Behind the Curtain draft (Eastern Europe) | 1/8 | Isotope vs Pat_Mustard 5:8

[harms]

@Isotope ___________________________________________________________ @Pat_Mustard

The draft thread with lots of additional information
Write-ups on specific players

Isotope

The team character is fast counter-attack, through width or center interchangeably.

In attack, the famous Red Star Belgrade pair, Dejan Savićević and Darko “Kobra” Pančev, are perfected by the Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoichkov. The dribbling maestro, Savićević, orchestras the team attack by providing service mainly through the middle, but may drifted wide when necessary. The hardworker and pacey right winger Karel Poborský provide width and balance on attack and defence.

Spoiler: Savicevic-Pancev vs Bayern Munich 1991

4:15 Pancev goal.
6:15 Pancev assist, Savicevic goal (beating Kholer for speed).

Supplying the attack and supporting the defence are Jovan "Kule" Aćimović and Srečko Katanec (profile) main duties. Both players are comfortable on ball possession, capable on playing in multiple positions, while also hardworkers. With Katanec providing most of the leg work, Acimovic circulate the ball with his impeccable passing range.

Spoiler: Acimovic vs Bayern Munich

00:25 - Taking a corner and assisting on the first post.
1:22 - Gets the ball, moves with it and assists for goal.
2:40 - Scoring a goal with his left foot.
3:22 - Assisting with wonderful long pass.
3:58 - First pressuring Bayern's defender (with his teammate), getting the ball and then assisting for a goal.

Central defence is guarded by one of the best 90’s La Liga centerback Djukic, and Russian legend Onopko. Miroslav Đukić (Djukic) was named the Best Foreign Player (Don Balón Award) in 1993, beating the like of Michael Laudrup and Hristo Stoichkov at that time, and putting his name alongside Uli Stielke and Oscar Ruggeri as defenders who have received this award.

Spoiler: Miroslav Djukic ● Skills

The all-time cap leader for the Russian national team (113 matches), Viktor Onopko, won Russian footballer of the year in 1993 and 1994, and was compared to Matthias Sammer due to his capabilities to play in center, as libero, or defensive midfielder. Both centerbacks are good passers thus able to launch swift counter attack, or helping the team to get a grip of the game on the back.

Completing the defence are the Mighty Magyars sideback pair: Mihály Lantoson the left, and Jenő Buzánszky and on the right. As part of three man defence with the Magyars, both have capabilities as defenders, and a sense of balance when to go forward. The Pole legend Józef Młynarczyk who have won European Cup and World Cup bronze medal are standing between the goalposts.

Pat_Mustard

Formation: 3-4-3

We line up in a 3-4-3 formation, influenced by van Gaal’s 1995 CL-winning Ajax team. Four members of my squad played under the great Valeriy Lobanovskyi, and if his teams were more associated with the 4-4-2, his core tenets of heavy pressing and attacking and defending as a team are also crucial to my strategy.

Tactically we aim to use our wide attackers to peg back the opposition full backs, and we'll press heavily high up the park. We have the players to execute this demanding style - Konkov and Kolotov were the tireless engine of Lobanovskyi's first great Dynamo Kiev team, Sarosi was seen by his contemporaries as a world class defender, midfielder and attacker, and Mkhitaryan's contribution to the Dortmund press is well-known.

Defence:

Władysław Żmuda, veteran of four World Cups and a stalwart of Poland’s golden era, marshals the backline here. Tough and exceptionally intelligent, he’s flanked on the right by his international teammate Szymanowski, a quick, defensively resolute right back who also appeared as a centre back. His pace will be important in attempting to mitigate against the menace of Stoichkov. Khidiyatullin, ever-present during USSR’s excellent Euro ’88 campaign, completes the defence.

