Criteria Draft Round 1 - Cutch vs Skizzo/Annah

[RoadTrip]

Team Cutch

TACTICS
Formation - Not dissimilar to our new managers set up with Holland in the World Cup

In goal is an arrogant irritable german.

At the back no better man to have than the great Jurgen Kohler to be tasked with stopping the great Brazilian Ronaldo, Legendary korean and one of the stars of the 2002 World Cup Hong Mjung Bo is performing the libero role which he performed to such good effect in that tournament. He will snuff out danger as the last man while also bringing assured play bringing the ball out from the back. Completing the trio is the great Paulo Maldini. I have 2 of the great Serie A wingbacks of the last 20 years. Parma stalwart Antonio Benarrivo will obviously make a mockery of the hapless Sinama Pongolle, while the outstanding Javier Zanetti will do his usual tireless marauding up and down the right hand side.

In midfield is the combative pairing of Daniele De Rossi and Dino Baggio. 2 solid all round midfielders comfortable in possession, and in both defence and offence. This pairing will give the 2 mavericks ahead of them the license to work their magic.

Dejan Savicevic and Youri Djorkaeff are the creative spark in the side. Yugoslav genius Savicevic with his wizardry on the ball with his dribbling leaving defenders in his wake. Djorkaeff the playmaker, with the eye for a pass, technical brilliance and rocket of a shot.

Upfront is Ruud doing what Ruud does best. Scoring goals.

Spoiler: Player Profiles

JENS LEHMANN
Reliable, consistent and imposing german. Goalkeeper in the Arsenal 'Invincibles's side who has the Champions League record for consecutive clean sheets (10). Had a considerable presence and was one of the best around in his prime.

JAVIER ZANETTI
One of the greatest fullbacks of all time. Inter Milan club legend. A beast of a player and a model of consistency for 2 decades.

JURGEN KOHLER
Over 100 caps for Germany and 500 career appearances. Arguably the greatest man marker of all time. Strong, physical and could always snuff out danger.

HONG MYUNG BO
Arguably the greatest asian player of all time. 136 caps for South Korea playing every game in all four World Cups, captained his side to 4th place and won the award for third best player at that World Cups. Undisputed leader of the South Korea defence in ’02 which only conceded 3 goals in 6 games following their semi-final loss. Intelligent ball-player with supreme leadership qualities, organisational skills and reading of the game.

PAULO MALDINI
The best defender of his generation.

ANTONIO BENARRIVO
If not for Maldini, would have probably gained 100 caps for Italy. One of the best fullbacks in the world in the 90s. He was renowned for his attacking prowess with his speed and technical ability.

DINO BAGGIO
Solid performer for club and country in the 90s. Beast of a centre midfielder who put himself about, passed well and came up with important goals, including 5 in 3 successful UEFA Cup campaigns. Kept star performers like Albertini and Donadoni out of the Italy side on some occasions, not the flashiest player but a very effective one.

DANIELE DE ROSSI
Roman Gladiator. One of the best all round midfielders of the last decade, De Rossi could mix it with the best of them. Another 1 club man with 90+ caps for Italy. He combined robustness in defence, with classy elegant playmaking from midfield.

DEJAN SAVICEVIC
Ballon D'or runner up in 1991, Savicevic was the George Best of the Balkans, with unbelievable natural talent and magic in his boots. Would tie defenders up in knots with his drop of the shoulder and twists and turns. Check out this dribbling masterclass to see it with your own eyes

YOURI DJORKAEFF
World Cup winning French star who was preferred for years over Eric Cantona, and dovetailed beautifully with Zidane. A technician of the highest quality.

RUUD VAN NISTELROOY
Master predator. The best out and out goalscorer of his era.

SUB
MAURO CAMORANESI
Underrated member of the successful Juve side of the early 00’s and Italy world cup winner. Camoranesi was a highly industrious and dangerous winger.

Team Skizzo/Annah

OVERVIEW:

The squad has a strong balance throughout the side, with complementary partnerships thrown in.

Cannavaro & Thuram line up in the RCB and RB spot, both fantastic defenders in their own right, but also know each others game after playing together at club level.

Pirlo is flanked from his deep playmaker position by two hard working, gritty, tough tackling midfielders that will both run themselves into the ground to win the ball back, and give him his chance to shine.

