Pardew Draft - QF - Edgar vs Pat Mustard

[Pat_Mustard]

EDGAR:

PAT:

EDGAR TACTICS:

Tl;dr Why I'll win:

My defence is perfectly poised to counter his forwards. Ronaldo vs Campbell/Koeman is likely to tilt to my benefit.


Team

One of the greatest GK of all time Rinat Dasayev mans the goal. Nicknamed "The Iron Curtain" and "The Cat" he's a proven shot stopper and a leader in defence.

Elias Figueroa needs no introduction. One of the top GOATs. Guiuseppe Bergomi's solid no nonsense defending is perfect foil for this partner. Bergomi's anility to defend wide right is perfect counter to Henry's left sided strengths.

Anatoily Demyanenko & Volodymyr Bezsonov are similar one man flank fullbacks. Able to run up and down all day, solid defensively but able to contribute to attack too.

Nestor Goncalves & Obdulio Varela are possibly two of the greatest defensive midfielders ever to come out of South America.
- Varela was a defensive mastermind, a solid shield in front of the defence.
- In addition to being defensively strong, Goncalves was a proper game manager too. Dubbed "Captain of Captains" he was a midfield leader, absolutely class player. I watched @harms compilation of him and he reminded me of Keano.

Juan Alberto Schiaffino - I can't say nothing that antohan hasn't already said here. Subline with ball at his feat, highly creative with ability to score himself and bring others into play, he's the mastermind for the attack.

Luis Cubilla is a tricky right winger with good pace and dribbling skills. Comfortable out wide and to cut in, his trademark runs to edge of box will be a constant source of shots at goals and pull back crosses to other attackers.

Oleh Blokhin & Luis Ronaldo need no writeups. Balon d'Or winners and top of their positions.


PAT TACTICS:

Formation: 4-3-3

• Star player Johan Cruyff plays in a free role off the left wing. Henry looks an ideal partner for him: a prolific assister as well as an outstanding goalscorer, and his signature in-to-out movement to the left wing will drag defenders out of position to create space for the surging Cruyff.
• New signings Redondo and Matthaus combine with Vieira to form a powerhouse midfield that will wrest control our way and should ultimately decide the match. Redondo will thrive alongside two aggressive, mobile and tactically aware ball-winners. Likewise, Matthaus with the freedom to burst forward from midfield is a potential match-winner.
• Redondo and Koeman will provide the fluency in our deeper build up that Cruyff placed such a premium on. Koeman's lack of pace and susceptibility in 1v1s faces a stern test against the likes of Blokhin and Ronaldo, but I'm happy with the buttress around him: two colossal athletes with outstanding defensive nous in Thuram and Campbell; a defensively robust midfield ahead of him, and three attackers who will contribute out-of-possession. In a match where we should dominate the ball, that should be enough.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

@Edgar Allan Pillow good luck!

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

All the best @Pat_Mustard

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Just to kick this off....

Henry looks an ideal partner for him

I'm not really sure. They are both class players, but just doesn't feel natural to me. Shame Bergkamp was dropped as I still think that dynamic was better.

Koeman's lack of pace and susceptibility in 1v1s faces a stern test against the likes of Blokhin and Ronaldo, but I'm happy with the buttress around him

I doubt that would help vs Ronaldo. His acceleration and ability to beat Koeman is just too quick for regular bailing out from Thuram, who already faces a tricky Blokhin.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

I'm not really sure. They are both class players, but just doesn't feel natural to me. Shame Bergkamp was dropped as I still think that dynamic was better.

I'll not lie, I strongly considered starting Bergkamp at CF due to his strength and poise at receiving the ball under pressure and bringing others into play. I couldn't bring myself to lose Henry's next level ability to stretch the play though, and his proclivity for moving to the left wing seems to dovetail really well with Cruyff.

The other factor is that Henry is an incredible provider:


The range and quality of those assists is striking, not to mention the lack of selfishness for an elite goalscorer. For my money Cruyff and Henry look more likely to forge a greater than the sum of their parts partnership than the more single-minded Blokhin and R9 pairing.

I doubt that would help vs Ronaldo. His acceleration and ability to beat Koeman is just too quick for regular bailing out from Thuram, who already faces a tricky Blokhin.

