Coronavirus Champions League - SF 2nd Leg - Pnut/Jim vs Sjor/Invictus

[GodShaveTheQueen]

.................................................PNUT/JIM...........................................................................................SJOR/INVICTUS

TEAM PNUT/JIM

A standard 442

The defence is led by Baresi with the rest being self explanatory.

Midfield is comprised of the same 4 as my last match against Harms.

Baggio comes back in to support Kocsis who will thrive on the delivery from Beckham and the attacking support he'll receive from Nedved and Baggio

TEAM SJOR/INVICTUS

Formation: Purposeful 4-2-3-1

DEFENSE

ROBERTO AYALA, GUIDO BUCHWALD, RUUD KROL and GIANLUCA ZAMBROTTA form an accomplished and diverse platform for the team, with 1 World Cup titles and 2 further World Cup final appearances, 3 European Cup titles and 6 total European Cup final appearances between them. The instructions are fairly straight-forward — Zambrotta will shunt up and down the flank like he did in his pomp, simultaneously a factor in defense and an auxiliary attacking threat. To his right, Krol is the chief of the entire operation — reprising the ball-playing centerback role he perfected with Ajax, the Netherlands and Napoli and was elected to the Onze de Onze Team of the Year for 4 years on the trot.

A true leader, one of the most complete defenders ever. Maybe player A was better in passing long range and player B was better at tackling and and player C had more speed. But when taking the overall package Ruud Krol is among the most complete defenders ever.

To their right is Ayala, a tough centerback who emerged as the defensive leader of Valencia and Argentina at his peak, and beyond him is is cover defender and destroyer supreme Buchwald...

Diego Maradona fell victim to the bad mood. The Argentine was the greatest football player of his time, despite being only seventy with studs, but as the game progressed, his tormentor reports, "he has gotten smaller and smaller". And at some point, after another lost duel, the disenchanted magician crouched on the ground, shook his head - and never, Buchwald says, will he forget this sight when the small, tall Gaucho gathered up all of his English and groaned in resignation: "You again? You again?"

In goal, SEPP MAIER was the core of Germany’s World Cup and European Championship winning defense and Bayern’s trio of European Cups — and was voted 4th in the World Keeper of the Century poll.

MIDFIELD

MARCEL DESAILLY, PAULO ROBERTO FALCÃO and ZINEDINE ZIDANE is among the best midfield trios you can recruit in this or any other draft — offering a bit of everything. Desailly is the the most defensively predicated of the three — filling in the gaps, tackling like a heat seeking missile and being a general nuisance in the opposition's buildup...not for nothing was he nicknamed The Wall...




Ahead of him is the 8th King of Rome in a familiar role.

The other thing about him was his knack of being everywhere on the pitch. Fulvio Bernardini wrote: “Falcao appears wherever the team need his feet, his ideas and his brain. He's not a showy player and he's only spectacular for brief moments. He controls the ball with long legs and doesn't have blistering pace, yet he is everywhere. He shows for the ball, makes it easy for his team-mates to find him and so often slips away from his marker.”

And spearheading the midfield is Zidane, playmaker supreme. There always was an intrigue about him. His introverted but unflappable demeanour, his assured elegance on the ball, his blessings and his curses combined to form a player whose talent was almost hypnotic. To watch Zidane was to watch a theatrical display of immaculate ball control. And for all his grace, there have been few players that have possessed such a powerful and accurate shot.



WIDE ATTACK

Off the left flank is CRISTIANO RONALDO. Arguably the greatest European footballer ever and a versatile attacker, Ronaldo is capable of playing on either wing as well as through the center of the pitch, and, while ostensibly right-footed, is very strong with both feet. He also ranks among the world's fastest footballers, both with and without the ball.

He has magic in his boots. The first thing you notice about him is that he is incredibly quick and very, very powerful. He has great, close control and his technique is excellent. He believes he can do anything with the ball, and that confidence makes him very special indeed — Eusébio

That's aside from all the goals, and Cristiano forms a drool-worthy scoring partnership with Seeler and Ronaldo — especially with Falcão and Zidane's pin-point deliveries (in open play as well as from set pieces with Cristiano being arguably the greatest header of the ball ever)...

List of footballers with 500 or more goals

1. Josef Bican: 805+ goals
3. Pelé: 767 goals
7. Cristiano Ronaldo: 725 goals
9. Uwe Seeler: 575 goals

On the right is the first Ballon D'Or winner and one of the greatest wingers of all time, STANLEY MATTHEWS.



Franz Beckenbauer said that the speed and skill Matthews possessed meant that "almost no one in the game could stop him". John Charles noted that "he was the best crosser I've ever seen – and he had to contend with the old heavy ball". Johnny Giles said that "he had everything – good close control, great dribbling ability and he was lightning quick. He was also an intelligent player, who knew how to pass the ball". Here, The Wizard of the Dribble is in his standard outside right role and should be a pristine fit with the rest of the attack.

STRIKER

Up top is UWE SEELER. The greatest striker Germany has ever produced behind Gerd Müller, he possessed the unique ability to form a telepathic understanding with his co-attackers and involve himself in the deeper or wider game to a point where he was almost a dual striker-winger/forward — all while establishing himself as one of the best examples you'll ever see of aerial prowess at the position, working hard on and off the ball and being an extraordinary natural goalscorer — to date, Seeler boasts the second highest goal tally of a German footballer with 575 scored in competitive matches. In our opinion, the ideal pivot for the attackers wide of him. The perfect foil for Cristinao and Matthews and Zidane.

