Auction-Trade Madness Draft - R1: Enigma/TRV vs Lord Sinister

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

VS
.......................................... TEAM ENIGMA/TRV ............................................................................. TEAM LORD SINISTER ....................................


TEAM ENIGMA/TRV

Formation: 5-3-2 fluid, counter attacking.
Defensive line: normal
Style: very direct, fast tempo. Villa in free role to run into pockets, create and finish himself. Benarrivo and Candela both can support the attack and supply the forward line.

Short team profiles:

(GK) De Gea - steadily becoming one of the best keepers to have graced the game. Imperious for United and probably the outstanding player we have had since Fergie retired.
(LWB) Vincent Candela - Entered Roma hall of fame in 2013. One of the top wing backs in the end of the 90's and turn of the century. Very versatile, solid in defence and attack.

Spoiler: Candela compilation

(RWB) Antonio Benarrivo - another 90's Seria A notable figure. An enthusiastic wing back, full back or even at times deployed as midfielder he had pace to burn, great cross and as other Italian full backs - solid in defence. WC winner in 94 playing in all of Italy's games at the WC bar the first round defeat against Ireland.
(CB) Bobby Moore - the outstanding defender and CB on the pitch. The 'Rolls Royce' defender is pretty much known figure and WC winning captain. Would marshal the defense for us and organize the backline. He was a very good passer as well. So, will look to initiate swift counter-attacks from the back.
(LCB) Tony Adams - solid no nonsense defender with great tacking ability and imperious in the air. Arsenal long serving captain and winner of 4 PL/First division titles, along with numerous other accolades.
(RCB) Rune Bratseth - the best Norwegian player of all time. Led Norway to the WC in 94. World class in three seasons according to Kicker in the late 80's early 90's. Fast as hell, comfortable on the ball and rock solid at the back.
(LCM) Igor Netto - He's at his sweet spot here - Netto was a midfield dynamo - part of Russia's golden generation from the mid 50's early 60's. Part of 60' EURO team of the tournament he was a midfield playmaker, who loved the left side of the pitch but also could set his foot on the game and excellent in the defensive phase.
(RCM) Marco Tardelli - Hard tackling midfielder, epitomizing the Catenaccio era, but very skillful on the ball and excellent in transition, alongside Netto forms a top notch midfield unit.
(AM) Rivellino - Integral part of Brazil's best team ever he was one of those players who can dribble you in a phone booth and was an example for the younger generation. He possessed enormous flair and talent with a cannonball of a shot(named “The Atomic Kick”).

Spoiler: Rivellino - The idol of Maradona

(CF) David Villa - well known - one of the most creative and deadly forwards in the 00's. Valencia and Spanish national team legend.
(CF) Gerd Müller - One of Europe's elite. Probably the most deadly finisher the game has seen. Simple quote from Beckenbauer says it all:


Team tactics and style:
Defence - marshaled by Moore, our defence is complimented by two very strong defenders in the air (Adams and Bratseth) but also complimentary pairing as Bratseth was also excellent on the ball and possessed great pace that not many forwards were able to outrun him. Benarrivo and Candela will man their own flanks contributing in both phases.
Midfield - Netto and Tardelli will form the double pivot midfield base - both solid in the defensive phase and Netto able to cover wide as well. Rivellino will be no stranger to the midfield battle as his work rate is well appreciated and perhaps should give us a nod there.
Attack - a GOAT striker in Müller who will get plenty of support both from the flanks from our wing backs, Villa who is notably a creative forward, and of course Rivellino slicing the opposition open with his vision and passing ability. Villa is also in his zone here - able to run into pockets, drop wide and also attack the box when der Bomber makes room with his movement.

Advantages:
Defence - we feel we have the upper hand here with one of the best keepers in De Gea, shielded by a solid core, marshaled by Moore and two very solid defensively wing backs in Candela and Benarrivo. Our defence is well suited dealing in the air with van Basten, but also Bratseth and Moore can match him for pace(Bratseth) and also dealing with the threat before it even occurs (Moore's imperious reading of the game).
Attack - Alongside der Bomber we also have Villa and both are supplied by Rivellino - a stylistically great trio, that offers a lot of variation in attack.
Bratseth vs MvB - the duo have met three times and Bratseth has a very good record vs peak van Basten:

http://www.worldfootball.net/report/champions-league-1988-1989-viertelfinale-werder-bremen-ac-milan/
http://www.worldfootball.net/report/champions-league-1988-1989-viertelfinale-ac-milan-werder-bremen/
https://www.11v11.com/matches/norway-v-netherlands-23-september-1992-243772/

1 goal in three games and that goal came from penalty.


