Has Rehhagel become Greece's Achilles Heal?

Defence can only take you so far. It's goals that win games, and unfortunately Greece is missing that spark to ignite the offence. Looking lost and confused the Greeks stumbled to an embarrassing loss to South Korea at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, taking their tally to 4 games without a goal at the World Cup.

Without any creativity and speed in the midfield the team is forced to play a long ball style of game, defenders just punt the ball up the pitch; the forwards are then expected to create chances without any support. A huge hole exists where the midfield is supposed to be found. Otto Rehhagel's insistence on starting his slow aging veterans from Euro 2004 is the reason for Greece's failure in attack; by leaving players like Sotiris Ninis on the bench for the entire game was a big blunder. His pace and creativity was needed against South Korea. Dimitrios Salpingidis was the best player for Greece by far in the opener, and he only played 30 minutes coming on as a sub. Unless a change is made vs. Nigeria, the result will be the same.

Angelos Charisteas' best days are behind him,  clearly lacking the speed needed to cause problems. He is a one trick pony and a sub at best.  Same goes for captain Giorgos Karagounis, only caring about taking all the set pieces and never tracking back. Kostas Katsouranis is another one of Rehhagel's golden XI, he was mainly responsible for the opening goal allowed vs. South Korea; completely mistiming the header to clear the free-kick. The reliance on out of form players is Rehhagel’s mistake. Sotiris Kyrgiakos exclusion from the line-up also made me wonder what exactly Rehhagel was thinking, his size would have provided an added weapon in the air on offence and his physical style of play was needed desperately on the defensive end. The German coach needs to put his best players on the pitch right from the start and forget about pleasing the players who won him the Euro Cup, loyalty has to be set aside for the greater good.

Shouts can already be heard for Rehhagel's resignation back in Greece. The miraculous run in Portugal aside, the team hasn't really built on their success and failed to live up to lofty expectations since.. Simply put, Rehhagel has failed to get the best out of his players and deploys his usual defensive minded tactics that won't catch anyone by surprise anymore. Naturally the Greeks lack star quality, their isn't a player on the roster who can single handedly change the outcome of a game. A combined team effort is needed; but you can't expect to improve by playing the same tired system. This is the main reason Greece hasn't been able to build on the success of '04. An embarrasing 2006 World Cup qualifying campaing followed, then the team endured a dreadfull defense of their crown in 2008. In all competitions the common deneominator was the lack of fresh faces who could make a difference and breath new life into the squad. Once again the starting XI, formations and tactics stayed the same; and so did the results for Greece.

The writing is on the wall, Greece will need a miracle to get past the group stage and unfortunately they used up all that magic in 2004 when they caught everyone by surprise. To move forward positvely the team needs a change and Rehhagel stands defiant to making them on the pitch, so the next step is an obvious one. All Greeks are grateful for all that the German has accomplished for the country, but its time for a new outlook and a fresh start. Its been 6 years and you can make the arguement the national team is going down the wrong path and getting worse. Qualification is not enough anymore, Greek fans deserve to see quality on the pitch when it counts, the supporters deserve better. I believe we have the players capable of elevating the team, they just need a chance to do so. The past won't be forgotten, the Greek Gods of Lisbon will always have their place in history, after all it was them who put Greece on the footballing map. The recent influx of foreiners in the Greek Super League is proof of this; add to that the amount of Greeks playing abroad, the future is looking bright. But its now time for the old guard to step aside and let the new blood come through the ranks. Only then will Greece reach their full potential.