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

Good luck @P-Nut @Jim Beam @Šjor Bepo @Invictus

 

[P-Nut]

Not too much to say on this one, set up has been used a couple of times already and I think you struggle to improve too much on that midfield 4, especially with the restrictions in place this round.

Feel Krol is a terrible fit for Kocsis with the service he'll receive here.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Feel Krol is a terrible fit for Kocsis with the service he'll receive here.

Even more so on other side with Ronaldo against Baresi and Leandro, not only that you also have Seeler who is amazing in the air and Zizou isnt a scrab either - serviced by Matthews who should have a great game against Branco.

 

[Synco]

Feel Krol is a terrible fit for Kocsis with the service he'll receive here.

I always had the impression Krol was among those sweepers closer to the physique of a proper CB.

Kocsis will of course cause problems for almost any center back with his combination of mobility and aerial power. But Krol seems to have a decent chance to prevail, at least nothing that warrants the term terrible imo. The fact that he was a bit more on the nimble side for his (respectable) height might even be an advantage against a player like Kocsis.

But that's not based on a huge amount of games, so I'm open for correction there.

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

For me both Buchwald and Zambrotta are in trouble in really good 2 vs 1 battles with no support from either wingers. That is what decided my vote after cancelling out a few other things.

Sol Campbell will be a good match for Seeler and Leandro was more than decent as a CB although I'd expect him to still struggle against CR in the air.

 

[P-Nut]

I always had the impression Krol was among those sweepers closer to the physique of a proper CB.

Kocsis will of course cause problems for almost any center back with his combination of mobility and aerial power. But Krol seems to have a decent chance to prevail, at least nothing that warrants the term terrible imo. The fact that he was a bit more on the nimble side for his (respectable) height might even be an advantage against a player like Kocsis.

But that's not based on a huge amount of games, so I'm open for correction there.

Yeah his frame isn't what I sort as the problem, just the obvious advantage for Kocsis, combined with the 2v1 on the flanks with Beckham stationed on those flanks. It's such an obvious route to goal that it should come about time and time again, and the repetition of it would lead to a terrible fit to constantly be bombarded with that aerial threat.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

I will admit i never watched Krol at CB but @Invictus did and he says Krol was a good header of the ball and has couple of inches on Kocsis in addition to that.
On the other side not only Ronaldo is better in the air then both he also has height advantage and we all know what a ridiculous leap he has and how often he was producing match winning moments from those situations at his actual peak. Just take someone like Evra for example, he had a immense leap but could do feck all against the machine, not only because he can match or even outmatch him in the air but he is also taller to start with.

But this isnt a big sam team - Falcao, Zidane, Seeler combo can produce some mouthwathering combination and Zidane is the player that can ruin defensive systems via his dribbling, something opponents lack IMO
Not watched Baggio nowhere near enough so maybe im wrong but he wasnt a elite dribbler like Zidane, was a very good one i think but not that elite tier and he is the best dribbler they have so our team should be more stable at the back.

 

[P-Nut]

Not watched Baggio nowhere near enough so maybe im wrong but he wasnt a elite dribbler

Sort of given up on the game to be honest but couldn't let that one slide

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Sort of given up on the game to be honest but couldn't let that one slide

Said it in your first game as well, just sad that i dont know enough of Baggio as it seems a great watch, PMed beam after that might do a game of his for Dead Drafters. Fair enough if he is but never saw him mentioned in best dribblers debates etc. so assumed he was a very good one but not that elite tier.

 

[Synco]

Yeah his frame isn't what I sort as the problem, just the obvious advantage for Kocsis, combined with the 2v1 on the flanks with Beckham stationed on those flanks. It's such an obvious route to goal that it should come about time and time again, and the repetition of it would lead to a terrible fit to constantly be bombarded with that aerial threat.

First of all, your wings + Kocsis are a damn fine combination, as is the very agile Kocsis with Baggio (imo). So I think your attack is excellent and will cause problems simply on the basis of their own strength.

I just don't think Krol is a weakness as such, and maybe even better suited for your front two than a really tall CB with more aerial dominance but reduced mobility. For me, Krol seems to strike a good balance between height, strength & agility for facing a Baggio/Kocsis threat.

 

[harms]

Not watched Baggio nowhere near enough so maybe im wrong but he wasnt a elite dribbler like Zidane, was a very good one i think but not that elite tier and he is the best dribbler they have so our team should be more stable at the back.

He was amazing.

 

[harms]

I just don't think Krol is a weakness as such, and maybe even better suited for your front two than a really tall CB with more aerial dominance but reduced mobility. For me, Krol seems to strike a good balance between height, strength & agility for facing a Baggio/Kocsis threat.

Agree. He wasn't a towering presence like Figueroa, but he was pretty decent in the air — and he was not that short either.

 

[2mufc0]

Aye Baggio was a rediculous dribbler, one of the main reasons I would wake up early on Saturdays in anticipation of seeing some Baggio magic on Gazzetta Football Italia.

 

[Synco]

Agree. He wasn't a towering presence like Figueroa, but he was pretty decent in the air — and he was not that short either.

From watching Ajax, he seemed like the defender version of a total footballer to me. Seamlessly switching between multiple positions in a game (from my memory: LB, LW, CB, libero/DM, RB, RW), having the abilities to play everywhere at a high level.