Quaranteam Draft - R1: Pnut vs harms

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

VS

....................................................... TEAM PNUT .............................................................................................. TEAM HARMS ...............................................

TEAM PNUT

Style of play

A slight variation of the magic square employed by Brazil in the 1970 WC with a fixed central striker in Batistuta and a more defensive nous coming from the deeper midfield pair, to help win possession back and get the front lads flying again.

Defence

Bonucci and Chiellini reunite at the centre of the back line. Bobby Carlos is the flying full back on the left hand side, overlapping Kaka at will and overloading the defence of Harms. Andrade on the opposite side is more restrained with his attacking duties, due to having the playmaking Didi on his side of the field.
Fillol in net adds a sure hand to proceedings.

Midfield

I toyed with several versions of this rectangle set up, but I thought to get closest to it I needed to fit Didi in as his passing range would make that front 4 even more frightening. He sits next to Makelele to bring the added bite and steel to the game. Didi is placed to the right to get help from Andrade whilst Carlos has a much more attacking role on the left with Makelele placed that side.

Kaka and Socrates take the attacking midfield roles, Kaka deployed to the left so he can pull to the left flank as and when he wants and use his ridiculous dribbling to open up the defence. Socrates will knit the attacking combinations together, turning provider to 2 lethal strikers.

Attack

Batistuta will be the main central striker, dominating centre backs and making his presence felt in and around the area. Eto'o is the pacy striker capable of pulling wide or running in behind to get on to the end of moves.


TEAM HARMS

Tough as nails but still magical in possession — pretty much an archetypical harms team. The defense is built on a foundation of Pietro Vierchowod (562 games in Serie A with the likes of Maradona & van Basten remembering him as one of their toughest opponents) and Willi Schulz (whose presence kept Beckenbauer in midfield for 2 World Cups), a classic stopper-sweeper combo with Jan Oblak behind them — a keeper that per average season prevents between 9 to 11 goals that he shouldn't prevent in theory. As wide defenders I have 2 beautiful players — Carlos Alberto, captain of the greatest international side in history, wonderful defender and an outstanding playmaker from right back position — and Antonio Benarrivo, one of Italy's best ever fullbacks, who had combined defensive prowess with creativity and versatility.

In the middle I have Wim van Hanegem — a playmaking genius that set the tempo of both Netherlands 74' and Feyenoord 70' (when they became the first Dutch club to win the European Cup), whose curved passes with outside of his boot made him instantly recognizable on any pitch — just as his blood-lusting tackles that he so often jumped into*.

When I have a bad game I am useless. When Van Hanegem has a bad game, he rolls up his sleeves and starts tackling

Next to him I have one of the most energetic players to ever play the game, N'Golo Kanté before N'Golo Kanté, the ultimate water-carrier, Jean Tigana. He just kept going — his performance against Portugal in the 1984 Euros semi-final was probably the best example of his playing style. After running more than any French player in every previous game of the tournament, he kept buzzing around for the entire 120 minutes of an excruciating semi-final — only to burst forward literally at the last minute, beat 3 men and assist Platini for the winner.

On the right Jairzinho is reunited with Carlos Alberto — that terrifying dominated the 1970 World Cup with Jaizrinho scoring in every game of the tournament and Carlos Alberto providing master-class on right-back play game after game only to top it with that legendary goal in the final. Jairzinho plays instead of Beckham not only in order to reunite the great Brazilian duo — he's also going to be a very tough opponent for Roberto Carlos, always looking for those runs in behind, cutting in, dribbling past players and, of course, scoring. Beckham provides a different skillset but I feel that Jairzinho can give me the most advantage here.

On the left it's the great Zoltán Czibor, part of Hungarian's legendary Golden Team of the 50's & Barcelona legend. He had to work a lot off the ball, playing as an outside left in a 5-men attack, and he also had a very wide arsenal of abilities — as it goes in the famous anecdote, Puskás asked him to cross low so that he would score with his left foot, Kocsis asked his to cross high so that he would score from the air... he did both and also scored quite a lot — including this wonderful bit of skill where he finds himself in front of Victor Andrade (possibly his opponent today?) and opens the score in the legendary 1954 World Cup semi-final.

