40s Draft R1 : harms vs RedTiger | harms wins 7-1!

[Moby]

Team harms​

PLAYER PROFILES

Tactical summary

A pretty straight-forward 4-3-3 based on the great Ajax team of the 70’s.

In defense we have two proven partnerships - Krol and Blankenburg (joined with Gerrie Muhren on the left) have won 3 European Cups together and Kaplychnyi with Dzodzuashvili were runner-ups in Soviet 1972 Euro campaign. Dutch versatility plus Soviet discipline - and don’t forget about the genius in goal.

In midfield three we have Bedin, Roth and Gerrie Muhren. The first one was the defensive fulcrum in Herrera’s «Grande Inter», starting attacks, breaking opponent’s play and often man-marking their best player. He will be used in a way that’s familiar to him - a defensive ball-winning midfielder who can cover for the libero if he decides to come forward. Franz Roth and Gerrie Muhren are perfect for the side midfield role, both played there (Roth on the right and Muhren on the left) with great success, winning three European Cups with Bayern and Ajax. Both are fantastic, tenacious and hardworking midfielders with a great habit of scoring crucial goals - Muhren’s winner against Madrid, or his goal vs Bayern or Roth’s winners in two consecutive European Cup (I don’t think that even Di Stefano can match that). Usually when people play the diamond/wingerless 4-3-3 there is a question of suitability of side midfielders - I have the perfect ones.

In attack, all is built around our main star - Ballon D’Or winning Florian Albert. A goalscoring number 9 with vision and passing skills of a true number ten, he was a successor of the great Hidegkuti in this deep-lying centre-forward role. In Lennox, a goalscoring winger and Van Himst, a mobile centre-forward he has the perfect partners for him - they are capable of creating space for him as well as running on his perfectly delivered through-balls. No team can be safe with those three lurking around the box.


Why I’ll win:

• Synergy. In defense a lot is based on chemistry and I definitely have that - Blankenburg, Krol and Muhren have almost telepathic understanding, having played with each other hundreds of times, and they also have experience of winning against the side with Maier and Beckenbauer in it - the famous 4:0 win of Ajax against Bayern comes to mind, with Muhren scoring a beauty. Kaplychnyi and Dzodzuashvili played alongside each other many times, most noticeably in 1972 Euro, where USSR team lost in the final to an all-time great German team.
• Passing from the back. In Blankenburg and Krol I have the perfect guys to move the ball forward. My left flank is especially potent, with my Ajax trio being used to a quick transitions and interchanging between them

Spoiler: Ajax passing game

№12 is Blankenburg, №5 is Krol and №9 is Gerrie Mühren

• I have more balanced midfield and the side overall. All three of my midfielders are hardworking and I have a pure destroyer in my team in Bedin. RedTiger doesn’t have that, if he doesn’t play Beckenbauer here (which is playing his best player out of position). Oblak and Mifflin are both, to my understanding, attacking-minded players and he also have an overload of central attackers here - all three of VDK, Fischer and Sparwasser are occupying the same space which makes it easier to defend against them
• And the last (and quite biased) argument - I believe that I simply have more quality in the squad, even with Beckenbauer as a clear stand-out here.

Player focus:

Spoiler: Gerrie Mühren

I was incredibly lucky to pick such a gem at the later stages of this draft. Here are some gifs and videos of him:
A goal against Bayern Munich with Beckenbauer in defense and Maier in goal
The winner against Real Madrid (take note of Krol's run)
An overhead kick in European Cup final against Juventus

TEAM HARMS

TEAM REDTIGER

Dunne and Dobias to provide the width as Wing-Backs, Beckenbauer shielding the defence and starting the attack. Oblak will sit centrally while Mifflin plays his natural box to box role (he will also be expected to cover the runs of Dobias).

 

[Moby]

@harms
@RedTiger

Good luck gentlemen.

 

[green_smiley]

Is this the shortest tactics write-up of all time?

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Oblak will sit centrally while Mifflin plays his natural box to box role

Kaizer behind initiating plays, van der Kuijlen ahead attacking, Oblak just sitting?

Edit : What's Maier doing?

 

[Gol123]

I'm going to wait for RedTiger to explain his team a bit more.

 

[Gol123]

What is Beckenbauers role here? Is he just sitting in from of the defence and playing balls up like a holding player?

 

[harms]

As expected, RedTiger chose balance over the perfect role for Beckenbauer - and he can play there, obviously, but I still think that it's strange to pick Beckenbauer and not to build a team around him.

Still, the question remains - what about width? I have a winger in Lennox, 2 side midfielders and 2 fullbacks to help them - when RedTiger's only providers of width are his fullbacks. This makes the defending against him easier for me.

 

[harms]

TEAM harms PLAYER PROFILES​

Jan van Beveren

In the goal I have arguably the greatest Dutch keeper of all-time, certainly the most naturally gifted one. There was not a spot in goal that Jan could not reach with his athletic jump. He played more than 400 games for Sparta and PSV before moving to USA and his career also included 32 caps for Netherlands. It would’ve been more if not for the injuries and his infamous feud with Johan Cruyff. After failing to qualify for the 1970 World Cup, Van Beveren lashed out against his teammates: «we lost because some players didn’t want to put themselves out. They were only talking about money. If you play for your nation, who cares about money?». The criticism was well-deserved, but Cruyff, a difficult person that he is, didn’t forgave the keeper and pushed him out of the national team.

Ruud Krol

This is quite simple, really - one of the best defenders ever and the definition of a defender in a total football system. He was a crucial part of the all-conquering Ajax team of the 70’s and equally important part of the Netherlands national side which made in to two consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978 (with Krol playing a left-back in 1974 and a sweeper in 1978). He made it in 2 World Cup All-Star teams, in Euro team of the tournament and was nominated 5 times in Ballon D’Or list (including a third place in 1979). Couldn’t be happier with him.

Horst Blankenburg

Basically a Beckenbauer-light. Also a part of an all-conquering Ajax side of the 70’s, Blankenburg won 3 European Cups with them. He was unlucky to be born in the same time as Beckenbauer - the libber place in the national team was given to the Kaizer without any second thoughts (and who can blame them?), but Blankenburg never gave up hope. So when in 1974 Cruyff asked him to play for the Netherlands in the World Cup, he refused. A year before the 1974 World Cup, Blankenburg was chosen as part of a selection of Europe’s best players. Ironically enough, the team was coached by Schön (the manager of that Germany side). Schön even told him after that match that he would get his chance but Blankenburg never heard back from him. To this day, he remains the only player to be included in such a team without a single cap for his country.

Vladimir Kaplychnyi

Nicknamed «Wolfhound» he was a very tough and physical defender. Like Blankenburg he was unlucky to be born at the same time as the two of the Soviet greatest ever defenders - Schesternyov and Khurtsilava, yet he managed to earn 62 caps for his country - and that says something. He participated in 1968 Euro, where Soviet lost by a coin toss in the semis and in 1972 Euro, where USSR lost to an all-time great German side in the final. Also a great leader of men, he inherited the captain armband both in CSKA and USSR after Albert Schesternyov retired.

Revaz Dzodzuashvili

The best defensive right-back in USSR history. When the Soviet team found out that they were to play North Ireland in the qualifications, they immediately started a competition for a right-back place in the national side. The main question was, obviously, who is going to man-mark the best player in the world, George Best. 9 right-backs were chosen from all over the country for a trial and Dzodzuashvili proved to be the best. He studied Best for 6 months by watching the same 20-minute film over and over again, and when the time did come, he was prepared. He kept Best quiet that day, and in their next fixture Best was almost non-existent because of Dzodzuashvili’s man-marking skills. On the verge of success he also played personally against Dzajic - and for the first 20 minutes everything went wrong, Revaz was too confident and Dzajic was using it for his advantage. But after that he managed to get back in the game and Dzajic was well-handled by him for the next 70 minutes and also for the next 4 games, even Dzajic said that he was in Dzodzuashvili’s pocket in that games.

Dimitar Penev

A central defender with 90 caps for Bulgaria to his name. Probably the best ever Bulgarian defender, he won Bulgarian player of the year award two times, in 1967 and in 1971 and participated in 3 World Cups. A stylish, yet physical centre-back, he never was sent off in his career. He is also known as a manager who discovered Hristo Stoichkov, Dimitar Berbatov and a few other significant names for us.

 

[harms]

Gerrie Mühren

A skilful midfielder that was one of the stars of the Ajax golden generations that won 3 consecutive European Cups. He is responsible for the single most brilliant individual moment that deserved a standing ovation from Bernabeu in 1973: «It was the moment when Ajax and Real Madrid changed positions,» said Mühren later. «Before that it was always the big Real Madrid and the little Ajax. When they saw me doing that, the balance changed.»

He was a true total footballer - he played in a left midfield role but he was famous for his bursts forward, while he was also capable of covering for the left or centre backs. Some say that he is the most technically brilliant Dutch player after Bergkamp.

Franz Roth

Nicknamed «Der Bulle» for his appearance and physical strength he is one of only 16 players to be included in Bayern Munich Hall of Fame. A midfield enforcer, capable of playing as a side midfielder he provides a tenacity and a great goal threat from one of his long-range shots. He scored a winner in 2 consecutive European Cup finals (and winning 3 of them with the dominant Bayern side).

Gianfranco Bedin

The fulcrum of Herrera’s Grande Inter. A tenacious ball-winning midfielder, he won three Serie A titles as well as the European Cup and 2 Intercontinental Cups. Not the most talented on the ball he provided the foundation for more attacking Luis Suarez and Sandro Mazzola. He was absolutely tireless which made him the perfect man for a man-marking job

My job was to mark the strongest opponent, people like Rivera, Eusebio, Pele, Sivori, Di Stefano and Neeskens

Florian Albert

My gem. A knight in a shining armour that led Hungary to their last big achievement and the best thing that happened to Hungary since Aranycsapat. One of the most elegant players to ever grace the game, he had impeccable ball control, instant acceleration, extrasensory vision, immaculate passing and a powerful shot, the posture of a ballerina and the capacity to effortlessly glide past opponents as if he were a downhill skier and they were static gates. Ballon D’Or winner in 1967 and a hero in Hungary’s game against the World Champions Brazil in 1966, when he dictated the game which was the first Brazil loss at the World Cup in 12 years. Hungary defender Sandor Matrai remembered: “Garrincha, Gerson and Tostao were on the field in Liverpool, but there were 50,000-plus neutrals roaring “Albert, Albert, Albert” throughout!

He would come deep, gallop past [opponents] like they didn’t exist, and then thread these wonderful through-balls for us to run on to. He was joy to play with – he made it so easy for us

Paul van Himst

The best player that Belgium ever had, according to UEFA’s Jubilee award and the record holder of 4 Belgium Golden Shoes (the award for the best player of the year). He was eloquently nicknamed «The White Pele» and «Polle Gazone», the second one was about how much he was fouled against. A fantastic forward with brilliant ball-carrying skills and a great burst of acceleration, he will thrive on my service and can also interchange with Albert to confuse the opposition. He is 39th best European player ever according to the IFFHS Century elections, ahead of the likes of Dzajic, Scirea, Suarez, Maldini and Baggio.