TEAM LORD SINISTER

Formation and Players:
Playing a 1-3-5-2 with Jan Oblak being the goalkeeper, three center backs in H.G. Schwarzenbeck, G. Buchwald and W. Schulz, three central midfielders- one holding midfielder in Nestor Rossi, two all action central midfielders - Redondo and O. Ardiles, two wing backs in Marcelo and D. Alves, one second striker in G. Sarosi and a complete striker M. van Basten.


Player roles:

I will playing with a flat back three, with W. Schulz in the middle, with H.G. Schwarzenbeck in the left, and G. Buchwald in the right. They will be instructed to cover for the wingbacks, with Nestor Rossi helping them from time to time.

Nestor Rossi will be playing a proper defensive midfielder role, with constantly destroying and passing the ball to either the wingbacks or the two other midfielders. Protecting the defense, and always maintaining his positional play. He will be our captain.

Redondo and Ardiles will be the all action midfielders, who will take on players, and link up with Sarosi and van Basten and the wing backs to overload one side, and than release the other wingback. Both are fantastic players on the ball while also being defensively great. They will not feel out of place, as they can both keep the ball, take on players(both are excellent dribblers for a defensive players, especially Ardiles who was a Iniestasque dribbler), link up and not only fighting for the ball once possession is lost, but also being able to win it back.

Marcelo and Dani Alves will be absolutely busy throughout the matches, and thankfully both have superhuman stamina and energy to last whole 120 minutes. They be instructed to both invert inside, and stretch play. If Dani Alves has inverted inside and combing with midfielders and Sarosi, Marcelo will be making the weak side off the ball, to get behind the defense, and deliver his trademark cutbacks, and passes to van Basten, or the on rushing Sarosi. And vice versa for D. Alves on the other flank. They will also attempt through balls.

Sarosi is our star player, and the player who will be involved in all of our moves. A complete footballer, equally capable of playing anywhere in the field, Sarosi will be the man who drop deeper and will link up with the midfield, combine with the wingbacks and have a bullish approach to the box bullying enigma's defense.

Van Basten, the ultimate forward in these kinds of set up, where you need someone who can handle a central defense all on their own, while also being able to hold the ball, score from minimal chances(although we will be creating most of the chances, as we look to dominate the possession with our 3-1-5-1(when one of the wingback invert inside, while other look to exploit the weak side, and Sarosi also dropping to help the midfield while stretching the play on both wings).


Tactics:

• Rampant Counter Pressing, overloading one side, and than transferring quickly to the weak side to break the opposition.

• Creating a protective base of 4 players(N. Rossi, W. Schulz, H.G. Schwarzenbeck and G. Buchwald), while other four are box to box(Redondo, Ardiles, Marcelo and D. Alves), one free role in G.Sarosi and a true forward in M. van Basten.

• We will also be looking to quickly release the ball, when we catch the opposition on break. As we will look to mix possession game with quick counters, thus not stagnaning the game with slow ball play all the time.

• Exploiting the aerial prowess of G.Sarosi and M. van Basten, with crosses, long balls and set pieces.

 

[Enigma_87]

Thanks for setting it up @Edgar Allan Pillow !

Good luck @Lord SInister

 

[Lord SInister]

Best of Luck @enigma

 

[Enigma_87]

To kick it off with some bits on the less famous players in the two sides:

One of the best defenders in Bundesliga during the 1980s & 1990s, The Elk, Rune Bratseth was the defensive lynchpin of the Werder Bremen side which won two Bundesliga titles. During that phase with Werder Bremen, Kicker magazine had Rune Bratseth amongst the Top-2 defenders in Bundesliga, sometimes even finishing 1st ahead of the great defenders like Jürgen Kohler and Klaus Augenthaler. He was so dominant during his peak with Werder Bremen, that it even prompted the great Franz Beckenbauer, who was then the West Germany Coach to say that if Rune Bratseth had been German, he would have started for West Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup which they ultimately ended up winning!

