The 4th Sheep Draft - R16 Voting - Thread 2

[The Stain]

@Raees

@Skizzo / @Annahnomoss

Spoiler: Skizzo/Annah's write-up

Skizzo/Annah's write-up

@harms

Spoiler: harms write-up

PLAYER PROFILES

Defending:

Sacchi’s ideas in Conte’s interpretation.

Compactness, hard work and versatility. Blomqvist and Turan are covering the whole wing, being a nuisance for any wide player they face, but the real challenge for the opposition will be to break my central core, which is as good as it gets. Thuram, Rijkaard and Falcao are simply non upgradeable, even in the all-time pool, and Vidić with Zanetti fit in quite nicely in this death trap for the opposition's forwards. Higuita’s style of play allows me to take a riskier approach - in him I get all the perks of a sweeper without abandoning offside trap.


Attacking:

My support players will stretch the pitch, horizontally (Turan and Blomqvist) and vertically (Kluivert). This will allow Rummenigge and Figo to shine. I think that they'll dovetail pretty great with each other. Figo, in his Ballon D'Or winning Madrid incarnation (freed from van Gaal's rigid approach) will be creating chances right and left, with his excellent vision, dribbling and delivery, and Rummenigge will be playing of a big guy Kluivert, showing off his incisive movement and inventive finishing (he scored 36 and 39 goals in his consecutive Ballon D'Or winning seasons). Rijkaard and Falcao provide excellent foundation to my attack, and apart from their obvious midfield contribution both are capable of an occasional worldie while the opposition is too busy with my front three.

@Downcast

Spoiler: Downcast's write-up

DOWNCAST TEAM

ETO'O - The Fast Striker with a high team-spirit- 305 Goals/ 605 Games - Greatest African player for me.
The most decorated African player of All-Time has demonstrated his ability to score in any circumstances during his career whatever the environment.
Captain PLATINI- Complete #10 with a high work-rate. Assists, Goals & Leadership - 318 Goals/ 580 Games. Ballon d'Or 83,84,85
The wingers will enable him to run the show at the heart of the Game
GARRINCHA - The Greatest RW - 2 Times FIFA World Cup Champions (1958, 1962)
RIBERY - Hard-working LW - Percussion and combination - 2013 Bronze Ball FIFA Ballon'Dor
VERRATTI - Central Midfielder - Passing skills and ball retention
ROBSON- Greatest British central midfielder- Complete B2B
CAMACHO - The Greatest Spanish LB. Top-level strength, stamina and aggressive style of play.
MOORE - LCB- WC 1966 Winner. Sir Alex Ferguson, Pelé and Beckenbauer considered him as the greatest central defender.
SCIREA - RCB - WC 1982 Winner - One of the best defenders the world has ever seen.
OLGUIN - RB - WC 1978 Winner
CLEMENCE - The most decorated English GK

Click HERE to know more about these players

 

[The Stain]

@Joga Bonito

Spoiler: Joga's write-up

DEF

Brehme - LWB - License to venture forward; Bremhe-Kocsis
Schnellinger - BPCB - Ball-playing ability and reading of the game
Montero - Stopper - Physicality, aggressiveness and classic stopper-like qualities, in addition to defensive nous
C.Alberto - RB - The more balanced FB, given license to venture forward but his composure, technique and passing would make for a threatening and varied two-pronged attack down either flank, with Brehme

MID

Schweinsteiger - CDM - Not necessarily a holding midfielder but a relatively reserved one, his prime remit here would be to maintain control on the ball with his excellent short range passing, link-up play and occasionally switch it out to the flanks
Neeskens - RB2B - Classic all-rounder, with freedom to roam around the pitch, esp towards the right flank.
Matthäus - Att B2B - Der Panzer, the pinnacle of B2B play, with his indomitable presence in the engine room, ability to score goals, influence proceedings, long-range missiles and mazy and powerful runs forward.

ATT

Baggio - Inside Left - Given freedom to roam around the attacking third. Sheer incisiveness, productivity and magical dribbling ability and technique.
Kocsis - CF - Goals, goals and more goals. Excellent link-up play and technique too.
Rep - RWF - Netherland's all time top scorer in the WC, Rep was a master of timing his runs off the ball to perfection and was a tricky and an unpredictable player on the ball to boot.

