TEAM BORIS
The centre of defence is a great balance of a fantastic reader of the game in Nesta and a powerful dynamic player in Lucio. At right back Gary Kelly was a solid enough full back and will be instructed to play fairly tight to the central defenders throughout the game in order to try to nullify the threat of the opposition left winger, On the other side GVB is going to be much more adventurous and attempt to provide attacking support for my left winger.
In central midfield I have immense power, defensive solidity, and a goal threat. What's important about this midfield trio is this formation is getting the absolute best out of all 3. Emerson is obviously playing in his natural position, and Viera has admitted himself that he always performed best with a holding midfielder beside him, allowing him to go out and dominate the game. Then there is Lampard, who's best football has always been with two midfielders behind him, allowing him to bomb forward and get goals.
On the left wing I have David Ginola, a fantastic dribbler and crosser of the ball, and with GVB over lapping they will form a formidable attacking outlet down the left. Messi will be reprising his old role on the right of sorts. Obviously he will have freedom to drift, but a lot of the time he would try to get into positions where he is one on one with the left back, forcing the opposition central defenders to be dragged out of position, opening up room for Lampard to shoot from 25-30 yards.
Roy Makaay is my striker. He was a great finisher off both feet as well as with his head. At his best between 2002-2005 he scored 114 goals in 144 games, and was La Liga's top scorer for Deportivo in 2002/2003.
Thus, main strengths are my central defensive pairing, solidity in midfield, and having three absolute world class goal scorers.
TEAM NOPACE
Why I'll score Multiple Goals:
-Cristiano Ronaldo vs Gary Kelly. Mismatch. I see Ronaldo dropping wide, picking up the ball in tons of space (Messi ain't coming back) and beating Kelly on the run, repeatedly.
-Baggio is simply too quick for Emerson, who did best in a double pivot.
-Van Bronckhorst will be the free man defensively a fair amount, and he wasn't great positionally. When he comes inside to help on Hassler and Baggio, Juanfran will sprint past the lazy Ginola and when he stays at LB, I outnumber him in the middle and can play between the lines. GVB-Ginola and Messi-Kelly has to be the weakest flanks defensively in the tournament, even with the defensive attention Messi requires.
-Reina is terrible at defending crosses and set pieces and I have Ronaldo and Rooney as proper aerial threats from open play and Baggio and Hassler were very dangerous crossers from set pieces.
Why I'll win the midfield battle:
-First off, it'll be 4 vs 3 much of the time centrally, with Hassler coming inside a ton. Schweinsteiger vs Vieira should be a great battle and Makelele is the perfect DM to deal with Lampard's admittedly excellent late runs. Schweinsteger-Makelele is a defensively formidable pivot with the passing skills to get Baggio, Ronaldo, Hassler and Rooney the ball.
-Hassler and Baggio, getting open 2 vs 1 in the massive central area between Vieira and the centerbacks - with only the slow Emerson to cover both of them - should get chances to run at the D and play through balls to Ronaldo and Rooney.
Why Boris can't just go long and bypass the midfield:
-Makaay was a decent target but nothing special (and Aldair and Silva is a very athletic pair to deal with those balls) and neither Messi nor Ginola are at all suited to taking down a bunch of long balls.
Why Messi won't be at his best:
-Makaay is a 9 who will clog things up, and Messi is not at his best with that kind of striker up front, as demonstrated at Barcelona and Argentina.
-He isn't central, where he does the most damage.
-He doesn't really have the teammates to play intricate football with here, apart from Vieira.
-Makelele is there when he comes inside.
-Carboni was excellent defensively.
-Kelly can't get forward to overlap as a decoy or he leaves Ronaldo free for counters. No Dani Alves style support to distract and give Messi an opening to start a run.
-Ginola went 1 in 9 in England. He never scored 7 goals in a single Prem season. I don't think he's the kind of winger on the other side who gets the best out of Messi.