Rune Bratseth - Kicker 1988

Bremen made up for the loss of Gunnar Sauer brilliantly with Rune Bratseth taking over that role after Sauer's initial replacement Michael Kutzop was also injured. The Norwegian, who is already in a class of his own as marker, showcased impressively that he also knows how to interpet the role of libero in a brilliant way. The 1,93 meters tall defender, who Otto Rehhagel bought two years ago for 300,000 Marks from the Norwegian champion Rosenborg Trondheim, convinces with his versatility. In defense, he is almost insurmountable due to his pace, heading prowess and overview and as a libero, he also makes use of his freedom to roam forward stupendously. Bratseth's constantly above average performances, especially in the European Cup, tipped the balance to rate him as 'world class'. The brave 'Viking' would certainly play an outstanding role in any other European league, too. It also speaks for the deeply religious Bratseth that he does not intend to move southwards ("I feel well in Bremen, money is not everything").

Rune Bratseth - Kicker 1992

The Libero position, a problem of German football ever since Beckenbauer retired from the national team. To us, the best libero right now plays in Bremen, is Norwegian and his name is Rune Bratseth. He played captivatingly for Norway which is still unbeaten in the World Cup qualifiers. .... Bratseth is a man of class who some already have eulogized as an extraterrestial being due to his abilities and his virtues. .... Rune Bratseth remains an exceptional phenomenon. He sets himself apart from the staid mediocrity of his colleagues. In every way. Especially when one focuses on his performances on the pitch. 'World class' for the second time since winter 1988. The patient one feels honoured: "A great honour to me" said Bratseth when he heard the news. "Thoroughly justified" said Bremen's managing director Willi Lemke. And coach Otto Rehhagel certainly won't raise any objections, too, after all he's never tired in decorating Bratseth with superlatives: Bratseth is the cleverest, the fairest, the fastest defender in the world, said Rehhagel.

Rehhagel may sometimes be inclined to wax lyrically but in this case his praise is realistic. Rune Bratseth is a first class chief of defense who combines all virtues that this position demands: swiftness and positional play, vision and offensive prowess, technique and elegance, cleverness and routine. What distinguishes him the most however is that he's a personality. A general in the positive sense, a leader who oozes authority and charme at the same time.

Rune Bratseth - Kicker 1993

Success with Norway's national team, the German championship with Werder Bremen - Rune Bratseth is riding the crest of a wave. The seasoned libero is the only outfield player that we labelled 'world class' in our ranking. .......the success of Norway in the World Cup qualifiers is downright sensational. In addition to that the German championship with Werder - small wonder that Bratseth's popularity in Norway has reached new heights. It was his success with Norway which proved to be decisive in categorizing Bratseth as 'world class' this time. .... That a libero like Bratseth with such a high performance level is still playing in the Bundesliga made him a downright attaction in light of the many offers from abroad. Bratseth's strongpoints are undisputed. His conduct in man-to-man duels is extra class just as his aerial game as well as his quickness (4.7 seconds for the first 40 meters). His technique is appealing despite his way of walking sometimes reminding one of a galloping moose. But ultimately it is not elegance but efficiency that is demanded on the pitch.

It is his enormous understanding of the game that ultimately distinguishes him as a libero of world class. Bratseth is capable of reading a game like a conductor. This is also known by Egil Olsen, the Norwegian head coach, who - as a Norwegian - probably does not even know the word "libero" since Norway operates with a flat back four - traditionally with two center backs. Yet Bratseth calls the shots similar to Franco Baresi for AC Milan. For example when the pressing does not work as planned. "Then we immediately draw back to minimize the space for long passes", says Rune. Bratseth realizes dangerous developments in no time and functions as the instigator of a very mobile, flat defensive chain. This is the nucleus of the Norwegian success. Naturally in compiling our ranking we did not only focus on international performances. His performances in the Bundesliga were habitually commanding. Not without reason the Bremen defense conceded the least number of goals this season. .....

What the Pundit says - Franz Beckenbauer

Rune Bratseth world class? The Norwegian has earned this label since he has not lost any of his strengths and also won the German championship with Bremen and is shortly before leading Norway to the World Cup. While the decision of Kicker in this ranking in general is quite generous the decision regarding Bratseth is still correct.