@oneniltothearsenal

Spoiler: onenil's write-up

Team of the Americas - SA style balanced 424-ish

After landing Chumpitaz,Captain America, I wanted a side that had a 60s-70s ish Americas all-star flavor, distinct from my prior 82 Brasil homage. Classic Americas 424 style shape. Free roaming Sócrates being the great ponta-de-lança to build around. Rivaldo drifts from wide left to inside-left for spectacular goals. Ronaldo leads the line with his electricity. Camoranesi provides tenacity, excellent teamwork and solid passing to support the spectacular goal scorers. He provides the perfect supporting role skill set required here. Camoranesi born in Argentina, just for the record.

Didi and Obdulio Varela form the best foundation I could hope for with this concept.This pair perfectly complements each other. Nilton Santos and Victor Rodriguez Andrade are the full backs who also complement the defensive midfielders on each side.

Chumpitaz and Santamaría form the defensive core. Bravo offers his Copa America and Barcelona form in front of goal. Selected because they both possess strength, agility and superb positional reading of the game, Chumpitaz and Santamaría dictate the defensive tempo. Both well rounded defenders against all types of forwards and very solid on the ball.

I am assisted by proven synergies across the pitch, Varela-Andrade-Santamaría. Nilton Santos and Didi for both club and country teammates. Rivaldo and Ronaldo were electric together.

@Moby

Spoiler: Moby's write-up

4-2-3-1 formation. High tempo, direct passing with penetrating runs behind the defense.

Neuer is a sweeper keeper

Ruggeri and O'Shea both fairly defensive CBs. Ruggeri the organiser at the back.

Abidal is a balanced fullback, providing support for CBs.

Kaltz will be overlapping outside Messi and combine with him fairly often.

Coluna assumes a box to box role in the middle.

Veron controls the tempo from the middle and links up defense and attack.

Laudrup will be a floating attacking midfielder.

Messi in his 14-15 right winger incarnation.

Blokhin plays a darting left forward

Puskas leads the line.


The back four is fairly obvious. Will stay fairly organised and compact off the ball. Ruggeri provides the physicality and marks the opposition striker. No nonsense defensive instructions.


The midfield is remarkable on the ball and will instantly transition through short and long passing down the middle.

Laudrup and Messi have the license to use the ball the most in that central-right attacking midfield zone, Laudrup can occupy the right channel when Messi cuts inside and they will always have Kaltz available on overlap. The most effective zone of play and creation for the team and will look to penetrate down that side.

A highlight of the game could be Messi's trademark overhead lob from right to left picking out a lightning quick Blokhin cutting inside from the left.

Between Puskas and Messi there's a plethora of goals to be handled here, both have immaculate shooting techniques and can both easily score or create for each other.

@Tuppet

Spoiler: Tuppet's write-up

Tactics:
Straightforward 4-4-1-1.

Goalkeeper:
Albertosi is one of the best Italian keeper of all time. Kept Zoff out of side during 70s world cup while finishing runner up.

Defense:
A solid defense with Figueroa & Zmuda forming a complimentary partnership. Ferrara's defensive presence at RB would allow Breitner to play his trademark chaotic LB role, much the same way Vogts did for Germany's world cup win. In attack this would allow us to take a 3-3-4 shape, with Breitner joining the midfield.

Center Midfield:
A combative & creative midfield, In Monti & Effenberg both of our midfielders are energetic & capable of winning the ball. Monti would be more defensive of the two midfielders while Effenberg would provide playmaking from deep.

Wings:
Pace, trickery & crossing from the wings. With two top class wingers in Czibor & Orsi our team can stretch the other teams in both sides and provide counter attacking threats. Both were complete wingers with great technique and also totally capable of playing the possession game, dovetailing with the midfield and Del piero. Czibor & Orsi had great crossing and at the same also capable of cutting in & getting a few themselves.

Attack:
Del Piero & Muller is a lethal partnership up front. Muller is probably the greatest pure number 9 of the game. While Del piero at his peak was a delight to watch, an extremely creative yet prolific forward. These two together along with the service they would receive from wings & midfield should be able to unlock any defense.

