Team Enigma/TRV:
Formation:- 4-2-3-1. Direct & Counter-Attacking. Regain possession quickly and look for openings in the opposition defensive line.
Defensive line:- Normal.
Style:- Solid defensive line marshaled by Scirea, counter attack at every opportunity. Beckenbauer and Neeskens to dominate the midfield, Best and Amancio to provide width down the flanks and stretch the game so that it would allow space through the middle for the likes of Puskas and Zidane to exploit.
GK:- Michel Preud'homme - One of the best and complete goalkeepers in the 80's and early 90's. Phenomenal reflexes and he was great organizer at the back and always dependable in collecting crosses and in the air.
Tucked-in RB:- Claudio Gentile - The Italian defender wore his reputation as a tough, uncompromising defender, or as the more clickbait YouTube video titles would have you believe, ‘The Hardest Man in Soccer’, as a badge of honour. One of the best, if not the best man-markers in the history of the game. Very few could boast of marking Diego Maradona and Zico out of the game like Gentile did. It is impossible not to admire the tenacity and discipline with which he played the game, as well as his innate ability to consistently play on the very precipice of what was acceptable over 90 minutes. The contrasting defensive pairing with Scirea in terms of style, which expertly combined silk and steel together with the experienced Zoff as the last line of defence, saw Juventus claim the 1974/75 title. Gentile played 29 of 30 league games and was integral to a Bianconeri side which only conceded three goals at home in the league all season.
Libero:- Gaetano Scirea - One of the greatest defenders to have graced the game of football. Marshaled the defense two of the most iconic sides of all time in 1980s Italy NT & 1980s Juventus. A leader amongst men, Scirea was a master at organizing the defense the back yet at the same time, initiate plenty of swift attacks from the back and often step up in the midfield when needed in a true libero role at his peak.
LCB:- Karlheinz Förster - One of the most brilliant, yet often overlooked defenders in German football's rich history is Karlheinz Förster. Although his time came after the glory years of the 1970s, he was perhaps Germany's most important defender in the early 1980s. An outstanding marker who could negate any striker out of the game.
LB:- Nílton Santos - One of the greatest left backs in the history of the game. Blessed with immaculate technique, engine and passing, Nílton Santos was the true pioneer of the attacking full-backs, which has become such a common theme in modern era. But at the same time, he was a brilliant defender as well.
CM:- Franz Beckenbauer - A genius footballer with a divine sense of timing, god-gifted vision, telepathic positioning, graceful technique, terrific commitment and legendary leadership. Possibly, the most complete footballer of all time, the football world has rarely seen such a graceful and intelligent defensive player ever, and possibly there will never be anyone like the genius Beckenbauer, "The Munich Wall".
CM:- Johan Neeskens - (stolen a bit from Fortitude's description in one of the threads) - The best pure Box-Box midfielder, the game has seen. If you want someone to do a number of jobs in that role, be the link between the defense and the attack, circulate the ball, win back the possession and being an understated force that lets 'bigger' names shine and takes no glory for himself, unless you need a penalty converted. Fast, mobile, two-footed, technically adept, dogged, tireless, clean in the tackle, intelligent, flexible, multi-functional, consistent, dependable. The adjectives keep coming because Neeskens was a stellar player well worth a place in a world all-time XI in his own right.
LW:- George Best - "Maradona Good, Pelé Better, George Best." "If I'd been ugly," said George Best, "you'd never have heard of Pele." Best wasn't tall, he wasn't large - yet there seemed nothing he couldn't do on a football field. His ball control was exquisite. In a pub, he could flip up a coin and catch it in his chest pocket. By rights, he should have been negligible in the air, yet he could out-jump a 6ft defender to score goals. One of the best wingers of all time, the 1968 Ballon D'or winner was absolutely mesmerising to watch. A proper match winner, who when in mood could annihilate any defender in the world. Goals, close control, pace, creativity, swagger and trickery. He had everything you would want from an attacking player. And oh, he had the ladies as well.