Kicker description of his playing style:
The tall, athletic Norwegian defender came to Bremen in 1986 where Otto Rehhagel first used him as a man-marker, a position he soon made a name for himself due to his fairness and calm way of going on about his task. However he really started to blossom when he was freed of marking duties in late-1988 when Rehhagel looked for a new libero as the injury-prone Gunnar Sauer needed to be replaced permanently. Rehhagel realized pretty soon that a very intelligent player like Bratseth was somewhat wasted as a marker, and when Sauer missed more and more games the decision was easy. His interpretation of the free role was conservative, more in tradition of a Willi Schulz than a Franz Beckenbauer, owing to Rehhagel’s conservative approach as well as Bratseth’s upbringing as a Scandinavian central defender in a flat back four, where no nonsense mentalities were more common for defenders than in the continental game with its libero tradition. On the pitch Bratseth distinguished himself with his fast acceleration (for his type of player), excellent positioning, great overview, technique and his personality.


World Cup 1994

Rune Bratseth as one of the focal players (and captain) for Norway on their road to qualify for the WC in 94, beating the likes of Holland and England for the top spot in their qualification group.

Norway conceded just 5 goals in 10 games, and only 2 in 4 games against England and Holland to put the Englishmen aside who had a midfield / attacking unit of Platt, Shearer, Gascoigne, Lee Sharp, etc..

In the final stages in USA, Norway were again very difficult to break down boasting with only 1 goal conceded defensive record, against strong Ireland, Mexico sides and finalists Italy.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Something feels off in Sinister's midfield. Like all the players, but the dynamics makes me feel it's more pass oriented and has less pace.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

That's a brilliant piece on Bratseth @Enigma_87 . I remember him getting rave reviews in the early-mid 1990s in my old World Soccer magazines. Very little to choose between the two teams here.

 

[Enigma_87]

And a great piece on Netto.

Igor Netto: the forgotten legend of Russian football
Toke Møller Theilade
part of The Tsars of Football

Nowadays the term ‘fair play’ has degenerated into kicking the ball out of the pitch when a player is faking an injury while the spectators award the players on the pitch with shallow applause that holds no real meaning. While fair play has slowly turned into an empty gesture – a leftover from a simpler time where money and winning wasn’t everything – it hasn’t always been like that.

One of the best tales about fair play is from the 1962 World Cup. After beating Yugoslavia and drawing against Colombia in the first two games, the Soviet Union were forced to beat Uruguay in the last game of the group stage in order to advance. And things started well for Sbornaya as CDKA Moscow striker Aleksei Mamykin secured the lead with a goal in the first half. Uruguay equalised in the second half, and the pressure was back on the Soviet team to score the winning goal.

In the second half the Soviet players and fans got to celebrate as Dinamo Moscow striker Igor Chislenko brought Sbornaya back in front. However, Igor Netto, the Soviet captain, had noted that something was wrong, and after a short chat with Chislenko he approached the referee, who was surrounded by protesting opponents, and told him to disallow the goal, which he did, because the ball went through a hole in the side netting, something the Uruguay players had also noticed.

“We weren’t used to the gimmicks,” he later recalled in his autobiography. And luckily for Netto and the rest of the Soviet Union, they didn’t need any gimmicks to win the game, as legendary Torpedo Moscow striker Valentin Ivanov scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. “We should win without relying on the referee’s mistake. I finally felt a sense of relief,” Netto recalled the game.

In 1962, Netto’s career was at a high, and the episode at the World Cup tells a lot about the man who went down in history as one of the greatest players, not only for Spartak Moscow, but also for the whole Soviet Union and later Russia.

Despite dying in 1999, Netto is still remembered and often honoured by both Spartak and Russian fans as a whole. Before Russia’s Euro 2016 qualifier in Moscow against Sweden last year, a giant tifo with the faces of Netto alongside Lev Yashin, Eduard Streltsov and Grigory Fedotov was shown together with the words: “Take pride in your history”.

The year before, Spartak fans had done something similar when they pictured Netto alongside Nikolai Starostin, Fedor Cherenkov and Andrey Tikhonov with the words: “Be worthy of the great history”.

Netto does indeed have a great history. Born into an immigrant family of Estonian decent in 1930, the young Netto quickly showed promise of great athleticism. He would spend summer hours playing football with his mates. Due to the lack of proper pitches and grass fields in Moscow, the boys played in the small yards around the city, a game later known as korobka, and it helped create strong technical players who were comfortable playing in small areas surrounded by opponents. As the winter came, the technically gifted Netto changed to skates as he, like most other Soviet citizens, also enjoyed playing ice hockey.

