Mavericks and Liabilities Draft - R1 - Physiocrat vs Skizzo

[Pat_Mustard]

PHYSIO:

SKIZZO:

PHYSIO'S TACTICS:

Tactics – Direct/ Mixed
Formation – 433
Defensive Line – Balanced
Marking – Zonal

Maverick – Alvaro Recoba

Recoba’s main attributes where his crossing, long-shots, dribbling and of course free kicks. If you see the assist video below he crossing was exceptional. This is why I picked John Charles as the big man upfront (remember though Charles could also drop deep and did link well with his teammates) and also Kevin Keegan as right-forward – a busy and tenancious player who has experience wide right and also had very good aerial ability: many of his goals for Liverpool came with his head. At free-kicks he will also have Ayala to aim for who regularly contributed 1 or 2 goals a season for Valencia.



Recoba however has a free-role from the left as he did like to drift inside to shoot or link with his other forwards. Throughout the game Recoba will be supported by Zebec on the left-wing so Recoba has entire freedom to do as he pleases without sacrificing the attacking shape. Covering on the left will be the Duracell bunny Soren Lerby, who had so much stamina played two games in one day IIRC – he was also tidy on the ball. The creative heart of the midfield is Leo Junior who transitioned to an attacking midfield position later in his career. His experience at RB will give him the extra nous to cover the right-side when Maicon bombs on.


Liability – Yaya Toure

I was surprised to see that he dropped pretty deep for City when I thought he played more of an attacking game. As you can see he acts as a bit of DLP, picking up the ball from the CBs regularly. The big downside of his game was his lack of stamina to play a genuine B2B role but here he has the less athletic job of screening that back four. With energy around him with Lerby and Junior he will excel.


Finally, the I have a complementary partnership with Ayala and Thiago Silva. Plus Zebec and Maicon were good defenders in their own right. Behind them is the excellent shot-stopper Rinat Dasayev.

SKIZZO'S TACTICS:

Well, my Maverick and liability were both products of Ajax, so it made the most sense to forge a formation and style similar to what they would be familiar and thrived in.


Liability - Frank de Boer
The first thing to notice is obviously Frank slotting in to a familiar position in the left side of a three man defense like he did for Van Gaal’s Ajax squad that went undefeated in the league, and won the European Cup. He’s surrounded by players who would allow him to play in the same way he would have at his peak, with a ball-playing goalkeeper available behind him, and a pacy sweeper and all-action left midfielder ahead of him who would both provide an outlet and coverage.

Maverick - Dennis Bergkamp
I’m sure most people think of Bergkamp and think of his Arsenal stint where he lit up the premier league, but he slots back in here to his earlier role at Ajax with a free role behind the striker, at the tip of the midfield diamond, where he would be free to influence the game with his vision and passing, or ghost into the box and get on the end of crosses and passing moves. He has a strong, hard working midfield base behind him, and quick, mobile players ahead of him who can stretch the play, beat defenders one on one, and move the defense around for him to run the game.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

@Physiocrat @Skizzo good luck.

 

[harms]

Damn, that’s some great teams

 

[Gio]

Damn, that’s some great teams

Yeah, both spot on.

 

[Physiocrat]

I like a lot of Skizzo's side: the striker, midfield four and wide centre backs. Mane and Simonsen are more wide forwards than wingers in the vein of Overmars and Finidi George and would suit working with some overlapping full-backs. From watching some all-touch comps of Vasovic on of his big strengths was bringing the ball out from the back which he is unlikely to be able to do much of.

On more of the specific game I don't remember Vasovic being that good in the air so John Charles is somewhat of a mismatch, especially with Recoba's crossing.

 

[Himannv]

Both great teams - very hard to vote. Leaning towards Skizzo because I just love the setup.

 

[Physiocrat]

 

[Skizzo]

I like a lot of Skizzo's side: the striker, midfield four and wide centre backs. Mane and Simonsen are more wide forwards than wingers in the vein of Overmars and Finidi George and would suit working with some overlapping full-backs. From watching some all-touch comps of Vasovic on of his big strengths was bringing the ball out from the back which he is unlikely to be able to do much of.

On more of the specific game I don't remember Vasovic being that good in the air so John Charles is somewhat of a mismatch, especially with Recoba's crossing.

Part of this system used the CB (Blind) and DM (Rijkaard) to bring the ball forward out of the back. The CB was never required to stay as the deepest point while in possession of the ball. Vasovic wouldn’t be able to go marauding forward into the opposition box here, but there’s no reason in possession he can’t bring the ball forward.

