Reckon this will have a lot more votes than that. When this happened down in the newbs we were averaging 50 votes a game, easily.
All-Time Fantasy Draft
- Thread starter antohan
- Start date
I'd love to vote but I haven't heard or seen half of these players.
Aye the problem with the 50s draft was that it took place during the tumbleweed of summer and a lot of posters didn't vote because they didn't feel sufficiently knowledgeable about the players on show.
I cannot believe Jimmy Greaves isn't a starter for one of these sides, let alone not even picked in the draft!
I don't think I saw Wolfgang Overath or Karlheinz Forster in any of the sides, either, both of which are amazing omission for me.
Piet Kiezer, Faas Wilkes, Barry Hulshoff from the Dutch contingent off the top of my head, too.
Not going to go through each nation as it's too much bother, also think anto's list of omissions is pretty good.
Looking forward to the matchups also curious to see how this pans out.
Good luck, fellas.
I don't think I saw Wolfgang Overath or Karlheinz Forster in any of the sides, either, both of which are amazing omission for me.
Piet Kiezer, Faas Wilkes, Barry Hulshoff from the Dutch contingent off the top of my head, too.
Not going to go through each nation as it's too much bother, also think anto's list of omissions is pretty good.
Looking forward to the matchups also curious to see how this pans out.
Good luck, fellas.
you got your wish....
JakeC eh ? I will need some time to do a write up, I'm only on an ad right now so I will need to steal the Mrs' laptop.
2nd draft in a row for Greavesy to miss out, strange given the lack of top quality Englishmen. Here's a small list of those that missed out from the newbies, I suspect at least 3/4 of the same players are missing in this one:
Helmut Rahn, Danny Blanchflower, Raymond Kopa, Juste Fontaine, Dragoslav Šekularac, József Bozsik, Nándor Hidegkuti, Zito, Billy Wright, Omar Sívori, Jimmy Greaves, Silvio Marzolini, Amancio, Antonio Rattín, Wolfgang Overath, Tarcisio Burgnich, Sandro Mazzola, Gigi Riva, Teófilo Cubillas, Günter Netzer, Martin Buchan, Arie Haan, Willem van Hanegem, Rob Rensinbrink, Kazimierz Deyna, Mario Kempes, Osvaldo Ardiles, Marius Tresor, Hans Krankl, Toninho Cerezo, Bruno Conti, Franco Causio, Karlheinz Forster, Jan Ceulemans, Peter Shilton, Jean Tigana, Sócrates, Liam Brady, Alan Hansen, Anatoliy Demyanenko, Oleg Blokhin, Enzo Scifo, Romerito, Jean-Pierre Papin, Junior, Careca, Josimar, Emilio Butragueño, Preben Elkjaer, Enzo Francescoli, Hans-Peter Briegel, Paul Gascoigne, Paulo Futre, Giuseppe Bergomi, Oleksandr Zavarov, Jorginho, Thomas Ravelli, Thomas Häßler, Dragan Stojković, Robert Prosinečki, Jürgen Kohler, Jürgen Klinsmann, Krasimir Balakov, Demetrio Albertini, Dennis Bergkamp, Roberto Ayala, Zvonimir Boban...and that's only including players that played in the World Cup between 58-98!
Helmut Rahn, Danny Blanchflower, Raymond Kopa, Juste Fontaine, Dragoslav Šekularac, József Bozsik, Nándor Hidegkuti, Zito, Billy Wright, Omar Sívori, Jimmy Greaves, Silvio Marzolini, Amancio, Antonio Rattín, Wolfgang Overath, Tarcisio Burgnich, Sandro Mazzola, Gigi Riva, Teófilo Cubillas, Günter Netzer, Martin Buchan, Arie Haan, Willem van Hanegem, Rob Rensinbrink, Kazimierz Deyna, Mario Kempes, Osvaldo Ardiles, Marius Tresor, Hans Krankl, Toninho Cerezo, Bruno Conti, Franco Causio, Karlheinz Forster, Jan Ceulemans, Peter Shilton, Jean Tigana, Sócrates, Liam Brady, Alan Hansen, Anatoliy Demyanenko, Oleg Blokhin, Enzo Scifo, Romerito, Jean-Pierre Papin, Junior, Careca, Josimar, Emilio Butragueño, Preben Elkjaer, Enzo Francescoli, Hans-Peter Briegel, Paul Gascoigne, Paulo Futre, Giuseppe Bergomi, Oleksandr Zavarov, Jorginho, Thomas Ravelli, Thomas Häßler, Dragan Stojković, Robert Prosinečki, Jürgen Kohler, Jürgen Klinsmann, Krasimir Balakov, Demetrio Albertini, Dennis Bergkamp, Roberto Ayala, Zvonimir Boban...and that's only including players that played in the World Cup between 58-98!
Should be interesting. Can somebody tell me who his 13th pick is? I couldn't find it.
I wonder why Alain Giresse goes totally unnoticed while listing top French players. Probably because he had Platini alongside, but he was a magnificent player himself.
What will be good is a 80's draft. I call dibs on the idea and a spot.
Cheers.. Should be fun.. I already have a mental image of how that game will be played in my head!!!!
I think Edogen's come out of the draft with the strongest side on paper. If he steals a defender or two on the way he's going to have some team.
Was a toss up between him and meazza for me, went with meazza in the end.Someone should've picked Rivera.