Up front I have a pair of Uwe Seeler — hopefully, no introduction needed, such a complete striker & the perfect partner for any type of a forward — and Omar Sívori, Ballon d'Or winner and yet, one of the most underappreciated players in history. Later he would get a nickname "Maradona of the 60's" — and this is one of the very rare times where this comparison is actually appropriate. He was quite similar in terms of his build, his ball-control was immaculate (he would often beat 4 or 5 players on his way to a goal), he was also a leftie... but there was something more. It was the insatiable drive to win that made those two so similar, he would kick, bite and dive, only to get that crucial advantage for him and for his team — not often you see a player of his talent combining it with such mentality. It's not surprising that Sívori was such a roaring success in Italy, which was already know as the place with the best and the most brutal defenders — Sívori would beat them for fun with the ball in his feet, but he would also have his fists ready if that wouldn't be enough. Last point on Sívori — he had his best spell playing alongside Charles & Boniperti (El Trío Mágico was Juve's own Holy Trinity) and I'm pretty sure that in Seeler & Jairzinho I have perfect replacements for them (even for Charles' aerial dominance — Seeler was insane in the air), one would even be excused to say that those two are an upgrade.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

@P-Nut @harms all the best!

 

[harms]

Cheers. Voted for myself.

I wondered how you were going to fit all your attacking midfielders in and I have to admit that I’m not impressed. Didi originally played as an inside forward on the left in W-M — this role had very different interpretations, of course, and he was more of an attacking midfielder than a Puskás-like goalscorer... then 4-2-4 was introduced, where he paired with Zito in midfield, but the key player of that side that made the whole thing work tactically was Zagallo, who played so deep on the left than some, like Jonathan Wilson, for example, argued that it was not a 4-2-4 but a 4-3-3 in reality, with Didi having the most creative freedom out of the three (France 18’ comes to mind where technically in was a midfield two of Pogba & Kanté but in reality Matuidi had been a part of that midfield as well, allowing Pogba to play his game freely).

Now, even the most famous 4-2-2-2 was a bit unbalanced defensively and there you’ve had Falcão in Didi’s place — a man with an outstanding engine and defensive grit.

I have a double threat of Sívori & Seeler interchangeably pushing deeper in that area and Makélélé, however good he was at carrying the piano (or the whole fecking orchestra) won’t be able to make the midfield unit of Kaka-Socrates-Didi work.

 

[P-Nut]

Cheers. Voted for myself.

I wondered how you were going to fit all your attacking midfielders in and I have to admit that I’m not impressed. Didi originally played as an inside forward on the left in W-M — this role had very different interpretations, of course, and he was more of an attacking midfielder than a Puskás-like goalscorer... then 4-2-4 was introduced, where he paired with Zito in midfield, but the key player of that side that made the whole thing work tactically was Zagallo, who played so deep on the left than some, like Jonathan Wilson, for example, argued that it was not a 4-2-4 but a 4-3-3 in reality, with Didi having the most creative freedom out of the three (France 18’ comes to mind where technically in was a midfield two of Pogba & Kanté but in reality Matuidi had been a part of that midfield as well, allowing Pogba to play his game freely).

Now, even the most famous 4-2-2-2 was a bit unbalanced defensively and there you’ve had Falcão in Didi’s place — a man with an outstanding engine and defensive grit.

I have a double threat of Sívori & Seeler interchangeably pushing deeper in that area and Makélélé, however good he was at carrying the piano (or the whole fecking orchestra) won’t be able to make the midfield unit of Kaka-Socrates-Didi work.

To be honest I thought it was going to be a bloodbath in midfield unless I could retain a hell of a lot of possession and your 424 sort of negates a lot of that.

A 433 with Zagallo tucking in off the left, is probably more defensively taxing than a 4222 with Kaka and Socrates occupying that defensive midfield area allowing Didi to occupy the midfield fully and Makelele to be the defensive mainstay. Plus the fact Andrade will tuck in to the midfield rather than push up and provide high attacking width on the right, which will instead be provided at times by Eto'o drifting out there instead.

 

[Physiocrat]

@harms

Whilst I do think Didi will be restricted here the move to more of a 433 was only in 1962, in 1958 it was very much a 424 with Didi in the 2 with Zito. I'm pretty sure Wilson argues this too but I am away and don't have my book copy with me to check.

I think possibly the best way for P-Nut to have setup would have been as a 4231 with Eto'o on the right providing work rate and balance to the rest of the midfield.

