Physiocrat
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Pat_Mustard
Himannvictus
Pat_Mustard
Formation: Zona Mista
Tactical Summary: Moderately deep defensive line with a predominantly counter-attacking style.
I'm fecking knackered so I'm just going to spew out a few bullet points...
- An all-time great ball-playing CB (with 2 assists in a World Cup final to his name) Bobby Moore in the sweeper role, flanked by two quick and physically powerful foils to mitigate against his relative weaknesses.
- Thuram, Facchetti and Bruno Conti are all arguably the historical gold standards in those niche RB/RCB, LWB and one-man flank RW roles in the Zona Mista.
- Hierro starts at DM and Souness plays as our B2B midfielder, but they'll interchange at times to take advantage of Hierro's stupendous goal threat from midfield (21 league goals in 1991-92, and 55 goals in 143 games overall during his three-year goalscoring peak).
- Baggio will be in his element as our creative fulcrum, and has played some of his best football in similar setups for Juve.
- Keegan and Charles are both perennially underrated in draft circles but they should form a complementary and dangerous partnership. Keegan's career-best form came playing off big, powerhouse CFs like Toshack and Hrubesch, with Charles sharing their strengths but belonging to an altogether higher tier. Not that Baresi and Forster were in any way feeble either physically or in the air, but Charles does enjoy a substantial size advantage over them that should cause problems from crosses in particular.
Himannvictus
Basic Layout: 4-2-3-1 with mostly hard-working players and an emphasis on quick-tempo style in offense.
In goal the team features Jürgen Croy, who is something of an unsung hero in the world of goalkeepers. Chances are that most casual football watcher have probably never heard of him, but had he born on the other side of the Wall he could have very well been playing in the 1974 World Cup Final instead of Sepp Maier — he was that good. For East Germany, Croy was elected East German Footballer of the Year three times, in 1972, '76 and '78, despite playing in the goalkeeper position. An outstanding shot-stopper capable of amazing reflexes on his line, he had an excellent command of his penalty area, first-rate ball-handling skills, and above-average consistency, this quality made Croy one of the best goalkeepers of his time and arguably one of the best ever. East and West German media alike often placed him on an equal footing with his contemporaries Sepp Maier and Dino Zoff, two of the game's all-time legends.
Starting out in defense, the combination of Franco Baresi and Karlheinz Förster is arguably the most robust in this draft.
As well as excelling for Die Mannschaft!
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1980, 1984
For Anatoliy Demyanenko at the leftback position, and what he brings to the team, we will quote Valeriy Lobanovskyi, the great USSR and Dynamo Kiev manager:
Next on the agenda is one of the best central midfielders in any pool, particularly in terms of proven historical stature, József Bozsik — widely considered to be among the greatest central midfielders in history, he was the central heartbeat and midfield general of the legendary Mighty Magyars. As the best half-back in the world at his pomp, Bozsik was a visionary whose legacy was carried on by the likes of Masopust and Falcão in subsequent years — and renowned for his flawless technique, positioning, flair, tactical nous, passing accuracy and creativity — as well as his calm demeanor and organisational skills as a leader.
On the opposite flank is Luís Figo, probably the greatest winger in the world during the last three decades. He was a playmaking right-winger with remarkable dribbling and the ability to make pinpoint passing and imagination to create assists. Gifted with an extraordinary technical ability, aided to his good physical shape and strong charisma, enormous ambition and total dedication to his job, led him to become one of his generation's leading lights, with a fantastic career full of conquests.
And up front is the peerless Gerd Müller, the most lethal and decisive striker in football history. As well as a wonderful footballer.
Quoted from Cruyff's autobiography My Turn: A Life of Total Football
Key talking points
Himannvictus
Pat_Mustard
Formation: Zona Mista
Tactical Summary: Moderately deep defensive line with a predominantly counter-attacking style.
I'm fecking knackered so I'm just going to spew out a few bullet points...
- An all-time great ball-playing CB (with 2 assists in a World Cup final to his name) Bobby Moore in the sweeper role, flanked by two quick and physically powerful foils to mitigate against his relative weaknesses.
- Thuram, Facchetti and Bruno Conti are all arguably the historical gold standards in those niche RB/RCB, LWB and one-man flank RW roles in the Zona Mista.
- Hierro starts at DM and Souness plays as our B2B midfielder, but they'll interchange at times to take advantage of Hierro's stupendous goal threat from midfield (21 league goals in 1991-92, and 55 goals in 143 games overall during his three-year goalscoring peak).
- Baggio will be in his element as our creative fulcrum, and has played some of his best football in similar setups for Juve.
- Keegan and Charles are both perennially underrated in draft circles but they should form a complementary and dangerous partnership. Keegan's career-best form came playing off big, powerhouse CFs like Toshack and Hrubesch, with Charles sharing their strengths but belonging to an altogether higher tier. Not that Baresi and Forster were in any way feeble either physically or in the air, but Charles does enjoy a substantial size advantage over them that should cause problems from crosses in particular.
Himannvictus
Basic Layout: 4-2-3-1 with mostly hard-working players and an emphasis on quick-tempo style in offense.
In goal the team features Jürgen Croy, who is something of an unsung hero in the world of goalkeepers. Chances are that most casual football watcher have probably never heard of him, but had he born on the other side of the Wall he could have very well been playing in the 1974 World Cup Final instead of Sepp Maier — he was that good. For East Germany, Croy was elected East German Footballer of the Year three times, in 1972, '76 and '78, despite playing in the goalkeeper position. An outstanding shot-stopper capable of amazing reflexes on his line, he had an excellent command of his penalty area, first-rate ball-handling skills, and above-average consistency, this quality made Croy one of the best goalkeepers of his time and arguably one of the best ever. East and West German media alike often placed him on an equal footing with his contemporaries Sepp Maier and Dino Zoff, two of the game's all-time legends.