AMC:- Zinedine Zidane - A Rolls-Royce of a midfielder, Zinedine Zidane is one of the greatest players to have stepped foot on a football pitch. A true big-game player who thrived when the stakes were higher. Scorer of important goals, Zidane was blessed with immaculate technique, fantastic vision and range of passing. There was no better sight in football than watching Zidane orchestrate attacks and stamp his authority on the game either by dictating the tempo of the game and linking up with the attack or by scoring ridiculous goals.
RW:- Amancio Amaro - Spain's best ever Right Winger, Amancio Amaro played alongside Francisco Gento for nine years at Real Madrid and seven years for Spain. Despite being a winger, Amaro won the Pichichi Trophy as Spanish footballs top scorer twice, and scored a total of 173 goals in 344 games for Real Madrid and 11 goals from 42 caps for Spain. Amancio was the best player for Spain when they won the Euros in 1964 and his exploits with Spain and Real Madrid helped him finish 3rd in Ballon d'Or voting that year.
CF:- Ferenc Puskás - The Galloping Major, is one of the greatest footballers to have graced the game. He was the captain of the legendary Mighty Magyars in the fifties and led them to winning a gold medal in the 1952 Olympics and a silver medal in 1954 World Cup. Even though he was out injured for few games, he still ended the 1954 World Cup with the Golden Ball as well as Bronze Boot. Till date, he remains the only footballer to have scored more than one hat-trick in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League Final, a feat he had achieved with Real Madrid when he was past his peak. Not only was he a prolific goalscorer but also a brilliant playmaker as well. This quote by Jeno Buzanszky, The Mighty Magyars' right back, gives a brief idea about the genius of Ferenc Puskás:- "If a good player has the ball, he should have the vision to spot three options. Puskás always saw at least five."
Defence:- Marshaled by Gaetano Scirea at his peak, alongside his partner in crime in Claudio Gentile we have a proven fit, especially when it comes to pairing him with one of the best stoppers ever in Förster. Nilton Santos is left-back and one of the best in history to cope with Garrincha.
Midfield:- Beckenbauer and Neeskens form a double-pivot in the midfield, with Scirea aiding the midfield in his natural libero role. Neeskens and Beckenbauer form a spectacular midfield unit. Both of them are the finest all action midfielders on the pitch and their energy, tireless running, outstanding passing ability and vision bode well to counter the attacking threat and also provide going forward. They bring the defensive solidity in shielding the back four but also an excellent base for Zidane and the rest of the attacking unit to shine.
Attack:- We possess the best attack in the draft. Two spectacular wingers in Amancio and Best to provide the chances and creativity for Puskas being the powerful striker and that trio being fed by Zidane in his zone. Our attack consists of outstanding goalscorers who could also score goals in variety of ways. Puskás on was an all-around forward who not only scored goals for fun but also created a shit load of chances for others as well. George Best will give Gerets a twisted blood and is a genuine route to goal for us, whilst Amancio is one of the best right wingers in history and would give Evra a torrid time with his silkiness and pace.
vs 2mufc0:- We face a tough team in the final but we feel we have the better balance and quality between the lines.
Best and Amancio vs Evra and Gerets:- We have advantage in those two individual battles. Best is the greatest winger in the history of the game and Gerets will find it hard to contain him. On the other side Amancio will give Evra a torrid time. Evra was a great servant for Manchester United but often defensively suspect, especially against fast and skillful wingers like Amancio, who with his pace and movement can fully exploit that flank. And in Puskas and Zidane, we have two excellent playmakers/passers who can provide the service to the likes of Best and Amancio to attack Gerets and Evra respectively in one-on-one situations and cause chaos in 2mufc0's backline.