Now balance though I think is an issue with harms' side. WVH with someone like Zito or Luis Fernandez I would buy without question but alongside Tigana in a very top heavy side is not ideal. You need a DM and both Tigana and Kante are not DMs.

 

[harms]

To be honest I thought it was going to be a bloodbath in midfield unless I could retain a hell of a lot of possession and your 424 sort of negates a lot of that.

A 433 with Zagallo tucking in off the left, is probably more defensively taxing than a 4222 with Kaka and Socrates occupying that defensive midfield area allowing Didi to occupy the midfield fully and Makelele to be the defensive mainstay. Plus the fact Andrade will tuck in to the midfield rather than push up and provide high attacking width on the right, which will instead be provided at times by Eto'o drifting out there instead.

If you've seen any of Sívori or Seeler in action, surely you can't be serious? You have way too many passengers on the ball in that midfield, while the only one who's not going to participate much in the defensive phase in my team is Jairzinho (and even then he was still doing some work in that 1970 side).

This is probably my favourite game of Seeler — sadly, in this compilation they've only showed his on-the-ball contribution, but notice how he appears literally everywhere, winning headers as a number 9, dropping deeper to where your Didi would be to lure defenders out — he records 2 assists in that game (against Pelé's Santos at their peak no less) with the moves that I expect Jairzinho to finish and also scores a great strikers goal as well...

Here's one of @Šjor Bepo 's where you can better see how he absolutely terrorises the opposition — with and without the ball. It's basically young Rooney on steroids (hence the even more pronounced boldness).

Not to mention that on the wings you have fullbacks without any cover and one of them is Roberto Carlos, infamous for his defensive lapses in judgement — and both of them are facing not just a top winger, but a great fullback behind them as well (in Carlos Alberto's case — arguably the finest ever).

As for Andrade's tucking in — yeah, it worked wonders for him when he faced Czibor before. Even from the back you can see that he really questions his positioning in the end

 

[Šjor Bepo]

Nandor

Also, that Santos game makes me sick

 

[harms]

Whilst I do think Didi will be restricted here the move to more of a 433 was only in 1962, in 1958 it was very much a 424 with Didi in the 2 with Zito. I'm pretty sure Wilson argues this too but I am away and don't have my book copy with me to check.

Don't worry, I've got you

You're right that the full-on change to 4-3-3 came in 1962, but he was always playing that compensating role — at 1958 it was a winger who constantly dropped deeper to help out midfield, in 1962 it was more of a midfielder who sometimes ventured forward on the wing. Here's the screenshot from Wilson's book:

Initially an inside-forward, Zagallo had converted himself into a winger because he realised that was his only chance of getting into the national side, and so was ideally suited to the role of tracking back and forth on the left flank. By the 1962 World Cup, he had taken to playing so deep that the system began to be referred to as a 4-3-3

For all Guttmann’s claims, when he arrived with Honvéd in November 1956, their system caused few surprises. If anything, Brazil was further down the road to 4-2-4 than the Hungarians, although the similarity of shape was obvious. ‘Basically, the only difference between Brazil’s interpretation of the system and that of Hungary was in the number worn by the forward who withdrew into midfield,’ said Nándor Hidegkuti. ‘In 1958, the Brazilians opted for inside-right Didi, while for Hungary it was the centre-forward who fell back. In both teams the withdrawn forward operated in what we might call left midfield, and again in both teams the left-half fell back to play a more defensive role, while the right-half maintained the balance in midfield by playing a more open attacking game.’

Didi was an attacker who gradually found his way deeper in midfield, but he was still an attacking midfielder even in his latest iteration. He was Zizinho's successor, not Pirlo's predecessor. Playing him at the base of 4-2-2-2, an intricate system that has only been successfully implemented at the highest level a couple of times (two, more or less — Brazil 82' and France 84') — because it requires a unique balance between the set of midfielders. Socrates is obviously perfect for his role, but Kaka is very much a direct counter-attacking menace who wouldn't fit well with this possession-heavy set up, Makélélé was brilliant as a holder in midfield three, but I doubt that he has what it takes to emulate one of Fernandez/Tigana/Cerezo/Falcão and Didi is simply misused here, he would've been an interesting choice to pair Socrates up with though. Basically it's a bunch of players with a completely different playing style, some out of position, meshed together in order to emulate one of the most complicated and unique midfield set ups in history.

