Thanks for hosting the games while I was gone, and keeping up with it even after I got back. Much appreciated!
Because MJJ is a Muppet who was drooling over ronaldo and henryGood game @MJJ @crappycraperson
We can be friends again now we avenged that Alf business
Hell of a team you had...no idea why you were so resigned before it started!
Closer than it would have first seemed. There certainly wouldn't have been many complaints over here if your team won it all!!
Because MJJ is a Muppet who was drooling over ronaldo and henry
@MJJdamn this closed, just as i made my mind up to vote - was stuck in meetings all morning
anyways it would just have made it a more agonizing defeat for crappy and mjj as i was planning to vote for them
Am blaming you for our defeat varun.
Nor was IYou do know I wasn't serious with that?
Harsh. Tell me now that the game's done, which team do you think would win?Am blaming you for our defeat varun.
The discussion was getting tedious which is why I stopped following it midway but didn't Skizzo say it was a 4-3-3 with Silva drifting to the middle with Henry and Ronaldo flanking Suarez?. Touche
@Varun if they play a 4-3-3 with Ronaldo and Henry as wing forwards they will win it always.
A 4-4-2 with Silva and Ronaldo as wingers, I would say we will win it.
He said it would resemble that while attacking, which obviously means he fecked up with his initial team sheetThe discussion was getting tedious which is why I stopped following it midway but didn't Skizzo say it was a 4-3-3 with Silva drifting to the middle with Henry and Ronaldo flanking Suarez?
Just saw the new team sheet. Weird. I'd have stuck with Ronaldo on the left and Suarez on the right, both moving infield every opportunity. Suarez played the role with great effect at Pool and is a hard working player to boot. Kewell making the game is funny especially considering who he's sharing the flank withHe said it would resemble that while attacking, which obviously means he fecked up with his initial team sheet
He sure did, even arrived as a wide forward. I'd agree that wasn't his peak though, obviously. In any case, you would leave Bridge to help with width (what do you have him for otherwise?) and have Henry cutting inside, which isn't too different to what he did.Mainly because henry never played out wide for Arsenal. We wanted to stay at least somewhat close to source material. Kewell will offer more defensively there than Henry too, leaving him free to run the channels between Southgate and Pearce.
Ronaldo will have the beating of Pearce, and his backup is less than convincing...it means that whole back line has to shift to try and cover...But with the pace and movement of Henry and ronaldo, and Silva between the lines behind the midfield, it will cause chaos.
We haven't over thought it, we have an advantage, and now we have the players in midfield to control the game. He won't get much pressure or tracking back from that front 4, and Keane and Scholes will be running around trying to get the ball from Silva and Alonso.
Can't have three United picks though.Great draft from both teams and it was a very interesting game with some clear weaknesses in both teams that were up against absolute monsters as well. Desailly/Campbell picks I believe were the key for Skizzo/Pat to reach this far, I can't believe even in a final they were by far the superior centre back pairing. I don't think they expected to have the best centre back pairing in a final and Cristiano Ronaldo picked after three rounds.
I always thought that leaving Ince out of the team was a poor idea from Crappy/MJJ as they basically pushed out the best fourth pick in the draft out of the team. I loved the idea of Ince-Keane with Scholes capable of playing either as a box-to-box, number 10 or a deep lying playmaker to counter the opponents team.
For this draft the strategy really had to be to use your first five outfield picks as final-ready who can't be easily upgraded, with your second five as second-tier players from those top clubs (or elsewhere) who could be flexibly substituted as the right upgrade arose. With five opportunities to upgrade in a fairly stretched pool, you don't really want to be moving sideways with any of them. Easier said than done of course with up to 30 picks between selections as the snake swallowed up quality in different positions.Great draft from both teams and it was a very interesting game with some clear weaknesses in both teams that were up against absolute monsters as well. Desailly/Campbell picks I believe were the key for Skizzo/Pat to reach this far, I can't believe even in a final they were by far the superior centre back pairing. I don't think they expected to have the best centre back pairing in a final and Cristiano Ronaldo picked after three rounds.
I always thought that leaving Ince out of the team was a poor idea from Crappy/MJJ as they basically pushed out the best fourth pick in the draft out of the team. I loved the idea of Ince-Keane with Scholes capable of playing either as a box-to-box, number 10 or a deep lying playmaker to counter the opponents team.
Liverpool one I meant. Considering his partnership with Keane and the fact that he'd be sort of the third complementary player rather than a star player I think it would have worked very well, considering they already had him. Could have upgraded one more player elsewhere instead but probably it depended on who was available.Can't have three United picks though.
Yup. Seemed tough in this draft considering how weak most fourth-fifth picks were looking though. Looked like one of the harder drafts to be a manager in.For this draft the strategy really had to be to use your first five outfield picks as final-ready who can't be easily upgraded, with your second five as second-tier players from those top clubs (or elsewhere) who could be flexibly substituted as the right upgrade arose. With five opportunities to upgrade in a fairly stretched pool, you don't really want to be moving sideways with any of them. Easier said than done of course with up to 30 picks between selections as the snake swallowed up quality in different positions.
