Heavens Draft - R1: Enigma vs MichaelF7

[Šjor Bepo]

vs

Team Enigma

Formation: 4-4-2 / 4-3-3 hybrid

Defence:
Krol is in attacking role, overlapping Cruyff, a much familiar one at both national and club level. Don Elias is bossing the central midfield with Oscar Ruggeri as the rugged stopper next to him. On the right we have Vogts in his natural balanced role.

Midfield:
a core of midfield general Souness and a one man engine Davids form the solid base of the central midfield. Souness passing range will initiate the play from deep whilst Davids motor will not leave much time on the ball for the opposition creative force. Beckham is in his natural right flank role whilst Cruyff is our creative outlet in the attacking third, playing in free role.

Attack:
Eusebio and Eto’o form a dynamic duo that is able to pull defenders wide as either of them is able to also operate on the flanks and leave space for onrushing Cruyff. The pair of them are very mobile and pacy strikers that will give the opposition back line nightmares especially on the back foot.



Team Michael

My team will be playing a 4-3-3 formation with Messi as a false 9 and Gullit and Stoichkov as inside forwards. I will firstly discuss some of the lesser known players in my team before stating some of the strengths that I believe my team has.

My left sided centre back is Aleksandre Chivadze who was the best player in his position in the USSR (according to the National Coaches Council) every year from 1979 to 1986 (except 1985 where he was 2nd) and was the USSR Footballer of the Year in 1980. In this article, Craig McCracken describes Chivadze as having "a greater mastery of the ball than any creative outfield British player I had seen."

My right sided centre back is Roberto Perfumo who in 2016 was chosen by the Argentine FA in their all-time XI. Maradona compared Perfumo to Passarella by stating "Forget Passarella. Perfumo was our real Kaiser" (Source). Perfumo was regarded as the best player when Racing Club won the 1967 Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup. Perfumo started his career in midfield including representing Argentina in that position at the 1964 Olympics and was skilled at passing the ball. As a defender his best skills were interceptions and understanding the game.

Team Strengths

- The off the ball work rate of my front 3.
- The goal-scoring ability of the inside forwards with Messi as a false 9.
- During Messi's 3 year false 9 peak (10/11-12/13) Messi had 186 goals and 76 assists in 165 games for Barcelona

 

[Šjor Bepo]

@Enigma_87 @Michaelf7777777 good luck

 

[Physiocrat]

@Enigma_87 Whenever I remember watching Krol he wasn't much of an overlapper and more of an inverted LB. I'm not an expert on him but he seems an odd fit behind Cruyff.

 

[Enigma_87]

@Enigma_87 Whenever I remember watching Krol he wasn't much of an overlapper and more of an inverted LB. I'm not an expert on him but he seems an odd fit behind Cruyff.

A compilation of him showcasing some of his skills and passing range. He offered plenty of support on the flank in his early days.

Scored some crackers and some of his low crosses on the side resulted in one of the trademark Cruyff goals in the box. He had very good technique and passing range, which helped him to put quality balls either in the box of finding his teammates in open spaces.

For example:

He was right footer of course and cutting in from the side allowed him to score some long range goals but also to put quality balls in:

Of course he was a smart player and as mentioned with an eye to the goal, so naturally in cases when he would find space he would drive forward and test the keeper with his stronger foot.

In this case it was Van Hanegem making a smart run to the flank to release space opting for Krol to use the gap. In this game naturally we have Davids who can also work the left flank and offer similar mechanics.

Of course Krol was total footballer as they come and naturally the system Ajax employed was also in sync with that.
Case in point is the Munich game where you can see him on the left, also a bit on the right in the end of the video and back on the left showing some nice skills @3:10.
The system wasn't rigid at all so positions on the pitch would be changed, dummy runs will leave some space behind etc, something Krol would utilize pretty well both on and off the ball.

There was also one game against Arsenal I think where Cruyff was playing a lot on the left flank and they were working pretty well with Krol from memories.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Very strong team from Enigma. Minor quibble is that Eto'o leading the line with Eusebio playing off him seems to make more sense to me than their current positioning, but it's largely cosmetic as I get that they're a duo and will be interchanging.

Michael looks better this match with the midfield configuaration looking tidier. I really like Schuster in the DLP role, Tigana is clearly in his element, and Coluna seems like a good fit although tbh I've never found him that impressive in terms of quality relative to his reputation. Front three looks incredibly dangerous though.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I'd swap Eto'o and Eusebio. Eto can be the target for Becks passes and Eusebio can play a free game able to drop deep and not clash with Cruyff.

Better team from M7, but lack of a proper holding midfielder still ranked.