Midfield:

My midfield layout borrows heavily from van Gaal’s 1995 Ajax set up, with a defensive anchor flanked by two box to box players, and a goalscoring AM at the tip of the diamond. I’ll shamelessly steal our draftmaster’s description of the two Lobanovskyi veterans from the Remake Draft last year:

Konkov - Cambiasso
A good fit. Intelligent and fierce holding midfielder with a great understanding of the game and an eye for a pass too. Konkov was probably more athletic, but Cambiasso is almost as good as it gets (especially since I picked Martinez )

Kolotov - Nainggolan
Kolotov was probably the best all-rounder in that team. Nainggolan is vastly inferior to him, the only similarities that I see between them are their mentality, tenacity and that they both had a good shot in them. But Kolotov was much more than that, his ball-playing ability far exceeds everything that Nainggolan can dream of. I guess Vidal would be ideal here from the given pool

Plenty more to come in the match thread on Letchkov as I went on a slight GIF-rampage after rewatching Bulgaria vs Germany WC ’94, but suffice to say he delivered a towering performance in that match in pretty much exactly the RCM role I have him playing here. Excellent in Euro ’96 also, he has a fine big-match pedigree to go along with the right skill set for the job here.

The legendary Sarosi takes centre stage at the tip of the midfield diamond, where he can utilise his top-class goal threat, involve himself in the build up, and contribute heavily in the defensive phase too.

Attack:

Comprising one of the all-time greatest wingers in Czibor, Ballon d’Or runner up Mijatovic, and Caf sweetheart Mkhitaryan, we deviate from van Gaal’s rather prescriptive positioning and allow the trio plenty of licence to interchange. Mkhitaryan’s contribution to Dortmund’s free-flowing attack is well-known, and Mijatovic will be encouraged to use his great movement to create space in the box for Sarosi to exploit.

 

[harms]

The all-time cap leader for the Russian national team (113 matches), Viktor Onopko, won Russian footballer of the year in 1993 and 1994, and was compared to Matthias Sammer due to his capabilities to play in center, as libero, or defensive midfielder. Both centerbacks are good passers thus able to launch swift counter attack, or helping the team to get a grip of the game on the back.

In 1992 and 1993 by one magazine and only in 1993 by the other

 

[Isotope]

In 1992 and 1993 by one magazine and only in 1993 by the other

You're right. I think I copy and pasted that info from other article. Thanks.

 

[Isotope]

@Pat_Mustard . Just have few questionable player-positions in your team:
- Isn't Khidiyatullin is more of centerback/sweeper than a CB cum sideback type?
- Mijatovic at his best is always as SS. I see that in some games he's a centerforward, but never an effective one.

- Letckov supposed play on the left CM :" Known to many as "The Magician", Letchkov was a gifted player who could play as a central midfielder or on the left side of midfield, and he was easily recognizable for his baldness. He was best known for his dribbling ability. However, his career was often adversely affected by his moody nature and the numerous arguments and fallings-out he had with fellow players and managers. He was the mayor of his home town for eight years, but was removed from duty due to corruption." wiki.
And a shady moody baldy as well .

Other than those, it's a wonderfully crafted team.

Note: just voted mine to see the score.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Wasnt Letchkov a left side midfielder?

Also I have to say this is the most interesting tactical match up so far.

Isotope has an intriguing 4312/lopsided 4231 and Pat has a 343 mentioning Lobanovskyi + 95 Ajax which I actually see playing out a bit like a Bielsa 3313.This match is going to take some time to digest tactically.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

@Isotope @oneniltothearsenal Letchkov played as a right-sided midfielder at World Cup '94, and ended up finishing 13th in the Ballon d'Or that year of the back of some brilliant performances. GIFS incoming, all from this match vs Germany:


I'd wanted to try this 3-4-3 all along and I was well happy to see how closely Letchkov fitted the positional profile I was after in this match. It was a great box to box display too. He defended assiduously, showed quality on the ball, then pressed forward effectively, moreso when Bulgaria were chasing the game.

Defending deep on the right wing:

Spoiler

Spoiler

wing

Spoiler: Orchestrating a nice counter from deep on the right

Spoiler: Lobbed Through Ball

Spoiler: Nifty Touch to Draw Foul

Spoiler: Through Ball

Spoiler: Great Slide Tackle

and of course the icing on the cake:

 

[Isotope]

Thanks, Pat. Nice cameo from Letckhov there. I found it interesting that many of these players from Eastern Europe are much less specialist (in one position); which I think it's wonderful.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

@Pat_Mustard . Just have few questionable player-positions in your team:
- Isn't Khidiyatullin is more of centerback/sweeper than a CB cum sideback type?
- Mijatovic at his best is always as SS. I see that in some games he's a centerforward, but never an effective one.

