 19th
Spurs 22nd
Burnley =90th

Claret&Green wrote:I'd say yes Olympiacos are way ahead of Basaksehir. Looking at UEFA club rankings Olympiacos are =28th Basaksehir are =140th, just to give that some comparisons with premier league
Man City =8th
Arsenal =9th
Man Utd =12th
Chelski =13th
Spurs =19th
Liverpool =22nd

But strangely they don't look to have anywhere near the same quality of players if they are compared. Certainly looking at the list above, no-one of the same calibre as Turan, Emre or Visca.

Obviously they must have a good squad though to be ranked as high as they are.

Remember when no one had heard of our really hard working talented squad, and people thought they could just turn up and turn us over? Don't underestimate what is obviously a very talented and experienced side.

Difficult to gauge how good these foreign teams are, which is what makes our entry into Europe so fascinating.

Here is what to expect in Pireaus, they look a lively bunch, attack minded for sure, but equally Luzern look pretty hopeless at the back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75sJi4hT3JY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thing is, if they were facing any other EPL side they would know what to expect, probably they are not used to playing against our fairly unique blend of skill and organisation.

Tall Paul wrote:Taylor is only one player, who has played left wing before and left back isn't completely different to left wing, so it'd be more accurate if you'd said we're stuck playing a player slightly out of position instead of the hyperbolic phrase you used.




Yes we can change the registered squad between qualifying rounds.

Left back and left wing are a world of difference to a player that predominantly plays left back, that much was obvious, did well given the circumstances tho (playing out of position) we really should have another left winger who can play there as Brady has been injured for a long time now..........