The key is limiting his opportunites to run at Koeman in the first place. Firstly, so many of R9's signature dribbles started from deeper and/or wider areas, so he'll be facing other players initially. Secondly, Campbell is an athletically imposing foil for Koeman who from memory did well against Ronaldo when England played Brazil in WC 2002. Lastly and most importantly, we'll have the majority of possession here. And when you do get the ball I'm not sure you have the quality in you deeper build up to regularly play through our midfield and get Ronaldo on the ball facing Koeman.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Not many games of Luis Cubilla, but this should be a good representation. He's not afraid to take on defenders and is consistently good at stretching the defence and drifting a cross in.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Lastly and most importantly, we'll have the majority of possession here.

Why? Varela and Tito as as physical and hard working as either of your CMs and Schiaffino just elevates the attack.

You certainly have the edge in player quality, but "majority" of possession is a reach.

Plus Schiaffino is just the perfect support for Ronaldo. His acceleration and pace with vision and one touch passing will create opportunities esp against Redondo's lack of pace.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Why? Varela and Tito as as physical and hard working as either of your CMs and Schiaffino just elevates the attack.

You certainly have the edge in player quality, but "majority" of possession is a reach.

Plus Schiaffino is just the perfect support for Ronaldo. His acceleration and pace with vision and one touch passing will create opportunities esp against Redondo's lack of pace.

Not disputing Varela and Tito's physicality or work rate. As a midfield pivot it just looks very limited on the ball for a team that's aspiring to control this match. Varela doesn't seem to have had many playmaking qualities. Tito looked calm, authoritative and generally tidy with his short passing, but even when he had time on the ball he didn't look particularly progressive or incisive:


I can't see that duo keeping the ball well enough for you not to cede possession and control here.

 

[Physiocrat]

I really like Pat's midfield and it provides good cover in front of Koeman whilst playing to his long passing strengths - Redondo will have his work cut out to stop R9 running at him but with Matthaus's help that will be much easier.

I can see Cruyff and Henry linking well but a CF who could hold it up well may well have been better.

I need to think more about EAP's side. How attacking will your full backs be?

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

As a midfield pivot it just looks very limited on the ball for a team that's aspiring to control this match. Varela doesn't seem to have had many playmaking qualities. Tito looked calm, authoritative and generally tidy with his short passing, but even when he had time on the ball he didn't look particularly progressive or incisive:

I don't think you need a deep lying playmaker to control the game. Varela as you say is the defensive pivot but far from a just a thug.

A story from 1950 WC.

He led by example on the pitch in more ways than merely scoring at key moments, though. Let's go back to the Maracana on July 16, 1950. Brazil had dominated the first half, but the Uruguayan defence had kept them at arm's length comfortably enough that, at half-time, they realised there was no reason they couldn't win. Two minutes into the second half, though, Friaca opened the scoring for the hosts.

Varela realised at this point that, with the crowd and Brazilian players whipped into a frenzy, something needed to be done to calm the atmosphere and allow him and his teammates time to regain their composure. He got to the ball first as it nestled in the net, picked it up and put it under his arm. And while walking it back to the centre spot, he started remonstrating with the English referee, George Reader.

The goal seemed perfectly valid, but the argument continued as Varela demanded a translator be called onto the pitch to help the officials explain why no offside had been flagged for in the buildup to the goal. The crowd, of course, had no idea what the argument was about. The strangeness of the situation meant that by the time the game was ready to restart, the stadium had fallen silent, and the delirium of moments before had been forgotten already.

Little by little, Uruguay imposed themselves on the match, driven forward from midfield by Varela. Nineteen minutes after Brazil's goal, Varela moved forward and sprayed a pass to the right wing, where Alcides Ghiggia received the ball before beating his man and putting in a cross for Juan Alberto Schiaffino to equalise.

Another extract:

Known as the “Black Chief”, Varela was a classic deep-lying midfielder, renowned as much for his leadership as he was for his relentless tenacity. Given his imposing physique, it is little surprise he was adept at handling himself physically, but he was equally adept as the pivote, linking play between the defence and midfield creators, and firing in the occasional fierce long-range goal, as he did against England in the 1954 World Cup quarter-final.

From what I have watched of Tito, he is similar to Keane, in his ability to lead the midfield. His short passing and distribution skills are sufficient esp when you have Schiaffino who will definitely drop back when off possession. Plus Cubilla and Blokhin are no slouches in drifting infield to pick up the ball and beat defenders with their pace. Between Figueroa, two attacking fullbacks and Figueroa, I have enough quality from the deep to get the ball forward.

Here's some info from anto on Varela/Schiaffino linkup and influence in controlling games from the midfield.

Pure destroyer isn't right, no, it would be like calling Keano a pure destroyer (remarkable as he was at that job).

He had very decent passing and a brilliant football brain. I wrote about this during the chain draft, how fantastic him and Schiaffino were playing together as they both controlled games completely (albeit in different ways). Wonderful cannon in his right peg too.

