Massive apologies for the absence, really had no room whatsoever to get any break yesterday.
@Edgar Allan Pillow @Arbitrium Firstly about Meazza, of course back when he played the game was entirely different and especially the formations were little like anything we see today, I don't think I interpreted the draft rules wrongly here because they don't say you have to play the exact same formation in which the player played. By which logic, you should be able to deploy a player in a setup where largely his qualities, skills and let's say action zones reflect the ones you use. Because otherwise, Cruyff didn't play in a Xmas tree in 1974 or Bobby Charlton didn't play in a Zona Mista in 1966 or here, Gerson wasn't a part of a 3 man midfield with two CMs on both his sides in 1970 and instead had a 4-2-4 with wide players on both sides, etc. Asking for that is extremely unreasonable, if I have to play Meazza in his same role that he played then I'd have to play a 2-3-5 that they played and same goes for any player that is being used in a different formation - makes having an all time timeline in this draft absolutely pointless. If we are going to point out inconsistencies here I'd argue that my opponent is far more experimental with the usage of his players than I have been.
Now back to Meazza, 1934 was the tournament where Pozzo changed his position from a Center Forward, his club role, to an inside forward (and EAP, he was inside-left, not inside-right in 1934), to maximise the utilization of his entire skillset, at his absolute best Meazza was primarily a very skillful forward, who would be known for his exceptional technique and dribbling skills, as well as his composure in front of goal highlighted by his penchant for dribbling past keepers and often scoring in an empty net. In this world cup, he was given more responsibility to act as the creative force behind other forwards as well as make his trademark runs from wide channels towards the goal.
So, I fail to see what a false 9 has to perform that Meazza wasn't asked for. And importantly, it was his fearlessness of expressing himself and absolute freedom in that role that allowed him to constantly be a real thorn in opposition defenses. That is what makes him consistent with my team's philosophy, they are all allowed to go out there, see for themselves the best course of action and play their natural game.
Now, to how it all fits in my team - the player on Meazza's left acting as the left winger/wing forward is Rob Rensenbrink. He played that role with another inside-left playing in the middle who goes by the name of Johan Cruyff. Cruyff and Meazza's action zones and dribbling trajectories were near identical during their world cup campaigns and if there's anyone who would dovetail precisely with that, it is Rob Rensenbrink. Rob is not playing a touchline hugging winger here, which also answer people asking for a proper #9, as @oneniltothearsenal said, that would still allow the winger to impact the game but not as much as in the setup where they are key to the strategy, getting far more into the thick of things and I am backing them to relish that. Someone like Lato who was the top scorer in the world cup will be allowed to showcase his goalscoring to a larger extent that in a simple 4-2-3-1 or something, both of them made constant runs into the box in 74 and that is what I need here a lot.
@Edgar Allan Pillow @Arbitrium Firstly about Meazza, of course back when he played the game was entirely different and especially the formations were little like anything we see today, I don't think I interpreted the draft rules wrongly here because they don't say you have to play the exact same formation in which the player played. By which logic, you should be able to deploy a player in a setup where largely his qualities, skills and let's say action zones reflect the ones you use. Because otherwise, Cruyff didn't play in a Xmas tree in 1974 or Bobby Charlton didn't play in a Zona Mista in 1966 or here, Gerson wasn't a part of a 3 man midfield with two CMs on both his sides in 1970 and instead had a 4-2-4 with wide players on both sides, etc. Asking for that is extremely unreasonable, if I have to play Meazza in his same role that he played then I'd have to play a 2-3-5 that they played and same goes for any player that is being used in a different formation - makes having an all time timeline in this draft absolutely pointless. If we are going to point out inconsistencies here I'd argue that my opponent is far more experimental with the usage of his players than I have been.
Now back to Meazza, 1934 was the tournament where Pozzo changed his position from a Center Forward, his club role, to an inside forward (and EAP, he was inside-left, not inside-right in 1934), to maximise the utilization of his entire skillset, at his absolute best Meazza was primarily a very skillful forward, who would be known for his exceptional technique and dribbling skills, as well as his composure in front of goal highlighted by his penchant for dribbling past keepers and often scoring in an empty net. In this world cup, he was given more responsibility to act as the creative force behind other forwards as well as make his trademark runs from wide channels towards the goal.
So, I fail to see what a false 9 has to perform that Meazza wasn't asked for. And importantly, it was his fearlessness of expressing himself and absolute freedom in that role that allowed him to constantly be a real thorn in opposition defenses. That is what makes him consistent with my team's philosophy, they are all allowed to go out there, see for themselves the best course of action and play their natural game.
Now, to how it all fits in my team - the player on Meazza's left acting as the left winger/wing forward is Rob Rensenbrink. He played that role with another inside-left playing in the middle who goes by the name of Johan Cruyff. Cruyff and Meazza's action zones and dribbling trajectories were near identical during their world cup campaigns and if there's anyone who would dovetail precisely with that, it is Rob Rensenbrink. Rob is not playing a touchline hugging winger here, which also answer people asking for a proper #9, as @oneniltothearsenal said, that would still allow the winger to impact the game but not as much as in the setup where they are key to the strategy, getting far more into the thick of things and I am backing them to relish that. Someone like Lato who was the top scorer in the world cup will be allowed to showcase his goalscoring to a larger extent that in a simple 4-2-3-1 or something, both of them made constant runs into the box in 74 and that is what I need here a lot.
)
Definitely a far better defender than I could have imagined and his ability to deal with one vs ones is certainly GOAT quality. The man deals with both the left and right side in a remarkable manner. It's like he wants to be put in a 1 vs 1 situation and seeks it out because he knows how good he was there.