Ronaldo has the ability to hurt any defence (even one as talented as Cutch's) by himself, never mind when he has someone with the blistering pace, silky skills, footballing brain of Sinama-Pongolle. And then there's Ribery on the other side too!!

WHY I THINK WE'LL WIN!

While I think my defence is fantastic, Cutch has quite the impressive one also. It won't be a wide open, high scoring affair...but looking at the comparative attacking players, I think I have the edge as to who can cause the damage. With Pirlo looking to supply to Ronaldo and Ribery, plus Essien charging up to support (before rampaging like a madman back again), I think we have the slight edge. It might sound strange to say about a forward line including Simon-Pongo...but I think we have the more intimidating attack.

Keep in mind, players are positioned where they are for a reason. Essien being the harder worker up and down the field, to fill in and help support Simone-Pumba, because Thuram can hold down his spot mostly single handedly. Petit will have more of a holding role to free up space for Ribery, and Lizarazu to overlap into when possible.

Then there's the set pieces. In a close game like this could be, I have a couple of free kick specialists who could do some serious damage. Pirlo is a bit of a sharp shooter...plus Mihajlovic holds the record for most free kicks scored in Serie A. In a game of fine margins, set pieces can make the difference.

Last thing...good luck Cutch!

 

[RoadTrip]

@Annahnomoss
@Skizzo
@Cutch

 

[RoadTrip]

Lol @ Sinama Pongolle comments

 

[Joga Bonito]

@Skizzo @Annahnomoss

Couldn't you find anyone other than Sinama Pongolle

You have a good team but I feel there would be too much burden on Pirlo and Ronaldo to come up with the goods. Ribery will be neutralized by one of the finest full backs of the modern era in Zanetti and his influence/impact wouldn't be at the same. I am not even going into Sinama Pongolle and with Thuram supporting him the right flank looks extremely weak offensively. The right flank would be more prominent and threatening when relative to your left flank and it would make your system imbalanced and skewed.

Essien and Petit provide great presence in midfield with Petit being a good passer but by no means a great passer who can provide the ammunition for Ronaldo and Ribery. It just leaves too much to do for Pirlo creatively with De Rossi and Dino Baggio on him. I am a huge fan of Ronaldo but if their defense plays deeper with the likes of Maldini and Kohler in their side, it would make life very tough for him tbf.

You have got a terrific defense though and if Ronaldo is on song no defense can truly stop him.

 

[Cutch]

Could see the unfortunate inclusion of Sinama Pongolle being ultimately the difference between the 2 teams here. A player with no right to be in such esteemed company, attacks will break down constantly at his feet and Maldini/Benarrivo, 2 of the great attacking defenders of their time will get every chance to get forward. Thuram is as rock solid as they come but even he can’t stem the tide coming down my left hand side, and will contribute little offensively to compensate for Pongolle ahead of him. With Ronaldo trying to evade the close attention of supreme man marker Kohler all game, Ribery will need to have the game of his life here.

 

[antohan]

I still can't believe Cutch picked up Ruud so late, the man screams goals, particularly in a setup where all roads lead to him. If he is "marked out of the game" (easier said than done, and I can't see it) then Savicevic and Djorkaeff aren't too shabby and can score themselves, but I immediately see a clear plan as to how that side will get to the box and go about scoring. Fact is Cannavaro-Thuram would have been better off being the central partners and not having the positional liability that is Mihajlovic guarding the left of defence. It doesn't just throw Ruud being quiet out of the window, he was also positionally suspect and rash: Savicevic + rash = Savicevic scores from free kick.

The defence is immense, both flanks well taken care of, superb cover if ever needed, and Myung Bo will be absolutely fine as a sweeper there, not that there's bound to be much to sweep up. I really can't see Schizzo scoring. His main strength is down the left flank and Zanetti is, in my book, the best in the draft for that job. Sure, there's Pirlo's balls... against a side I can't see being particularly exposed or caught off-guard. And then there's Ronaldo... with Kohler and Maldini either side, and a sweeper. Fat chance, no pun intended.

The midfield is competent, underwhelming relative to the rest, and could do with an upgrade, but will be just fine against Petit and Essien, while Djorkaeff and Savicevic will have to be tasked with not letting Pirlo just swan around unchallenged providing the triangle for them. Shouldn't be a problem.