As Netto grew older it became clear that the beautiful game of football was his true love, and where his future lied, but he could never quite leave the game of ice hockey, and even after he became a regular in Spartak’s first team, he made several appearances in the best Soviet league; indeed, after he retired from football in 1966, he worked as an ice hockey coach for a while before eventually returning to football.

At the age of 19, Netto was discovered by Spartak who gave him the number 6 and immediately made him a part of the first team. The Red-Whites were in the middle of one of the worst periods in the history of the club, and they hadn’t won the league in 10 years by then. They had also lost most of their pre-war regulars to local rivals Dinamo and CDKA, who took advantage of Spartak’s poor health, while the club founders, the four Starostin brothers, were imprisoned in a Gulag.

They were therefore in need of young players with whom they could build a new powerful squad around, and Netto fitted perfectly into this plan. Just like many great Spartak players before and after him, he both preferred and mastered a possession-based approach to football. Initially he started in defence, but soon after head coach Abram Dangulov figured out that he could utilise his strong passing skills, incredible vision of the game and great technique better further up the pitch, Netto was moved to midfield, where he developed into one of the finest box-to-box midfielders in history.

“Igor Netto was definitely a player ahead of his time,” Joel Amorim, Spartak Moscow expert at Russian Football News says. “He was too talented to play on the left side of the defence or even as a wide midfielder, but he still turned out to be one of the most brilliant playmakers of all-time. He had a golden left foot and you still cannot find many players these days with his passing skills and incredible vision.”

Dangulov was appointed head coach of Spartak in 1949 after Krylya Sovetov Moscow was disbanded the year before, and with him he brought one of the most promising young strikers in the country, Nikita Simonyan. Simonyan went on to become the highest scoring player in the history of Spartak, and with those two in the team, the Red-Whites started their trip back to the top.

In Robert Edelman’s book Spartak Moscow – The History of the People’s Team in the Worker’s State Simonyan explains Netto’s approach to football: “He [Netto] completely refused to recognise that there was such a thing as a long pass. He was very self-confident and never wanted to make a mistake with a pass. He never took a risk, and if any of us made a long pass, he would shout: ‘What’s with you? Are you playing village football?’”

“After the World War, Spartak had big problems,” Konstantin Evgrafov, Editor-in-Chief at Euro-football.ru and a Spartak supporter explains. “But then some young players began to come into the first team, one of them being Netto, and slowly Spartak started to work their way back to the top of the league.”

By 1952, the former Spartak defender Vasily Solokov had replaced Dangulov and the gamble on the young players was finally paying off as Spartak secured their first league title since 1939.

That was also the year when Netto received his debut for the national team as he took part in the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, where he started in the legendary 5-5 draw against Yugoslavia in the First Round. Sbornaya were down 5-1 after 60 minutes, but late goals from Vsevolod Bobrov, Vasily Trofimov and Aleksandr Petrov brought the Soviets back into the game and forced a rematch that was due to be played two days later.

The match had serious consequences for the Soviet players as it was played just a few years after Yugoslavian president Josip Tito refused to submit to Joseph Stalin’s interpretation of communism, which made the result personally important to Stalin – who wasn’t normally fan of football – as he couldn’t tolerate a defeat against the man and country who had defied him.

His anger was known to the players when the Soviet team lost the rematch 3-1, despite leading through an early goal from Bobrov. Head coach Boris Arkadiev was stripped of his Merited Master of Sports of the USSR title, and CDKA Moscow, the side that had delivered the backbone of the squad, was temporary disbanded.

After the initial disappointment, the following years turned out to be more successful for Netto and the national team.

He captained the team when they won the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. Playing in his preferred number six role, Netto started all five games on the road to the title, and with the exception of a dreadful 0-0 draw against Indonesia in the opening game, Sbornaya won all of their games on the road to the title.

Three years before the final Stalin had died, and so the pressure was somewhat reduced this time. The Soviet Union won 1-0 after a goal by fellow Spartak player Anatoliy Ilin. The year after, Netto and his team-mates were all awarded the prestigious Order of Lenin for their contribution to Soviet sport, which was the highest decoration in the Soviet Union.