- Letckov supposed play on the left CM :" Known to many as "The Magician", Letchkov was a gifted player who could play as a central midfielder or on the left side of midfield, and he was easily recognizable for his baldness. He was best known for his dribbling ability. However, his career was often adversely affected by his moody nature and the numerous arguments and fallings-out he had with fellow players and managers. He was the mayor of his home town for eight years, but was removed from duty due to corruption." wiki.
And a shady moody baldy as well .

Other than those, it's a wonderfully crafted team.

Note: just voted mine to see the score.

He was a miserable bastard for sure . On the corruption:

Many of the major boulevards in the city were left dug up and in deep pot-holes for nearly two years due to "controversy" and a lawsuit between the company working on restructuring the city's water supply and the city council.[23] In contrast, while he was still mayor, the streets that lead to Letchkov's hotels in the city were reconstructed and refreshed with the addition of gardens and aesthetic sidewalks and street lighting. Other scandals constantly appear during his time as mayor including the disrespecting of journalists and police officers (showing the middle finger) that he is wanted by the police after fleeing from a traffic stop after throwing his documents at them.

On Mijatovic, I believe he did play as a pure CF for Yugoslavia to brilliant effect, scoring 14 goals in qualifying for WC '98:


Even at club level I remember him playing very high up the pitch alot of the time, albeit often as part of a strike partnership. This excellent performance for Valencia somewhat typifies his style as I remember it:


and we're giving him full licence to play like that. As the arrows indicate he's not tasked with playing as a bruising line-leader, but encouraged to forage, drop deep and wide to find space for himself and create room for Sarosi.

I can't claim any real expertise on Khidiyatullan, but he just looked like a quality all-around CB to me from a quick gander at some Euro '88 footage. He generally played alongside sweeper-types like Kuznetsov too, and in the group game vs Holland he seemed very comfortable tracking Gullit out wide, as well as competing aerially with him.

 

[Isotope]

Yeh, that 2nd goal at WCQ was pure CF instinct alright. Here he look like a CF; but he might work in tandem with Sarosi.

 

[Gio]

@Isotope @oneniltothearsenal Letchkov played as a right-sided midfielder at World Cup '94, and ended up finishing 13th in the Ballon d'Or that year of the back of some brilliant performances. GIFS incoming, all from this match vs Germany:


I'd wanted to try this 3-4-3 all along and I was well happy to see how closely Letchkov fitted the positional profile I was after in this match. It was a great box to box display too. He defended assiduously, showed quality on the ball, then pressed forward effectively, moreso when Bulgaria were chasing the game.

Defending deep on the right wing:

Spoiler

Spoiler

wing

Spoiler: Orchestrating a nice counter from deep on the right

Spoiler: Lobbed Through Ball

Spoiler: Nifty Touch to Draw Foul

Spoiler: Through Ball

Spoiler: Great Slide Tackle

and of course the icing on the cake:

Great post. I too was wondering about his capacity to defend deep and cover large swathes of ground in your formation. I'm not totally sold on the blend with the Armenian ahead of him, but Letchkov looks a good pick.

 

[Ecstatic]

I appreciate the originality of your tactical systems.

What is the style of play of Konkov and Katanec?

The case of Letchkov is interesting. I know he was excellent at the Euro 96 but I thought he had a poor work-rate with Marseille if I recall correctly.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Great post. I too was wondering about his capacity to defend deep and cover large swathes of ground in your formation. I'm not totally sold on the blend with the Armenian ahead of him, but Letchkov looks a good pick.

Cheers Gio. I was pleasantly surprised at how assiduous he was defensively, even tracking Hassler over to the opposite flank and winning the ball back on several occasions. He spent most of the game behind the ball in fact, only committing forward more regularly after Germany scored. I know what you mean about Mkhitaryan. On the one hand he's pretty much the best fit available for a pressing system and he can be relied on to do what's asked of him defensively, but there is a slight conflict between my desire for him to keep Iso's LB pegged back and his natural wanderlust. I'm relying on Mijatovic to interchange with him positionally at times and given Mijatovic's natural propensity to drift wide I think he's up to the task. In some ways a more orthodox wide player might have been the cleaner fit, but I'm not sure that there's any in the pool with Mkhitaryan's pace, workrate and pressing ability.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

I appreciate the originality of your tactical systems.