Beckenbauer & Neeskens central midfield:- We will most likely face Didi and Voronin on the other side and we will definitely have the upper hand in this. Didi and Voronin are very good midfielders but Neeskens and Der Kaiser are simply superior, and a mouthwatering combo. Didi wasn't known for his defensive work. There is this famous quote by Di Stefano about how Didi didn't like to get his shorts dirty. With Voronin already having his hands full with Zidane, Beckenbauer and Neeskens are our wild-cards. Due to lack of defensive resistance from 2mufc0's midfield, we would exploit that fully with Beckenbauer and Neeskens taking turns to make attacking runs into the box. Both were masters at making driving runs from the midfield/deep. They were great dribblers who could evade the press and could get out of tight spaces due to their immaculate close control, and then pop up either by getting at the end of a cross or by shooting it from distance as both had a mean and powerful shot in them as their goalscoring record proves.
Our defence vs opposition attack:- Gentile is a fine choice to mind Stoichkov as he's the type who would give him little space to work with being a tucked in RB with mainly defensive functions. On the other side we have Nilton, one of the greatest LB's in history to deal with Garrincha, while Forster and Scirea taking care of the upcoming central danger.
Dealing with the Didi-Garrincha-Pele Trifecta:- 2mufc0 has assembled the 1958 World Cup winning trifecta. Three great players but we feel we have the defensive set-up that can restrict the influence of those three players.
In Neeskens we have the perfect player who can negate Didi's influence in and around the final third. Neeskens with his pace, physicality and engine can harry Didi throughout the game and ensure Didi doesn't get enough time and space on the ball to control the game.
Nilton was an outstanding defender and played with Garrincha at Botafogo for almost a decade. He would have played vs Garrincha in training enough to know about Garrincha's skills and traits. Now, we aren't saying Nilton will be able to completely mark Garrincha out of the game but he certainly can negate his influence to a good extent. Nilton was quick, read the game extremely well, had good football IQ and was an excellent tackler. The ideal LB to negate the impact of Garrincha.
That leaves us with Pele. We won't be man-marking Pele. Rather have players in those zones who would keep track of Pele whenever he is around their zones. Beckenbauer's primary role would be to cut the service to Pele and have him drop deep to get hold of the ball. That way we keep him farther away from out goal. Then if Pele does manage to get hold of the ball in final third, Beckenbauer will make it really tough for him by not allowing him much time and space on the ball. If Pele does manage to get past Beckenbauer, which won't be easy at all, we will have Scirea waiting for him. Its one thing outfoxing and beating one of the greatest defensive players ever but to outfox two of the greatest defensive minds ever? Even for someone like Pele, it would be very tough.
Puskas as a complete CF:- Puskas is one of the greatest goalscorers in history and his movement and ability to find the net from different angles and zones would make him hard to mark even for Figueroa and Nesta combo. Because all Puskas would need is half-a-chance and he will convert that. Also, he was a brilliant passer as well. He would get the other attacking players like Best, Zidane and Amancio involved in the game with his link-up play.
VERSUS
Team 2mufc0:
The formation graphic is pretty self explanatory, all of the players are playing in positions they are comfortable in and are of high quality. I believe my team has a blend of power, speed and with best trio in football history at the heart of the team Didi-Pele-Garrincha.
I have completed my attack by bringing the King - Pele, who is partnered with his old great teammates - the GOAT RW Garrincha who i fancy to take advantage of the opposition LB and another old mate Didi, all shared a legendary chemistry . Hristo provides the attacking threat from the left.
Seedorf adds a bit more energy and tenacity into the midfield, his all-round skillful and energetic game will provide something different in the midfield. Also partnered with Voronin it should give a good base for Didi to run the show.
The front 3 will be serviced by Didi in the final third and also from deeper potions with Seedorf and Voronin. This makes the team deadly not only in general play but also on the counter, esp with the pace of the front 3 and the tireless overlapping fullbacks.
Beckenbauer, who famously said: “I’m the European Figueroa.”
I have bolstered my back-line by bringing in Don Elias, partnered with Nesta and screened by Voronin, i believe most attackers would find this core difficult to break down. The full back spots are supported by 2 energetic and tireless workers, able to support the wingers and also defend.
Like with most of the teams i draft, the philosophy is to play football and be adaptable depending on the match situation.
