Behind the Curtain draft (Eastern Europe) | QF | Skizzo vs Pat_Mustard 14:3

[harms]

@Skizzo ______________________________________________________ @Pat_Mustard

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

Skizzo

FORMATION: 4-2-3-1

A blend of creativity, pace, and defensive steel with quality ball players and creativity throughout.

The defensive unit is marshalled by Jan Popluhar, and reinforcements have brought in a defensive stalwart in Nemanja Vidic. The Serbian defender is one of the best at putting his body on the line for the team, and doing whatever needs to be done to stop the attacking threat. He'll be a great foil for the playmaking Popluhar alongside him. The two full backs will play their normal games of up and back, defending when required, and attacking when the opportunity arises, knowing they are well covered by the defense and midfield.

Nemanja Matic and Vladimir Jugovic provide an all action midfield who offer great protection for the defence, as well as being able to retain possession and keep the ball moving along where needed. I don't claim either to be Pirlo on the ball, but they can recycle possession to the creative outlets where necessary.

Kazimierz Deyna is chief creator, and offers a goal threat himself (as seen as him being the leading scorer at the '72 Olympics where Poland won Gold) He would thrive on the movement and other creativity around him with Nedved and Kanchelskis offering a threatening outlet.

Coming in to lead the line is Andriy Shevchenko, the Ballon D'or winning Ukrainian made his mark on football while playing for Milan, being able to put the ball in the back of the net in a variety of ways. His movement and pace will trouble the defense, and with Deyna in behind looking to slip him in, he'll have his chances.

Pat_Mustard

Formation: Lop-sided 4-3-3

We begrudgingly shelf the 3-4-3 formation that served us well in the previous round in favour of a more pragmatic 4-3-3. Ivica Surjak slots in at left back. Tall and extremely fast, this exceptional athlete started his career as a left back and developed into an excellent all-rounder who could basically play everywhere. His pace and strength will be useful in his individual duels with Kanchelskis, but we’re taking the calculated gamble of giving him licence to play as a very offensive full back to create unexpected overloads when we’re attacking. Videos of his attacking menace shall no doubt be spammed later. 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 had a penchant for energetic overlaps. He’ll be tasked with providing an outlet on the right wing but will play more conservatively than Surjak. Khidiyatullin, ever-present stalwart of USSR’s excellent Euro ’88 campaign, completes the defence as Zmuda’s CB partner.

The twin engines of Lobanovskyi’s first great Dynamo Kiev side form the nucleus of our midfield. I’ll shamelessly steal our draftmaster’s description of Konkov and Kolotov 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

Their hard, selfless running and tactical intelligence provide an ideal platform for our Galactico signing, the great Gheorghe Hagi. He sits comfortably in the top echelon of playmakers in this draft, and needs little introduction beyond stating that he’ll add a new dimension of brilliance to our attack and is as likely a match winner as anyone on the pitch.

The prolific Sarosi reverts to centre forward. Partnered by Ballon d’Or runner up Mijatovic in a roving second striker role, and flanked by the irrepressible Hungerian great Zoltan Czibor, they’ll form a menacing and multi-faceted attack.

Areas of Advantage:

Not many to be honest, as Skizzo has an outstanding team.

1) Goalkeeper: Soskic appears well-credentialed and highly regarded but I think its reasonable to state that Croy generally appears a bit higher up the pecking order of great keepers, and this should go a long way towards redressing the relative edge Skizzo has with Vidic vs Khidiyatullan.

2) I prefer my CM duo as well, with Kolotov probably at the top of the heap of the 4 CMs on the pitch, and moreover Konkov and Kolotov having a proven and successful synergy.

3) Goal Threat: My biggest advantage IMO, and even then its somewhat marginal. Given the difficulty in comparing across leagues and eras, it’s probably fair to say that Sarosi and Shevchenko are fairly even – both prolific on every stage, and both at or pretty close to BPITW status in their time. Hagi has the superior record to Deyna over the course of their whole cub careers with Deyna having the better ratio in internationals, but it’s worth pointing out the astonishing numbers Hagi was putting up in his early career -34 goals in 33 games in 1985-86, and 37 in 39 in 1988-89 (including 6 in 9 games in the European Cup, lest he get accused of being a flat-track bully). Its elsewhere that my advantage comes into focus, with Czibor being substantially more prolific than Nedved and of course Mijatovic having a superior record to Kanchelskis, albeit at the cost of sacrificing some orthodox width.