Cutch 2-0.

 

[RoadTrip]

 

[Cutch]

Really capturing the publics imagination this one

 

[RoadTrip]

Haha, i don't know why it's so quiet!

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

@Skizzo You have Pongolle in the team and Marco Reus on the bench? Why? Reus/Ribery on the flanks should be obvious or am I missing something?

 

[RoadTrip]

@Skizzo You have Pongolle in the team and Marco Reus on the bench? Why? Reus/Ribery on the flanks should be obvious or am I missing something?

He clearly doesn't have Reus because Reus is participating in the other match???

 

[RoadTrip]

If you mean Hazard, then the reason he aint playing is cos he aint eligable for the criteria he was picked for (annah made an error)

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

So whom does he have in bench instead of Pongolle?

 

[antohan]

So whom does he have in bench instead of Pongolle?

Weidenfeller. It's not Marco Reus but Marcos Reis, currently in goal.

 

[RoadTrip]

Still managed to pick up 4 votes even with Pongolle in there, that's impressive stuff!

Imagine if he'd had a real player there :P.

Also game isn't over, could be plenty more!

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Cutch's defence is quite awesome.

 

[antohan]

Cutch's defence is quite awesome.

Maldini and Kohler aren't just awesome but provide room and flexibility to strengthen it further. Keeper, minor tinkering in midfield and Djorkaeff (eventually) are all he needs to deal with.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Not commenting on poor Pongolle here, I think that would be ungentlemanly.

The one thing which strikes me as a clear weakness for Annah is Mihajlovic. To me he is a specialist sort of player - almost a luxury player: his foot is grand and he is a huge asset on free kicks and when he gets time enough on the ball to hit a long pass. But on the whole he is NOT a very good defender. I would feel far more comfortable with him as a side back of some description. He was frequently downright awful defensively as I recall it.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

...and he has Lizarazu to the left of him as well. That's a left side which is anything but rock solid for my money. I rate Lizarazu highly as an offensive fullback - and Mihajlovic is a feisty player - but the two of them amount to roughly one quarter of Cannavaro in terms of defensive nous. It's too lightweight.

 

[PedroMendez]

team Team Skizzo/Annah has more individual quality and a better balance. Sure, you can make sinama pongolle the target of your mockery, but Hong Mjung Bo isnt any better.

 

[Cutch]

team Team Skizzo/Annah has more individual quality and a better balance. Sure, you can make sinama pongolle the target of your mockery, but Hong Mjung Bo isnt any better.

Who's the one being hung out to dry here. Mjung Bo sweeping up behind Jurgen Kohler and Paulo Maldini, or Pongolle up against the marauding Benarrivo and Paulo Maldini. How is my team any less balanced, I can't see how it could be any more balanced

 

[Skizzo]

Id snap your hand off for Reus

Sorry that I haven't had much time to pop in here. Few hours behind in the time zone here. .. plus a cranky 2 month old means the time I have to spend selling Salmon-Pingu is limited.

Can't really argue too much with what cutch has said, Ronaldo and Ribery would be up against it. They might carve out some chances through moments of sheer brilliance, but theyre a man light up top.

ill make one defensive tweak...but im fairly limited on options to move too much around.

I dont have my laptop right now, but ill shuffle cannavaro left center back, thuram right center back, and mr. No-one-likes-his-positioning to right back.

 

[FromTheBench]

team Team Skizzo/Annah has more individual quality and a better balance. Sure, you can make sinama pongolle the target of your mockery, but Hong Mjung Bo isnt any better.

He is. Not great but he was Solid defender and arguably best Asian defender/C ever.


Thing with Annah/Skizzo's team is beyond Ribery/Ronaldo and maybe Lizarazu on the overlap there is a distinct lack of goals/Direct creativity against that defence.


Actually Cutch's team isn't overflowing with either thinking about it but slightly more against a Weaker defence.

 

[Cutch]

Mihajlovic moved to Right back then. Happy enough with that.

 

[RoadTrip]

Cutch's defence is quite awesome.

Can't think of any time where it hasn't been, to be honest.