 

[Himannv]

Much better team from Michael compared to the previous iteration. Voted for it. The midfield and attack are so much better with the tactical sub and everyone is in the right position now.

 

[Synco]

Two very nice teams and an interesting matchup. Both frontlines are outstanding, and I while I agree Eto'o and Eusebio should switch per default, I'd expect them to simply sort this out on the pitch.

My picture of Krol is also that of an underlapper rather than a wingback, like pretty much all right-footed old school LBs. I'm aware of the left-footed assist vs Brazil and can remember a handful of such scenes, but also how relatively rare they were compared to half-wide and central actions. (I think his later libero role was already foreshadowed in his LB game.) But... I've also seen Cruyff work the left flank a lot, so I think that tandem + Davids should work here.

My only real issue is CM. Not because of the lack of a stereotypical holder (I think these two are fantastic defensively), but because of a lack of an actual controlling playmaker. Funnily Krol should help a lot there.

In Michael's team on the other hand, ball progression is a big strength, imo. They should dominate possession in this matchup. But I think Enigma's team is superior in defense, and with Michael's forward line being even a tad more ridiculous, I'm calling this a draw.

 

[Physiocrat]

Thanks for the vids @Enigma_87

I'm still unconvinced that Krol is genuine overlapper. Now with Cruyff on the left and Davids it could work if Beckham cuts in a bit but I don't think it optimal.

@Synco I think Souness can operate as a DLP of sorts. He might be too direct for your liking but I think it works.

 

[Enigma_87]

Two very nice teams and an interesting matchup. Both frontlines are outstanding, and I while I agree Eto'o and Eusebio should switch per default, I'd expect them to simply sort this out on the pitch.

My picture of Krol is also that of an underlapper rather than a wingback, like pretty much all right-footed old school LBs. I'm aware of the left-footed assist vs Brazil and can remember a handful of such scenes, but also how relatively rare they were compared to half-wide and central actions. (I think his later libero role was already foreshadowed in his LB game.) But... I've also seen Cruyff work the left flank a lot, so I think that tandem + Davids should work here.

My only real issue is CM. Not because of the lack of a stereotypical holder (I think these two are fantastic defensively), but because of a lack of an actual controlling playmaker. Funnily Krol should help a lot there.

In Michael's team on the other hand, ball progression is a big strength, imo. They should dominate possession in this matchup. But I think Enigma's team is superior in defense, and with Michael's forward line being even a tad more ridiculous, I'm calling this a draw.

On Eusebio and Eto'o - its a fluid front two so the positions on the formation graph are just for aesthetic reasons more than anything.

 

[Synco]

On Eusebio and Eto'o - its a fluid front two so the positions on the formation graph are just for aesthetic reasons more than anything.

Yes, agree & basically wanted to say that too.

 

[Enigma_87]

Thanks for the vids @Enigma_87

I'm still unconvinced that Krol is genuine overlapper. Now with Cruyff on the left and Davids it could work if Beckham cuts in a bit but I don't think it optimal.

@Synco I think Souness can operate as a DLP of sorts. He might be too direct for your liking but I think it works.

The thing with Cruyff teams is that they aren’t conventional ones with conventional flank operators.

Even with him as a false 9, Keizer and Swart often changed wings or attacked the box.

our front three ( with Cruyff included as he’s more attacker than midfielder ) offers this variation and also to operate wide.

beckham on the other hand is more conventional midfielder who can both stretch the right flank but also tuck in off the ball when needed.

Becks also has the delivery from deep where both Eto’o and Eusebio can pose all sorts of problems to the opposition backline which is operating surely more on the high side being a Messi team. All in all I see us being the more direct side looking for the shortest route to goal compared to Mikes team trying to break us down which doesn’t need constant overlapping in the conventional sense on that left flank.

 

[Physiocrat]

The thing with Cruyff teams is that they aren’t conventional ones with conventional flank operators.

Even with him as a false 9, Keizer and Swart often changed wings or attacked the box.

our front three ( with Cruyff included as he’s more attacker than midfielder ) offers this variation and also to operate wide.

beckham on the other hand is more conventional midfielder who can both stretch the right flank but also tuck in off the ball when needed.

Becks also has the delivery from deep where both Eto’o and Eusebio can pose all sorts of problems to the opposition backline which is operating surely more on the high side being a Messi team. All in all I see us being the more direct side looking for the shortest route to goal compared to Mikes team trying to break us down which doesn’t need constant overlapping in the conventional sense on that left flank.

That's fair.

 

[Synco]

Finally got round to vote for Enigma. I think his team is a bit better equipped defensively to deal with the opponent's GOAT attack.