What is the style of play of Konkov and Katanec?

The case of Letchkov is interesting. I know he was excellent at the Euro 96 but I thought he had a poor work-rate if I recall correctly.

I haven't rewatched much of Letchkov's Euro '96 TBH but I think he played a more offensive role on the left in that tournament.

Konkov is a strong, technically good holding midfielder. Covers alot of ground and seemed to have a great understanding with Kolotov, who dropped into the DM position to cover when Konkov moved forward. I've been watching this match:


but haven't got around to doing any GIFs, and Konkov is wearing #2 if you want to have a look and get a sense of his positioning and play style. Kolotov is playing as a left-sided CM and is wearing No. 9.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

A nice article from the German site 11freunde.de on Sarosi:

Spoiler

György Sárosi, Hungary's forgotten football hero
The Allrounder
Twenty years ago one of the best football players of all time, György Sárosi, died. The Hungarian broke torchcords on the assembly line and played all positions. A review.

On a spring day in 1930, György Sárosi asked his father for a conversation. The 17-year-old explained that he was going to the university. "I want to study law," he said, and the father looked at him skeptically. "Jura?" He asked.

György Sárosi's father had learned tailors, but in the turmoil shortly after the global economic crisis, he could be happy if he could even pull a needle through a textile that was not his own. The labor market situation was: crappy.

So the father took his son aside and said, "You can not find a job anyway, boy! You'd be a footballer! "He had seen Gyorgy play frequently, on the street, in the backyards, on the meadow, sometimes he'd kicked barefoot, sometimes with a ball he'd knotted from his mother's underwear Offered by Ferencváros Budapest, which György Sárosi wanted to actually refuse. But the father spoke the last word. "I think you can make it. You can make money with football. "The son agreed.

Better than Gerd Müller and Pelé?

Today György Sárosi is one of the best players in football history. He appears in the list of the 100 greatest soccer players of all time, he has set up torches, which even Gerd Muller, Pelé or Artur Friedenreich fade.

For a long time, he was forgotten when he talked about Hungary's football idol. They were told by players like Ferenc Puskás, Imre Schlosser or Sándor Kocsis, which was also due to Sárosi's attitude to the political system. Shortly after the war he left the communist country in the direction of the West. In Hungary they began to eradicate or condemn Sárosis's heroic acts from their collective memory. Puskás and Kocsis were always referring to the game Sárosis.

There were, for example, the two final matches in the Mitropa Cup in 1937 between Ferencváros Budapest and Lazio Rome. Among the Romans was Silvio Piola in the storm, one of the best attackers of his time. He scored a hat trick in the first leg. He also met once in the return match. But that was not enough, because Sárosi also made a hat trick - in the back and in the back. Ferencváros won the Cup after a 4: 2 and 5: 4 - in addition to winning the Messepokals the greatest success of the club history.



As early as 1933 Sárosi had become immortal with his followers. In the national Cup finals, Ferencváros then met the local rivals Ujpest Budapest, Hungary's dominating team of the thirties. Sárosi made three goals and prepared four goals. Ferencváros won sensationally 11: 1.

Striker, midfielder and interior defender

Shortly afterwards the offers from Italy arrived, where football was really good. The most lucrative offer came from AS Ambrosiana (interim name of Inter Milan). The club offered a three-year contract, a luxury apartment and a luxury service - but Sárori declined.

When you read articles from that time, one thing becomes confusing. For Sárosi seemed to give it several times. In the mid-1930s reports appeared at the "kicker," "Gazetta dello Sport," and "L'Auto." In the German newspaper he was called a "midfielder", in the Italian he was an "internal defendant" and in the French an "attacker". But it was not the ignorance of the authors but a fact: Sárosi actually played in all positions. He was perhaps the first all-rounder in football history - literally.

In this respect, his goal rate is not high enough to estimate. In 633 games he scored 639 goals for Ferencváros. In addition, there were 42 hits in 62 countries. It should also be noted here that Sárosi completed the first 15 games of his national team career as an internal defender and the last 18 games as a midfielder. In the remaining 29 games, he scored 37 of his 42 goals. One of them in the World Cup final of 1938, but Hungary still lost 2: 4 against Italy.