 

[Skizzo]

Who's the one being hung out to dry here. Mjung Bo sweeping up behind Jurgen Kohler and Paulo Maldini, or Pongolle up against the marauding Benarrivo and Paulo Maldini. How is my team any less balanced, I can't see how it could be any more balanced

Well they will obviously sound better if you use descriptors like that... but dont use any for Sinama-Pongolle. Galavanting, frolicking, all would have been acceptable

 

[Cutch]

Can't think of any time where it hasn't been, to be honest.

Rightbacks used to be my achilles heel. Got slaughtered over Eyzaguirre/Suurbier/Gallas so after that made it more of a priority. My left back is always awesome, but then its nearly always Paulo Maldini.

 

[Cutch]

He is. Not great but he was Solid defender and arguably best Asian defender/C ever.

Thing with Annah/Skizzo's team is beyond Ribery/Ronaldo and maybe Lizarazu on the overlap there is a distinct lack of goals/Direct creativity against that defence.

Actually Cutch's team isn't overflowing with either thinking about it but slightly more against a Weaker defence.

Ruud is obviously the chief source of goals, the man pretty much guarantees 1 in every game. A lot of the creativity will come from the flanks with Zanetti and Benarrivo swinging crosses in, the latter in particular expected to get notable joy down his side. In addition to that, Savicevic and Djorkaeff will help Ruud out with the goals, and bring considerable creativity themselves. De Rossi and Baggio in the middle of the park will also contribute, with the latter saving his goals usually for the big occasion.

 

[PedroMendez]

Who's the one being hung out to dry here. Mjung Bo sweeping up behind Jurgen Kohler and Paulo Maldini, or Pongolle up against the marauding Benarrivo and Paulo Maldini. How is my team any less balanced, I can't see how it could be any more balanced

Big part of his reputation comes from 1994 and 2002. He impressed 1994, 2002 he didnt. Mjung Bo is just completely negligible playing behind those two guys. Your team wouldnt be worse if you just play without him.

Your team has awesome back4 but is fairly one-dimensional going forward. Pirlo and Petit, supported by Essien will have a field day against your midfield. There is just nothing that can stop them. Ribery+Liza will work like Ribery+Alaba or Ribery+Lahm. Zanetti has to decide if he wants to stay back and contain RIbery, or he´ll run behind him and tear the defence apart. I also dont see that RvN really gets the service that he needs.

 

[Cutch]

Big part of his reputation comes from 1994 and 2002. He impressed 1994, 2002 he didnt. Mjung Bo is just completely negligible playing behind those two guys. Your team wouldnt be worse if you just play without him.

Your team has awesome back4 but is fairly one-dimensional going forward. Pirlo and Petit, supported by Essien will have a field day against your midfield. There is just nothing that can stop them. Ribery+Liza will work like Ribery+Alaba or Ribery+Lahm. Zanetti has to decide if he wants to stay back and contain RIbery, or he´ll run behind him and tear the defence apart. I also dont see that RvN really gets the service that he needs.

He was voted the 3rd best player in 2002 so must have done alrite. All the better if he has no defending to do, it means he can contribute more to my side when in possession, as he was brilliant at taking the ball out of defence.

Zanetti is well used to dominating right flanks pretty much on his own. He's come up against partnerships like Lizarazu-Ribery his whole career. Good pairing but literally no better man to deal with them. Strange to highlight that as a mismatch and not the other side where the real mismatch is occuring, particularly now that Sinisa Mihajlovic has moved out there to join the party.

 

[antohan]

Rightbacks used to be my achilles heel. Got slaughtered over Eyzaguirre/Suurbier/Gallas so after that made it more of a priority. My left back is always awesome, but then its nearly always Paulo Maldini.

Yet you still can't spell the poor chap's name correctly

 

[PedroMendez]

Its easy to impress you, if you think that his 2002 performance is really exceptional/noteworthy. 1994 was, but one good tournament is just not enough. He the second worst player on the pitch by quite a margin. He never has been brilliant compared to any random EPL defender. Sinama is worse, but at least he has a proper role on the field. He´ll still influence the match just by staying out wide, threatening the space behind the wingback. You really want Mjung Bo to play the ball out of your defence, when you have Maldini right next to him? Fair play, but I doubt that this will help.