 

[The Stain]

@Raees @Skizzo @Annahnomoss @harms @Downcast @Joga Bonito @oneniltothearsenal @Moby @Tuppet

Good luck, gents.

 

[Moby]

Don't bother with spoilers btw, nobody reads them!

 

[The Stain]

 

[Moby]

 

[Annahnomoss]

Spoiler

Formation: WM / 3-2-2-3

Our team is built around the partnership of Sivori and Liedholm who are two of the great classics for the roles in the formation. While we more commonly see well balanced sides and primarily focus on the all roundness of the team here we have gone for trying to build a side whos overlaps would be create the strength of the team. Like Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets it was their overlapping abilities that made them so dominant. We've chosen Guardiola and Cerezo for their excellent passing while they were both alright defensively for being playmakers.

With Sivori and Liedholm being incredible at keeping possession we want them to have the chance to play a slow build up which requires great passers who are suited for nifty one touch plays as well. From there they will do what they do best as you can see below which is beat a central midfielder/defender and just charge towards goal with space opening up behind the defender who has to push forward to challenge them.

Gunnar Nordahl
The Capo di tutti Capocannonieri with his jaw dropping five time record as the top goalscorer in Serie A. That is as much as van Basten, Shevchenko and Inzaghi all put together and he achieved it all in 6 monstrous years.

Yet he still doesn't feature much in these drafts and I believe a reason why is that he was the personification of a 3-2-2-3 striker. With so much dribbling and creativity around him the striker in these formations often had to play against a packed defense inside the box.

They were on the pitch to score and that's exactly what he did. Purely in terms of his ability inside the box he is one of the very finest strikers of all time.

He'd dominate in the air and bully his defenders with his physique like Vieri. But at the same time had that ferocious Inzaghi/RVN instinct of always knowing how the ball would bounce and how to find space where there was none. Coupled with the ability to turn any half chances to goals with his accurate finishing he made a mark in history.

I am not sure anybody scored as many "ugly" goals as him, so without further ado! Gunnar Nordahl with ugly goals.



Wingers
With two GOAT dribblers and Mr. Capocannonieri upfront Kopa will be able to play his odd role from the right wing where he won three straight European Cups and was included in the top 3 in the Ballon each year.

With both Sivori and Liedholm being ideal fits for a composed side with great build up play. Kopa and Finney provide a great counter attack with their drive for the fine long ranged passing of Guardiola and Liedholm.

While their movement and raw skill will suit the team in both the slower/longer plays as well as the counter attacks.

Defense
Maldini as a left centre back is sort of self explanatory and Alan Hansen as our composed and intelligent leader of the back line as well.

Ronnie Hellström was a great goalkeeper being considered one of the world's top goalkeepers in the 1970s, and Swedens greatest ever.

Vierchowod
The 84-85 stopper version of him is an interesting but great choice for a RCB position after the World Cup performances where Kicker rated him the third best full back of the tournament.

Ceulemans would attest to that as well "Ceulemans played as quasi left-winger and Vierchowod followed him everywhere. Ceulemans tested what he would do if he took a central midfield position but Vierchowod was tied to him. "It was one of my worst matches", said Ceulemans.

Nicknamed lo Zar, Vierchowod was a tenacious and physical centre-back, who possessed great pace; he was considered one of the toughest Serie A defenders of the 1980s and the 1990s, due to his immense strength, tight marking of opponents, and hard tackling style of play. His speed, anticipation, and ability to read the game enabled him to break down opposing plays, win back possession, and intercept loose balls; these attributes also allowed him to excel in the zonal marking defensive system during his later career. Despite his aggressive playing style, he was also regarded as a fair player both on and off the pitch.


In an interview with Argentine magazine El Gráfico, Argentine footballer Diego Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, dubbed Vierchowod his toughest opponent, stating that "[Vierchowod] was an animal, he had muscles to the eyelashes. It was easy to pass by him, but then when I raised my head, he was in front of me again. I would have to pass him two or three more times and then I would pass the ball because I couldn't stand him anymore". Throughout his career, Maradona gave Vierchowod the nickname Hulk.
Gary Lineker also revealed in an interview with FourFourTwo that Vierchowod was "the hardest defender he ever faced" adding "he was absolutely brutal and lightning quick. He gave me one or two digs."

Another important yet rarely brought up aspect of his game was his excellent ability to break through with a surge forward with the ball at his feet, Breitner like, and offer a threat going forward.

 

[The Stain]

@Annahnomoss

Added your link now so you should delete that long post. Cheers.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Cheers Annah.

I'm trading adspace with you so you have to add the Sivori .gifs to your post.

 

[antohan]

Is that a brilliant way to portray your player or a massive brainfart? We shall see.

 

[antohan]

I'm trading adspace with you so you have to add the Sivori .gifs to your post.

It would actually help if you and @Moby spoiler those gifs. It's already bad enough for those on mobiles having to load 8 teamsheets.

 

[The Stain]

Thanks, @Enigma_87. The uploaded images you provided are now edited in to replace the sharemytacticsbolloxloadingstuff.

 

[antohan]

@Raees I love how you managed to come back from near death. Lovely side, although I'm not clear how Bergkamp/van Basten works. Both clearly great players, but there's clear overlap there while it lacks the sort of oomph Gullit brought to the table. I'd also swap Gerson and Deschamps myself, but that may be nitpicking.

@Skizzo @Annahnomoss It seems to me Pep is killing that side

@harms no idea what's going on there. It's a shame you couldn't utilise Rijkaard better. Really can't figure out why you used the supercheat for Thuram when you had Zanetti. I assume it was a back 5 attempt, but surely you need a back four before bothering with a 5?

@Downcast, you still have some work to do there with your back four. They all do what would be required of them, but it's underwhelming as a unit. I'd swap Verratti and Robson. Verratti should be covering Camacho and get out of Scirea's way, while you will probably need Robson's hard work on that right side to better balance Garrincha (whom I have no idea how he would work with Platini).

 

[Annahnomoss]

@Raees
@Skizzo @Annahnomoss It seems to me Pep is killing that side.

He sure does. But he ruins it with the most nonsensically beautiful football so the team would be highly entertaining. Cerezo, Liedholm, Sivori and Guardiola would have some magical moments in possession.

 

[Enigma_87]

Thanks, @Enigma_87. The uploaded images you provided are now edited in to replace the sharemytacticsbolloxloadingstuff.

Cheers. Was a mare to load first time and also on the phone.

 

[antohan]

@Joga Bonito beautiful. A bit miffed with Francescoli being on the bench, but I can't argue with Baggio fitting like a glove there. You only really need two upgrades here and you are all set for a final.

@oneniltothearsenal I like the balance you get there with Camoranesi (I know many will see him as a near sheep, but he is basically doing what Zagallo did on the other flank). I've no idea how you can improve that bar the self-inflicted sheep keeper and maybe a more fancy Camoranesi (but one that does the exact same job).

@Moby f.a.p.pingtastic front four, would be lovely to watch them play. Not sure how it all comes together though. Particularly the midfield duo.

@Tuppet, it struck me at one point how many lefties you were accumulating. With Ferrara at RB you really really needed a proper right winger ahead of any of Orsi/Czibor/Del Piero

 

[Raees]

@antohan Thanks for the comments, am busy and don't really want to post much in a overpopulated thread and side is pretty self-explanatory.

But in relation to your points, I am going peak Van Basten and I think the Bergkamp of World Cup 94, the nippy support striker type version would be perfect support player for MVB, providing him with plenty of through balls and the other player I think would benefit immensely from Bergkamp is Jairzinho!

Imagine the through balls in between LCB and LB and Jairzinho the hurricane being put through to score.. this was a guy who terrorised Fachetti so I think any LB would be bricking it at that prospect.

Gerson and Deschamps, replicates the Davids/Deschamps dynamic of left footer slaloming forward, which is where Gerson would feature most of the time.. and I can't see why I would put a naturally left footed CM on the right side, doesn't make sense to me.

One thing I hope people take notice of is the defence which is containing arguably the best right back of all time in Djalma, one of the most complete full backs in Bossis, and Uruguay's greatest CB alongside Santamaria in Nasazzi. Lets not forget most successful Keeper of all time in Maier and his defensive buddy Schwarzenbeck.