Starting out in defense, the combination of Franco Baresi and Karlheinz Förster is arguably the most robust in this draft.
And the latter is considered to be one of the greatest stoppers of all time, as well as a brilliant man-marker, and performed at practically every stage, winning German Defender of the Year for 5 consecutive seasons (a record for central defenders over the last 40 years)...What more can be said about a man who made defending an absolute joy to watch. Such a reader of the game, brilliant technique, his decision making was absolutely brilliant, he knew when to slow the game down and play it out from the back or when he just needed to hit it into Row Z, you could argue Franco was no nonsense but a defender with flair at the same time, as I've said he based every decision on it's own merits and knew what was best to do in every scenario. Brave as anything as well, would stick his head where most would struggle to put their boot. Despite the '94 World Cup Final being an absolute dire affair in the attacking third, any fan of the true art of defending would say that Franco's remarkable MOM performance at the ripe old age of 34, snuffing out Romario and every other Brazilian attacker that day was sheer genius. Also as well as being a brilliant defender he was also fantastic at bringing the ball out from the back and often finished off his own moves he started from defence, with his amazing bursts of acceleration, technique and brilliant positioning at both ends of the field.
As well as excelling for Die Mannschaft!
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1980, 1984
For Anatoliy Demyanenko at the leftback position, and what he brings to the team, we will quote Valeriy Lobanovskyi, the great USSR and Dynamo Kiev manager:
And at rightback, we have the ever-dependable Phil Neal, who is still one of the most decorated players in English football history and will be remembered as the most consistent rightback Liverpool has ever had on its books. He served the club for over ten years and won an incredible four European Cup titles. At the peak of his powers, Neal boasted great positional sense and drew errors from the opposition player, forcing them wider before dispossessing them cleanly.Demyanenko impressed everyone with his attitude in training. To maximise his impressive athleticism we needed to give him as much space as possible, so we’ve put him at left back, where he began to play with freedom that was unseen before in Soviet football. He was an instant upgrade on Matvienko, who played there before him — he matched him defensively but, at the same time, he significantly improved our attack. He covered a 60-70 meters long zone on the left and after the game he looked like this hellish work actually makes him happy
Next on the agenda is one of the best central midfielders in any pool, particularly in terms of proven historical stature, József Bozsik — widely considered to be among the greatest central midfielders in history, he was the central heartbeat and midfield general of the legendary Mighty Magyars. As the best half-back in the world at his pomp, Bozsik was a visionary whose legacy was carried on by the likes of Masopust and Falcão in subsequent years — and renowned for his flawless technique, positioning, flair, tactical nous, passing accuracy and creativity — as well as his calm demeanor and organisational skills as a leader.
And along side is the devilish Billy Bremner, the fiery midfield dynamo whose tireless energy spurred on Leeds United during their most successful years, under the management of Don Revie. His priceless precision passing, stamina and skill led him to become a Leeds United legend and one of the game's greatest midfielders.“Kocsis often received passes from László ‘Pupos’ Budai, who was very fast. Nándor Hidegkuti created what was called a middle style, hanging back with the defenders to receive passes from József ‘Cucu’ Bozsik, who was the team’s chief, its intellectual leader. Whoever understood football could understand Bozsik’s importance. Like Puskás, he made impossible situations possible.
At the central attacking-midfielder/forward position is the legendary László Kubala, who was often reckoned in the company of Ferenc Puskás or Di Stéfano in his playing days, but sadly never got the chance to evidence his considerable talent for Hungary. Before Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Johan Cruyff, there was Kubala. The Hungarian's time at Barcelona came well before the days of even color television, but his genius at the club persists strongly to this day, marked most clearly by the towering bronze statue of him that stands in the grounds of the Camp Nou.No manager could wish for a greater leader or a greater player. If I was in the trenches at the front line, the man I would want on my right side is Billy Bremner — Don Revie
At the left attacker position is Rob Rensenbrink (aka Slangenmens, Dutch for Snake Man), who had a bit of everything in his game. An intelligent player with a fantastic touch and flexibility of a seasoned contorsionist, he was tall enough to be used as a traditional center-forward yet possessed a great dribbling technique that meant he could also play out wide, where he was more than capable of leaving 2 or 3 defenders bamboozled in his wake. To add, his movement off the ball was excellent, often baffling the opposition with some of his runs and ability to find space.When he [Kubala] was on the pitch we had the feeling that we couldn’t lose. He dominated the game and dominated the ball, created an atmosphere of optimism, a winner’s mentality… he transformed football — Gustau Biosca
On the opposite flank is Luís Figo, probably the greatest winger in the world during the last three decades. He was a playmaking right-winger with remarkable dribbling and the ability to make pinpoint passing and imagination to create assists. Gifted with an extraordinary technical ability, aided to his good physical shape and strong charisma, enormous ambition and total dedication to his job, led him to become one of his generation's leading lights, with a fantastic career full of conquests.
And up front is the peerless Gerd Müller, the most lethal and decisive striker in football history. As well as a wonderful footballer.
Quoted from Cruyff's autobiography My Turn: A Life of Total Football
Key talking points
- Quality all over the pitch with no real weak links.
- Hard workers along the spine and on the flanks as well.
- Attacking trio of Rensenbrink, Kubala and Müller scored a total of ~1350 goals.
- At first glance, we will concede that the opposition has better fullbacks but in our opinion our offense is more potent and the central defensive duo more astute.