His opponent, Czechoslovakia, traveled to Budapest as a vice-world champion and start-up coach Frantisek Planicka, and went 2-1 as expected In the lead. But then Sárosi turned up and shot seven goals in a row. In the end it was 8: 3 and Hungary had a new national hero. "It is almost impossible to score seven goals in a national game, and then against the great Planicka," said Hungarian coach Karoly Dietz later.

Reuniting with the brother

In those years, he began to prepare for the time after the football career, but he began the desired degree of law, which he completed with a doctorate. But instead of working as a lawyer, he went to Italy in 1948 and became a coach. He joined AS Roma, Brescia Calcio, CFC Genoa or Juventus Turin. He won the Italian Championship in 1952 with the Old Lady.

At the beginning he trained AS Bari, where he returned to his younger brother after two years. Béla Sárosi had played Ferencváros together with him, but now he had landed in Italy. A year later he moved to Colombia. From 1957 to 1960, he even led three German teams: Jahn Regensburg, Alemannia Aachen and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. Béla died on 15 June 1993 - and five days later Gyorgy.

I'd originally planned to use him as a centre forward, but given his physical stature and well-roundedness, and the availability of Mijatovic, he seemed a fine fit as an advanced AM.

 

[Isotope]

I appreciate the originality of your tactical systems.

What is the style of play of Konkov and Katanec?

The case of Letchkov is interesting. I know he was excellent at the Euro 96 but I thought he had a poor work-rate with Marseille if I recall correctly.

Katanec is a very interesting player. He's tall with good header, strong on the ball, good passer, and can play anywhere in defence and midfield. I did a profile of him in the Draft thread. But adding to that, here are his positions on big games, and especially with Sampdoria when they were one of the best team in Serie A in early 90's (when they had Vialli - Mancini, then later on Gullit as forward).

VfB Stuttgart vs Napoli - UEFA Cup 1989 Final - Katanec as CM

Spoiler

Sampdoria vs Anderlecht - European Cup Winners' Cup 1990 Final - Katanec as CM (wiki)

Yugoslavia vs Spain - World Cup 1990 - Katanec as DM link

Spoiler

Sampdoria vs Roma - Coppa Italia 1991 Final - Katanec as CM

Spoiler

2:19 Katanec cut off a through ball, before cleared by the centerback
2:27 Katanec received the ball, ran with it, then harshly fouled.
6:09 Katanec attacking header, saved by excellent Gk.

Sampdoria vs Barcelona - European Cup 1992 Final - Katanec as Left Back

Spoiler

Other video clips of his playing style:

Spoiler: video 1

Spoiler: Video 2

Spoiler: Video 3

-------
Side story about Katanec in World Cup 1990 QF (Yugo vs Argentina). So I was wondering of why Katanec didn't play on this game where he was one of their most important player to balance out the star studded attacking players Yugo had in the team (Prosinecki, Davor Suker, Darko Pancev, Dejan Savicevic, Dragan Stojkovic, and Alen Boksic).

Here's a pretty scary reason:
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/90-team-was-far-better-country-lost-brilliance-yugoslavia

That set up the quarter-final against Diego Maradona's Argentina, and it was then that the political situation began to intrude. "That should have been the biggest game, but it was played at the wrong time, because we had a lot of other problems and the team could not concentrate.

"Srecko Katanec, who was a really, really important player for us, said 'Please, don'™t pick me' a few hours before the game because he had received a threat in his city. He was afraid to walk around in Ljubljana because of threats. I can understand that'™s not a nice position. How can he play? If he goes to play in Italy and his family stays in Ljubljana then they are under threat. I can'™t persuade anybody not to think about that." (~Ivica Osim, Yugoslavia Manager)

And so Yugoslavia slipped out on penalties, and a squad that also included Robert Prosinecki, Davor Suker, Darko Pancev, Dejan Savicevic and Alen Boksic would never come together on the big stage again. They were expelled from Euro 92 as the war began, and by 1994 the federation had ceased to exist. The young team of 1990 remains frozen forever in time, an unsullied force of amazing but unrealised potential.

