Quaranteam draft - QF: Elegancia vs harms

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

vs

................................................. TEAM ELEGANCIA ............................................................................................ TEAM HARMS ................................................


TEAM ELEGANCIA

Goalkeeper: Amadeo Carrizo-the pioneer of sweeper-keeping skills.He had great ball-skills too so it would be fit in my high-line system.Carrizo biggest strength was reflex and jump but also a great commander in the box and reading the game.

Defense:Virgil Van Dijk my left-side centerback,I plan him specific role in this game to duel with Uwe Seeler one of the best headers of all time.Seeler maybe great one of the goats but he has disadvantage in this game with 23-25 centimeters height difference. He would have play his best to win header with VVD and VVD is gonna be face with one of the best headers of all time. It's not easy job for both, I'm sure it will great duel. Other roles for Virgil are command the defensive line , start the game from the back and help my lb to covers from Jair and Alberto.

Costacurta another great cb will defense in stopper role.He's gonna face Sivori a lot and Sivori is a hell of dribbler but I'm sure that he can do things on his own.He faced Ronaldo(R9),Baggio and Maradona so I think he's gonna do well against Sivori.Other roles for him are covers J.L.Andrade and sometimes exchange sides with Virgil and doing stopper role.

As for the left-backs, Jairzinho and Alberto are very dangerous, so I need a more defensive left-back than Junior to reduce the danger of this pair.
Therefore, Bonhof is better suited to the role. He will focus more defensively than Junior, but can go up to help the attacking game to help Neymar from time to time. Bonhof can play a variety of positions including lb, rb, cdm and cb. I've seen him play cb Mark Gerd Muller during his time in Gladbach. He also has good shots from a good distance shot.

J.L.Andrade will support my attack with KDB with great crosses to Lewandowski,dribbling and helps De Bryune.He is one of the best in term of techniques and offense.So,There's no problem for him.

Midfielders:
Ocwirk is one of the best midfielders around. His biggest strength is in long-passes,tackling,stamina, aerial-abilities and can also play very well defensively. He was a complete-midfielder. So I brought this here to battle with Van Hanegem, who I think is complete as well. But I think Ocwirk is still better than Van Hanegem.

Pair with Ocwirk is Edwards one of the holding midfielders and destroyer.He can plays at cdm and cm,he is a complete defensive-midfielders who has everything stamina,stamina,strength and especially the most important things that I choose him is "Technique".He will pair with Ocwirk and create the great-pair.

Attackers:
De Bryune: a midfielder who can pass all kinds of balls. He has the best vision in this era ,have a very good workrate So,A lot of times he can run down to help the defense. The striker of this team is Lewandowski who can finish in any form. He has the best accuracy of any-strikers in this era . So it's the perfect companion. Especially when De Bryune crosses from the right or through balls which is his strong points.He has great long-shots so when the team is in trouble or can't nutllify the defense he will take-shots that can decide the game.
Roles:Semi rw/cam(in attacks) in defense he will be cm.

Walter:In this game he will half cam/half second-striker(aka Baggio,Totti roles).His role in this game is setting up scoring oppurtunities,passing and can be in the penalty box a lot like Platini or Zico did a lot in Juventus and Flamengo to score the goals.Oh and he is not liability defense too.He is the captain of my team.He is one of the best mentality and will motivate all of my players in this game.

Neymar: Free role attackers/lw
Neymar in this game will have complete freedom with dribbling, creativity and cutting in the middle to scoring or playmaking.He is gonna be great support in attacks by Bonhof (who is not a medicore in attack).
Another thing I want from him is to run cut the back and beat the defensive line to scores.In this game we have a lot of great passers like KDB,Walter,Ocwirk or from the back with VVD long-balls,so he can do great in this game.

Strikers:Robert Lewandowski one of the best strikers in this era and all time.He can scores in everyway headers,tap-ins,penalties or beat the defenders with dribbling too.He is a complete striker.Oh......and he can link up with other-attackers very well and has great varieties of techniques too.He has excellent-services from KDB,Walter,Neymar and Ocwirk,so the game is best suit for him.

