I'll take Phil Jones.
EDIT: I PM'd VP.
EDIT: I PM'd VP.
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan
Ciderman - Alaba
KM - Balotelli
VP - Varane
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
Fantasy Tournament: The Next Generation
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I'm glad I'm not in this, for some reason my fondness for certain players gets misinterpreted as bias/pulling the wool over people's eyesSadly you're retired from these draft games. I'm sure you could have picked a 13 year old goalkeeper from Uruguay and sold him as potentially better than Lev Yashin.
I like it as well. There are two things I find particularly interesting:
1. there's no issue with comparing players across eras. Even when we've had single decades before people have always tried to retrofit 50/60/70s players into modern formations, often with diabolical consequences they refuse to accept. Modern players and formations, should be simple enough.
2. having to move from potential to perceived peak has massive comedy potential when digging this up in a few years' time
Not looking forward to the wailing over Pogba though. He clearly is a standout from this generation, but this will only bring it into sharper focus. Oh well.
Really? I think I could instantly name at least 4 or 5 equally talented CMs born between 90 and 93. I'd be surprised if he's one of the standout CMs of his football generation which usually includes way more than just 3 years. I'm actually a bit surprised that he got picked that early. It looks like there are quite a lot quality young CMs around these days, but somehow the top teams have either too many or none at all
. And yes, the comedy potential in a few years should be huge .feck's sake. I was very close to picking Lukaku with my first pick as I think he will be a beast in his prime.
I think he would do well to go on to have the sort of career Vieira had. Relatively speaking though, I expect him to be more dominant in this draft than Vieira in the 70s one (which sounds insane, I know). Boy's got undoubted talent, but the hysteria in here will give him god-like status or at least that's what I expect.Really? I think I could instantly name at least 4 or 5 equally talented CMs born between 90 and 93. I'd be surprised if he's one of the standout CMs of his football generation which usually includes way more than just 3 years. I'm actually a bit surprised that he got picked that early. It looks like there are quite a lot quality young CMs around these days, but somehow the top teams have either too many or none at all
I haven't actually thought much about the pool. For a change, I would rather stay off this and just check what managers come up with than get embroiled in what each manager should do next during the drafting.
Do these things always progress this slowly?
Generally when it's VP's turn, yea.
You have to account for time difference. Think VP is in India so hopefully he will pick before he sleeps.
Depends a lot on where people are based, it's slower than usual but I suppose that is partly people taking their time to download the latest copy of FM, crack the database and filter high potential gems for their shortlists.
And also the draft starting five minutes after the draft order had been completed which was 5 minutes after the thread was started.
You don't need to crack the database. The editor is good enough. I hope people only use that. It's almost FM14 and potential changes a lot between games.
Of course, hadn't noticed, it does take time to wrap your head around the talent pool.
No idea, the editor used to be quite limited back in the day, you needed to download separate ones. I'm sure we will get 1-2 2014 equivalents of Maxim Tsigalko or Tó Madeira.
I provided this link to NM earlier, not that it is tough to find but I think it is very useful to search for current players according to age groups, positions and roles.
http://www.transfermarkt.com/en/default/marktwerte/basics.html
http://www.transfermarkt.com/en/default/marktwerte/basics.html
Haven't actually used this link yet..
Agree with this. There are 4-5 top names at least on par with paul or even higher in the eyes of some. Not saying Pogba was a bad pick or anything, in terms of potential peak he's definitely a great pick. I'm in fact hoping him to play a key role in delivering us the Euro 16.Really? I think I could instantly name at least 4 or 5 equally talented CMs born between 90 and 93. I'd be surprised if he's one of the standout CMs of his football generation which usually includes way more than just 3 years. I'm actually a bit surprised that he got picked that early. It looks like there are quite a lot quality young CMs around these days, but somehow the top teams have either too many or none at all
Agree with this. There are 4-5 top names at least on par with paul or even higher in the eyes of some. Not saying Pogba was a bad pick or anything, in terms of potential peak he's definitely a great pick. I'm in fact hoping him to play a key role in delivering us the Euro 16.
Didn't know you were French!
I would support India too if they can make it to the WC.
We're close with a nation of 300k. India could do it as well if they start building towards it. A big if but a possible if.