@NoPace
@BorisDeLeFora
The centre of defence is a great balance of a fantastic reader of the game in Nesta and a powerful dynamic player in Lucio. At right back Gary Kelly was a solid enough full back and will be instructed to play fairly tight to the central defenders throughout the game in order to try to nullify the threat of the opposition left winger, On the other side GVB is going to be much more adventurous and attempt to provide attacking support for my left winger.
In central midfield I have immense power, defensive solidity, and a goal threat. What's important about this midfield trio is this formation is getting the absolute best out of all 3. Emerson is obviously playing in his natural position, and Viera has admitted himself that he always performed best with a holding midfielder beside him, allowing him to go out and dominate the game. Then there is Lampard, who's best football has always been with two midfielders behind him, allowing him to bomb forward and get goals.
On the left wing I have David Ginola, a fantastic dribbler and crosser of the ball, and with GVB over lapping they will form a formidable attacking outlet down the left. Messi will be reprising his old role on the right of sorts. Obviously he will have freedom to drift, but a lot of the time he would try to get into positions where he is one on one with the left back, forcing the opposition central defenders to be dragged out of position, opening up room for Lampard to shoot from 25-30 yards.
Roy Makaay is my striker. He was a great finisher off both feet as well as with his head. At his best between 2002-2005 he scored 114 goals in 144 games, and was La Liga's top scorer for Deportivo in 2002/2003.
Thus, main strengths are my central defensive pairing, solidity in midfield, and having three absolute world class goal scorers.
TEAM NOPACE
Why I'll score Multiple Goals:
-Cristiano Ronaldo vs Gary Kelly. Mismatch. I see Ronaldo dropping wide, picking up the ball in tons of space (Messi ain't coming back) and beating Kelly on the run, repeatedly.
-Baggio is simply too quick for Emerson, who did best in a double pivot.
-Van Bronckhorst will be the free man defensively a fair amount, and he wasn't great positionally. When he comes inside to help on Hassler and Baggio, Juanfran will sprint past the lazy Ginola and when he stays at LB, I outnumber him in the middle and can play between the lines. GVB-Ginola and Messi-Kelly has to be the weakest flanks defensively in the tournament, even with the defensive attention Messi requires.
-Reina is terrible at defending crosses and set pieces and I have Ronaldo and Rooney as proper aerial threats from open play and Baggio and Hassler were very dangerous crossers from set pieces.
Why I'll win the midfield battle:
-First off, it'll be 4 vs 3 much of the time centrally, with Hassler coming inside a ton. Schweinsteiger vs Vieira should be a great battle and Makelele is the perfect DM to deal with Lampard's admittedly excellent late runs. Schweinsteger-Makelele is a defensively formidable pivot with the passing skills to get Baggio, Ronaldo, Hassler and Rooney the ball.
-Hassler and Baggio, getting open 2 vs 1 in the massive central area between Vieira and the centerbacks - with only the slow Emerson to cover both of them - should get chances to run at the D and play through balls to Ronaldo and Rooney.
Why Boris can't just go long and bypass the midfield:
-Makaay was a decent target but nothing special (and Aldair and Silva is a very athletic pair to deal with those balls) and neither Messi nor Ginola are at all suited to taking down a bunch of long balls.
Why Messi won't be at his best:
-Makaay is a 9 who will clog things up, and Messi is not at his best with that kind of striker up front, as demonstrated at Barcelona and Argentina.
-He isn't central, where he does the most damage.
-He doesn't really have the teammates to play intricate football with here, apart from Vieira.
-Makelele is there when he comes inside.
-Carboni was excellent defensively.
-Kelly can't get forward to overlap as a decoy or he leaves Ronaldo free for counters. No Dani Alves style support to distract and give Messi an opening to start a run.
-Ginola went 1 in 9 in England. He never scored 7 goals in a single Prem season. I don't think he's the kind of winger on the other side who gets the best out of Messi.
@NoPace
@BorisDeLeFora