While his friends and team-mates were celebrating the victory on the long trip home from Australia, Netto received terrible news from home that his father had died. Unwilling to ruin his team-mates’ celebrations, Netto didn’t reveal this to anyone until they got back.

Netto was also the captain when the Soviet Union participated in the first edition of the European Championship four years later, the so-called European Nations’ Cup.

Alongside players such as Dinamo Moscow goalkeeper Lev Yashin and Torpedo Moscow striker Valentin Ivanov, Netto captained what is believed to be the Golden Generation of the Soviet Union at the tournament that was played in France.




With only four teams participating, they started in the semi-finals, where the Soviet Union demolished Czechoslovakia 3-0 after two goals from Ivanov and one from his striking partner Viktor Poneldenik. In the final at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Yugoslavia awaited them once again.

Netto started both matches and helped the Soviet Union beat their Eastern rivals 2-1 in the final after Poneldenik scored the decisive goal in the 113th minute of extra time. Being the captain, Netto was one of the key forces behind the victory, which was taken note of around world. It was even rumoured that the mighty Real Madrid pursued him in the summer of 1960.

However, history hasn’t been kind to Netto, and he is rarely remembered outside of the now former Soviet Union. “Lev Yashin’s enormous talent helped people forget Netto,” Amorim says. “But he wasn’t by any means any less important to the Soviet Union national team than his iconic team-mate.”

The men in charge of Soviet football knew that. “Igor’s impact on the other players was great,” Spartak boss Nikolai Starostin later said. “It was no coincidence that, despite his young age, the players chose him as captain of Spartak, although there were other candidates who were more experienced. Soon after, Netto became captain of the national team and it was no surprise that during this time the USSR had two of the greatest successes in its history: becoming Olympic champions and European champions.”

Netto was 30 when the Soviet national team won the European championship, and looking back it was his peak. In the last six years before retiring from Spartak and the national team, he went on to win just one more national championship and a domestic cup.

When he retired in 1966, he could look back on a career that lasted 18 years in which he had represented Spartak in all of them. “He is one of the biggest legends of the club, which his 18 seasons, 368 matches and 36 goals for Spartak proves,” Spartak supporter Vincent Tanguy of Russian Football News says. “For me, only Fedor Cherenkov and Nikita Simonyan are on his level.”

“Igor Netto and Fedor Cherenkov are, as far as I’m concerned, the most important players in Spartak Moscow’s history due to their attitude on and off the football pitch,” Amorim adds.

And as proven by the disallowed goal in 1962, Netto’s attitude off of the pitch was partly what made him unique. In fact, he can be described as the personification of a famous Spartak idiom originally coined by Andrei Starostin: “Everything is lost except honour.”

 

[Lord SInister]

Something feels off in Sinister's midfield. Like all the players, but the dynamics makes me feel it's more pass oriented and has less pace.

Redondo was fairly quick and Ardiles was nimble footed player capable of quickly taking the ball forward.

 

[Enigma_87]

That's a brilliant piece on Bratseth @Enigma_87 . I remember him getting rave reviews in the early-mid 1990s in my old World Soccer magazines. Very little to choose between the two teams here.

Cheers mate. Not sure why he's often forgotten in terms of the best defenders in Bundesliga history, perhaps playing for Bremen. Not much prominent in drafts either. I've picked him for second time and I think he debuted under @Gio in the three league draft.

A Figueroa type of defender as well - he can play equally well as a stopper or sweeper/libero and really easy to pair(or use in 3 men defence) with pretty much everybody.

Think our defence is well suited to what LS is offering on the table. All of our defenders - Adams, Bratseth and Moore are very comfortable in the air to say at least, not to mention the brilliant reading of the game of Bratseth and especially Moore.

On the other hand I can see der Bomber and Villa causing real havoc running through the lines against LS defence.

LS is opting for Schulz led defence and Muller's record against Hamburger at the time Schulz was playing there was nothing short of spectacular (think Schulz missed an occasional game, but was on the pitch in most of them):

https://www.transfermarkt.com/gerd-muller/bilanzdetails/spieler/35604/gegner/41

14 games - 17 goals and 8 assists.

 

[The Red Viper]

Good Luck, @Lord SInister !