My Tactics:4-2-4 in attacks and 4-4-2 in defense with my wingers will help a lot in defense.
-Right back overlapping to help attacks and left back will be more defensive-minded.
-midfields battle between my duo vs Van Hanegem and Tigana.
-exchange sides of my attacks since all of them are great-two foots(Neymar,KDB and Walter)
-great crosses and passes from KDB,through ball from Walter and Neymar to Lewandowski and Walter can be a lot of times in the box to scores too.
-counter-pressing especially in midfield with aggresive Edwards and Ocwirk,my attackers with help this too.
-high line defense
-counter attacks from Neymar,KDB crosses to Lewan or many ways.
-great aerial duel in midfields and attacks ......after that counter-attacks
-transition attacks
-long shots
-Engine pair from my cm to recoveries everything so I don't need a pure dm.


TEAM HARMS

Trademark harms' side — talent, grit and win-at-all-costs mentality. I went for a more conservative 4-4-2 this time round opting for Marzolini (a more defensive option compared to Bennarivo) as well as Beckham in Jairzinho's place — Golden Balls™ would give me more control over midfield as well as a superior service to my forwards. Without further ado, let's do a quick overview of my players:

Peter Schmeichel. Picking the greatest ever keeper is an almost impossible exercise, but one thing is for sure — Big Pete is certainly in the mix. The greatest keeper in Manchester United's history as well as the greatest keeper in history of the European Championships, he'll be a lovely addition to my team, always ready to bail me out of any trouble.

Carlos Alberto. Arguably the greatest right back in history of the game (I'm getting a bit repetitive with those, aren't I?) — astute defender who even played as a centre-back during his career and, of course, a wonderful attacking fullback combining playmaking skills with well-timed over- and underlapping runs.

Pietro Vierchowod. Throughout his illustrious career that had spanned over 25 years he had faced all sorts of forwards, including the best of the best — van Basten, Ronaldo, Maradona... and van Basten & Maradona both named Pietro the toughest defender they had ever faced (Diego made a wonderfully visual description of him — "he's had muscles to his eyelashes"). I really rate Lewa but facing the above-mentioned players was a tougher challenge.

Willi Schulz. He was so good that Beckenbauer had to play out of position for half a decade. It was only after World Cup-Willi (nice nickname by the way) had retired Der Kaiser got to play as a libero for West Germany.

Silvio Marzolini. He is widely regarded as the best Argentine left-back of all-time and even though he had spent his whole career in his home country, his reputation went way beyond its borders. Even Sir Bobby Charlton had included Marzolini in his all-time XI, highlighting his immaculate positioning & great ball-control that always gave him time and space to play the ball away safely.

David Beckham. Do I really need to big him up on the United forum? His delivery from right wing was simply out of this world — personally, I haven't seen any player before or since match him in terms of consistency, although a few came close. And even at his absolute peak in popularity when his image transcended football and sports in general, on the pitch he was always the ultimate professional — never slacking off and always putting his shift in.

Jean Tigana. Kanté before Kanté, really (with more skill points invested in ball-playing), an energizer bunny that could run for days, harassing the opposition, forcing them to make mistakes to send a perfect through-ball to one of his forwards immediately after winning the ball back. Not often defensive midfielders without significant goalscoring contribution get individual recognition, but Tigana was so good that he almost won Ballon d'Or — finishing as a runner up behind his compatriot Michel Platini in 1984.

Willem van Hanegem. Feyenoord's own alternative to Cruyff, a playmaking genius with a dirty side in him. Which Dutch side was the first one to win the European Cup? No, not Ajax. It was van Hanegem's Feyenoord. Who was pulling the strings in midfield for the great Dutch side of the 1974? You've guessed it. And all of that without sacrificing anything in work-rate or defensive contribution — as Johan Cruyff himself noted: Van Hanegem has one advantage over me. When I have a bad game, I’m useless. When Van Hanegem has a bad game, he rolls up his sleeves and starts tackling.

Zoltán Czibor. Refreshingly modern footballer from the 1950's — while usually operating on the left wing he had mastered every interpretation of the role —a traditional winger who would beat his marker only to make an accurate cross (be it a low cross to Puskás' left foot or a high cross to Kocsis to head home), a dangerous inside forward with a record a little shy of a goal every other game or even a hardworking tactical option to balance out an uber-attacking forward line.

