vs
..........................................Team Skizzo........................................................................................Team MJJ/crappy.....................................
Team Skizzo
Formation - 4321
I drafted in Cannavaro and Ramos to both help shore up the defence, and add an extra attacking threat down the right hand side. Both Camacho and Ramos will be defenders first, but look to get forward when they are able to, and put crosses in and link up with the attackers.
Between Buffon and the back 4, and Hierro and Pirri, my squad has plenty of grit, determination, and natural leaders who will bring the best out of each other. Which will be needed against the quality team MJJ and Crappy have assembled.
Gameplan
The team will be instructed to play a deep line, to not allow the pace of Romario and Henry to be as effective. Keeping those two and Figo in front of the defence makes it easier to stifle some of their threat. While Figo will be a handful, he won't have much of a target in the box to aim for with crosses. Henry will look to drift centrally, which will bring him in to where we have Cannavaro and Santamaria marshaling the defence, and with no AM on the opposite side, Hierro can collapse in to some of that space also.
I assume Marcelo and Lahm will be the attacking fullbacks, which is why Riquelme is dropped, and Sivori and Tevez will play just behind Charles. Two reasons for that, one is they will look to drift wide into the space behind the fullbacks when necessary, opening space for each other, and to give charles more space in the area. It also negates some of the effectiveness of them playing a DM who won't know where to pick up a player. Secondly, it removes any passengers (Riquelme) from the team and gives us a full squad of players who will work hard to win the ball back, and put in a shift defensively and offensively.
On the opposite side, while they're quality players, there are a few who won't do much once the ball is turned over. In a hlgame of fine margins, that can tip the scales in our favour.
When we win the ball, we have great passers in defence and midfield who will look to spring us forward quickly and exploit the space left in behind of Marcelo and Lahm.
Team MJJ/crappy
Formation : 4-3-3
Attack
The best forward in the draft, Romario leads the line. Figo will run the right wing, capable of taking on any full back in this draft. He will be further strengthened by added support of Lahm. The attack is rounded off by Henry as a left forward. Combined together are handful for any defense complied in this draft. With Marcelo's support, Henry will be cutting in from the left and linking up with Romario. Both he and Figo are capable of creating from either the wing or through the middle. Absence of a designated number 10 in 433 will allow Henry to play a more free role from the left and influence the game more rather than just play as a traditional left inner forward. We have 3 match winners in attack. All 3 attackers are capable of winning the game on their own.
Midfield
A powerhouse of a midfield with Sammer playing his natural libero role. Matthias Sammer excelled in that libero position, he has the nous to know where he needs to be in, in defense to cover for someone or join the midfield battle. Given the opposition in this matchup he will be spending most of the time in front of the defense, stiffing any central creativity of the opposition.
Vieira and Deschamps will battle it out with anyone in the central area. Deschamps will play the more conservative role defensively while Vieira will play his natural box to box role. He showed at Arsenal that he is capable of contributing to the attack from a central position.
Defense
Kohler-Thiago are a dream pairing. Both compliment each other perfectly. Kohler is a man marker extraordinaire, tough enough to go against any forward in footballing history. Thiago Silva, the best defender in modern day football, possess every defensive facet required and adds some pace to the defensive line. Marcelo is the perfect kind of attacking full back to play on the left to compliment Henry who would be playing in the inner left channel rather than out wide. His attack forays won't even leave the team exposed since Sammer is capable of falling back into the defense and Kohler/Deschamps can cover for him too. Lahm on the right gets to play in his best role and will will play the role of a modern day full back who will attack and defend, providing an engine out wide for the whole team. Finally, we have the best keeper of current era in Martin Neuer as the final wall.
Why we will win
- Perfect wing partnerships. Figo+Lahm and Henry+Marcelo form the perfect combo on either wing. Against a diamond, it would bring a lot of attacking opportunities to stretch the opposition defense and midfield.
- Romario. The best striker in the draft, any CB available would have a tough job containing him. He will always give our team that extra edge in any contest. Not sure if Cannavarro can deal with a striker like him.
- Who takes on Henry? If it is Ramos then that's a clearly lop sided battle in our favor. If one of the CBs is going take him on then that just creates more space for Romario to exploit.
- Kohler + Thiago + Sammer combo pretty much shuts out the opposition from the central area. Riquelme, on whom the opposition will be most reliant on to create, will be ineffective by lack of space in front of the defense. Moreover Kohler is capable of dealing with Charles' aerial threat.
To summarize, we have sufficient presence in our midfield to deal with opposition's diamond. Plus, our threat on the wings would force the opposition into reactive play throughout allowing us to dominate the match and win.
Last edited:
Not saying this as a weakness, as he's perfectly positioned, but just seeing him in the teamsheet gives me a surreal feeling!
Although judging by 4 quick votes, doesn't seem like you'll need it 