 

[The Red Viper]

Redondo was fairly quick and Ardiles was nimble footed player capable of quickly taking the ball forward.

Love Redondo.

However, he was a lot of things but quick. In fact one of his major weakness was his turn of pace. Great positionally but due to his slow acceleration, nippy players kinda troubled him. Hagi in 1994 WC comes to mind.

 

[The Red Viper]

Something feels off in Sinister's midfield. Like all the players, but the dynamics makes me feel it's more pass oriented and has less pace.

Its just way too defensive minded imo.

There aren't enough runners from midfield or enough players who could take the ball and create on their own.

I know he has Marcelo and Dani Alves and they were good going forward but they can't be your major source of service. They are/were at their best when the attacking players in front of them, be it Cristiano in Marcelo's case or Messi in Dani Alves' case, drag the opposition full backs and create space for Marcelo and Dani Alves respectively to exploit. Not many wingers/wide attackers have the defensive nous to keep up with Marcelo and Dani Alves and hence they become such x-factor.

But here, they are up against two very good wing-backs who were quite good defensively also. So, they won't have the free run down the flanks. Van Basten was great aerially and Sarosi was quite good as well. But we have defenders who were very good aerially themselves in Adams, who was a beast in the air and Bratseth who has done a decent job of restricting Van Basten in the past.

Wing-play and crossing seem to be his only real source of creativity. There are no real play-makers who can create and make plays in his team. And we have the defenders to deal with that.

 

[Physiocrat]

I don't know much about Sarosi but looking at PES stats he looks like a dribbling second striker but not the most creative. Fine in 442/4231 but with 5 at the back it's not ideal.

 

[Gio]

Don't think I've ever seen such a mismatch between the size of the players in two similarly sized team-sheets. Lord Sinister seems to be doing everything to make the players look as teeny as possible, while Engima/TRV have larged it up big time.

 

[2mufc0]

@Lord SInister done himself no favours with that formation graphic. But once you see past it he's built a great team, MvB will enjoy the service from those wing backs.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Two more 3/5 at the back sides. 5 at the back is the new black!
Sinister has a very defensive setup with the graphic and just the Ardiles-Redondo-Nestor midfield. Feels like it will rely a lot on Marcelo and Alves having big games.

 

[harms]

Sarosi - Ardiles - Redondo - Rossi is a bit dull midfield from the creative point of view. I remember reading lots about Sarosi for the Euros draft, and even after watching those almost nonexistent pieces of footage and reading match reports I'm still not sure on what type of player he was.

He definitely was a big aerial threat and him + MvB getting on the end of Alves/Marcelo's crosses is more than a potent goalthreat.

Not a fan of Moore in the back three, not that he can't do it of course. Rivellino would've loved to play with Netto and vice versa

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Two best strikers that ever played the game face each other and i wouldnt be surprised if the game ended goalless....

 

[sincher]

I like the Sinister midfield, very classy.

 

[Moby]

Expect a call from my lawyer very soon.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

@Lord SInister done himself no favours with that formation graphic. But once you see past it he's built a great team, MvB will enjoy the service from those wing backs.

Nine players in their own half .... .... and last time I watched "Escape to victory" (which is the bible of how to play football), Ardiles was further forward.

 

[harms]

Expect a call from my lawyer very soon.

Feckers even used my nonchalantly drawn arrows!

 

[sincher]

I feel like noone seems to understand what Ossie was like as a player from the posts above. Or am I misremembering and being too fond of him because I showed him and his family around the secondary school for his son? The truth may never be known.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

I feel like noone seems to understand what Ossie was like as a player from the posts above. Or am I misremembering and being too fond of him because I showed him and his family around the secondary school for his son? The truth may never be known.

This guy just one-upped you in the #humblebrag category @P-Nut0712

 

[Moby]

Feckers even used my nonchalantly drawn arrows!

I've been meaning to do a graphic that looks like chalk on a blackboard with crosses for players, actually have it almost made, doubt it will fly that well visually.

 

[P-Nut]

This guy just one-upped you in the #humblebrag category @P-Nut0712

all about the humble brag

 

[sincher]

I'm not at all humble though. I am the greatest poster ever, for example. And Ossie was a very creative midfielder, known for his dribbling.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

I feel like noone seems to understand what Ossie was like as a player from the posts above. Or am I misremembering and being too fond of him because I showed him and his family around the secondary school for his son? The truth may never be known.

