Behind the Curtain | Eastern European draft | The winner: Skizzo

[Raees]

Thanks for that @harms .. although I am quite upset about none of us really selling Puskas that well. My original plan from the outset was to eventually settle into a 4-4-2 and play Puskas as a second striker and let him shine, but it is really hard to do that during a draft. Great shame because he is still for me on another league to any other Eastern European player.

Would hate to see his legacy in drafts be that as a problematic player to fit in instead of the virtuoso vote-winner he should be.

 

[Gio]

Puskas, Hidegkuti, Bozsik, Zebec… Downcast’s squad was starting to look like a piss-take. The random fullback theme continues to be a running theme. Partly a poor pool, partly managers always riding their luck with them as ever (I blame Gary feckin’ Kelly’s 70s draft success for misguiding everyone).

Unfortunately, while could sport false logic at RB, Downcast didn’t have one. OK, fine, play a CB who does a defensive job ala Gentile/Burgnich… but it’s some fella called Dinu, and he is facing Dragan Dzajic. Game over.

8-6 MOTM Dzajic, see above.

Surely a candidate for brainfart of the draft. I know @Downcast's sweeped up in the other awards. But not picking an actual right-back, never mind a credible one, in a draft that features almost half a dozen legendary left-sided attackers - Dzajic, Blokhin, Czibor, Stoichkov, Nedved - was a proper brainfart. Even moreso when he'd otherwise drafted so impressively and was the clear favourite IMO after round one.

Thanks for that @harms .. although I am quite upset about none of us really selling Puskas that well. My original plan from the outset was to eventually settle into a 4-4-2 and play Puskas as a second striker and let him shine, but it is really hard to do that during a draft. Great shame because he is still for me on another league to any other Eastern European player.

Would hate to see his legacy in drafts be that as a problematic player to fit in instead of the virtuoso vote-winner he should be.

Think there was a bit of a conflict between fitting Puskas in as a second striker alongside wide attackers (of which there were plenty), rather than the wide midfielders (of which there weren't many) you'd typically need in a 4-4-1-1. Not really a problem though, you either go a bit more attacking in tribute to the Magyars team, use him in a 3-5-2 like Aldo schemed, or as a false 9 as had been done before. Fitting in Puskas really was a tension between the strengths of the pool and the tactics of the modern game.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Wow great job @antohan on the summary and reports. Very fun read!

 

[harms]

Thanks for that @harms .. although I am quite upset about none of us really selling Puskas that well. My original plan from the outset was to eventually settle into a 4-4-2 and play Puskas as a second striker and let him shine, but it is really hard to do that during a draft. Great shame because he is still for me on another league to any other Eastern European player.

Would hate to see his legacy in drafts be that as a problematic player to fit in instead of the virtuoso vote-winner he should be.

Don't think that it's a problem, he'd been used in those drafts many times with great success and his record in this draft is just an unlucky coincidence. And no one would question his stature as the best outfield EE player, of course.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Answering your question, @Raees

Probably something like this, awfully unbalanced like every all-star team should be. Agree with anto regarding fullbacks, although maybe one of Skizzo's guys should've made it just because they managed to somehow go under the radar for the whole tournament

Goalkeepers went missing yet again, with Yashin and Beara being eliminated early and Dasaev only reaching the semis but he was the leader and organizer of the best defensive unit in the tournament, so he gets in.

Sammer had that performance in the first round, arguably the best one in the draft alongside Dzajic's against Downcast. And I really think he transformed 's side, even though he lost the game without any chance of winning. Weber was questioned throughout the tournament, yet he maintained his place in the runner uppers starting XI. Vidic proved to be a tournament-winning reinforcement for Skizzo, and their pairing with Popluhar meant that he could've ignored his fullback's issues.

Voronin would've been my player of the tournament if not for Gio's defeat in the final, when he relatively underperformed in the creative side of the game. Jugovic is the guy who I haven't expected to see in the final at all, yet he started all games for Skizzo (right?) and won the draft, a definite candidate if not for the best player than for the most impressive one. Pesek also joins as one of the steals of the draft, you've sold him quite well.

Nedved goes in as the star player for the winning team, and it was his versatility and workrate that allowed Skizzo to field him, Boniek and Dzajic in the same side and to improve the relatively shaky midfield two before facing Puskas. Dzajic gets in for his (very realistic) performance against an "early winner" Downcast, which started the most surprising trend - most of the Hungarian stars underperformed in this tournament, with Puskas' demise being absolutely legendary (he lost 3 games out of 4) - and a draft-winning side didn't have a single Hungarian in it!

And then we have the Ukranian duo upfront. Blokhin regained his place in the team even after the reinforcements, forcing Stoichkov to move on the right flank (@Enigma_87 ) and was consistently stellar throughout the tournament. Sheva didn't impress in the first game but after he joined Skizzo's side, replacing a slothful Berbatov upfront, he did what he does best - scored goals and won games for his new team, maybe without Puskas' chic but he turned out to be much more efficient.

Player of the tournament? I'd vote for Dzajic.

Maybe some of Raees defenders in there instead of Shevchenko after a narrow loss in the semi final all down to a great defense. Voronin-Sammer-Jugovic with Vidic and the other three being from Raees/Gio/Theon. Puskas also did one hell of a job and should probably be the man of the match in the final in terms of individual impact.

EDIT: Jugovic was our star man next to Matic in the first game by the way.

 

[antohan]

Surely a candidate for brainfart of the draft. I know @Downcast's sweeped up in the other awards. But not picking an actual right-back, never mind a credible one, in a draft that features almost half a dozen legendary left-sided attackers - Dzajic, Blokhin, Czibor, Stoichkov, Nedved - was a proper brainfart. Even moreso when he'd otherwise drafted so impressively and was the clear favourite IMO after round one.

I thought so too, but Enigma was upset about having no award for him so couldn't make it a famous treble.

So it is now a Nasazzi's Baton style award. Since it was always EAP's we never discovered how it worked, but now we know there's a worthy challenger in our midst.

Will EAP join a draft featuring Downcast? Won't he? Has he stocked up the Brussels sprouts and beans?

If they do meet, it will be an epic contest.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Thanks harms. Good run draft.

Congrats @Skizzo Hooking up with @Annahnomoss and breaking away from @Pat_Mustard seems to be paying dividends!

Skizzo's living it up in a mansion with Annah while I'm sleeping in the back of my car. Maybe I need to get back with @Šjor Bepo to get my life back on track. Or just become a cuckold to @Skizzo and @Annahnomoss and beg them to allow me to sit quietly in the corner of their PM discussions with my todger in my hand .

Congrats to SkizzAnnah for the win and to @harms for running such a good draft. And that awards ceremony was epic @antohan

 

[Ecstatic]

Surely a candidate for brainfart of the draft. I know @Downcast's sweeped up in the other awards. But not picking an actual right-back, never mind a credible one, in a draft that features almost half a dozen legendary left-sided attackers - Dzajic, Blokhin, Czibor, Stoichkov, Nedved - was a proper brainfart. Even moreso when he'd otherwise drafted so impressively and was the clear favourite IMO after round one.

As explained in the game tread, after round 1, if my primary objective was to gain a maximum of votes and win that game, I would have made the following defence:

Crnkovic (a proper LB) - Popescu+Dinu - Zebec (RB). I have the evidence that Zebec was 'credible RB'.

Sometimes, I make controversial choices just to see how readers react.

Think there was a bit of a conflict between fitting Puskas in as a second striker alongside wide attackers (of which there were plenty), rather than the wide midfielders (of which there weren't many) you'd typically need in a 4-4-1-1. Not really a problem though, you either go a bit more attacking in tribute to the Magyars team, use him in a 3-5-2 like Aldo schemed, or as a false 9 as had been done before. Fitting in Puskas really was a tension between the strengths of the pool and the tactics of the modern game.

Thanks for that @harms .. although I am quite upset about none of us really selling Puskas that well. My original plan from the outset was to eventually settle into a 4-4-2 and play Puskas as a second striker and let him shine, but it is really hard to do that during a draft. Great shame because he is still for me on another league to any other Eastern European player.

Would hate to see his legacy in drafts be that as a problematic player to fit in instead of the virtuoso vote-winner he should be.

Sad to read these comments.

Puskas will shine whatever the assigned role of his partner (False 9, CF or AM).

I also don't think it's necessary to have a specific tactical system: 4-4-2 (Raees) or a 'system without wide attackers if Puskas is 2nd striker' (Gio). The balance of team Gio was great IMO.

I don't know why you want to present Puskas as an issue or problematic player

The absence of credentials doesn't necessarily means a player isn't versatile.

Broadly speaking, some of us have fixed ideas about tactical systems and players.

 

[Ecstatic]

The award of the Conspiracy theory

Dunno, I can hardly spend any time on here these days. But it does look like you are playing the attack dog role and getting skizzo tied up in futile interactions while Gio can focus on wooing the voters.

It's an effective setup and I gather it has worked well before, just not my cup of tea.

 

[Physiocrat]

 

[Enigma_87]

I thought so too, but Enigma was upset about having no award for him so couldn't make it a famous treble.

Great awards ceremony mate, but I also love the game reviews. The EURO draft (I think) was a top one as well.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Skizzo's living it up in a mansion with Annah while I'm sleeping in the back of my car. Maybe I need to get back with @Šjor Bepo to get my life back on track. Or just become a cuckold to @Skizzo and @Annahnomoss and beg them to allow me to sit quietly in the corner of their PM discussions with my todger in my hand .

Congrats to SkizzAnnah for the win and to @harms for running such a good draft. And that awards ceremony was epic @antohan

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