 

[harms]

To reiterate some of my points, here's a wonderful post by @Invictus from a very relevant thread where we've tried to build an All-Time XI that would bring out the best out of Didi.
You can see that he went for four midfielders, even though the formation itself is not the same, but Didi himself is positioned, well... differently, to say the least. The thread itself is well worth a read.

Quite like the idea of putting Didi in one of the midfield half-spaces in a run-of-the-mill 5—3—2; should have a big role to play while enjoying a fair bit of freedom, and you won't have a lot of defensive concerns. Alternatively, as an inside forward in a 3—2—5 (which can be reconfigured to a 4—4—2 in transitions), considering a lot of top midfielders from that era (including him in the pre-'58 portion of his career, Bozsik, Suárez or Coluna) were accustomed to the responsibilities that come with similar structures. Would also echo @Šjor Bepo's view that he should be surrounded by Tier 2 or Tier 3 offensive greats at the most, since the absolute GOATs might steal Didi's thunder, and as such the XI wouldn't be truly built around him...

With something like that, he should reign supreme as the possession-related heartbeat of the team...while setting the stage for his team-mates within a balanced framework; and even in terms of playmaking imprint toward the final third he will only have to contend with Rivaldo in central areas. Mind you, I can't really envisage this team doing well in a Redcafe draft, unless the selection pool is truncated or it serendipitously gathers steam as a hipster choice — which is one of the biggest reasons behind his or Bozsik's historically poor performance level (vis-à-vis their reputation as the long-standing wizards of midfield play).

 

[Isotope]

It's basically young Rooney on steroids (hence the even more pronounced boldness).

I thought Sivori usually work with a target man. But I can see him and Seeler, like Puskas and Di Stefano.

Although I'd love to watch P-Nut's more, and see how those AM players bombarding forward
Those CBs pair, though, is a concern.

 

[Isotope]

Tough luck, P-Nut. It's unfortunate yours met a great team in first round.

 

[harms]

I thought Sivori usually work with a target man. But I can see him and Seeler, like Puskas and Di Stefano.

To be fair Seeler does lead the line — that's the beauty of him. There are really only a few strikers of his ilk — him, Law..? Charles was not too dissimilar in that he didn't just work as a target man — he was actually very active in the build-up and roamed all around the pitch, doing stuff you're not really expecting from a guy of his size.

Here's a game where Charles played alongside Sívori (against Di Stéfano's & Puskás' Real Madrid) — and spends the first half of the game in a defensive role (although still playing a part in Sívori's goal by making a decoy run):

Here Sívori scores 4 for Italy (I have to add that it's against a garbage opposition) partnered with Altafini — less of a target man and more of a mobile, dynamic striker (his acrobatic finishing reminds me of Kalle, actually, although Seeler was also very much known for it).

 

[Isotope]

Great clips @harms. I think these two false 9 could work when your wingers are great goalscorer also. Otherwise these two have to work so hard helping midfield, then go forward. So extremely jealous you got Jairzinho on the last round.

 

[General_Elegancia]

Both team are full of qualities

The reason that I choose Harmms.

-Jarzinho and Carlos Alberto combo are too hard to stop even you put Maldini or Krol on lb.Jair and Alberto combo are so effective in wc70 and the cost that they earn are championship.
Roberto Carlos is one of the greatest full-backs, sure 100, percents but his defensive qualities alone can't hold the combo of two greats from Brazil.Even you have Chiellini behind them but Jair and Alberto are too fast sometimes for Chiellini. In real game Chiellini must make some fouls to cover Carlos and that can cost yellow/red.

-Harms team are the perfect system of 424 espicially midfielders.His midfielders are perfect for pivot two men.Willem Van Hanegem is still the perfect central-midfielder tough as nails,great passer,great dribbler and in pivot you must have great defensive skills(he had it when he played.) and another one Tigana is a perfect duo for Van Hanegem more defensive, tireless motor and has great ball skills too.Both are perfect combination.

-Didi and Socrates played not similar but I think despite Socrates played above of old Didi(WC58) both are fit but not make another shine brightest as they would.Why I say that?
Although Socrates played one-two short passed to another In my opinion he was like a controlling midfield/pace of the game and you have another player who are the same type(different position)that want a lot of ball and controlled the game.two Controlling midfields in the game I think it wouldn't be worked as they should be well.

