Northern Ireland v Greece (02/06/2022)

WORDS: ANDY GREEVES

evening’s match and Greece’s other upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures this month away to Kosovo on Sunday and at home to Greece and Kosovo next Thursday and Sunday respectively. “It’s more fixtures than you’d usually face with any club. It’s the first time in the last seven years when Greece have faced four games in this time period. It’s almost always only two matches in an international window, so I have definitely been chucked in at the deep end from that perspective.” Adopting the old managerial mantra of taking one match at a time, Poyet revealed his main focus currently is on this evening’s fixture. “It’s about managing the information I give to the players,” said the former Grenoble, River Plate (Montevideo) , Real Zaragoza, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea midfielder. “Before Northern Ireland I have been showing them clips of Northern Ireland, before Kosovo I will show them clips of Kosovo etcetera.” So, having assessed Northern Ireland, what are Poyet’s thoughts on Ian Baraclough’s side ahead of this Nations League Group C2 opener? “I’ve been very impressed with them in recent years,” replied the Greece boss. “They have a good style and clearly a good understanding of their manager’s instructions. The vast majority of the players are playing in either England or Scotland – leagues that you need to be physically tough in and we see that strength. “When they play against top teams they show they are up for the fight , as they demonstrated against Italy at the end of last year.”

RELISHING A NEW EXPERIENCE After 15 years of coaching and managing at club level, Gus Poyet stepped on to the international stage earlier this year when he became head coach of the Greece national team. Having held the top job at seven different clubs on three different continents, Poyet has experienced most things during his managerial career. But since taking the helm with Greece back in February, the former Uruguay international says he has “quickly discovered” being in charge of an international team is very different to a club side. “I am enjoying it a lot , learning a lot… it’s a new experience for me,” said Poyet , who has previously managed at Brighton and Hove Albion, Sunderland, AEK Athens, Real Betis, Shanghai Shenhua, Bordeaux and Universidad Católica. He explained: “There is a lot of analysis involved in this job. Then there is a 10-day or so phase around the matches which is like ‘wow’. It’s absolute madness! It’s 24/7 when you don’t stop, to the point your eyes are burning. “You wake up early because you think of something you don’t want to miss, so you have to write it down. But then you have a few months which are more relaxing, when you analyse your opponents day after day.” The game against Northern Ireland in Belfast marks Poyet’s first competitive engagement as head coach of Greece, having previously overseen their friendlies against Romania and Montenegro back in March. “June is a crazy month… four matches in 12 days,” he exclaimed, looking ahead to this

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