Decades Draft Tournament : Stobzilla vs kps88

Who will win based on all the players at their peak?


  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .

Moby

Dick
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The aim of this poll is to decide which team will win based on all the players being at their respective peaks. The player profiles have been linked in both tactics so please go through them to read a brief description about all the players involved in the game!


Stobzilla's tactics
Peter Shilton is a consensus top 5 goalkeeper of all time in my opinion, many don’t place too much importance in their keeper selection in the draft because they believe it is a forgone conclusion that a goal will be scored not matter what. Shilton was of the standard where no matter what the attack he was facing you could put your trust in him to not concede.​
Phillip Lahm, whether you consider it a testament to his versatility or just his natural talent, he has a case for being both the best left AND right back in the world, at the same time. Not many in this draft will be able to say the same about one of their full backs. Hans Briegel was on his day one of the best left backs in Europe and was the first German playing outside of their top division to win their footballer of the year award whilst playing for Hellas Verona. An equally accomplished centre back/Centre Mid/Left midfielder, he and Lahm not only provide solidity down the flanks but also a fantastic outlet on either flank to support the attack.​
Briegel is re-united with Forster, a man who has done a man marking job and earned plaudits in keeping the great Maradona quiet. Quietly and effectively always seemed to nullify his opponents main attacking threat. Partnering Forster is Ruggeri, a world cup winner in a side famed for Maradona’s exploits, but built upon a tough tackling, solid defence. Ruggeri provides a perfect foil for Forster.​
In the engine room, firstly, Josef Masopust. Not much is available in terms of footage of the man but from what I have read and seen of the man it doesn’t seem a stretch to put him up there with a Paul Scholes, with the added bonus of being a tireless runner and being able to tackle. He possessed the uncanny knack of arriving in the box when he needed to and being fantastic and disciplined in his defensive work. Roy Keane will be doing the mucking in alongside him, another tireless runner, quite simply a leader. With a now acknowledged, but at the time criminally underrated range of passing, if you were in space between the midfield and defence, Keano would find you, with targets like Rivaldo, Pele andSteven Gerrard, whose passing range, scoring ability, leadership, drive and again, tireless running provides the perfect attacking drive to the midfield 3.​
Which brings us to the attacking trio, Rivaldo will drift deep, to the left or bound beyond the last man, he did it all his career, he was comfortable on the ball absolutely anywhere on the pitch and could unlock any defence from anywhere on the pitch. You couldn’t keep him uninvolved for a full 90, he would find a way to beat you. A pass, an overhead kick in the last minute. To be considered one of the better attacking players Brazil have produced you have to be something special.​
Speaking of which, Pele. Some people may think that I lose a little something by not playing him right up top. I disagree, wholeheartedly. He was an absolute master capable of a killer pass, fake, first touch. Both from deep and around the 18 yard box, this all before being a deadly finisher. His Santos sides although derided for the league they played in domestically, regularly took on the best Europe had to offer in friendly matches, in a time there was no such thing, and regularly came out on top, usually thanks to a top level performance from the man himself. Undisputed legend.​
Gabriel Batistuta is simply my favourite striker ever and his goal scoring record speaks for itself, both domestically and internationally. Tall, Elegant, Powerful, he was an absolute machine capable of putting the ball in from anywhere. He wasn’t a striker to hang around on the last man, he would come and get involved in the play and if he had possession from 35 yards or closer, there was always a goal in the air.​
It is a team with undoubted quality, but also has leaders running right the way through it, people who would run themselves into the floor for a win.​
TEAM Stobzilla
TEAM kps88
kps88's tactics
The team will play a 4-2-3-1 formation, allowing each player to play in their preferred position and role.

Center Back Partnership: Kohler-Cannavaro form an aggressive base for my defense. Cannavaro has played the role of stopper and sweeper in his career and will have no trouble partnering Kohler. There is no lack of pace, aerial ability or anticipation in this pairing and I see no potential weaknesses.

Midfield Duo: Neeskens and Vieira form a dynamic midfield base which offers defensive solidarity as well as creative impetus. Both are complete midfielders and born leaders. Neeskens in particular had much more to his game than just endless running and will provide an alternate creative outlet to Platini.

Platini: One of the game's greatest ever playmakers. Platini has two midfield colossals behind him and the most prolific French striker of all time in front of him. Apart from occupying the space between midfield and defense, he is capable of dropping deeper or bursting forward. He was amongst the best at deciding when to do which and I have no doubt he was orchestrate things as well as provide a serious goal threat.


Cole - Keizer combo: They will be a constant threat to Stob’s right hand side. Raised on total football, Keizer will be told to drift around and take his fullback with him, allowing Cole time and space on the overlap. A cross for Fontaine/Platini to put away from the left looks likely.

Fontaine-Platini Partnership: Fontaine is used to playing with talented number 10s, as demonstrated by his famous partnership with Kopa while playing for France. Platini is an upgrade on Kopa and just the sort of player Fontaine would love playing besides.​
 

Fergus' son

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Two great teams! Briegel will be upset that his manager spelt his name wrong...
 

Theon

Lord of the Iron Islands
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Haha I did that, not Stobz fault
 

kps88

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Worst possible time to have this game! Saturday night and the football back; I'm not expecting many voters here.

Few points before I'm off -

Stob’s team has a very impressive sounding front three, but the whole setup looks a bit unconventional and bizarre. They both seem to be playing as number 10s, but neither are central; it's neither here nor there. Despite what Stobs says, Pele is too good a player to shunt out to the right and his influence will most definitely be limited compared to if the team was built around him like it should be.