Formation:- 4-2-3-1. Direct & Counter-Attacking. Regain possession quickly and look for openings in the opposition defensive line.
Defensive line:- Normal.
Style:- Solid defensive line marshaled by Scirea, counter attack at every opportunity. Beckenbauer and Neeskens to dominate the midfield, Best and Amancio to provide width down the flanks and stretch the game so that it would allow space through the middle for the likes of Puskas and Zidane to exploit.
GK:- Michel Preud'homme - One of the best and complete goalkeepers in the 80's and early 90's. Phenomenal reflexes and he was great organizer at the back and always dependable in collecting crosses and in the air.
Tucked-in RB:- Claudio Gentile - The Italian defender wore his reputation as a tough, uncompromising defender, or as the more clickbait YouTube video titles would have you believe, ‘The Hardest Man in Soccer’, as a badge of honour. One of the best, if not the best man-markers in the history of the game. Very few could boast of marking Diego Maradona and Zico out of the game like Gentile did. It is impossible not to admire the tenacity and discipline with which he played the game, as well as his innate ability to consistently play on the very precipice of what was acceptable over 90 minutes. The contrasting defensive pairing with Scirea in terms of style, which expertly combined silk and steel together with the experienced Zoff as the last line of defence, saw Juventus claim the 1974/75 title. Gentile played 29 of 30 league games and was integral to a Bianconeri side which only conceded three goals at home in the league all season.
Libero:- Gaetano Scirea - One of the greatest defenders to have graced the game of football. Marshaled the defense two of the most iconic sides of all time in 1980s Italy NT & 1980s Juventus. A leader amongst men, Scirea was a master at organizing the defense the back yet at the same time, initiate plenty of swift attacks from the back and often step up in the midfield when needed in a true libero role at his peak.
LCB:- Karlheinz Förster - One of the most brilliant, yet often overlooked defenders in German football's rich history is Karlheinz Förster. Although his time came after the glory years of the 1970s, he was perhaps Germany's most important defender in the early 1980s. An outstanding marker who could negate any striker out of the game.
LB:- Nílton Santos - One of the greatest left backs in the history of the game. Blessed with immaculate technique, engine and passing, Nílton Santos was the true pioneer of the attacking full-backs, which has become such a common theme in modern era. But at the same time, he was a brilliant defender as well.
CM:- Franz Beckenbauer - A genius footballer with a divine sense of timing, god-gifted vision, telepathic positioning, graceful technique, terrific commitment and legendary leadership. Possibly, the most complete footballer of all time, the football world has rarely seen such a graceful and intelligent defensive player ever, and possibly there will never be anyone like the genius Beckenbauer, "The Munich Wall".
CM:- Johan Neeskens - (stolen a bit from Fortitude's description in one of the threads) - The best pure Box-Box midfielder, the game has seen. If you want someone to do a number of jobs in that role, be the link between the defense and the attack, circulate the ball, win back the possession and being an understated force that lets 'bigger' names shine and takes no glory for himself, unless you need a penalty converted. Fast, mobile, two-footed, technically adept, dogged, tireless, clean in the tackle, intelligent, flexible, multi-functional, consistent, dependable. The adjectives keep coming because Neeskens was a stellar player well worth a place in a world all-time XI in his own right.
LW:- George Best - "Maradona Good, Pelé Better, George Best." "If I'd been ugly," said George Best, "you'd never have heard of Pele." Best wasn't tall, he wasn't large - yet there seemed nothing he couldn't do on a football field. His ball control was exquisite. In a pub, he could flip up a coin and catch it in his chest pocket. By rights, he should have been negligible in the air, yet he could out-jump a 6ft defender to score goals. One of the best wingers of all time, the 1968 Ballon D'or winner was absolutely mesmerising to watch. A proper match winner, who when in mood could annihilate any defender in the world. Goals, close control, pace, creativity, swagger and trickery. He had everything you would want from an attacking player. And oh, he had the ladies as well.