 

[Isotope]

On other note, Argentina's road to 1990 WC Final was amazing:

Round of 16: Brazil-Argentina 0-1.
Quarter-final: Argentina-Yugoslavia 0-0 (penalty). Perhaps the last greatest Yugo's NT.
Semi-final: Argentina-Italy 1-1 (penalty). One of the best Italy NT ever.
Final: West Germany-Argentina 1-0. One of the best Germany NT ever.

 

[harms]

I'd originally planned to use him as a centre forward, but given his physical stature and well-roundedness, and the availability of Mijatovic, he seemed a fine fit as an advanced AM.

It was this game against Planicka that convinced me to use him as a center forward. He scored 1 goal from midfield (where he started the game) and then, after the coach moved him up front, he scored another 6. It's still the position where he was the most decisive

 

[Pat_Mustard]

It was this game against Planicka that convinced me to use him as a center forward. He scored 1 goal from midfield (where he started the game) and then, after the coach moved him up front, he scored another 6. It's still the position where he was the most decisive

I'm not sure precisely how Hungary lined up then of course, but judging from this formation graphic from the 1938 WC final:

I'm assuming that if they played the same formation vs Czechoslovakia then 'midfield' would probably mean the position occupied by Szucs above? If that's the case then its presumably quite different from the position at the tip of the diamond where I'm playing him, where he's still one of my most advanced players, and has Mijatovic using his movement to create space for him.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Going into the final stretch in a fairly barren thread, I'll make some points in favour of my team:

Relative Quality in Defence: We both have quality-laden attacks, but I think I've got an edge in defence with Zmuda being the best defender on the pitch, and a fantastic defensive organiser. In contrast, both Djukic and Onopko were sweeper-type covering defenders, and I have some doubts over Onopko's quality, as he was the main man in some fairly dismal Real Oviedo defences, and in particular his lack of pace. Mijatovic has a stellar record vs both CBs, scoring 4 in 9 matches vs Djukic and 3 in 3 vs Onopko. With heavyweight support from the most prolific scorer on the pitch in Sarosi, and top quality service from Czibor, I see our goal threat as being too much to handle here.

Midfield Battle:

I rate both Acimovic and Katanec, but they look like they'll be firmly on the back foot here as they're outnumbered vs my exceptionally physical and hard-working diamond, with little support from Savicevic. Katenec is a fine fit for battling it out in these circumstances but Acimovic less so - he was a grafter but primarily a creative player who is probably better used further up the pitch. I'm honestly not sure what to make of Poborsky's role here but he looks somewhat stranded here and I'm not sure how much of an influence he'll have.

 

[harms]

I'm not sure precisely how Hungary lined up then of course, but judging from this formation graphic from the 1938 WC final:

I'm assuming that if they played the same formation vs Czechoslovakia then 'midfield' would probably mean the position occupied by Szucs above? If that's the case then its presumably quite different from the position at the tip of the diamond where I'm playing him, where he's still one of my most advanced players, and has Mijatovic using his movement to create space for him.

I think that it was an inside forward position

 

[Pat_Mustard]

I think that it was an inside forward position

If that's the case then its certainly a fair argument in favour of playing him at CF instead, although as a rejoinder of sorts I'd point out that one match is a very small sample size, and also that he's listed elsewhere as playing as an inside forward as a primary position, which is pretty similar to his position here:

György Sárosi started his professional career at 18 years old as center-half, just once season at Ferencevaros, he debuted his national team appearance. Sarosi performed as center-half until 1932 - 1933 season, and 14 games for Hungary, is totally considered as international-class player in this posiiton before switched to inside-forward in which he played rest of all seasons in club career. In the late career, he returned to play as center-half and center-back for Hungary between 1939 - 1940around ten games.

- Stats as inside-forward : Hungary 40 caps and scored 40 goals approximately. Ferencvaros all-time top scorer and greatest player ever : 331 Goals in 317 League Games

- Mitropa Cup : He is an all-time top scorer, most goal in a single tournament with 12 and is also regarded as the best player in history of the tournament, is a superstar help the club reach four final marches and won once champion.

- Cental European International Club : He is an all-time top scorer and made remarkable scored seven goals in a single match against Czechoslovakia in 1937.

- Sarosi won a Bronze Ball in the 1938 World Cup.

