Just came online now. Give me some time to go through the comments please.
Manager draft - TRV(Guardiola) VS MJJ(Lippi)
- Thread starter Annahnomoss
- Start date
Wow TRV leads 21-14?
Baggio can drag Busquets out of position only when you have the ball. Once, I have the possession, I don't see how Baggio would drag Busquets out of the position. Also, all three of Neuer, Puyol and Pique were very good passers of the ball from their respective positions. And, none of Vieri, Ronaldo or Baggio were known for their pressing. So, they would be able to find Busquets/Xavi with their passes.
So, that means you're going to allow Xavi and Iniesta full control of the ball and put no pressure on them? Because, Conte and Deschamps can't take care of Messi when he drops deep and Xavi-Iniesta simultaneously.
Alves overlapped more than Lahm. But, you are absolutely wrong if you think Lahm won't overlap a lot. He would. The difference between the two is, Alves overlaps like a man mad and leaves space behind many times for counters while Lahm is up there with the best ever right backs, because of his ability to contribute in both attack and defence. Lahm was a master at timing his runs which meant, he knew when to pick up the right time to overlap and not make your team prone to counters. He and Robben have played together a lot and have got a great understanding between them. If you're ignoring Lahm's overlapping ability here, you are making a big mistake because he has the ability to provide that final ball or pre-assist for the goal.
Robben can drag Zambrotta out of his position which would create space between Zambrotta and Ferrara. Now, how would he react to someone like Lahm making an attacking run there? Because Bayern did that a lot. He can't surely leave Lahm free, there. Can he?
Think you're being harsh on Robben's tactical and defensive duties here. This season in the new 3-5-2 formation (Difficult to put it exactly what sort of formation it is), Pep is playing, Robben is playing on the right of that five. He attacks a lot obviously but at the same time he tracks back. He did that against Roma and also Dortmund this weekend. Under Pep, he has upped his defensive game a lot and is also much more involved in build-up play than going solo evert single time. Obviously, he still goes solo time to time but that what makes him so dangerous. He can now hurt in more than one way.
Also, people saying how Robben wouldn't make those attackings runs ahead of the ball, need to watch Lewandowski goal against Dortmund this week. It was his run which stretched Dortmund's defence and had to require a last ditch challenge from Subotic to clear it out, only for it to fall near Lewandowski who smashed it in.
Robben used to be a one trick-pony few years ago but ever since 2011/12, he has become a much more complete player. He still his trademark move but thats not the only thing he does nowadays. He can cut inside or attack you from the wide.
Far from being a surprise:
1) After all the bumming in the draft thread
2) After the recent "best club" thread indicated the average poster around here is in his early 20s
3) After two years of playing like complete dogshit and seeing combos that people think will work not working, everyone knows Barca worked
I'm more surprised at the 14 than the gap.
Pessotto would've been a decent addition, in my opinion. I rate him highly - tactically brilliant player of the sort the Italians have produced so many of over the years. Picked him for one of the previous drafts, forget which at the moment. Clearly not your typical vote puller, though.
Oh - and definitely a left sided man, even though he was right footed (as you rightly say): One of them right footed lefties.
I don't like the Lippi midfield here, the attack seems ideal to break down Barcelona.
Yeah, defintely a leftback. The right-footed comment largely directed at Torricelli. The issue with Pessotto is he wasn't a classic fullback, you couldn't quite call him defensive or attacking, he didn't have much pace... but he was very tactically proficient and aware. Not eye-catching, more of an acquired taste. As you say, the sort that goes down like a lead balloon in a draft.
Maybe it's time for him to drop one of the strikers for Di Livio and promote Conte up to press Busquets. I know it's Ronaldo, but Baggio's movement behind Vieiri's pace would be ideal imo. Putting a reign on Busquets might be just enough to tilt the balance to his attack.
Worked very well for anto last draft
Good Game & Hard Luck, @MJJ .
The midfield was a tad better though
Apparently, this was the last straw for Lippi
http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2014/11/marcello-lippi-announces-his-retirement/
http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2014/11/marcello-lippi-announces-his-retirement/
of course. its a disgrace I tell ya, an absolute fecking disgrace
I don't think that is the right way to go. Concentrating on enemy weakness rather than strengths. Trying to contain Barca by pressing Xavi and Iniesta is a bad tactic imo.
The way to go is to squeeze at the ends letting them have the middle. Press Busquets (Neuer and Puyol are good passers, but neither can replace Busq) to disrupt their passing game and squeeze space in your own box (compact defence squeezing space that Messi thrives in) having a good emphasis on wide counters would be the optimal approach.
I think that a lot of times team were trying to do exactly that in order to break up Barca's link between defense and midfield in the passing game, but than one thing happened - If Xavi was in a good game he'd drop deep and just make Barca's attacks start faster and with more pace in transition and the rest of the team would attack quicker, or if Xavi was in a bad game it wouldn't work.
But here, TRV has Xavi at his absolute prime, and the Xavi that really really rarely had a bad game in that prime and even if he does you got Lahm's passing game here to cover for it.
That's the thing, pushing Xavi to operate deeper. Stopping short of man marking (even that is questionable) I don't think it is possible to mitigate Xavi or Iniesta to a great extent. But Busquets definitely. Don't think Lahm can influence a game from full back position as much as Busq in the middle.