Good luck @Skizzo !

 

[Annahnomoss]

Good luck Pat! I am the assistant manager for Skizzo just to clarify in case I post.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Good luck Pat! I am the assistant manager for Skizzo just to clarify in case I post.

Same to you mate. Feel free to post away btw!

 

[Pat_Mustard]

A clip of my little-known left back Surjak at his marauding best, setting up two goals here:

Spoiler: Long distance goal

Spoiler: Headed Assist

Spoiler: Headed Goal vs Falcao's Roma

Spoiler: Long-range Screamer

and an excerpt on his attitude and will to win:

The following was written by David Miller of England for the 'Official Documentation of the Organizing Committee for the 1974 World Cup Football Tournament':

Did the best four teams reach the final two matches in 1974? On reflection I would say that the team which perhaps least deserved to be there were Brazil, three times former champions. In fact, had West Germany not lost to the East Germans in the first round, thereby going into Group A as expected instead of Group B, then Holland and West Germany would have qualified form Group A, to the exclusion of Brazil, and Poland and either Yugoslavia or Sweden from Group B.

There is little doubt in my mind that Yugoslavia were technically one of the best three teams. But like Holland in the final they forgot that the game is half about character. The Slavs all wanted to be great players. They, and others, could do well to listen to David Hay, who with Billy Bremner epitomised the Scottish attitude. �When we go on the field, we are ready to give blood for Scotland� said Hay. �If patriotism is silly, ok, we are silly. We�d like a lot of money, of course, but even without it we�ll play till we drop.�

The only two players in the Yugoslav team approaching this attitude were Acimovic, the burly, almost tubby little Red Star midfield man, and tall Surjak from Hajduk. Two more with the same mental stability as they, and I believe the Slavs could have radically altered the outcome of the tournament. As it was, Bogicevic, the midfield �sweeper� who was equipped to be one of the great players of the finals, and Bajevic, a striker of inestimable talent, were both almost total failures, while Dzajic, once Europe�s number one winger, was way below form, after two years in the army.

 

[Enigma_87]

Excellent teams guys. Skizzo's one is one of my favorites with his midfield and attack.

Kudos to Pat as well. With two reinforcements he managed to get his team transformed from 3-4-3 to 4-2-3-1 and did one hell of a job to be honest.

This is going to be a tough choice.

 

[Skizzo]

Just gonna throw this here since it seems rather relevant all of a sudden. Ill pretend I inspired the thread :P

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-incredible-story-of-andrei-kanchelskis.426017/#post-20400151

 

[Skizzo]

Good luck @Pat_Mustard . Well put together team as always, and as Enigma said, a great job in getting it into a working 4-2-3-1 from your 3-4-3 in the first game.

Although I suppose I have to throw some proverbial monkey shit your way since its a draft (grudge?) match

As for the goalkeepers matching up one on one, I'd probably agree with your assessment. Croy holding a slightly higher recognition as opposed to Soskic, but I'd argue our advantage in front of them does sway it back in our favour rather considerably. Without matching up X vs Y comparisons, I think a Vidic-Popluhar duo stands comfortably ahead of Zmuda - Khidiyatullin. Manager bias perhaps, but I would struggle to argue otherwise if it were flipped.

As for the midfield, well I can't argue against synergy, since I've argued the other side of that coin with multiple draft teams with Pat already but I don't think theres much else in favour of the older pairing. I might not go as far as to say that's all they have in their favour, but there's hardly a gap in quality that its almost suggested. Jugovic has proven his qualities on the highest stage, and arguably in a more impressive fashion by winning the Champions League with not only Juventus, but Red Star Belgrade too. Matic has shown his defensive qualities, and his physicality would match up well here.