- Sarosi won 3 times Hungarian league top scorer. In 1935 - 1936 season , he made phenomenon record with 36 goals in 20 league games.

- Sarosi is considered as the best player in the World in 1936, twice times second place (1937 and 1938) and once time third place (1935)

- Sarosi is one of the most completed footballers of all-time. He was a full physical option, fast, agile and strong combined with his best skills are dribbling and scoring and also very good in his defensive ability and teamwork ability.

Although that's just from another forum - the guy doesn't list any sources and there's no reason to suppose he's uniquely well-informed about Sarosi. Aside from simply wanting to play Mijatovic, I guess the comparison that kept coming to mind as regards Sarosi was Gullit - a physical powerhouse who was exceptionally well-rounded and versatile - and given that my gameplan involved dominating the midfield it made sense to have him in the thick of the action, but still to have him in an area where he could utilise his goal threat.

 

[Isotope]

Congrats, @Pat_Mustard . You have a fine team there, although I'm not a fan of that formation. Seems like unless the team has much superior players than the opponent, it is hard to pull it off.

My plan was trying to replica the Red Star Belgrade 1991, but on left-right reverse system. So, Mihajlovic -> Poborsky, and Binic --> Stoichkov.
It would be nice if Prosinecki's mom could go to one of the hospital several hundred miles to the east when in labor. But nonetheless, I think Acimovic could replica Prosinecki present on getting the grip of the midfield.

Poborsky is less defensive than Mihajlovic, but he's hardworker, and offer more down the wing. Also Acimovic is more defensive than Prosinecki, so it balance out.

Then Katanec has more or less the same attributes as Jugovic, with more height and strength. My defense is also an upgrade to 1991.

But yeah, that formation above isn't symmetrical and easy to digest. Still I'm pretty satisfied with my assembled team, and attribute them to (imho) one of the most exciting team from Eastern Europe.

 

[Ecstatic]

I haven't rewatched much of Letchkov's Euro '96 TBH but I think he played a more offensive role on the left in that tournament.

Konkov is a strong, technically good holding midfielder. Covers alot of ground and seemed to have a great understanding with Kolotov, who dropped into the DM position to cover when Konkov moved forward. I've been watching this match:

but haven't got around to doing any GIFs, and Konkov is wearing #2 if you want to have a look and get a sense of his positioning and play style. Kolotov is playing as a left-sided CM and is wearing No. 9.

Katanec is a very interesting player. He's tall with good header, strong on the ball, good passer, and can play anywhere in defence and midfield. I did a profile of him in the Draft thread. But adding to that, here are his positions on big games, and especially with Sampdoria when they were one of the best team in Serie A in early 90's (when they had Vialli - Mancini, then later on Gullit as forward).

VfB Stuttgart vs Napoli - UEFA Cup 1989 Final - Katanec as CM

Spoiler

Sampdoria vs Anderlecht - European Cup Winners' Cup 1990 Final - Katanec as CM (wiki)

Yugoslavia vs Spain - World Cup 1990 - Katanec as DM link

Spoiler

Sampdoria vs Roma - Coppa Italia 1991 Final - Katanec as CM

Spoiler

2:19 Katanec cut off a through ball, before cleared by the centerback
2:27 Katanec received the ball, ran with it, then harshly fouled.
6:09 Katanec attacking header, saved by excellent Gk.

Sampdoria vs Barcelona - European Cup 1992 Final - Katanec as Left Back

Spoiler

Other video clips of his playing style:

Spoiler: video 1

Spoiler: Video 2

Spoiler: Video 3

-------
Side story about Katanec in World Cup 1990 QF (Yugo vs Argentina). So I was wondering of why Katanec didn't play on this game where he was one of their most important player to balance out the star studded attacking players Yugo had in the team (Prosinecki, Davor Suker, Darko Pancev, Dejan Savicevic, Dragan Stojkovic, and Alen Boksic).

Here's a pretty scary reason:
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/90-team-was-far-better-country-lost-brilliance-yugoslavia

Just logged in today... Thank you very much for your time and efforts.

Now I understand your plan

 

[Ecstatic]

Congrats, @Pat_Mustard . You have a fine team there, although I'm not a fan of that formation. Seems like unless the team has much superior players than the opponent, it is hard to pull it off.