Omar Sívori. Quite possibly the most talented player on the pitch. Somehow he remains underappreciated even though, unlike most South American players of his era, he was well renowned in Europe, winning Ballon d'Or and multiple Serie A titles, even becoming the league's top scorer once despite not being the main striker. When you watch him play, the resemblance between him and Maradona becomes almost uncanny — even if you take away the background it's the same little guy making the mockery of huge and intimidating defenders, somehow even matching them in physical battles and never shying away from a challenge.

Uwe Seeler. Probably the best striker in the draft. The ultimate goal machine as well as the ultimate partner for any type of a forward. I can't believe that Müller didn't want to play alongside him in the 1970 World Cup only for them to form one of the most effective striking units of all-time.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

@General_Elegancia @harms all the best!

 

[harms]

Cheers @Edgar Allan Pillow
Good luck @General_Elegancia

 

[General_Elegancia]

Oh my god.....My first impression is I think @harms will send Jairzinho to rw to destroy my both offensive left-backs (Junior-starter,Bonhof-reserver)
So,In this game I counter @harms tactics by send Bonhof (more defesive-oriented)to lb and drop Junior to reserve but that's not a problem Bonhof can plays in this game as lb and he can plays certainly-well.

De Bryune combo with Lewan vs Becks combo with Seeler wows......
A midfield battle.....
You and me are a lot of similars.

 

[General_Elegancia]

good luck to you,mate
@harms

 

[harms]

As for the left-backs, Jairzinho and Alberto are very dangerous, so I need a more defensive left-back than Junior to reduce the danger of this pair.
Therefore, Bonhof is better suited to the role. He will focus more defensively than Junior, but can go up to help the attacking game to help Neymar from time to time.

 

[General_Elegancia]

I predicted your tactics correctly wrong......

I have made a liitle mistake .
Mr.Bulletshots(Bonhof) can plays instead him with no problems.....he maybe worst on offense for sure but defense he is better at it.

 

[harms]

Ocwirk is one of the best midfielders around. His biggest strength is in long-passes,tackling,stamina, aerial-abilities and can also play very well defensively. He was a complete-midfielder. So I brought this here to battle with Van Hanegem, who I think is complete as well. But I think Ocwirk is still better than Van Hanegem.

That's one hell of an assumption even though I won't call it outrageous per se considering Ocwirk's reputation.

I'm surprised as to why Ocwirk is positioned on the left & Edwards on the right of a midfield pairing, especially if he is supposed to battle van Hanegem. Edwards' preferred role was left half and I feel like he compliments Bonhof more. Andrade was himself somewhat of an Edwards-esque figure — again, according to what I could learn from the written sources as he sadly played a bit before the TV era. He's certainly one of the most intriguing players of the era.

Went on to comment on Fritz Walter based on what I've seen of him (but that's not much and he was a bit on an older side at that point) only to find out that Footballia had uploaded a full game against Soviet Union with 19-years old Streltsov playing (and, of course, scoring)!!!!! Fecking hell. This draft has paid off already, whatever the result. I was sure that I dug out literally every possible bit of footage on him that was available — full game with a pre-prison Streltsov


Since my mind had flew away for now, just wanted to comment on General's set up in general — I'm afraid that it won't be received too favourably by the voters going by my experience but I actually quite like it. Bonhof, Edwards, De Bruyne... all lovely. Personally, I probably wouldn't go with Neymar for such a set up as I feel like he doesn't feel the collective-first spirit that I get from the rest of the team (Stoichkov/Kalle/Blokhin would fit like a glove there), but, well, it's not my team.

 

[harms]

I have made a liitle mistake .
Mr.Bulletshots(Bonhof) can plays instead him with no problems.....he maybe worst on offense for sure but defense he is better at it.

Hey, you're talking to the biggest Bonhof fan-boy on the caf

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

I have to compliment Elegancia for putting together a really unique (for Redcafe) mix of much older players and contemporary stars. Almost willing to vote just for the creativity and effort in the OP (also for the bold statement that Ocwirk > van Hanegem!)

 

[harms]

I wanted to highlight just how tough Lewandowski would have it in this game — even though Vierchowod often man-marked tricksters like Maradona his favourite type of duels were, of course, against proper number 9s like van Basten, Batigol and Careca.

Vierchowod, at Sampdoria, was one of the best defenders I ever came across. Ask van Basten what he thinks of Vierchowod. Marco only managed to get past him once when we played against the star defender. A lucky goal after the had bounced off the bar. Marco just nodded it in.