Not to mention, he can always pop up with a moment of magic


I'd argue the biggest detriment to Pat's side though, as mentioned by himself, is that lack of width. With the defensive quality we have in shutting down attackers, more would be needed to open things up. With Sarosi, Mijatovic, and Hagi all preferring to operate in the same central area, Czibor to a lesser extent, it means we can pack it in there with our defenders. If the opposition full backs do bomb on to supplement the attack, then its a risky move as Kanchelskis and Nedved would thrive in those areas, and it doesn't matter how fast your left back is when you're trying to chase down Kanchelskis who has a head start.

While I don't think theres any real gulf in quality here, with two teams set up rather similarly, I would argue we enjoy the slight quality edge overall in key areas to swing the match our way. I think we have a "cleaner" set up which will allow our players to work well in tandem with each other, with complementary set ups throughout the team.

 

[Skizzo]

Since it's quiet with the other match getting feisty, I'll take the opportunity to highlight this lad since i didn't get a chance last match.

As well as his new two team mates..

No long posts as they're all rather familiar players, but never a bad time to enjoy watching them!

 

[harms]

Feck this is tough to decide.
So far edging towards Vidic and Popluhar winning it for Skizzo, but not sure. Definitely prefer Pat's midfield

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Looks like a very well balanced match and excellent drafting from both. Matic seems underwhelming for an all time EE Quarterfinal though so im leaning toward Pats midfield atm.

 

[Skizzo]

Looks like a very well balanced match and excellent drafting from both. Matic seems underwhelming for an all time EE Quarterfinal though so im leaning toward Pats midfield atm.

As is usually the case with the players who are still playing, I think he's a bit under appreciated. I wouldn't say he's out of his depth here as he's been a key part of the teams he's been a part of recently. His stature in those teams, and trophies he's won, don't look out of place against his opposition.

When he first came to Chelsea, he was good player but didn't have the physical stature to compete in the premier league.

Unfortunately, he was sold to Benfica as a part of Player+ 25 million swap deal for bringing in David Luis.

Once Chelsea saw his performances in the Portuguese league (was player of the league for 2012-13 season), they knew they had to go back for this guy as Mikel form was on a downward spiral and they didn't have good replacement in that position.

So Chelsea bought him for 21 million but couldn't use him in Champions league games as he was cup tied. The fans could see the difference between the games where he was not in the team and games in which he was in the team and he completely bossed the midfield.

Since Matic moved to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have simply looked a different team. Without him, Chelsea would be yet another forward-thinking side without the strength in the middle to back it up. With him, Mourinho's men are a class apart from their rivals.

Just like Makelele was useful in his central defensive midfielder (CDM) role in Jose's first team, Matic is as important to the team in Jose's second term. Comparing Matic with a legend who has a position named after him speaks volume about his importance.


An Opta stat comparison shows the number to tackles and Interceptions won is highest among the Chelsea players.


Matic is a excellent reader of the game and breaks down the opponents game before it even comes near the Chelsea D. He also takes the occasional card for the team.

Matic's solidity that allows his team-mates to flourish going forward. Fabregas has the freedom now to push on higher up the pitch then when he was at Barcelona.

So Matic is as important as Terry, Fagregas or Costa and make up the Chelsea spine with the above mentioned players being part of it.

Bonus: He also scores few goals(belters) and his goal for Benfica came second in 2013 Puskas awards:

The first game that Chelsea played without him this season (2014-15), they lost to (10 men) Newcastle United further underlining importance of him in the team.

Chelsea's 2-0 win was built on Matic's solidity

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Good luck @Pat_Mustard . Well put together team as always, and as Enigma said, a great job in getting it into a working 4-2-3-1 from your 3-4-3 in the first game.

Although I suppose I have to throw some proverbial monkey shit your way since its a draft (grudge?) match

As for the goalkeepers matching up one on one, I'd probably agree with your assessment. Croy holding a slightly higher recognition as opposed to Soskic, but I'd argue our advantage in front of them does sway it back in our favour rather considerably. Without matching up X vs Y comparisons, I think a Vidic-Popluhar duo stands comfortably ahead of Zmuda - Khidiyatullin. Manager bias perhaps, but I would struggle to argue otherwise if it were flipped.

As for the midfield, well I can't argue against synergy, since I've argued the other side of that coin with multiple draft teams with Pat already but I don't think theres much else in favour of the older pairing. I might not go as far as to say that's all they have in their favour, but there's hardly a gap in quality that its almost suggested. Jugovic has proven his qualities on the highest stage, and arguably in a more impressive fashion by winning the Champions League with not only Juventus, but Red Star Belgrade too. Matic has shown his defensive qualities, and his physicality would match up well here.


Not to mention, he can always pop up with a moment of magic


I'd argue the biggest detriment to Pat's side though, as mentioned by himself, is that lack of width. With the defensive quality we have in shutting down attackers, more would be needed to open things up. With Sarosi, Mijatovic, and Hagi all preferring to operate in the same central area, Czibor to a lesser extent, it means we can pack it in there with our defenders. If the opposition full backs do bomb on to supplement the attack, then its a risky move as Kanchelskis and Nedved would thrive in those areas, and it doesn't matter how fast your left back is when you're trying to chase down Kanchelskis who has a head start.

While I don't think theres any real gulf in quality here, with two teams set up rather similarly, I would argue we enjoy the slight quality edge overall in key areas to swing the match our way. I think we have a "cleaner" set up which will allow our players to work well in tandem with each other, with complementary set ups throughout the team.

I've got to agree that you've got the cleaner setup, as yet again my pathological fixation with lop-sided attacking formations proves to be my fatal flaw . I disagree with you having the quality edge though, except for centre back where Zmuda/Popluhar ar fairly comparable and Vidic clearly trumps Khidiatullan, despite him being slow as feck and hopelessly vulnerable against anyone who can break into a light jog . I think the GK situation somewhat nullifies that, though not completely by any means.

Midfield is fairly even - I'm sure I've mentioned my lukewarm stance towards Jugovic to you before so I'm not just playing the game - and there's bugger all to seperate Hagi and Deyna really. Its up front where I have an edge in individual quality IMO. As mentioned in my OP, Shevchenko/Sarosi have a somewhat similar standing, both utterly deadly in their era, and at or close to BPITW status in their primes (although I understand that somewill lean towards the modern era great depending on their stance on the overall quality of football back then). Czibor/Nedved are very different stylistically but again have a similar standing in the game IMO. Its Kanchelskis/Mijatovic that is the biggest quality differential really. I fecking loved Kanchelskis, and if I was making a squad of my all-time favourites he'd be a contender, but for me he has the weakest CV of all the attackers by a distance. I don't remember that many standout performances for him internationally or in Europe for us, and he struggled in Serie A too. Mijatovic in contrast was near the top of the pile in Europe for a few years from the mid-90s.

Now whether that additional injection of quality in Mijatovic was worth foregoing an orthodox winger on my right wing is open to debate, but I'm confident that between Szymanowski's tireless overlaps, Mijatovic's natural game of working the channels, and Czibor's tendency of switching wings at will, we'll have ample threat on that wing. In any case bombing in crosses vs Vidic seems a low-return gameplan, so we'll be looking to mix it up with plenty of play through the middle as well, and in Czibor, Mijatovic and Hagi we have atackers well capable of the intricate, eye of a needle stuff too.

On Czibor, he actually started the 1954 WC final on the right wing, scoring Hungary's second after pouncing on a goalkeeping error.

and he scored this peach in a Eurpean Cup final from the right too:

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Excellent teams guys. Skizzo's one is one of my favorites with his midfield and attack.

Kudos to Pat as well. With two reinforcements he managed to get his team transformed from 3-4-3 to 4-2-3-1 and did one hell of a job to be honest.

This is going to be a tough choice.

Good luck @Pat_Mustard . Well put together team as always, and as Enigma said, a great job in getting it into a working 4-2-3-1 from your 3-4-3 in the first game.

Cheers for this lads, although TBH I fecked up badly in the initial drafting by picking both Mijatovic and Buryak. I wanted to keep my options open for my first match, but if I'd just bit the bullet and decided to start with Mijatovic I could have picked my LB Surjak in my initial squad and effectively have bagged an extra reinforcement.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Looks like a very well balanced match and excellent drafting from both. Matic seems underwhelming for an all time EE Quarterfinal though so im leaning toward Pats midfield atm.

Cheers mate

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Naw its not because he is currently playing, ive just never rated him as a holding him. solid but nothing special. IMO you could replace him with a handful of other solid current PL holding mids and that Chelsea team doesnt skip a beat

 

[Skizzo]

I've got to agree that you've got the cleaner setup, as yet again my pathological fixation with lop-sided attacking formations proves to be my fatal flaw . I disagree with you having the quality edge though, except for centre back where Zmuda/Popluhar ar fairly comparable and Vidic clearly trumps Khidiatullan, despite him being slow as feck and hopelessly vulnerable against anyone who can break into a light jog . I think the GK situation somewhat nullifies that, though not completely by any means.

Midfield is fairly even - I'm sure I've mentioned my lukewarm stance towards Jugovic to you before so I'm not just playing the game - and there's bugger all to seperate Hagi and Deyna really. Its up front where I have an edge in individual quality IMO. As mentioned in my OP, Shevchenko/Sarosi have a somewhat similar standing, both utterly deadly in their era, and at or close to BPITW status in their primes (although I understand that somewill lean towards the modern era great depending on their stance on the overall quality of football back then). Czibor/Nedved are very different stylistically but again have a similar standing in the game IMO. Its Kanchelskis/Mijatovic that is the biggest quality differential really. I fecking loved Kanchelskis, and if I was making a squad of my all-time favourites he'd be a contender, but for me he has the weakest CV of all the attackers by a distance. I don't remember that many standout performances for him internationally or in Europe for us, and he struggled in Serie A too. Mijatovic in contrast was near the top of the pile in Europe for a few years from the mid-90s.

Now whether that additional injection of quality in Mijatovic was worth foregoing an orthodox winger on my right wing is open to debate, but I'm confident that between Szymanowski's tireless overlaps, Mijatovic's natural game of working the channels, and Czibor's tendency of switching wings at will, we'll have ample threat on that wing. In any case bombing in crosses vs Vidic seems a low-return gameplan, so we'll be looking to mix it up with plenty of play through the middle as well, and in Czibor, Mijatovic and Hagi we have atackers well capable of the intricate, eye of a needle stuff too.

Aye I'm well aware of your penchant for the lopsided line ups

And it's hardly a negative when you have the quality you do. As you say, it's really a discussion over whether you prefer Mijatovic foraging in his preferred role off the striker, or Kanchelskis spreading the play with his searing pace.

Was a good choice to flip him and Sarosi around though. I looked at Mijatovic myself, but thought he wouldn't be the right guy to lead the line with Deyna in there.

Not that Berbatov was received much better

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Since it's quiet with the other match getting feisty

I must have a quick look in the other match thread. I suspected there was some fireworks in there when I saw that they had 40 replies to our 7 when I logged on before despite our match starting hours earlier

 

[Skizzo]

Naw its not because he is currently playing, ive just never rated him as a holding him. solid but nothing special. IMO you could replace him with a handful of other solid current PL holding mids and that Chelsea team doesnt skip a beat

Fair enough can't fault you for having an opinion! I wouldn't agree he's easily replaceable in that team though, although he's no Makelele I agree.

 

[Skizzo]

I must have a quick look in the other match thread. I suspected there was some fireworks in there when I saw that they had 40 replies to our 7 when I logged on before despite our match starting hours earlier

It's 40 posts with 39 on Stoichkov. And @Downcast hasn't even got going in there yet

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Fair enough can't fault you for having an opinion! I wouldn't agree he's easily replaceable in that team though, although he's no Makelele I agree.

In fairness, your tactic uses him perfectly, I was just trying to find something to separate the two teams as I keep wussing out on voting this draft since I don't know some players.

Maybe I should start on the other match, seems more exciting than this lovers re-union

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Great teams, great matchup, kudos. ..... sometimes you forget how many great players came from Eastern Europe??

Few players I don't know if being honest and each side has some players I really rate.

Czibor and Hagi superb but in the end, went with side with more personal favourites .... Denya, Vidic and Kanchelskis (who's in my United Best XI.... to most people's amazement). Front four of Skizzo would have been great to see

Good job both.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Great teams, great matchup, kudos. ..... sometimes you forget how many great players came from Eastern Europe??

Few players I don't know if being honest and each side has some players I really rate.

