Fantasy Tournament: The Next Generation

[Fergus' son]

My picks are Rafael da Silva and Christian Benteke.



Fergus - Gotze, Rafael, Benteke
Pol - Neymar, Kroos
NM - Gundogan, Oscar
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos

 

[Polaroid]

Fergus - Gotze, Rafael, Benteke
Pol - Neymar, Kroos, Thiago
NM - Gundogan, Oscar
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos​

 

[Gio]

Looking very good Pol.

 

[Polaroid]

Looking very good Pol.

yes, did not expect to have both Kroos and Thiago, have to be pleased with this slice of fortune

 

[Fergus' son]

yes, did not expect to have both Kroos and Thiago, have to be pleased with this slice of fortune

Good thing for you that you went with Kroos first, he was mine if you didn't!

 

[NM]

Snow and I pick Marco Verratti
Fergus - Gotze, Rafael, Benteke
Pol - Neymar, Kroos, Thiago
NM - Gundogan, Oscar, Verratti
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos​

Cider - you are up!

 

[ciderman9000000]

I'll take Coutinho

Snow and I pick Marco Verratti
Fergus - Gotze, Rafael, Benteke
Pol - Neymar, Kroos, Thiago
NM - Gundogan, Oscar, Verratti
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere, Coutinho
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos​

 

[NM]

Fergus - Gotze, Rafael, Benteke
Pol - Neymar, Kroos, Thiago
NM - Gundogan, Oscar, Verratti
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere, Coutinho
KM - Balotelli, Mangala
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos

Editing because Cider is lazy

 

[KM]

I'll pick Eden Hazard

Fergus - Gotze, Rafael, Benteke
Pol - Neymar, Kroos, Thiago
NM - Gundogan, Oscar, Verratti
Ciderman - Alaba, Wilshere, Coutinho
KM - Balotelli, Mangala, Hazard
VP - Varane, Isco
kps88 - Lukaku, Jones
Cutch - Pogba, Marquinhos

 

[Snow]

Cuntz ahoy, eh KM?

 

[KM]

I'll just say they're winners and hate to lose. Passionate for the team!

 

[NM]

I'll just say they're winners and hate to lose. Passionate for the team!

Didn't help me mate. The more the cnuts, the less the votes!

 

[kps88]

VP's gone isn't he?

 

[KM]

fecker was viewing this thread when I PMed him.

 

[kps88]

Was he? His profile says he was last online 2 hours ago.

 

[NM]

Thoughts on Verratti, Oscar and Gundgan? For the first time in a draft, I've got a plan!

 

[ciderman9000000]

Thoughts on Verratti, Oscar and Gundgan?

Team midget.

 

[NM]

Team midget.

That's what people used to call Barcelona!

 

[NM]

Team midget.

Actually Gundogan and Oscar are 5 11... No way are they midgets!

 

[Moby]

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.

That's the thing though, let alone PL, the best International player at the moment would struggle to get into top 4 leagues of any country at the moment. Sunil Chhetri who in my knowledge is the best at the moment, played for one year for Sporting Clube De Portugal's B team and that was a mighty deal in India. The levels of fitness along with the quality of football is light years away from being a PL level. It's really not the same as getting that one star, because the guy who is actually THE star in the nation (one I mentioned and most kids look up to) is still nowhere near and I genuinely doubt we can produce anything better than he is.

 

[NM]

That's the thing though, let alone PL, the best International player at the moment would struggle to get into top 4 leagues of any country at the moment. Sunil Chhetri who in my knowledge is the best at the moment, played for one year for Sporting Clube De Portugal's B team and that was a mighty deal in India. The levels of fitness along with the quality of football is light years away from being a PL level. It's really not the same as getting that one star, because the guy who is actually THE star in the nation (one I mentioned and most kids look up to) is still nowhere near and I genuinely doubt we can produce anything better than he is.

Didn't Bhutia manage to play for a lower league club in England? Let me check

Edit: Bhutia played a few games for Bury

 

[KM]

Bhutia had a trial at Fulham and eventually played for Bury.

 

[Moby]

Thoughts on Verratti, Oscar and Gundgan? For the first time in a draft, I've got a plan!

Looks ace. And quite complete at that. Veratti was a steal.

 

[kps88]

Didn't Bhutia manage to play for a lower league club in England? Let me check

Bury.

I'm sure more European clubs would take punts on our players if they could get a work permit. As it stands, our current FIFA ranking makes getting a work permit too troublesome.