The wingers here would be effective I feel. Their purpose was to stretch play, beat their man and get balls into the box, or if doubled up, then to pass the ball off to the space created centrally. Mane and Simonsen are both able to beat their man one-on-one, which is what we needed for the system. Neither would require an overlapping fullback to assist them in doing that.


You can see Mane here, for example, almost always is left out wide by himself to beat a man and get a ball inside. He’d also benefit from the quick long balls out from the back, and the vision of Bergkamp to pick out his runs. I think Keegan and Recoba would be more reliant on overlaps, and I don’t think they’d be able to rely on them much here.

Charles would be a bit of a mismatch for most people in the air really, but Vasovic was a great reader of the game and had great awareness and positioning, so it wouldn’t be a total walkover in that regard, and I don’t think your game heavily relies on crosses, or that you’d be able to pump them into the box extensively.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I do remember Yaya regularly moving up the pitch too. That playing in front of defense was specifically requested for by Pirlo and I'm not aware of any other DLP in modern game playing there. Also in that midfield, Junior is more likely to be main playmaker than Yaya.

Also can you explain more on Keegan and his winger role? I don't know much about him.

As to Skizzo team, I'm highly sceptical of that defensive trio's solidity.

 

[harms]

Can you explain Toure's role a bit more? Is he playing like he did at Barca? Are you limiting his attacking runs? Because his ideal role would be the Lampard-esque one of a most attacking central midfielder in a three, albeit not an attacking midfielder. With Lerby & Junior both there he feels a bit... excessive? And Bergkamp is probably not the best type of player for him to mark if he's focusing purely on defense.

 

[sherrinford]

Poor way to use Yaya Toure. He can operate at the base of midfield but didn't want to play there and was less impactful the deeper he was deployed and the less freedom he had to drive forward.

Playing directly against Bergkamp, he is as much of a liability in that position as he could be, really.

 

[Physiocrat]

Part of this system used the CB (Blind) and DM (Rijkaard) to bring the ball forward out of the back. The CB was never required to stay as the deepest point while in possession of the ball. Vasovic wouldn’t be able to go marauding forward into the opposition box here, but there’s no reason in possession he can’t bring the ball forward.

That's fair.

The wingers here would be effective I feel. Their purpose was to stretch play, beat their man and get balls into the box, or if doubled up, then to pass the ball off to the space created centrally. Mane and Simonsen are both able to beat their man one-on-one, which is what we needed for the system. Neither would require an overlapping fullback to assist them in doing that.


You can see Mane here, for example, almost always is left out wide by himself to beat a man and get a ball inside. He’d also benefit from the quick long balls out from the back, and the vision of Bergkamp to pick out his runs. I think Keegan and Recoba would be more reliant on overlaps, and I don’t think they’d be able to rely on them much here.

Mane is out on the left quite a bit but it is clear from the compilation he liked to drift centrally quite regularly and you can see Roberston in the left wing position. I'm not sure he would excel in a more positionally disciplined role that you require to stretch the play laterally. I agree Keegan and to a lesser extent Recoba would like an overlapper but I have those in Maicon and Zebec with cover from midfield to allow them to attack frequently.

Charles would be a bit of a mismatch for most people in the air really, but Vasovic was a great reader of the game and had great awareness and positioning, so it wouldn’t be a total walkover in that regard, and I don’t think your game heavily relies on crosses, or that you’d be able to pump them into the box extensively.

I can see the Recoba and Zebec combo getting the better of Kimmich on a number of occasions and Charles coming in on a Recoba cross will be devastating - you can see the quality of his crosses on the assists video.

I do remember Yaya regularly moving up the pitch too. That playing in front of defense was specifically requested for by Pirlo and I'm not aware of any other DLP in modern game playing there. Also in that midfield, Junior is more likely to be main playmaker than Yaya.

I may have been unclear in the OP. Junior is the main playmaker here. Yaya is in a restricted DM role. I highlighted the DLPish ability he had at City to show how he could progress the ball and wasn't an uncultured DM. It doesn't get the best out of Yaya but with the 433 with Recoba I didn't want Yaya at RCM or LCM with his lack of stamina.

@harms

Yaya on Bergkamp isn't ideal I agree but Charles on Vasovic is worse.

Also can you explain more on Keegan and his winger role? I don't know much about him.

Keegan was mostly a mobile second striker who has played wide at various points in his career. You can see in this comp from Pat how he buzzes around the whole pitch. It is a free roaming role on the right for Keegan. He can come short, link with Charles or Junior, stay wide and sneak in at the back post from a Recoba cross - his aerial ability was pretty darn good.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

i like the use of Yaya, only version of him that was good enough for elite level.

 

[Physiocrat]

You have good side @Skizzo

Good game.

 

[Skizzo]

You have good side @Skizzo

Good game.

cheers mate. Good game to you too!