Bobby Lennox

A brilliant goalscoring winger - he has roughly 1 in 2 statistic in his whole career, while not playing as the focal point of the attack - impressive achievement. With 273 goals he is second best goalscorer in Celtic history. Another one to thrive on Albert’s through-balls, his acceleration was almost Romario-esque and his pace was very impressive too. «Buzz-bomb», or «Lemon» was an integral piece of the Lisbon Lions, who won European Cup in 1967. When you look back, Bobby Lennox was a pivotal player in Scottish football's greatest period: winning the European Cup, beating Real Madrid on their own ground and then defeating England at Wembley (for Scotland).

If I'd had Lennox in my team, I could have played forever. He was one of the best strikers I have ever seen

The Scotsman who gave me the most trouble was Bobby Lennox of Celtic. My testimonial at the Bernabeu was against Celtic as, of course, they were the champions of Europe in 1967, and although I remember the Bernabeu rising to Jimmy Johnstone, I admired Lennox greatly.

 

[RedTiger]

@harms @Aldo @Invictus @Balu
My apologies gentleman, I spent a month building this side but HSBC have fecked everything for me. My PDQ machine stopped working yesterday and I ended up losing close to £500 in lost customers and cash discounts, im waiting on a courier to deliver another one but my business is fecked tonight. HSBC are arguing that they do not need to reimburse me for lost takings, if anyone reading this works for HSBC they can go ahead and do one.

I have to unfortunately forfeit this match even though i love doing drafts, again I apologise. I picked some very good players for my team and they will be great for the reinforcement round.

 

[harms]

@harms @Aldo @Invictus @Balu
My apologies gentleman, I spent a month building this side but HSBC have fecked everything for me. My PDQ machine stopped working yesterday and I ended up losing close to £500 in lost customers and cash discounts, im waiting on a courier to deliver another one but my business is fecked tonight. HSBC are arguing that they do not need to reimburse me for lost takings, if anyone reading this works for HSBC they can go ahead and do one.

I have to unfortunately forfeit this match even though i love doing drafts, again I apologise. I picked some very good players for my team and they will be great for the reinforcement round.

Good luck with all your trouble, it was a nice side you built. See you in the future drafts, I suppose?

 

[Balu]

@harms @Aldo @Invictus @Balu
My apologies gentleman, I spent a month building this side but HSBC have fecked everything for me. My PDQ machine stopped working yesterday and I ended up losing close to £500 in lost customers and cash discounts, im waiting on a courier to deliver another one but my business is fecked tonight. HSBC are arguing that they do not need to reimburse me for lost takings, if anyone reading this works for HSBC they can go ahead and do one.

I have to unfortunately forfeit this match even though i love doing drafts, again I apologise. I picked some very good players for my team and they will be great for the reinforcement round.

Don't worry mate, good luck with your problems.

 

[Gol123]

Sorry to hear mate.

 

[Invictus]

Take care man! Drafts will come and go, real life takes precedence.


PS : Come on, gimme Franz?



Pretty please?

 

[harms]

PS : Come on, gimme Franz?



Pretty please?

He won't even make it back to me, let alone you. Imagine my disappointment - I'll probably kick out the only one of the big guys and someone else will grab him.

 

[Invictus]

He won't even make it back to me, let alone you. Imagine my disappointment - I'll probably kick out the only one of the big guys and someone else will grab him.

PS : I have a question please. Does the pool of replacement players consist of only those eliminated in the previous round? Or is it from the beginning of the draft?

eg. Is the list of available replacements before the final restricted to players that were eliminated in the semis? Or is it First Round + QF+ SF?

 

[harms]

PS : I have a question please. Does the pool of replacement players consist of only those eliminated in the previous round? Or is it from the beginning of the draft?

eg. Is the list of available replacements before the final restricted to players that were eliminated in the semis? Or is it First Round + QF+ SF?

Usually all eliminated players are available. It's up to @Aldo, of course.

 

[Invictus]

Usually all eliminated players are available. It's up to @Aldo, of course.

Got it mate.

 

[Moby]

Sorry to hear about that RedTiger. Good luck with everything.

Game over. Harms wins.