I guess it's all relative to the overall standard in the draft, and some of these lucky cnuts have picked Maradona and Zico, but from what I've seen Ardiles was class. Busy, inventive and a great dribbler. A nice bit of punditry from back in the day, featuring a dashingly youthful Sir Bobby:

 

[harms]

I'm not at all humble though. I am the greatest poster ever, for example. And Ossie was a very creative midfielder, known for his dribbling.

Dribbler - sure, but I wouldn't call him elite playmaker.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Sinister's defence is better as a unit. Enigma/TRV has edge in midfield and Attackers are split even.

Instinct favours Sinister, though.

 

[sincher]

Dribbler - sure, but I wouldn't call him elite playmaker.

Ok but he is a good fit next to Redondo, who is one of the finest passers of the ball I have ever seen.

 

[Enigma_87]

Sinister's defence is better as a unit. Enigma/TRV has edge in midfield and Attackers are split even.

Instinct favours Sinister, though.

Think you are underestimating the trio Muller, Villa and Rivellino tho. I understand some favoring Muller or can Basten better being different apart and also one of the best strikers ever, but Villa and Rivellino behind him I’d say we surely have an edge there as well?

Our defense is also very well suited to dealing with the air threat in LS attack and game plan and also our wing backs are really solid defensively not to allow Marcelo / Dani Alves to constantly provide threat there.

On top of that Bratseth has excellent record against peak van Basten. Can’t say the same about Schulz against Muller tho.

 

[Enigma_87]

Two more 3/5 at the back sides. 5 at the back is the new black!
Sinister has a very defensive setup with the graphic and just the Ardiles-Redondo-Nestor midfield. Feels like it will rely a lot on Marcelo and Alves having big games.

We were planing to go 4-2-3-1 to be honest with Simonsen wide, but when we drew LS 5-3-2 seemed much better fitted for the opposition and I’d back us both in personal battles and especially in defense and attack.

 

[antohan]

I'm not at all humble though. I am the greatest poster ever, for example. And Ossie was a very creative midfielder, known for his dribbling.

He was indeed. You would have a hard time finding a more technically adept CM from the "is like a fecking leech defensively" category of midfielders.

 

[Isotope]

Sinister's looks like a plane, but the real bomber is with Enigma's. I never fancy this back 5 formation, as it reminds me of the old Germany NT with their boring, grinding out result style.

 

[Lord SInister]

that fecking sharemytactics formation pic is giving wrong vibes.
i m not at all playing defensive. I am playing aggressive, counter pressing, quick football.
Let me reach my desktop and update the diagram and give more insight.
Also let me give me more insight on the likes of Nestor and ossie. It is fecking disgrace ossie is being considered a meh defensive cm, when he was much more. Just think of someone in Iniesta mould but defensively more competent.

 

[The Red Viper]

Expect a call from my lawyer very soon.

Feckers even used my nonchalantly drawn arrows!

 

[Lord SInister]

Nine players in their own half .... .... and last time I watched "Escape to victory" (which is the bible of how to play football), Ardiles was further forward.

This is how my team when we are on, that formation pic is messed up.

 

[Lord SInister]

Two more 3/5 at the back sides. 5 at the back is the new black!
Sinister has a very defensive setup with the graphic and just the Ardiles-Redondo-Nestor midfield. Feels like it will rely a lot on Marcelo and Alves having big games.

yes that was a very silly picture, but my tactics are not at all defensive.

Tactics:

• Rampant Counter Pressing, overloading one side, and than transferring quickly to the weak side to break the opposition.

• Creating a protective base of 4 players(N. Rossi, W. Schulz, H.G. Schwarzenbeck and G. Buchwald), while other four are box to box(Redondo, Ardiles, Marcelo and D. Alves), one free role in G.Sarosi and a true forward in M. van Basten.

• We will also be looking to quickly release the ball, when we catch the opposition on break. As we will look to mix possession game with quick counters, thus not stagnaning the game with slow ball play all the time.

• Exploiting the aerial prowess of G.Sarosi and M. van Basten, with crosses, long balls and set pieces.

 

[Lord SInister]

Dribbler - sure, but I wouldn't call him elite playmaker.

He was a very good passer, and someone capable of unlocking defenses with his smart dribbles and combination play.