One of the very best I ever saw was Pietro Vierchowod, my teammate at Sampdoria. That Van Basten only ever scored once in all our battles when Pietro was in defence says it all: in a period in which Van Basten was hailed as the world’s player of the year three times. Against Vierchowod, no striker ever had a good day. With his heavy, almost clumsy posture, Vierchowod surprised his opponents with a super-quick first five metres and his unanticipated agility. He was not considered mean, but was hard as nails. He made sure he kept in shape: a true professional, only retiring in April 2000, still playing top football at forty-one

He was an animal, he had muscles to the eyelashes. It was easy to pass by him, but then when I raised my head, he was in front of me again. I would have to pass him two or three more times and then I would pass the ball because I couldn’t stand him anymore.

They are right to say that you are the Hulk: you only need the green color

This one was after Vierchowod (such a cliche!) cornered him in the tunnel in half-time, not willing to let him out of his sight.

Who was your toughest opponent?

Vierchowod. He was absolutely brutal and lightning quick.

Ferri? He and Vierchowod are probably the strongest defenders.

Going by the context it looks like he talks not about their greatness in general but about their physical strength — he complains about Brio kicking him with his elbows just before that.

The best defender? Vierchowod. The best footballer? Van Basten, Roberto Baggio, Caniggia

This one is from 1992, quite an early quote with Caniggia somehow making top-3 of the best footballers around.

Who were the best defenders of your era?

Baresi, Nesta, Maldini, Chamot, Vierchowod.. I think it was more difficult to get passed these than the players now.

And a funny quote from the man himself — this one is from 1999, a year before his retirement:

I used to be much quicker than everyone else – now I’m just as quick as them.

 

[harms]

How did Lewandowski managed to outscore Müller himself? Lo Zar have something to say about this:

The goals of today are an insult to football. Defenders can’t read play or movement of the ball

Spoiler

P.S. I like Lewa and rate him quite highly

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

As much as I hate to vote against GM here, harm's team is absolute quality. Only thing I would change is Czibor and get a more natural 4-4-2 LW. While Sivori and Seeler do add industry, replacing Czibor would make it a flawless team nearing Sacchi Milan levels chemistry wise.

Edit: Probably would also consider replacing Schulz with a more dynamic CB who wouldn't mind pushing up front alongwith the back line.

 

[Isotope]

GE put a very nice compliment post of my team before. I'd have voted for him if the gulf of quality isn't this big. Sorry, man. I'd also pack up my things and leave if mine were against this behemoth team.

At least there's appreciation for Lewandowski, one of the most complete striker in modern era.

 

[harms]

Good game @General_Elegancia and I really liked what you've built there, including the use of the Swiss-Army-Knife man himself, Rainer Bonhof. Unfortunately we're getting quite conservative in our voting patterns so new ideas are always welcome

 

[General_Elegancia]

Ok....today I'm so busy with my works....so sorry for late discussions
We will start on my team

On Neymar:I choose Neymar in this game because I think Walter most-fit role is not pure number10,I watched some matches of him and I frequently think that he was in his early career a second-striker that had playmaking-skills(not even half10)and in later career he played mostly at pure10.In this game I use early Walter that had scored a lot and in my tactics he will move a lot in penalty box to make Vierchowod headche.Vierchowod,I watched many games of him,he was great,fast as hell,tough and great tackling ability but it's not easy for him to mark both Neymar and Walter(I'm sure he will help Alberto to manage Neymar or even marking him so if he mark,there will be a lot of spaces and Lewa and Walter would destroy.)Willi was a god sweeper everyone knows it but 2vs1.......not easy job.

Important reasons that I choose Neymar because he has better playmaking-skills than Kalle,Blockin or Hristo and my plan in this game is he will cut a lot into middle like primeR10 and will take playmaking role when Walter goes crazy to penalty box with Lewa(it's like Platini and Giresse in Euro84,I'm sure you know mr.Harms) and We have Lewa on the top.....so under him I would make sure that it's suit and complete for him....3 great passers and playmakers from wide to central(Walter,Ney,KDB)to Lewa.....It's fascinating and fun too.