Czibor and Hagi superb but in the end, went with side with more personal favourites .... Denya, Vidic and Kanchelskis (who's in my United Best XI.... to most people's amazement). Front four of Skizzo would have been great to see

Good job both.

Cheers mate. There's plenty of players in this draft that most of us were probably blissfully unaware of until we started researching if we're honest. Surjak was nothing more than a name to me until a few weeks ago and now I think he's the best thing since sliced bread...that's the nature of these fecking drafts . You should take part in one of these btw. I remember you posting some great stuff about Norman Whiteside, so between that and your username I'm sure you'd have plenty to add about players from that era, and its always interesting to hear from people that witnessed players first-hand. (I've effectively just called you an old bastard haven't I? )

 

[antohan]

Sorry @Pat_Mustard but I can't see anything other than Skizzo's front four

 

[harms]

Brutal score, hardly anything separates the teams.

I know my MotM though

Spoiler

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Sorry @Pat_Mustard but I can't see anything other than Skizzo's front four

You're evidently not alone mate . I feel dirty saying it as I fecking love him, but whilst I appreciate the balance Kanchelskis provides I really thought he bordered on being a weak link here in comparison to the other attackers on show: Nedved/Shevchenko/Deyna for Skizzo and Annah, and Czibor/Mijatovic/Sarosi/Hagi for me. This is a question rather than an argument as the game is long gone, but did he ever really stamp his mark at international level or in European competition? I don't really remember any standout performances from him outside of the Premier League and Scottish league, and even for us it was only really after Lee Sharpe's career nose-dived that he became a nailed on starter.

 

[Gio]

You're evidently not alone mate . I feel dirty saying it as I fecking love him, but whilst I appreciate the balance Kanchelskis provides I really thought he bordered on being a weak link here in comparison to the other attackers on show: Nedved/Shevchenko/Deyna for Skizzo and Annah, and Czibor/Mijatovic/Sarosi/Hagi for me. This is a question rather than an argument as the game is long gone, but did he ever really stamp his mark at international level or in European competition? I don't really remember any standout performances from him outside of the Premier League and Scottish league, and even for us it was only really after Lee Sharpe's career nose-dived that he became a nailed on starter.

I'm sure he had a belter against Italy and Maldini once, but agree that he does look a little lightweight in this company.

 

[Skizzo]

You're evidently not alone mate . I feel dirty saying it as I fecking love him, but whilst I appreciate the balance Kanchelskis provides I really thought he bordered on being a weak link here in comparison to the other attackers on show: Nedved/Shevchenko/Deyna for Skizzo and Annah, and Czibor/Mijatovic/Sarosi/Hagi for me. This is a question rather than an argument as the game is long gone, but did he ever really stamp his mark at international level or in European competition? I don't really remember any standout performances from him outside of the Premier League and Scottish league, and even for us it was only really after Lee Sharpe's career nose-dived that he became a nailed on starter.

I think it's partly his ability, partly nostalgia. Take a look at that Kanchelskis thread going on at the moment, seems plenty have fond memories, even though the narrative at the beginning highlights his inconsistencies at times.

Once he settled, he really was quite a player, although maybe blew hot and cold in ways none of the others on display here did at their respective peaks.

Fortunately when it's players of pace on show, that's the key focus, and his pace would trouble any defender, with or without his ability to do anything with it after. The fact he scored a hat trick against City just helps the fact

 

[antohan]

You're evidently not alone mate . I feel dirty saying it as I fecking love him, but whilst I appreciate the balance Kanchelskis provides I really thought he bordered on being a weak link here in comparison to the other attackers on show: Nedved/Shevchenko/Deyna for Skizzo and Annah, and Czibor/Mijatovic/Sarosi/Hagi for me. This is a question rather than an argument as the game is long gone, but did he ever really stamp his mark at international level or in European competition? I don't really remember any standout performances from him outside of the Premier League and Scottish league, and even for us it was only really after Lee Sharpe's career nose-dived that he became a nailed on starter.