It's a lot more complicated than you might think. Bad fitness, politics, everyone wanting to play cricket, no money in the sport etc. Things have improved lately but still a huge way to go. The fact that 99% of the times a talented kid would be forced to prepare for IIT rather than letting him train is also a massive obstacle.
I choose ISCO
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan
Ciderman - Alaba
KM - Balotelli
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan
Ciderman - Alaba
KM - Balotelli
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
I know it's complicated. I do recognize that the problems lie with politics infrastructure, cricket and money but all these problems are problems that can be fixed. It's been done in other countries. It just has to be done right. And that's the biggest problem. Things can change a lot in 20 years. In 20 years you might see the build up towards football increase significantly and 20-30 years later you might get to see the benefits of that. 'Not in our lifetime' was of course meant to be figurative but thinking about it literally you can see that they chance is certainly there for it to be fulfilled.
India is a toughie. It's just so goddamn big and a lot of traditions. Like China, it's really hard to manage. I'm only really just looking at the tip of the iceberg, I know that, but I also said before that it was a possible if.
It may not be impossible but competing with European, South Americans or even the top names from Middle east and south east asia is a far fetched dream. The country is in turmoil at the moment so I cannot see any immediate radical changes. The biggest problem, as I said, is no one will ever see football as a profession in India. And it is not a developed country and the population is not taken care of in financial terms like most of the European nations. You can go to every school in the country and see tons of talent but not one of them will have the courage (and rightly so) to leave school and train for football and given the education system there is absolutely no way to proceed with both together. You need a good college and a good degree to survive, and for that the first 16 odd years of your life are devoted to studying, more studying and more studying, taking part in uncountable exams.
somebody PM KM. I think he is online.
First 16? At least till 20 if not more!
Haha yeah. That's the age when youth players in Europe or SA start displaying qualities that make people think they would be good enough for top teams while we are stuck with worrying about percentile and what not.
lads, can I change my pick to Isco? Posted in a hurry.
Haven't PMd KM yet, so hopefully he hasn't seen it.
Haven't PMd KM yet, so hopefully he hasn't seen it.
To change that you only need that one star. He doesn't need to be Beckham. He really only needs to be good enough to play for any team in the PL. As soon as that happens, kids will start to emulate him. As soon as that happens, India will get more scouts to their country. A bit more money will be thrown at football.
The players that become really good are usually those players that don't have much educational opportunities. Many of the best Brazilians and Argentinians grew up dirt poor. They did nothing but play football. Of course those countries have a huge football following but India doesn't need half the country. They only need a fraction of kids to look to the sport. That won't happen for the reasons you say but if an Indian person in England or something grows up into football and becomes good then sky's the limit.
It matters a lot if you got a player to look up to.
I hate to say it but according to the draft rules in OP you can. Have a look.
One way or another please PM KM soon. We want to go around once more before you guys go offline.
The prospect of an Indian and CHinese football talent pool is tantalizing.
And all these kids would dream of playing for united.
Football's becoming huge in India but its heavily skewed to consuming the game on TV - I've seen guys with Dortmund jerseys here FFS. But the quality of players playing the game is shocking. I've seen some of the kids from the Barca academy (use the term academy loosely, essentially a cash cow for Barca to milk naive upper middle class parents who think their kids have a chance) and they're so far off its disheartening..
And all these kids would dream of playing for united.
Football's becoming huge in India but its heavily skewed to consuming the game on TV - I've seen guys with Dortmund jerseys here FFS. But the quality of players playing the game is shocking. I've seen some of the kids from the Barca academy (use the term academy loosely, essentially a cash cow for Barca to milk naive upper middle class parents who think their kids have a chance) and they're so far off its disheartening..
So who have you picked VP?
Isco.
Remember to update the draft order. That way you nail down your pick.
Give me 5 minutes.
I'll pick Mangala.
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan
Ciderman - Alaba
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan
Ciderman - Alaba
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
It's a little disheartening that for all our talent, we have only 1 pick so far...
I'm gonna say Jack Wilshere.
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!
Snow and I pick Oscar
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan, Oscar
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
Snow and I pick Oscar
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar
NM - Gundogan, Oscar
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
Fergus - Gotze,
Pol - Neymar, Kroos
NM - Gundogan, Oscar
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos
Pol - Neymar, Kroos
NM - Gundogan, Oscar
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos