Black Sheep Draft SF - oneniltoUnited vs. Joga Bonito

[mazhar13]

As mentioned before, the key would be restrict service to the forwards and make them drop deeper to receive possession and drag them into the physical and ugly scrap-heap that is the midfield zone

I want to pick on this point in order to start a different discussion rather than seeing the same points over and over again.

You say that you want them to drag OneNil's attacking players deep into your rugged, energetic midfield in the hope of disrupting their rhythm. However, all 4 of them are proven to be able to handle that ruggedness and aggressiveness in various forms. Maradona's faced it wherever he went, and he's overcome all sorts of challenges. Rivaldo was the epitome of a deceptively tough forward player, one who was capable of handling whatever the opposition threw at him. Ronaldo has also handled such challenges quite well in his peak. Even Messi's shown that he can handle these challenges. All four of these players possess excellent balance and control of the ball, so it's not like they'll get unsettled per se. Plus, I can see them all working very well together. All four of them have the intelligence, skill, and adaptability to move around into various positions and constantly test Joga's team.

Whilst Baresi and Figueroa are impressive defenders, they'll still be tested. Will they be tested as often as OneNil's team? Probably not, but even then, it's a close match.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Couple of observations.

Didi looks like a waste. Can't see him getting up to much here which can't be handled more efficiently by a less creative, more combative player.

Rep's the odd man out. Looks a bit lightweight in this insane company.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Couple of observations.

Didi looks like a waste. Can't see him getting up to much here which can't be handled more efficiently by a less creative, more combative player.

Rep's the odd man out. Looks a bit lightweight in this insane company.

I don't see Didi as a waste at all. He was excellent and reading the game and his timing was good for interceptions. He contributes the positional awareness to help control the tempo here like he did against Sweden in 58, and his passing range with my attacking quartet in front of him is absolutely deadly as he can spring any of my attackers spontaneously with a variety of flicks and passes like this against USSR to spring Vava for fast goal. His flicks and passes are perfect for just bypassing Joga's hardworking midfield to spring the attack

Spoiler: Didi assist to Vava

 

[Chesterlestreet]

I don't see Didi as a waste at all.

Shocking.

Seriously, though - you don't need him. He'll do a job and perhaps he'll get a chance or two to use his passing range, but you don't need him, and what he is likely do be doing for the most part is something many other midfielders do better. The team would make more sense if Varela were paired with a midfielder with different strengths (than Didi's, I mean).

'58? It's completely unrealistic to expect him to influence this match in a similar manner. There's only so much limelight.

ETA You have Varela (who'll be partly occupied with Cruyff), Didi and Diego up against a trio of nigh complete - and aggressive, hounding - midfielders. That's the «battle». You don't have to win said battle, but I fail to see how Didi would shine in it.

Seems obvious that you would benefit from having more of a battler there, rather than someone whose best qualities overlap largely with those of others in your team - and who is stuck, as it were, in that war zone Joga describes above.

 

[harms]

Rivaldo was the epitome of a deceptively tough forward player, one who was capable of handling whatever the opposition threw at him

Apart from the ball

Sorry, it was too easy

 

[Raees]

How do you figure Cruyff is more likely to score than Maradona? I find Joga's midfield to be particularly ill-suited to trying to stop Diego in his pomp. Schweiny might have worked against a slower Socrates but Maradona is a nightmare for Scheiny to try to control. He's going to need a lot of help from Neeskens and Matthaus to even slow down Diego let alone stop him. And then thats without taking into account the interactions of Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Messi.



You are forgetting that you haven't even mentioned two defending players yet in these alleged "overloads" - Santamaria and Chumpitaz. If Varela is dealing with Cruyff then both my center backs are free and both are brilliant at positional awareness and reading the game. and Its not like Rep is going to influence much this match compared with Messi and Rivaldo on the other side. If Cruyff is over on the flank trying to overload with Rep then there is no one in the center to worry about.

It feel like Joga is trying to portray Cruyff as super powers capable of being in multiple places at the same time.

How exactly do you envision Joga's defense trying to stop Maradona, Messi and Ronaldo?

In all fairness Cruyff did have superpowers and was in multiple places at the same time!

 

[mazhar13]

Apart from the ball

Sorry, it was too easy

Perfect response!

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Shocking.

Seriously, though - you don't need him. He'll do a job and perhaps he'll get a chance or two to use his passing range, but you don't need him, and what he is likely do be doing for the most part is something many other midfielders do better. The team would make more sense if Varela were paired with a midfielder with different strengths (than Didi's, I mean).

'58? It's completely unrealistic to expect him to influence this match in a similar manner. There's only so much limelight.

ETA You have Varela (who'll be partly occupied with Cruyff), Didi and Diego up against a trio of nigh complete - and aggressive, hounding - midfielders. That's the «battle». You don't have to win said battle, but I fail to see how Didi would shine in it.

Seems obvious that you would benefit from having more of a battler there, rather than someone whose best qualities overlap largely with those of others in your team - and who is stuck, as it were, in that war zone Joga describes above.

I see what you're saying. But Didi offers a good counter to the skills on display. If JOga wants to try to strangle service then its great to have passers like Didi and Nilton Santos to bypass that warzone you describe. Didi was excellent at intercepting and then springing the forwards and that emphasizes my pace advantage against the defense. Having Didi's skills of ball retention and array of passing are never going to be bad against a battling midfield. We can maximize the pace and movement by slipping the ball right past the battlers to Ronaldo or Maradona. They can't tackle the ball if its not there.

 

[Joga Bonito]

Good game @oneniltothearsenal

 

[antohan]

I see what you're saying. But Didi offers a good counter to the skills on display. If JOga wants to try to strangle service then its great to have passers like Didi and Nilton Santos to bypass that warzone you describe. Didi was excellent at intercepting and then springing the forwards and that emphasizes my pace advantage against the defense. Having Didi's skills of ball retention and array of passing are never going to be bad against a battling midfield. We can maximize the pace and movement by slipping the ball right past the battlers to Ronaldo or Maradona. They can't tackle the ball if its not there.

Actually, another worrying thing about your team is the lack of outball from the back. It wasn't Didí's game to drop deep to start moves and your only outlet was Nilton.

Something you will sure address given how reinforcements will work next.

Congrats. Tough luck @Joga Bonito you gave it a good go despite a disheartening gap.

 

[Moby]

How come Leo ended up with no. 19, apart from him being poor man's Welbeck?

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

@Joga Bonito good game

How come Leo ended up with no. 19, apart from him being poor man's Welbeck?

He wore 19 when he first really broke through iirc. I had Diego in previous draft so he got the 10.