Neymar personalty problem....He is a drama-queen,you're right mr.Harms but if he has senior or leader that can control his cnut-behavior like Messi in FCB or some players in Brazil,he will obey and listen to them and I choose Walter over Cubillas because I want Walter to control his behaviors in this game(not do stupid divings,cries....) and Walter is one of the greatest leaders in Germany(only below Franz and Lothar) so it would be easy job for him to control.

On Vierchowod:Vierchowod was a great defender on his own,top class man markers that every strikers scared or doesn't want to played against him.His athleicism was his biggest attribute although he was only 180cm,no one could take down easily,he was very fast....maybe fastest stopper ever.Even Ronaldo(R9) in his peak who run 100m in 10.3 seconds couldn't outpaced 40years old Vierchowod....both in long distances and short distances and Vierchowod duel pace against R9 have still impressed my bloddy eyes until this days.I was stunt as hell back then and the most important things he is underrated passer these days,in his playing days he could provided a lot of great long balls too.

But if @harms have Vierchowod,GE team has Costacurta a great stopper from Milan too(They even played together in some matches.).Vierchowod maybe better athleticism faster,stronger,jump higher and tackling harder(Costacurta is hard too but this soldier son is harder...)sure100% but
Does Vierchowod had better defensive techniques than Billy?
I would say no,no,no.....Billy maybe not great as Tzar in term of marking or made attackers lost from the game but Billy had better position for sure,better reading the game(not by much) and not too clumsy when tackling like Vierchowod....Vierchowod tackled harder sure.....but Billy was more accurated and not made some silly fouls as much as Tzar(Billy made a lot too). I have watched so so many games for both,so I can tell my opinion.

Maybe we can discuss Tzar vs Billy I think it is interesting topic.

It would be a bit like Forster vs Cannavaro....while Forster was better in man-marking strikers(especially poacher-types to lost from the game),Mr.Cannavaro outside marking was better in positioning(a little bit),tackling and reading the game(which I don't think is the biggest strength of Forster) and iq too(Forster is equally Canna in the air,has better offensive skills as he overlapped a lot during Jupp and Franz and a little bit better passer too).

I rated Uwe as top 6 strikers of all time but I don't think he would have easy time to score in my duo-cb too especially in headers.He would have 24 disadvantage centimeters against VVD and VVD is one of the best headers clearance in this era too.Watch Ronaldo(who is on level with Seeler "GOAT" headers) can't scored headers against VVD so Seeler...who jump lower(with better technique) and shorter may have hard times too.

On Edwards and Ocwirk....yeah Edwards played left-half but in this game I plan Ocwirk to make long passes to KDB on the right side(to counter attacks like Ocwirk long-balls to KDB and KDB crosses to Lewa,Water and Neymar Jr.,so he should be in more left)and my plan is my attackers and midfielders must swap the positon during the game to make your defenders confuse all the game.
ex.Neymar left to right,KDB right to middle or Walter to right or in penalty area
On Edwards and Ocwirk....I'm sure in real life they will swap follow the situations of the game.

 

[General_Elegancia]

@harms Thank you for the great match....I hope I will see you at next drafts....
Good luck,my friend
You are a real deal and I appreciate you .Seeler and Becks,Seeler and Sivori and Van Hanegem and Tigana all of them are real deal and so fit in your quality team.

Before the game I plan to use false 9 to drag Vierchowod again but then I guess you will make a plan to solve my false9 plan
So,I use Lewa instead that
Let's be honest.....IMHO I don't think my team is inferior to you and I think it would be so,so close(or even me a little bit better).

Anyway Congratulations my friends.....you deserve it,mate.

@Isotope @GodShaveTheQueen Thanks for comment,mate

 

[Physiocrat]

@harms Thank you for the great match....I hope I will see you at next drafts....
Good luck,my friend
You are a real deal and I appreciate you .Seeler and Becks,Seeler and Sivori and Van Hanegem and Tigana all of them are real deal and so fit in your quality team.

Before the game I plan to use false 9 to drag Vierchowod again but then I guess you will make a plan to solve my false9 plan
So,I use Lewa instead that
Let's be honest.....IMHO I don't think my team is inferior to you and I think it would be so,so close(or even me a little bit better).

Anyway Congratulations my friends.....you deserve it,mate.

@Isotope @GodShaveTheQueen Thanks for comment,mate

Top post. Shame you weren't around during the time most people voted

 

[General_Elegancia]

Top post. Shame you weren't around during the time most people voted

Yesterday,I had a lot of my works....so sorry for that

 

[Himannv]

I was quite close to voting for El General here but what stopped me was Andrade and Walter. Needed more convincing regarding those two.

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

I was quite close to voting for El General here but what stopped me was Andrade and Walter. Needed more convincing regarding those two.

Walter is someone who hasnt featured at all in our drafts. Maybe one of the in house German experts do him justice considering how high articles seem to portray him.

 

[GodShaveTheQueen]

The below writeup is courtesy @Synco
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Walter is usually described as an all-action playmaker-forward - perhaps in the mould of Di Stéfano, or thereabouts. A more modern comparison might be Platini? Talking of basic function here, not every aspect of individual style.

It doesn't help that all full game footage shows him in his mid to late thirties - even at the time of his WC win he was almost 34. Born in 1920, the Second World War and the initial period of reconstruction restricted his competitive prime to the later parts of his career. There's tons of accounts, profiles, anecdotes & quotes, but I never went through them systematically. So this is my picture of Walter as it has formed from random information here and there. Better knowledge is welcome.

Where to begin? Walter was a prolific goalscorer (~0,85 gpg on club level after 1945), but when he's described, the greatest emphasis is put on his playmaking skills - his ability to read & dictate the game, shaping it through his vision and decisions, passes and runs. He is described as a "hub of the team" player operating box-to-box: taking over in deep buildup, running the game in midfield, being decisive in the final third. He was also a great set piece taker.

In attacking positions, he had the full technical repertoire of an attacking playmaker - agility, dribblings, through balls, long balls, quick combinations, goalscoring ability. He also liked to drift wide and deliver crosses, which I've seen described as one of his strengths.

My picture of him is that of a very team-oriented player, with lots of flair and individual impact, but at the same time a great sense of teamwork and cooperation.

Here is a closeup of him operating in the final third, overplaying three players - dribbling and body feint, quick one-two, immediate shot on goal:


(Notable: right-footed ball handling & pass, left-footed shot. I particular like the natural mix of balance, improvisation, and directness in that move. Quick feet, quick brain.)

To highlight the playmaking part of his profile, here's a SV graphic of the 1954 final setup, based on radio commentary and video footage:

Walter chiefly acts as a midfield playmaker here, playing with less verticality than in other games, often going wide and delivering crosses.

This graphic is supposedly a reprint of the Hungarian scouting team's report prior to the final:

Again, Walter is in the center of everything.

He was dominant as a player, but not so much as a personality. He was described as a very humble and sensitive person, prone to self-doubt, at worst even needing encouragement from his teammates on the pitch to revive his spirits. At the same time he was indeed the talisman and captain of his teams.

As for his status in the German football pantheon, it usually depends on who you're asking (and probably age). He's certainly a legend of the highest order. I'd personally rank him top three, not far from Beckenbauer and Müller. Many others would too, I'm sure. But that's for overall contribution - it's hard to distinguish the player from the mythical figure. But everything I know indicates it's safe to put him - purely as a player - on the same plateau as the likes of Seeler, Rummenigge, Matthäus (I'd also add Neuer there by now). Which, in case one agrees, is something to consider for the drafties.

Like Seeler and Finney, he's one of the older players who I think would fit well into the modern game. For me, his position would be attacking mid, both operating from midfield and running the game all over the final third, with a strong drive for the final ball - although probably not scoring at the rate as he did in the regional league of his day. Still, his record for the NT 1951 to mid-1956 - probably the fairest measuring stick - is 14 goals in 28 games. For the 1954 World Cup he's credited with 3 goals and 6 assists in 6 games. Up to everyone to find their own way to counterbalance high-scoring era and advanced footballing age there.

So how would he compare to other dominant creative forwards and AMs? I find it incredibly hard to say on the basis of information I have. Puskas was seen as the greatest footballer of his time, and my instinct would be to put Walter in the tier right below for the 40s/50s. Which is still insanely good, even more so for a player of his valuable profile. So when someone like Finney features as a key player in drafts, I see no reason not to grant Walter a similar status.

(And I know my ranking of him in the forwards vote doesn't really match this laudatio. Reading through my own post, it's hard to justify not putting him somewhere around Rummenigge. The ancient player problem.)