Having two number 10s as well as Gerrard, who is at his best playing further up the pitch without defensive responsibilities, is over kill.

Platini - Neeskens -Vieira beats Gerrard-Keane-Masopust any day of the week; both man for man and as a unit. I personally feel Gerrard looks out of place in this setup.

Lahm at right back is a weak link and will have a torrid time against Cole-Keizer.
 

kps88

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He isn't central either. Like I said, neither here nor there.
 

Moby

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Shame that probably the best game of the round happened at the worst time. Having said that keep this up, this is the best time to get any votes.

anto not online doesn't help either. :lol:
 

kps88

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I always said we should have kept this on another day. I've made my points. Lahm sticks out like a sore thumb and has no one to help him out either. Cole and Keizer will have a field day.
 

Moby

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I think you are underrating Lahm. He's clearly been the best in the world for a while and has shown amazing consistency. Gerrard will surely help him out, so I think he is not that a clear weakness.
 

kps88

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No one's terrible at this level or has obvious weaknesses, but that side of his looks weak to me considering they're facing two exceptional wide players. Lahm's the worst defender on the pitch and Gerrard's the worst midfielder on the pitch; positional strength has never been his main selling point either.
 

Theon

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Two great sides here, hard to fault either
 

Isotope

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I don't have any problem to see Lahm in all time great. Really rate him that high.
Don't know much about about Fontaine, but I'm surprised that Aldo (who lives in France) doesn't rate him that high. I thought he's at least as good as Papin.
 

Moby

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I don't have any problem to see Lahm in all time great. Really rate him that high.
Don't know much about about Fontaine, but I'm surprised that Aldo (who lives in France) doesn't rate him that high. I thought he's at least as good as Papin.
I didn't say I don't rate him highly, but obviously not as highly as the 3 Stob's got.
 

Brwned

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Donadoni's well looked after by Briegel which leaves Keizer and Platini as the main threats here. Platini's going to have a tough time finding space here but he'll break free of his marker a few times for a few shots/through balls. Keizer has the beating of Lahm no doubt and with Stobz's midfield being well occupied there's definitely a chance for Cole to get forward and overload that side of the pitch. It's not a top class centre back partnership but the two of them can handle Fontaine on his own. That's where the difference lies.

Platini's class gives kps a slight edge in midfield but no-one's dominating and his defence is a class above but it's just not enough to stop that attack. Rivaldo might well be taken out of the game completely by Vogts but the other three just don't have enough to take on Pelé and Batistuta. Batigol regularly gave Kohler's Juventus a load of trouble and Pelé will happily take advantage of any space left from Cole's forages forward.
 

Balu

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Has Lahm ever been overrun in an important game? He had Ronaldo in his pocket a few times and I really can't recall him being a weak link in an important game ever. I doubt Keizer will produce anything on his own against Lahm that deserves to be called "beating". I agree that Lahm will struggle here if Cole gets forward and overloads that side of the pitch and he doesn't get significant help, but that's not because Lahm individually is out of his depth, that's because the system has a flaw. I'm probably on my own with this opinion but his last season was easily up there with any season Cole ever played. Saying Lahm sticks out as a sore thumb is way over the top.
 

Moby

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Yep agreed. Cole hasn't done anything Lahm hasn't to say he's a notch above him. Both are two great modern fullbacks. Cole also has to keep an eye on none other than Pele or Gerrard in case Gerrard moves rightwards which he has the license for as I think Keane and Masopust is a very complete CM pairing, so he can himself struggle with that sort of threats.
 

Brwned

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Balu said:
Has Lahm ever been overrun in an important game? He had Ronaldo in his pocket a few times and I really can't recall him being a weak link in an important game ever. I doubt Keizer will produce anything on his own against Lahm that deserves to be called "beating". I agree that Lahm will struggle here if Cole gets forward and overloads that side of the pitch and he doesn't get significant help, but that's not because Lahm individually is out of his depth, that's because the system has a flaw. I'm probably on my own with this opinion but his last season was easily up there with any season Cole ever played. Saying Lahm sticks out as a sore thumb is way over the top.
He was poor defensively in quite a few Euro 2008 games - Turkey being an example of an important one - and he's done little to rid himself of that reputation amongst those who only see him a few times a season. Lahm is much more influential going forward but Cole at his peak was much more reliable defensively, for me.
 

Balu

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He was poor defensively in quite a few Euro 2008 games - Turkey being an example of an important one - and he's done little to rid himself of that reputation amongst those who only see him a few times a season. Lahm is much more influential going forward but Cole at his peak was much more reliable defensively, for me.
Lahm played as a left back at the Euro 2008 and I already explained several times why he's defensively a way better full back on the right side. I'd agree with those defensive concerns if he was played as a left back without a very specific setup around him and I already called him a weak link in one of the draft games because of that. It's a completely different story in this game though and holding the Euro 2008 against him in this game is just wrong.

/edit: I probably should have mentioned in my first post that I'm talking about Lahm as a right back and not about him when he was played out of position for years because Bayern and Germany weren't able to find a decent leftback at all.
 

Gio

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I went for Kps88, largely because he doesn't deserve to have only 20% of the vote, and his middle core in defence and midfield would be very difficult to penetrate. Stobz' front six is gorgeous though,
 

antohan

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Kps has got mauled here. Great side which lacks the same vote-winning appeal as Stobz'. He simply has too much matchwinning potential to ignore.