 

[NM]

Bury.

I'm sure more European clubs would take punts on our players if they could get a work permit. As it stands, our current FIFA ranking makes getting a work permit too troublesome.

Correct - just having one Indian player would make a huge difference - marketing-wise. Bhutia had lots of problems getting a work permit according to Wiki.

 

[NM]

Looking on Bhutia's wiki, India have had a player play for Celtic in the early 20th century:
Mohammed Salim



But maybe we should discuss this elsewhere as this is about the future, not the past

 

[Balu]

That Verratti, Oscar and Gündogan midfield is brilliant, would imo already challenge for the top3 midfields in the world right now and is wonderful balanced. Really strong core to build a team around.

How did Pol get Neymar, Kroos and Thiago? That's almost cheating, imo.

 

[Moby]

Aye Thiago and Kroos went a bit late. CMs getting picked thick and fast.

 

[NM]

That Verratti, Oscar and Gündogan midfield is brilliant, would imo already challenge for the top3 midfields in the world right now and is wonderful balanced. Really strong core to build a team around.

How did Pol get Neymar, Kroos and Thiago? That's almost cheating, imo.

Aye Thiago and Kroos went a bit late. CMs getting picked thick and fast.

Really? I was most surprised at Oscar and Verratti falling to me. I thought Oscar would be the first AM picked, while Verratti would go in the first round. I was thrilled. I almost didn't pick Verratti due to having other needs, but am now glad I did!

 

[Snow]

Oscar going late in the 2nd round is the biggest surprise IMO. You could only argue that Neymar and maybe Götze are currently the better players. The man has brilliant potential.

 

[KM]

This team is my tribute to Fergie. I'll ignore midfield and focus on other areas and still win more than you guys.

 

[NM]

This team is my tribute to Fergie. I'll ignore midfield and focus on other areas and still win more than you guys.

Well then you need to play your CBs as RBs, your RBs in midfield, and play four strikers if you go down!

 

[Balu]

Oscar going late in the 2nd round is the biggest surprise IMO. You could only argue that Neymar and maybe Götze are currently the better players. The man has brilliant potential.

Kroos and Gündogan play at least on a comparable level for more than a year now. Gündogan really deserved that top 3 pick. Alaba was imo a huge surprise.

/edit: actually all the 5 first round picks after Gündogan were surprising to me.

 

[Moby]

One can say that Gundagon has a better chance to attain a higher peak given the fact that he doesn't have to fight for his place in the team.

 

[Balu]

One can say that Gundagon has a better chance to attain a higher peak given the fact that he doesn't have to fight for his place in the team.

That really doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[NM]

Kroos and Gündogan play at least on a comparable level for more than a year now. Gündogan really deserved that top 3 pick. Alaba was imo a huge surprise.

/edit: actually all the 5 first round picks after Gündogan were surprising to me.

Every one of them except Lukaku surprised me too. There is a real dearth of strikers..

 

[Moby]

That really doesn't make any sense to me.

I meant that he'd be playing every game, big games, etc without being rotated while Kroos might be benched given the depth Bayern have in midfield. Bayern's first choice is Javi and Bastian and there's one spot for the likes of Thiago, Kroos and Muller.

 

[Balu]

I meant that he'd be playing every game, big games, etc without being rotated while Kroos might be benched given the depth Bayern have in midfield. Bayern's first choice is Javi and Bastian and there's one spot for the likes of Thiago, Kroos and Muller.

Hmm, yeah okay. Then I just disagree. If someone plays as good as Gündogan in the last 20 months, he's a certain starter in every big game and will only be rotated to give him a break, doesn't matter what team he plays in.

 

[Moby]

Well we are just speculating here. for example. The development can get hampered if the coach decides to rotate you often or worse, bench you for a long period because of a few off games which happen with everyone and it is easier to do that when you have quality options for the same position on the bench raring to prove themselves. I am not sure what Dortmund have to play in place of Gundogan.

I guess these things would matter when talking about potential peak which is directly proportional to the player's development.

 

[NM]

Well we are just speculating here. It's similar to for example. The development can get hampered if the coach decides to rotate you often or worse, bench you for a long period because of a few off games which happen with everyone and it is easier to do that when you have quality options for the same position on the bench raring to prove themselves. I am not sure what Dortmund have to play in place of Gundogan.

I guess these things would matter when talking about potential peak which is directly proportional to the player's development.

Aldo - general draft rules mean that you don't name players who are unpicked, even if they are obvious ones.