AMC:- Zinedine Zidane - A Rolls-Royce of a midfielder, Zinedine Zidane is one of the greatest players to have stepped foot on a football pitch. A true big-game player who thrived when the stakes were higher. Scorer of important goals, Zidane was blessed with immaculate technique, fantastic vision and range of passing. There was no better sight in football than watching Zidane orchestrate attacks and stamp his authority on the game either by dictating the tempo of the game and linking up with the attack or by scoring ridiculous goals.
RW:- Amancio Amaro - Spain's best ever Right Winger, Amancio Amaro played alongside Francisco Gento for nine years at Real Madrid and seven years for Spain. Despite being a winger, Amaro won the Pichichi Trophy as Spanish footballs top scorer twice, and scored a total of 173 goals in 344 games for Real Madrid and 11 goals from 42 caps for Spain. Amancio was the best player for Spain when they won the Euros in 1964 and his exploits with Spain and Real Madrid helped him finish 3rd in Ballon d'Or voting that year.
CF:- Ferenc Puskás - The Galloping Major, is one of the greatest footballers to have graced the game. He was the captain of the legendary Mighty Magyars in the fifties and led them to winning a gold medal in the 1952 Olympics and a silver medal in 1954 World Cup. Even though he was out injured for few games, he still ended the 1954 World Cup with the Golden Ball as well as Bronze Boot. Till date, he remains the only footballer to have scored more than one hat-trick in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League Final, a feat he had achieved with Real Madrid when he was past his peak. Not only was he a prolific goalscorer but also a brilliant playmaker as well. This quote by Jeno Buzanszky, The Mighty Magyars' right back, gives a brief idea about the genius of Ferenc Puskás:- "If a good player has the ball, he should have the vision to spot three options. Puskás always saw at least five."
Defence:- Marshaled by Gaetano Scirea at his peak, alongside his partner in crime in Claudio Gentile we have a proven fit, especially when it comes to pairing him with one of the best stoppers ever in Förster. Nilton Santos is left-back and one of the best in history to cope with Garrincha.
Midfield:- Beckenbauer and Neeskens form a double-pivot in the midfield, with Scirea aiding the midfield in his natural libero role. Neeskens and Beckenbauer form a spectacular midfield unit. Both of them are the finest all action midfielders on the pitch and their energy, tireless running, outstanding passing ability and vision bode well to counter the attacking threat and also provide going forward. They bring the defensive solidity in shielding the back four but also an excellent base for Zidane and the rest of the attacking unit to shine.
Attack:- We possess the best attack in the draft. Two spectacular wingers in Amancio and Best to provide the chances and creativity for Puskas being the powerful striker and that trio being fed by Zidane in his zone. Our attack consists of outstanding goalscorers who could also score goals in variety of ways. Puskás on was an all-around forward who not only scored goals for fun but also created a shit load of chances for others as well. George Best will give Gerets a twisted blood and is a genuine route to goal for us, whilst Amancio is one of the best right wingers in history and would give Evra a torrid time with his silkiness and pace.
vs 2mufc0:- We face a tough team in the final but we feel we have the better balance and quality between the lines.
Best and Amancio vs Evra and Gerets:- We have advantage in those two individual battles. Best is the greatest winger in the history of the game and Gerets will find it hard to contain him. On the other side Amancio will give Evra a torrid time. Evra was a great servant for Manchester United but often defensively suspect, especially against fast and skillful wingers like Amancio, who with his pace and movement can fully exploit that flank. And in Puskas and Zidane, we have two excellent playmakers/passers who can provide the service to the likes of Best and Amancio to attack Gerets and Evra respectively in one-on-one situations and cause chaos in 2mufc0's backline.
Beckenbauer & Neeskens central midfield:- We will most likely face Didi and Voronin on the other side and we will definitely have the upper hand in this. Didi and Voronin are very good midfielders but Neeskens and Der Kaiser are simply superior, and a mouthwatering combo. Didi wasn't known for his defensive work. There is this famous quote by Di Stefano about how Didi didn't like to get his shorts dirty. With Voronin already having his hands full with Zidane, Beckenbauer and Neeskens are our wild-cards. Due to lack of defensive resistance from 2mufc0's midfield, we would exploit that fully with Beckenbauer and Neeskens taking turns to make attacking runs into the box. Both were masters at making driving runs from the midfield/deep. They were great dribblers who could evade the press and could get out of tight spaces due to their immaculate close control, and then pop up either by getting at the end of a cross or by shooting it from distance as both had a mean and powerful shot in them as their goalscoring record proves.
Our defence vs opposition attack:- Gentile is a fine choice to mind Stoichkov as he's the type who would give him little space to work with being a tucked in RB with mainly defensive functions. On the other side we have Nilton, one of the greatest LB's in history to deal with Garrincha, while Forster and Scirea taking care of the upcoming central danger.
Dealing with the Didi-Garrincha-Pele Trifecta:- 2mufc0 has assembled the 1958 World Cup winning trifecta. Three great players but we feel we have the defensive set-up that can restrict the influence of those three players.
In Neeskens we have the perfect player who can negate Didi's influence in and around the final third. Neeskens with his pace, physicality and engine can harry Didi throughout the game and ensure Didi doesn't get enough time and space on the ball to control the game.
Nilton was an outstanding defender and played with Garrincha at Botafogo for almost a decade. He would have played vs Garrincha in training enough to know about Garrincha's skills and traits. Now, we aren't saying Nilton will be able to completely mark Garrincha out of the game but he certainly can negate his influence to a good extent. Nilton was quick, read the game extremely well, had good football IQ and was an excellent tackler. The ideal LB to negate the impact of Garrincha.
That leaves us with Pele. We won't be man-marking Pele. Rather have players in those zones who would keep track of Pele whenever he is around their zones. Beckenbauer's primary role would be to cut the service to Pele and have him drop deep to get hold of the ball. That way we keep him farther away from out goal. Then if Pele does manage to get hold of the ball in final third, Beckenbauer will make it really tough for him by not allowing him much time and space on the ball. If Pele does manage to get past Beckenbauer, which won't be easy at all, we will have Scirea waiting for him. Its one thing outfoxing and beating one of the greatest defensive players ever but to outfox two of the greatest defensive minds ever? Even for someone like Pele, it would be very tough.
Puskas as a complete CF:- Puskas is one of the greatest goalscorers in history and his movement and ability to find the net from different angles and zones would make him hard to mark even for Figueroa and Nesta combo. Because all Puskas would need is half-a-chance and he will convert that. Also, he was a brilliant passer as well. He would get the other attacking players like Best, Zidane and Amancio involved in the game with his link-up play.
VERSUS
Team 2mufc0:
The formation graphic is pretty self explanatory, all of the players are playing in positions they are comfortable in and are of high quality. I believe my team has a blend of power, speed and with best trio in football history at the heart of the team Didi-Pele-Garrincha.
I have completed my attack by bringing the King - Pele, who is partnered with his old great teammates - the GOAT RW Garrincha who i fancy to take advantage of the opposition LB and another old mate Didi, all shared a legendary chemistry . Hristo provides the attacking threat from the left.
Seedorf adds a bit more energy and tenacity into the midfield, his all-round skillful and energetic game will provide something different in the midfield. Also partnered with Voronin it should give a good base for Didi to run the show.
The front 3 will be serviced by Didi in the final third and also from deeper potions with Seedorf and Voronin. This makes the team deadly not only in general play but also on the counter, esp with the pace of the front 3 and the tireless overlapping fullbacks.
Beckenbauer, who famously said: “I’m the European Figueroa.”
I have bolstered my back-line by bringing in Don Elias, partnered with Nesta and screened by Voronin, i believe most attackers would find this core difficult to break down. The full back spots are supported by 2 energetic and tireless workers, able to support the wingers and also defend.
Like with most of the teams i draft, the philosophy is to play football and be adaptable depending on the match situation.
would have been unfair on Raees if i didn't. Must have taken him hours.