My side might lack the glitterati of others, but this isn't the Oscars, it is about what is the best footballing side, and I think in terms of cohesiveness and everyone playing where they should be, it is close to perfection and is a side jam packed full of winners (10/11 have won major international tournaments, and Nedved the one who hasn't - well his record speaks for itself.).

Ask yourself, is that a side which would win a World cup final/ECL title?

 

[antohan]

He sure does. But he ruins it with the most nonsensically beautiful football so the team would be highly entertaining. Cerezo, Liedholm, Sivori and Guardiola would have some magical moments in possession.

I'm a huge fan, but you would need a lot more graft on the flanks and even in that square to make it work.

 

[antohan]

Gerson and Deschamps, replicates the Davids/Deschamps dynamic of left footer slaloming forward, which is where Gerson would feature most of the time.. and I can't see why I would put a naturally left footed CM on the right side, doesn't make sense to me.

One thing I hope people take notice of is the defence which is containing arguably the best right back of all time in Djalma, one of the most complete full backs in Bossis, and Uruguay's greatest CB alongside Santamaria in Nasazzi. Lets not forget most successful Keeper of all time in Maier and his defensive buddy Schwarzenbeck.

Not a contest as far as we are concerned.

Re: Davids/Deschamps, Gerson is very different to Davids, obviously. I wouldn't expect slaloms but dictating from midfield and I think you are better off with a creative hub there and not on the other side where Pavel will likely drop deep anyway. As I said, nitpicking.

 

[Annahnomoss]

I'm a huge fan, but you would need a lot more graft on the flanks and even in that square to make it work.

To win a GOAT draft in particular yes! But it would be a team that would be really entertaining like the dream team with its fair shares of flaws and more a side that would be great to watch.

 

[Raees]

Not a contest as far as we are concerned.

Re: Davids/Deschamps, Gerson is very different to Davids, obviously. I wouldn't expect slaloms but dictating from midfield and I think you are better off with a creative hub there and not on the other side where Pavel will likely drop deep anyway. As I said, nitpicking.

Who is considered the bigger legend in Uruguay?

 

[Raees]

I know this isn't about match-ups, but if my side was up against Moby (closest rival for Votes) for example..

• Puskas v Nasazzi/Schwarzenbeck? I think we could make a good fist of containing him.
• Blokhin v Djalma? Djalma would win this battle.
• Messi v Bossis ? Messi the better player but Bossis is incredibly well equipped to take on a threat like Messi, fast quick, agile and comfortable out wide as well as central players. Right footed left backs tend to do well against a player like Messi.
• Abidal v Jairzinho? Abidal is good but Jairzinho can tear any GOAT full back when on his game
• Van Basten v Ruggeri-O'Shea pairing? come on, he is gonna make mince meat of the irish man
• Nedved v Kaltz.. Nedved can track his runs and give him a massive headache going forwards.

 

[Moby]

Of course, target the team with the sheep.

 

[antohan]

Who is considered the bigger legend in Uruguay?

Nassazi of course. What Santamaria has on Nasazzi is having played for that great Real side but it doesn't even come close to captaining the NT to three consecutive world championship victories.

 

[Raees]

Of course, target the team with the sheep.

Sorry Bro.

 

[harms]

@harms no idea what's going on there. It's a shame you couldn't utilise Rijkaard better. Really can't figure out why you used the supercheat for Thuram when you had Zanetti. I assume it was a back 5 attempt, but surely you need a back four before bothering with a 5?

All my preferred partners for Vidic were either picked or blocked at that point, so I took Thuram for the CB spot with the option to make it a back 5 later. Plus I wanted to have an option of moving Zanetti to the left in case I feck up somewhere, but I fecked up so massively that it ended up like this. Tuppet picked both Breitner and Figueroa in the round when I got the supercheat card, while I was trying to decide which one of them to pick in the next round. There were no unpicked players who I wanted that bad after that.

Rijkaard - Falcao were originally a midfield 2 in 4-4-2 attempt (and I switched them as my left side is weaker defensively at the moment), or, in the long run, a midfield base in 3-5-2 if I were to pick GOAT #10.