That's the key consideration for me. When you have Nedved and Deyna there I quite like what Kanchelskis brings to the table, even if his stature isn't that of the others. I can think of possible improvements, but I'd rather see defences I can fully work out before bothering with Kanchelskis vs. Lato, for instance.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Cheers mate. There's plenty of players in this draft that most of us were probably blissfully unaware of until we started researching if we're honest. Surjak was nothing more than a name to me until a few weeks ago and now I think he's the best thing since sliced bread...that's the nature of these fecking drafts . You should take part in one of these btw. I remember you posting some great stuff about Norman Whiteside, so between that and your username I'm sure you'd have plenty to add about players from that era, and its always interesting to hear from people that witnessed players first-hand. (I've effectively just called you an old bastard haven't I? )

Thanks..... I think? Someone once said age is just a number ...... he was probably old too?

Will keep an eye out for future matchups and maybe consider making a fool of myself, especially if somehow 80's linked..... but for now enjoy reading these matchups.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Thanks..... I think? Someone once said age is just a number ...... he was probably old too?

Will keep an eye out for future matchups and maybe consider making a fool of myself, especially if somehow 80's linked..... but for now enjoy reading these matchups.

No offence intended of course. I think Physiocrat is looking at running a draft with players born between 1946 and 1966 at some stage, so that would include pretty much all of the 80s greats.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

I think it's partly his ability, partly nostalgia. Take a look at that Kanchelskis thread going on at the moment, seems plenty have fond memories, even though the narrative at the beginning highlights his inconsistencies at times.

Once he settled, he really was quite a player, although maybe blew hot and cold in ways none of the others on display here did at their respective peaks.

Fortunately when it's players of pace on show, that's the key focus, and his pace would trouble any defender, with or without his ability to do anything with it after. The fact he scored a hat trick against City just helps the fact

That game vs City remains one of my fondest football-watching memories so I can't begrudge him his day in the drafting sun, even if he's effectively dry-bummed me here . He was a force of nature on his day of course, and I'm going to look up the match vs Italy that @Gio mentioned as I'd honestly love to objectively rate him higher than I do at the moment.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

midfield of Jugovic and Matic is a thing of beauty.

 

[Skizzo]

midfield of Jugovic and Matic is a thing of beauty.

I'm personally quite a fan of it. I'm sure the majority won't hold them up to some of the midfielders kicking around in this draft...but I really like their mobility and how they'd play their games off of each other.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

I'm personally quite a fan of it. I'm sure the majority won't hold them up to some of the midfielders kicking around in this draft...but I really like their mobility and how they'd play their games off of each other.

yeah, wouldnt be surprised if they get underrated further down the line even though i think Jugovic is easily final material, one of the best midfielders from this area and one of the most underrated ones as well. People always talk about Boban and Stojkovic but he is up there with them in my book, in fact id take him over both.

 

[Joga Bonito]

I think Physiocrat is looking at running a draft with players born between 1946 and 1966 at some stage, so that would include pretty much all of the 80s greats.



 

[Moby]

Would you say Kanchelskis was better than Nani for us, or ahead of him? Both in terms of ability and being brilliant on his day but not quite consistent overall?

 

[Isotope]

Would you say Kanchelskis was better than Nani for us, or ahead of him? Both in terms of ability and being brilliant on his day but not quite consistent overall?

Nani can play on the right or left wing, and defensively better, though.

 

[Skizzo]

Good game @Pat_Mustard score line looks harsh for the team you assembled.

Karma for selling your soul and abandoning your 3-4-3

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

No offence intended of course. I think Physiocrat is looking at running a draft with players born between 1946 and 1966 at some stage, so that would include pretty much all of the 80s greats.

None taken ..... 80's RULES!!

 

[Ecstatic]

It's 40 posts with 39 on Stoichkov. And @Downcast hasn't even got going in there yet

Yeah. Busy days.

In a Serie A - Eastern Europe Draft, you have the 2 greatest players. I love your attack that offers diversity: the greatest contemporary CF of the draft, the versatile Nedved, Kancheskis providing width and Deyna, a player you picked before my turn Your midfield is solid. And you have 2 of the best defenders.

Pat has a strong team. I tend to consider that players like Mijatovic, Boksic are better in the penalty area. Just personal preference.

Stoickov is another story: he shone in diverse positions.

Brutal score, hardly anything separates the teams.

I know my MotM though

Spoiler

Soviet Draft. Brutal scores. One-track thinking