Welcome to the Road Trip Draft II KO Stage.
Only the club career for the clubs mentioned against player names will be considered for evaluation. No national teams performances count whatsoever.
Team Moby
Key Highlights:
Team 2mufc0/Theon
TACTICS:
Tactically we have built the team around Lionel Messi inspired by his most devastating iteration as the the false #9 in a 4-3-3 formation. The system has been heavily inspired by Pep's dominant Barcelona team to get the best out of our talisman. Averaging a goal every game and winning four Ballon d'Ors in a row, Messi is arguably the most devastating club footballer of all time during this period. With a possession based set-up Messi will be granted full freedom to drop deep towards midfield where he can pick up the ball, create space for others and utilise his dribbling/passing ability to slice open the opposition back line. When approaching the goal Messi will be both creator and finisher, equally comfortable slipping in the inside forwards with a through ball as skipping through challenges to finish himself.
In another ode to Pep's Barcelona set up, we have partnered Messi with two goal-scoring inside forwards who are equally comfortable with technical wingplay on the flanks as they are penetrating the centre of the park to race through on goal. On the left we have Anderlecht legend Rob Rensenbrink, who rattled 173 goals in 304 games for Anderlecht, hitting 20+ goals in 6 out of 9 seasons there. Arjen Robben is placed on the right hand side, like Rensenbrink he was a quality creator and scorer, with 144 goals in 309 appearances for Bayern. Both of the wide men are technically brilliant footballers and comfortable playing possession football and intricate play in the final third and able to expose the space created by Messi with their movement.
In the middle of the park we have opted for a trio who are comfortable on the ball and capable of both maintaining possession and penetrating more directly. In the hybrid-attacking #8/#10 role Iniesta can again link up with Messi to re-create one of the most proven and dominant combinations in domestic football. Sitting slightly deeper in midfield is Paul Scholes (in his '06-'09 playmaker iteration) who has the technical ability to keep the ball and set up attacks with his devastating passing range (his cross-field passes to Robben and Rensenbrink should work wonders here). With his striking ability Scholes also has a knack of getting a few goals himself and in a fluid possession team he will find himself in these forward positions. Acting as the holding midfielder we have the Brazilian Cerezo, a member of the legendary Brazil '82 international side who should slot seamlessly into the technical set up we have implemented. At over 6ft with an excellent engine, Cerezo is capable of dictating play from deeper positions whist also being defensively sound and providing protection for the defence - at his best he was the highest rated footballer in Brazil ahead of Falcao and Zico which is testament to his quality.
In defence we have significantly upgraded the weakest area of Pep's Barcelona. In the centre of the defence Nesta & Vidic provide a rock solid defensive core, with both being part of two of the best defensive units in the history of club football (definitely the case for the 00's onwards). As a partnership the sweeping/covering style of Nesta is well complimented by the physical dominance and aerial presence of Vidic - indeed there are clear similarities to Rio/Vidic and with all the hallmarks of a dominant partnership. The left back position is significantly upgraded with one of the all-time GOATs Giacinto Facchetti providing defensive solidity and unrivalled attacking threat down the wing - we all know how Messi loves the switch of play to the Alba on the left who has proved devastating for Barcelona and should be equally effective here (if not more so). On the right flank Amoros who was the French player of the year in 1986 also provides excellent defensive cover and attacking threat on the right side. In goal is Jose Chilavert a goal keeper that was great on the ball and carried a goal threat on top of his superb goal keeping skills. During his time in Argentina he won both the Argentinian and South American footballer of the year in 1996.
Only the club career for the clubs mentioned against player names will be considered for evaluation. No national teams performances count whatsoever.
Team Moby --------------------------------------------- Team 2mufc0/Theon
Team Moby
Key Highlights:
- X-mas tree formation with two explosive creative geniuses roaming the lines behind a goal machine.
- Midfield foundation of Rivellino and Breitner brimming with creativity and work ethic.
- Sammer plugging the gaps in front of defense and comfortable dropping into defense when Vasovic bombs forward.
- Kaltz crossing being a massive weapon for RvN's aerial ability along with his general presence on the wing.
- Maldini - Kohler - Vasovic - Kaltz being a quality complementary backline.
- Maldini's career wide experience of playing of playing in similar setups and being a lynchpin in defense will be immensely valuable here.
Team 2mufc0/Theon
TACTICS:
Tactically we have built the team around Lionel Messi inspired by his most devastating iteration as the the false #9 in a 4-3-3 formation. The system has been heavily inspired by Pep's dominant Barcelona team to get the best out of our talisman. Averaging a goal every game and winning four Ballon d'Ors in a row, Messi is arguably the most devastating club footballer of all time during this period. With a possession based set-up Messi will be granted full freedom to drop deep towards midfield where he can pick up the ball, create space for others and utilise his dribbling/passing ability to slice open the opposition back line. When approaching the goal Messi will be both creator and finisher, equally comfortable slipping in the inside forwards with a through ball as skipping through challenges to finish himself.
In another ode to Pep's Barcelona set up, we have partnered Messi with two goal-scoring inside forwards who are equally comfortable with technical wingplay on the flanks as they are penetrating the centre of the park to race through on goal. On the left we have Anderlecht legend Rob Rensenbrink, who rattled 173 goals in 304 games for Anderlecht, hitting 20+ goals in 6 out of 9 seasons there. Arjen Robben is placed on the right hand side, like Rensenbrink he was a quality creator and scorer, with 144 goals in 309 appearances for Bayern. Both of the wide men are technically brilliant footballers and comfortable playing possession football and intricate play in the final third and able to expose the space created by Messi with their movement.
In the middle of the park we have opted for a trio who are comfortable on the ball and capable of both maintaining possession and penetrating more directly. In the hybrid-attacking #8/#10 role Iniesta can again link up with Messi to re-create one of the most proven and dominant combinations in domestic football. Sitting slightly deeper in midfield is Paul Scholes (in his '06-'09 playmaker iteration) who has the technical ability to keep the ball and set up attacks with his devastating passing range (his cross-field passes to Robben and Rensenbrink should work wonders here). With his striking ability Scholes also has a knack of getting a few goals himself and in a fluid possession team he will find himself in these forward positions. Acting as the holding midfielder we have the Brazilian Cerezo, a member of the legendary Brazil '82 international side who should slot seamlessly into the technical set up we have implemented. At over 6ft with an excellent engine, Cerezo is capable of dictating play from deeper positions whist also being defensively sound and providing protection for the defence - at his best he was the highest rated footballer in Brazil ahead of Falcao and Zico which is testament to his quality.
In defence we have significantly upgraded the weakest area of Pep's Barcelona. In the centre of the defence Nesta & Vidic provide a rock solid defensive core, with both being part of two of the best defensive units in the history of club football (definitely the case for the 00's onwards). As a partnership the sweeping/covering style of Nesta is well complimented by the physical dominance and aerial presence of Vidic - indeed there are clear similarities to Rio/Vidic and with all the hallmarks of a dominant partnership. The left back position is significantly upgraded with one of the all-time GOATs Giacinto Facchetti providing defensive solidity and unrivalled attacking threat down the wing - we all know how Messi loves the switch of play to the Alba on the left who has proved devastating for Barcelona and should be equally effective here (if not more so). On the right flank Amoros who was the French player of the year in 1986 also provides excellent defensive cover and attacking threat on the right side. In goal is Jose Chilavert a goal keeper that was great on the ball and carried a goal threat on top of his superb goal keeping skills. During his time in Argentina he won both the Argentinian and South American footballer of the year in 1996.