Don't think so. Think we made this final this close and even reached the final on the back of Keane-Scholes only. Problem for us was the inability to get someone like Henry. If we get him then we can pair him with either Berba/Fowler depending on the opposition and replace Southagte with Kompany/Terry. Think that would have been good enough to win the final eventually.Great draft from both teams and it was a very interesting game with some clear weaknesses in both teams that were up against absolute monsters as well. Desailly/Campbell picks I believe were the key for Skizzo/Pat to reach this far, I can't believe even in a final they were by far the superior centre back pairing. I don't think they expected to have the best centre back pairing in a final and Cristiano Ronaldo picked after three rounds.
I always thought that leaving Ince out of the team was a poor idea from Crappy/MJJ as they basically pushed out the best fourth pick in the draft out of the team. I loved the idea of Ince-Keane with Scholes capable of playing either as a box-to-box, number 10 or a deep lying playmaker to counter the opponents team.
I thought you were the one who suffered the most due to that bizarre first reinforcement round, which ultimately allowed Skizzo to pile up their attack. Criticism of your MF was also odd IMO.For this draft the strategy really had to be to use your first five outfield picks as final-ready who can't be easily upgraded, with your second five as second-tier players from those top clubs (or elsewhere) who could be flexibly substituted as the right upgrade arose. With five opportunities to upgrade in a fairly stretched pool, you don't really want to be moving sideways with any of them. Easier said than done of course with up to 30 picks between selections as the snake swallowed up quality in different positions.
It was weird. I kept on expecting Henry to go but we all turned into boring pragmatists. Cutch probably made the best headway in that round yet crashed out. While Vidic ultimately ended up being more of a burden than an asset against anyone with a turn of pace.I thought you were the one who suffered the most due to that bizarre first reinforcement round, which ultimately allowed Skizzo to pile up their attack. Criticism of your MF was also odd IMO.
Yeah we had long discussions on team sheets, line ups etc. This deserved to be close though. .. they still had a great team...and that midfield would always do well.
In the end we got votes from Aldo, Donaldo, and Rimaldo. You can't lose with the "Aldo squad" votes
Absolutely, your drafting strategy was awesome, you were just very very unlucky. And should have got Henry, Adebayor was screaming out Henry from the start! Henry-Tevez-Robben would have been quite tasty until further reinforcements materialised.For this draft the strategy really had to be to use your first five outfield picks as final-ready who can't be easily upgraded, with your second five as second-tier players from those top clubs (or elsewhere) who could be flexibly substituted as the right upgrade arose. With five opportunities to upgrade in a fairly stretched pool, you don't really want to be moving sideways with any of them. Easier said than done of course with up to 30 picks between selections as the snake swallowed up quality in different positions.
You do know I wasn't serious with that?
@Skizzo @ pat_mustard congratulations! The reason I was so resigned was because no way were we beating a side containing Henry Suarez and Ronaldo on the caf. Have no idea how we came this close.
Thanks lads. That was fecking bowel-churning by the end! I was out for most of the last 10 hours or so, which is probably good as I never quite now whether to post and risk making things worse, or just hope forlornly that voting dries up and the thread starts to dieCongrats @Skizzo and @Pat_Mustard it was long overdue!
For a moment I thought you had completely cocked it up, which would have been epic tbh.
The discussion was getting tedious which is why I stopped following it midway but didn't Skizzo say it was a 4-3-3 with Silva drifting to the middle with Henry and Ronaldo flanking Suarez?
We should have included this nifty piece of gif-age to (possibly) clarify. The idea was that the formation graphic we posted shows how we line up in the defensive phase.He said it would resemble that while attacking, which obviously means he fecked up with his initial team sheet
You got too greedy over Henry IMOWe should have included this nifty piece of gif-age to (possibly) clarify. The idea was that the formation graphic we posted shows how we line up in the defensive phase.
I always thought this would be a close game, and however we lined up it was never going to be watertight defensively as we couldn't play Gilberto due to the restrictions. In the end it was a choice between:
- starting Kewell in the 4-3-3 that we finished the game with, which had the best balance IMO but lost individual quality
- starting Henry wide on the left in a 4-3-3, which I personally don't like and would have went down terribly with some voters
- starting as we did, which won just enough admirers but plenty of critics too.
I kind of feel that after all the attention our collection of attackers had garnered, however we lined up at this stage was going to feel like a letdown for a section of voters, as none of the options were perfect and everyone would have their own ideas as to which was best.
After we got Silva and Suarez in the first reinforcement round Giggs was the attacking player I wanted most, and we had a long discussion about what to do when Henry became available too. I'm still absolutely convinced that attack would function brilliantly in possession, but for sure it gave us tactical headaches that a Giggs pick wouldn't have done.You got too greedy over Henry IMO
If you went with Giggs then
-------Suarez--------
Giggs--Silva--Ronaldo
That is much better front 4 than what you ended up playing. Silva in his natural role, with Suarez up top, Ronaldo can easily play his wing forward role and Giggs as the traditional winger out wide.
With this front 4 you probably would have beaten us with more ease even if we had Henry.