What you see here now is damage control. There was an option of going 4-4-2 like originally planned with Sinclair as a center back but I liked this option better.

 

[harms]

Can we vote in our game thread? (Not for ourselves, obviously) @The Stain @antohan

 

[Moby]

(Not for ourselves, obviously)

Think Tuppet has done that haha.

 

[Joga Bonito]

@Joga Bonito beautiful. A bit miffed with Francescoli being on the bench, but I can't argue with Baggio fitting like a glove there. You only really need two upgrades here and you are all set for a final

Aye the plan was to feature Francescoli but didn't expect to get Baggio and like you mentioned he did seem to slot in nicely here.

Voted for myself to see the results btw

 

[The Stain]

Can we vote in our game thread? (Not for ourselves, obviously) @The Stain @antohan

Some did in Thread 1 so ye, if you want. Don't see the benefit other than if you think you're losing and want to influence who goes through.

 

[harms]

I know this isn't about match-ups, but if my side was up against Moby (closest rival for Votes) for example..

• Puskas v Nasazzi/Schwarzenbeck? I think we could make a good fist of containing him.
• Blokhin v Djalma? Djalma would win this battle.
• Messi v Bossis ? Messi the better player but Bossis is incredibly well equipped to take on a threat like Messi, fast quick, agile and comfortable out wide as well as central players. Right footed left backs tend to do well against a player like Messi.
• Abidal v Jairzinho? Abidal is good but Jairzinho can tear any GOAT full back when on his game
• Van Basten v Ruggeri-O'Shea pairing? come on, he is gonna make mince meat of the irish man
• Nedved v Kaltz.. Nedved can track his runs and give him a massive headache going forwards.

Come on now I hope this post is tongue in cheek

 

[harms]

Some did in Thread 1 so ye, if you want. Don't see the benefit other than if you think you're losing and want to influence who goes through.

I don't think that my team should go through this round to be honest. In 1 on 1 game I had chances, if we're picking best 4 teams from this list - nope. So I just want to vote for those who should go through in my opinion.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

@oneniltothearsenal I like the balance you get there with Camoranesi (I know many will see him as a near sheep, but he is basically doing what Zagallo did on the other flank). I've no idea how you can improve that bar the self-inflicted sheep keeper and maybe a more fancy Camoranesi (but one that does the exact same job).

Thanks, I was hoping Camoranesi would be appreciated for his tactical role here. Always tough to bench a bigger name like Henry for what I felt was a better fit for balance.

 

[harms]

I was so soft when I gave Tuppet Albertosi instead of Aldonin

 

[Ecstatic]

@Downcast, you still have some work to do there with your back four. They all do what would be required of them, but it's underwhelming as a unit. I'd swap Verratti and Robson. Verratti should be covering Camacho and get out of Scirea's way, while you will probably need Robson's hard work on that right side to better balance Garrincha (whom I have no idea how he would work with Platini).

It makes sense to swap Robson and Verratti to free Scirea.

My back 4 is not the best one: @oneniltothearsenal has the best defence at first sight

 

[antohan]

Can we vote in our game thread? (Not for ourselves, obviously) @The Stain @antohan

We would rather not. Will be void anyway.

 

[Ecstatic]

Thanks, I was hoping Camoranesi would be appreciated for his tactical role here. Always tough to bench a bigger name like Henry for what I felt was a better fit for balance.

I like to quote myself

Camoranesi is not a trivial/traditional modern winger. He was mainly deployed as right-side midfielder (like Robert Pirès... on the left side). Camoranesi is a gift in tactical terms because he combines the Grinta of South-American players with the tactical awareness/versatility of a Calcio Player. High level of aggressivity & work-rate. On youtube, you could watch 'camoranesi in juventus'.

 

[harms]

We would rather not. Will be void anyway.

Okay, took back my votes

 

[Ecstatic]

I was so soft when I gave Tuppet Albertosi instead of Aldonin

Oh! You gave him a GK: a gift.

Who was the player you transformed btw?

 

[harms]

Oh! You gave him a GK: a gift.

Who was the player you transformed btw?

Who do you think? His initials are "E. A."