“Not to put pressure on Ireland myself but we have a back up,” smiled Greece manager Gus Poyet as he blatantly heaped all the pressure on Republic of Ireland counterpart Stephen Kenny.
Success in the Nations League C last year guarantees Greece a play-off should this European Championship Group B campaign go belly up on Friday or against France on Monday in Paris.
“This possibility gives us freedom to play,” Poyet continued. “To play forward, win the game, but there is no drama if we don’t win. There is another opportunity so we can risk a little bit more. If we get the points and qualify that way it would be amazing, an incredible achievement and if not we will be better prepared for the play-off in March.”
This is not the former Uruguayan midfielder’s first rodeo. The only way to describe the 55-year-old in journalistic terms is eminently quotable.
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“No, we won’t change,” he responded to the suggestion that Ireland could figure out his 4-3-3 system. “If there is one thing we need to achieve in the national team it is to have consistency and use every single game to keep improving. So no, the system is not going to be changed.”
"When you need stability, then John O'Shea comes into your mind. He was a great support for me as captain." Greece manager Gus Poyet sings the praises of John O'Shea and @OfficialBHAFC coach @gary_dicker.
— Aidan Fitzmaurice (@fitzmaidan) June 14, 2023
https://t.co/qYxQZYV3HF
No matter what transpires, Greece will stick to their manager’s philosophy. This information arrives in stark contrast to how Kenny altered his 4-3-3 approach at club level to adopt the Chelsea way under former Irish coach Anthony Barry. Last summer, following defeats to Armenia and Ukraine, Kenny revamped again by naming two strikers and a packed midfield.
It can be argued that almost every managerial trait differs between Poyet and Kenny. One played at the top level, one did not. One is an extrovert, the other an introvert. One was described by former Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis as “crazy”, the other has remained impressively sane throughout a tumultuous three years at the helm.
Poyet should need no introduction. Certainly not for anyone who watched La Liga in the 1990s and the Premier League up to 2004. And with a managerial career that has taken him from Brighton to Sunderland, AEK Athens to Real Betis and a bitter end to a single season at Bordeaux, each failure failed to put him out to pasture.
The Greece federation sought Poyet’s Midas touch all the same. Attacking players who refuse to work themselves to the bone can expect a nice rest during the international window. This was the case with Olympiacos midfielder Konstantinos Fortounis, who exists in similar exile to what Wes Hoolahan suffered under Giovanni Trapattoni and Martin O’Neill.
Kenny does hold one clear advantage over Poyet. It is conceivable that Greece have focused most of their preparation time on planning to slow the rise of Evan Ferguson.
“I always say that when a player is able to perform at the level he has in the Premier League at his age, then he is a special player. Normally when you are at a club you see potential in certain players and you are thinking about putting him in but you are always worried as a coach whether he is going to be able to deal with the power and the intensity and he has been incredible. When Robero De Zerbi is playing him week in [and] week out when he is fit, he has shown that he can do it. So it is a little bit of work for our defenders and plenty of attention for him.”