My plan was trying to replica the Red Star Belgrade 1991, but on left-right reverse system. So, Mihajlovic -> Poborsky, and Binic --> Stoichkov.
It would be nice if Prosinecki's mom could go to one of the hospital several hundred miles to the east when in labor. But nonetheless, I think Acimovic could replica Prosinecki present on getting the grip of the midfield.

Poborsky is less defensive than Mihajlovic, but he's hardworker, and offer more down the wing. Also Acimovic is more defensive than Prosinecki, so it balance out.

Then Katanec has more or less the same attributes as Jugovic, with more height and strength. My defense is also an upgrade to 1991.

But yeah, that formation above isn't symmetrical and easy to digest. Still I'm pretty satisfied with my assembled team, and attribute them to (imho) one of the most exciting team from Eastern Europe.

Very nice attempt. You have lost Prosniecki because he was born in Germany, right?

 

[harms]

Found it too close to vote. Liked Isotope's side better, but Czibor - Sarosi link was too good to write them off.

 

[Isotope]

Very nice attempt. You have lost Prosniecki because he was born in Germany, right?

Yeh. Picked him, and there's this smartass pointed out he's born in Germany. In hindsight, I should go and edit his wiki page immediately.

 

[Ecstatic]

Yeh. Picked him, and there's this smartass pointed out he's born in Germany. In hindsight, I should go and edit his wiki page immediately.

Strange that somebody had the reflex to check his place of birth!

 

[Isotope]

Strange that somebody had the reflex to check his place of birth!

Yeh. Kudos to that poster though. I'd never thought that Prosinecki could be born in Germany.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

He's been involved in several criteria style drafts on here (picked him in one myself, iirc), where his place of birth would've been of interest. Don't know who the smart-arse was, but I'm not surprised that someone knew straight away where he was born.

 

[Isotope]

He's been involved in several criteria style drafts on here (picked him in one myself, iirc), where his place of birth would've been of interest. Don't know who the smart-arse was, but I'm not surprised that someone knew straight away where he was born.

it's a recent newbie with about 10 posts . Other managers (and even harms) didn't realize it before that.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

it's a recent newbie with about 10 posts . Other managers (and even harms) didn't realize it before that.

Then it's creepy. Better keep an eye on him - these newbies are up to no good if you ask me.

 

[Isotope]

Then it's creepy. Better keep an eye on him - these newbies are up to no good if you ask me.

That could be Prosinecki's mom. Only her knows where he's actually born. Allegedly.

 

[harms]

it's a recent newbie with about 10 posts . Other managers (and even harms) didn't realize it before that.

He had zero posts, literally

edit: still does I was hoping he would be joining us at some point

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Congrats, @Pat_Mustard . You have a fine team there, although I'm not a fan of that formation. Seems like unless the team has much superior players than the opponent, it is hard to pull it off.

My plan was trying to replica the Red Star Belgrade 1991, but on left-right reverse system. So, Mihajlovic -> Poborsky, and Binic --> Stoichkov.
It would be nice if Prosinecki's mom could go to one of the hospital several hundred miles to the east when in labor. But nonetheless, I think Acimovic could replica Prosinecki present on getting the grip of the midfield.

Poborsky is less defensive than Mihajlovic, but he's hardworker, and offer more down the wing. Also Acimovic is more defensive than Prosinecki, so it balance out.

Then Katanec has more or less the same attributes as Jugovic, with more height and strength. My defense is also an upgrade to 1991.

But yeah, that formation above isn't symmetrical and easy to digest. Still I'm pretty satisfied with my assembled team, and attribute them to (imho) one of the most exciting team from Eastern Europe.

Thanks mate and hard luck. I thought it was an interesting contest, although I may have been in a minority given the lack of participation . The Red Star comparison makes sense now.

Yeh. Picked him, and there's this smartass pointed out he's born in Germany. In hindsight, I should go and edit his wiki page immediately.

Huzzah to this mysterious newbie, as I'd have been screwed if you had Prosinecki as well . Your attack was an absolute menace already, one of the best in the draft for sure.

I'm completely unsure where to go from here. As you say 3-4-3 is a tough formation to pull off, but I enjoyed putting this team together and I might just stick with it now.