 

[General_Elegancia]

The below writeup is courtesy @Synco
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Walter is usually described as an all-action playmaker-forward - perhaps in the mould of Di Stéfano, or thereabouts. A more modern comparison might be Platini? Talking of basic function here, not every aspect of individual style.

It doesn't help that all full game footage shows him in his mid to late thirties - even at the time of his WC win he was almost 34. Born in 1920, the Second World War and the initial period of reconstruction restricted his competitive prime to the later parts of his career. There's tons of accounts, profiles, anecdotes & quotes, but I never went through them systematically. So this is my picture of Walter as it has formed from random information here and there. Better knowledge is welcome.

Where to begin? Walter was a prolific goalscorer (~0,85 gpg on club level after 1945), but when he's described, the greatest emphasis is put on his playmaking skills - his ability to read & dictate the game, shaping it through his vision and decisions, passes and runs. He is described as a "hub of the team" player operating box-to-box: taking over in deep buildup, running the game in midfield, being decisive in the final third. He was also a great set piece taker.

In attacking positions, he had the full technical repertoire of an attacking playmaker - agility, dribblings, through balls, long balls, quick combinations, goalscoring ability. He also liked to drift wide and deliver crosses, which I've seen described as one of his strengths.

My picture of him is that of a very team-oriented player, with lots of flair and individual impact, but at the same time a great sense of teamwork and cooperation.

Here is a closeup of him operating in the final third, overplaying three players - dribbling and body feint, quick one-two, immediate shot on goal:



(Notable: right-footed ball handling & pass, left-footed shot. I particular like the natural mix of balance, improvisation, and directness in that move. Quick feet, quick brain.)

To highlight the playmaking part of his profile, here's a SV graphic of the 1954 final setup, based on radio commentary and video footage:


Walter chiefly acts as a midfield playmaker here, playing with less verticality than in other games, often going wide and delivering crosses.

This graphic is supposedly a reprint of the Hungarian scouting team's report prior to the final:


Again, Walter is in the center of everything.

He was dominant as a player, but not so much as a personality. He was described as a very humble and sensitive person, prone to self-doubt, at worst even needing encouragement from his teammates on the pitch to revive his spirits. At the same time he was indeed the talisman and captain of his teams.

As for his status in the German football pantheon, it usually depends on who you're asking (and probably age). He's certainly a legend of the highest order. I'd personally rank him top three, not far from Beckenbauer and Müller. Many others would too, I'm sure. But that's for overall contribution - it's hard to distinguish the player from the mythical figure. But everything I know indicates it's safe to put him - purely as a player - on the same plateau as the likes of Seeler, Rummenigge, Matthäus (I'd also add Neuer there by now). Which, in case one agrees, is something to consider for the drafties.

Like Seeler and Finney, he's one of the older players who I think would fit well into the modern game. For me, his position would be attacking mid, both operating from midfield and running the game all over the final third, with a strong drive for the final ball - although probably not scoring at the rate as he did in the regional league of his day. Still, his record for the NT 1951 to mid-1956 - probably the fairest measuring stick - is 14 goals in 28 games. For the 1954 World Cup he's credited with 3 goals and 6 assists in 6 games. Up to everyone to find their own way to counterbalance high-scoring era and advanced footballing age there.

So how would he compare to other dominant creative forwards and AMs? I find it incredibly hard to say on the basis of information I have. Puskas was seen as the greatest footballer of his time, and my instinct would be to put Walter in the tier right below for the 40s/50s. Which is still insanely good, even more so for a player of his valuable profile. So when someone like Finney features as a key player in drafts, I see no reason not to grant Walter a similar status.

(And I know my ranking of him in the forwards vote doesn't really match this laudatio. Reading through my own post, it's hard to justify not putting him somewhere around Rummenigge. The ancient player problem.)

Walter imho is fit in the best in the trequarista role like Totti(not Del Piero who is more of a striker type).A semi half playmaker and forward or maybe a deep lying forward.I pick him to play as half ss/half cam with Lewandowski.His role in my team is an am who can go a lot of times to penalty box to scores and can be playmaking a t the same time.

I don't see him have a problem to be central role with Neymar,cause Brazil 70 played with even 5 playmakers on the field so,It's not a problem for my team to get a lot playmakers.Neymar would be a lot more run cut the back and scores like he did with Messi and he can take his playmaking role when Walter comes to attack in the penalty-area too.