Can't think of modern players quite like him. Tito Gonçalves had similar traits (thus his heir) but I'd argue Tito was a more accomplished playmaker while Varela was better at controlling the defensive side of the game.

Redondo will have his work cut out to stop R9 running at him but with Matthaus's help that will be much easier.

That's entirely ignoring Schiaffino? His pace and movement and ability to beat any player one on one is getting underestimated here. Not just that his brilliance was in his vision in probing the defence for it's weakness. The problem with Pat's team is the lack of pace when matched with players who excel in pace. Schiaffino vs Redondo, R9 vs Koeman. And, Schiaffino is one of the best in expoilting that weakness. Supporting cast is well and good but unless they are dedicated to be defensive. the weakness will be exploited.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Just to reiterate, Pat's team is great, but

- It depends a great deal on key players requiring support to shore up their weakness....which is not always a give as they have their own matchups (Blokhin vs Thuram, Schiaffino vs Redono/Matthaus) .
- Henry/Cruyff are stars, but as a pair, they are suboptimal. Ronaldo/Blokhin on the other hand compliment well and will get the best of each other.

Alternatively,

+ Figueroa/Bergomi is the better CB duo in this match. Bergomi esp is perfect foil for left moving Henry.
+ Vareala as dedicated DM will help a lot against free role Cruyff.
+ Ronaldo is the best forward and no amount of "support" will help Koeman/Campbell in keeping a clean sheet.

 

[Jim Beam]

Pretty easy for me. You field non-footage player, you lose my vote.

Nothing against Edgar, but that's the way I've been voting for about a year now.

 

[antohan]

You can split hairs all day on various things, but I'm pretty clear that left-to-centre channels combo of Demyanenko, Blokhin and Ronaldo will have a ball here.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Pretty easy for me. You field non-footage player, you lose my vote.

Nothing against Edgar, but that's the way I've been voting for about a year now.

piss off and find your own voting policy

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Pretty easy for me. You field non-footage player, you lose my vote.

Nothing against Edgar, but that's the way I've been voting for about a year now.

Harsh, given my pool!

 

[Jim Beam]

Harsh, given my pool!

That is a valid excuse. Still, I would even then go for a player which you can judge properly.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

I don't think you need a deep lying playmaker to control the game. Varela as you say is the defensive pivot but far from a just a thug.

I don't think a team necessarily need a DLP either (there's been countless great teams that haven't had one), but I don't think yours looks a particularly complementary pairing in general, much less for controlling a match against this level of opposition. I'd happily pick Tito again in the future, but I'd want to pair him with someone better at progressing the ball. Vieira is probably my third best central midfielder, but I'm still confident that he's better than either of yours on the ball. For someone who was primarily a ball-winner, he could be brilliant in possession:

As to Schiaffino, I have no idea how hard or effectively he'll work defensively, or how focused he is on midfield control (ie; Zidane-type) vs final-third creation (Kaka/Bruno). Either way I doubt he'll be more of a factor on the flow of the match than Cruyff.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

GG @Pat_Mustard. All the best forward!

 

[Pat_Mustard]

GG @Pat_Mustard. All the best forward!

Cheers Edgar! Good game.

 

[antohan]

Pretty easy for me. You field non-footage player, you lose my vote.

Nothing against Edgar, but that's the way I've been voting for about a year now.

I assume this refers to Varela? Not technically correct as there IS footage.

What is easily accessible on Youtube is scant, granted, and doesn't help assess a midfielder as most are highlight reels so typically a goal, an assist or a stab at either. But then, it's no longer a "no footage" rule.

Edit: but then, there's only YT highlight reels for five WC games and in two he scores, in another he assists and in a fourth one he doesn't feature at all despite some calling it the most dominant individual performance in WC history. Not bad really.

 

[Physiocrat]

I assume this refers to Varela? Not technically correct as there IS footage.

What is easily accessible on Youtube is scant, granted, and doesn't help assess a midfielder as most are highlight reels so typically a goal, an assist or a stab at either. But then, it's no longer a "no footage" rule.

Edit: but then, there's only YT highlight reels for five WC games and in two he scores, in another he assists and in a fourth one he doesn't feature at all despite some calling it the most dominant individual performance in WC history. Not bad really.

By no footage I think he means the lack of one full game.

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

I really like Goncalves on the ball. Been a while since i watched his footage, but i recall thinking he was great at shielding it and efficiently keeping things moving with a good range of passing. He's a well suited player for providing the balance between a more defensive partner and an attacking midfielder.