Cutch should be an interesting opponent. Have a bad feeling that I will lose though.
Whens the match? I cant be bothered to write my write-up now(just got back from work).
Need a brainstorming on formation. Who's up via PM? Aldo?
Brwned I guess, since he is the one who would be starting polls.
I mean, I need second opinion on my formation options against NM. Are you available by PM?
Yeah sure.
For 90 minutes?
Thanks, man. PM sent. Take your time. I read that you still have exams.
I honestly am imagining it.. Not 90 minuts.. But the kind of shape etc and formations I could play..
Hehe yeah a bit tight for another week. No issues though, I was anyway working on the flags graphic.
Final Flags Graphic
39 countries used in total. Good job, lads.
39 countries used in total. Good job, lads.
Impressive work. It's like a piece of art.
Question of the day: Outside United fans, why not many rate Denis Irwin? I think he's a superb full-back, with being equally good in attack and defence. I think he's as good as Lahm, and better than Zambrotta, Ashley, and Evra who people rate much higher than Irwin.
What do you think, fellow scholars?
Question of the day: Outside United fans, why not many rate Denis Irwin? I think he's a superb full-back, with being equally good in attack and defence. I think he's as good as Lahm, and better than Zambrotta, Ashley, and Evra who people rate much higher than Irwin.
What do you think, fellow scholars?
Yup. 17 votes are just criminal for a Semi-Final.
I think quality of the league has a lot to do with that tbh. That and the fact is that many people (me included) think Irwin was very consistent - but not brilliant. Evra's prime was much better IMO - the guy owned the flank. I could be wrong, but I have never seen Irwin dominate a flank like that, just as example.
Also, we played a 4-4-2 with him where he always had support from a very hard working and willing to track back Giggsy. Fullbacks who perform well in narrow formations always seem to be rated higher as they get more space and time to display their skills, but also at the same time it requires more pace, stamina and intelligence to pull it off. I remember watching a piece by Maldini where he explains how important it is for a fullback to know exactly how much energy to spend when attacking, and managing that can be a huge difference between the performance. Obviously that pressure is lessened when you have support from a winger, that too someone like Giggsy who was a tremendous athlete throughout his career.
This can be a reason why you see the likes of Ashley and Zambrotta rated higher.
And obviously lastly there is the national team issue, which Irwin can do nothing about. Zambrotta shown well in the world cup, which added a lot to his reputation.
This can be a reason why you see the likes of Ashley and Zambrotta rated higher.
And obviously lastly there is the national team issue, which Irwin can do nothing about. Zambrotta shown well in the world cup, which added a lot to his reputation.
Solid but not exceptional left back who played his entire career in a poor league and for a small national team.
I think he'd get absolutely roasted by the likes of Garrincha, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Figo and some of the other great wingers in the draft.
Maldini played in 4-4-2 when he was a fullback. Doesn't prevent him being considered one of the best. And fullbacks like Zambrotta, Maicon, and Alves are actually not very good in defending. Then you have Jarni, who just had one good world cup (that actually played as wingback in 5 defence system) and highly rated as better fullback than Irwin.
I'm sorry - but that's just false. If anything, Zambrotta wasn't good going forward!
Maicon and Alves I won't comment on, as the role of fullbacks has also evolved over time.
Keane also spent his entire career in this poor league, and played for 'small' country. Was EPL really a poor league in the 90's that Irwin an undisputed leftback for United for 10 years wasn't worth a recognition?
So, what was he good at?
I don't think he's famous for his defending ability.But Maldini also played in narrow formations a lot during his career for club in country and showed that he can handle the flank on his own. Same goes for Maicon really, who at his completely handled the flank and was probably the best in the world for a couple of seasons. Alves is hardly rated for his defensive ability, as for Zambrotta, he actually very consistent and played at a top level for a few seasons at Juve so it's not really wrong in saying that he would do a better job than Irwin, attacking wise at least. Defensively both would be the same.
I actually rate Ashley quite highly. He was world class at both Arsenal and Chelsea and we rarely saw a drop in his performances. Add to that he did really well against a devastating Ronaldo who was owning the league back then. So it is not really unfair to say Ashley is at least as good, if not better, than Irwin given that he had much less support from midfield than Irwin.
I actually rate Ashley quite highly. He was world class at both Arsenal and Chelsea and we rarely saw a drop in his performances. Add to that he did really well against a devastating Ronaldo who was owning the league back then. So it is not really unfair to say Ashley is at least as good, if not better, than Irwin given that he had much less support from midfield than Irwin.
Let me put it this way - if this was not a Unite forum - there was no way Irwin would be in this draft. That's just my opnion.
btw - didn't you pick another FB instead of him? now I'm confused.
Oh the crossfire has begun in the tunnel itself.
Ashley, I stand corrected. He's actually an excellent fullback. Although Valencia made him landed on his arse few times, though. And he had Eissen and Makelele to help him during his glorious Chelsea's days. If you use his current form, Chelsea's been shipping goals because their narrow formation and midfield isn't tracking back; and Ashley couldn't handle it by himself (admittedly, he's a bit old now).
Have you watched United in the 90's? even the treble season?
Have watched a ton of United in the 90s. Mate its an all-time draft. Top 16 fullbacks ever no. And I'm not saying this because I'm up against you. I thought you replaced him after the criticism..
Just btw - I love Irwin. Very good player - solid as they come. just not an all time for me. And don't go after me personally - others in here have said that as well.