Djorkaeff usually played rather narrow and whoever is his right fullback is, wont be exposed. Zanetti also wont dominate his side on his own. Its a complete overstatement. If he plays defensive, he´ll shut down ribery and if he doesnt do that, Ribery will get his opportunities. Wingbacks arent miracle workers that are on both ends of the pitch at the same time. You are lacking the ability to hold the ball in the final 1/3, so playing very offensive involves quite a risk.

The only way you are winning this match is, staying back hoping that Djorkaeff or savicevic setting up RvN. Both are great players and could do that, but its not really reliable.

 

[RoadTrip]

Rightbacks used to be my achilles heel. Got slaughtered over Eyzaguirre/Suurbier/Gallas so after that made it more of a priority. My left back is always awesome, but then its nearly always Paulo Maldini.

Gallas?! Jesus Christ.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Pirlo will have time and space on the ball. With him controlling the game, I think Robery/Ronaldo will defintiely have a goal.

The shuffling of defence makes it a bit better. The wing with Mihajlovic/Pongolle is against Benarrrivo/Djorkaeff and will come second best, but then Cannavaro can mitigate Savicevic to a greater extent than Mihajlovic.

Still I'll go with 2-1 for Cutch.

 

[antohan]

The only way you are winning this match is, staying back hoping that Djorkaeff or savicevic setting up RvN. Both are great players and could do that, but its not really reliable.

With Mihajlovic as CB there was a clear route via Savicevic turning him over and over again. With Thuram now in defence it's up to those two to attack the space between them and their fullback, drag them and leave RvN one on one with one of Cannavaro or Thuram. Good as they are, RvN will bag at least one from that. I'm buggered if I know how the other defence will concede though, you are saying yourself that Myung-Bo has feck all to do with those other four around him!

Gallas?! Jesus Christ.

He was actually the best defender of the lot, by some distance too.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

...Mihajlovic as a right back is dubious enough but you gain something, without any doubt, by moving Thuram into the middle. You now have an outstanding pair of central defenders, at least.

The problem still remains, though. As much I might like this team as such, the way it's set up, it - now - sports Mihajlovic on the wrong side and a certain someone further upfield. It can't be ignored, I'm afraid. It's the nature of the game - and there aren't enough sheep spread around the teams to make this...not stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. It's a feck-up which ends up costing you the match - and that's that.

Raises questions about the format - no doubt. But that is for another debate. Which will come.

 

[Skizzo]

Oh I agree that the sheep puts us at a disadvantage for the game....hence why it was implemented. Obviously it was just a small oversight that cost us a key player...and one that could be important in the set up with cutch's defense as strong as it is. Had fun writing up some info for him though. I still think we could get at his Defense and score...and I think our midfield and defense is solid enough to stop him walking through it...I dont think he would Have much luck centrally, and if he uses Zanetti to spread the field and put in crosses, there would be a lot of open field for Ribery and Ronaldo to exploit down that side...man marked or not

 

[Theon]

...Mihajlovic as a right back is dubious enough but you gain something, without any doubt, by moving Thuram into the middle. You now have an outstanding pair of central defenders, at least.

The problem still remains, though. As much I might like this team as such, the way it's set up, it - now - sports Mihajlovic on the wrong side and a certain someone further upfield. It can't be ignored, I'm afraid. It's the nature of the game - and there aren't enough sheep spread around the teams to make this...not stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. It's a feck-up which ends up costing you the match - and that's that.

Raises questions about the format - no doubt. But that is for another debate. Which will come.

That's the name of the game right there though, if you don't properly wrap up the hardest categories - non winners and represented a different country - then it's going to cause trouble.

Mihajlovic should not have even counted, so Annah actually got lucky there. As it is I think it was a poor pick - completely agree with the comments that playing him at centre back was huge liability here. I think Annah was probably referring to his Top 100 lists when choosing him and went off that, when it truth he's too slow and not good enough for this level as a centre back.

Consequently, Mihajlovic is now shunted to right back and the impact of his best asset (his left foot) is now minimised. Mess up all over.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Its a bit of a shame Annah got lumbered with a sheep as he was otherwise constructing a class team. As it is, there's really no way I can look beyond that terrible right flank for Annah/Skizzo. Cutch looks ultra-solid. A little light on creativity but not outrageously so.

 

[Skizzo]

Congrats @Cutch ....sorry we couldnt give you more of a game...some players just didnt fulfill their potential like we had hoped when we signed them as young players