-In case Falcao and Socrates played together....yeah it worked but I still think it maybe even better (not lost to Italy)if that team had the type of tireless motor/engine like Neeskens,Robson,Matthaus or even Viera.

-Despite Eto is fast....Vierchowod is fast enough to catch Eto when Eto dribbles in the game.

@P-Nut team has one thing that @harms should be avoided a lot of counter attacks by Kaka to Eto are so crazy dangerous despite you have Vierchowod but I think @P-Nut counter-attacks can make every central-df pairs in the world scare.

@P-Nut team should drop Eto to lw like Mourinho10 and that would make Eto run a lot to covers Jair and Alberto.Let alone Carlos is too cruel for him .Claude can helps yes but a lot of times he must fights in the middle of the pitch.Socrates can be hybrid between cam/rm too.

Sivori and Seeler are great forward duos and Sivori can makes Bonucci a lot of headache.I'm AC Milan and Calcio fans and I have watched a lot of Bonucci matches his biggest weakness is a lot of times "concentration" and If he lacks in this match against Sivori=game over.On Seeler and Chiellini it would be so fun to see both duel in the air and Seeler can be roaming 9 too a lot of times he dropped into midfield-area to make played and he was not a selfish-type player ex.Gerd and Seeler in 70s.


@P-Nut @harms

I can't insert images of formations or anything else.If I can,I will do it a lot.

 

[P-Nut]

I should have stuck to the initial plan and either dismissed Didi or replaced Socrates with him.

Said in my planning convo with Edgar that it was going to cause me too many issues, but once I had him the temptation took over.

 

[harms]

I should have stuck to the initial plan and either dismissed Didi or replaced Socrates with him.

Said in my planning convo with Edgar that it was going to cause me too many issues, but once I had him the temptation took over.

To be fair if you're playing 4-2-2-2 and you have Socrates in your team, you don't replace Socrates otherwise an angry mob of football hipsters will come to your house with lit torches

 

[Isotope]

Really unlucky, @P-Nut , facing a juggernaut of team on R-1. harms, Pat/TR, Jim, himmanv, and Enigma are within my top-5 (so far).

I think we started at South America was a mistake also, with 3 managers there. Options are severely limited when on criterias, as not many countries/good players to choose from.

 

[P-Nut]

To be fair if you're playing 4-2-2-2 and you have Socrates in your team, you don't replace Socrates otherwise an angry mob of football hipsters will come to your house with lit torches

Yeah I really hated that suprise round, if it was a choice I'd have hopefully picked up a flying right back like Cafu and had a much better balance. Should have just dropped Didi and gone with what I originally had.

 

[Isotope]

4-2-2-2 is incredibly hard to pull of. That's why not many team is using it in reality.

Now on the Draft, you need extremely superior midfielders to opponents, to pull this off. Which is impossible within Draft. On the class of Zico, Socrates, with B2B Falcao as supporting role.

Then you need extremely superior fullbacks who are balanced in attack-defence, as otherwise your FB couldn't attack if the opponent has decent wingers (apparently).

 

[Gio]

Fair big chunks of Pnut’s 4222 are on the money. The left side with Carlos hurtling on, covered by Chielini and Makelele, is perfect. Which is why for all Harms’ World Cup winning quality down the right, I don’t see major inroads there, with Chiellini being a good fit for Seeler in my view. Doesn’t look as compelling on the right though.

Tactically it’s an interesting one. Can see Harms using the flanks to great effect with CMs and forwards capable of pulling wide, overloading and progressing attacks. Pnut’s narrow midfield would also cause problems but I back the pace and dynamism of Vierchowod and Schulz to squeeze the space in front of them to just about mitigate that threat.

 

[Himannv]

I have to say I really like the tactical setup in the @P-Nut team. I think he was very unfortunate to pick up Didi when Cafu, Zanetti, and Carlos Alberto were randomly allocated as they'd have been perfect fits on the right flank for this setup. If he had played/picked a more energetic creative CM in the mould of Falcao, it'd have been a top side that fit the tactical setup beautifully.

 

[Enigma_87]

Am I the only one that doesn't rate Jairzinho all that much? He shone brightly in the 70 WC, but from what I've read/heard about him that was really exception of the rule. Was bang average to good in 74 WC when he was 30 years old and when he moved to France he played only handful of games before falling out with the management. He was never raved about in Brazil prior or after the 70 WC to the same extend that Rivellino or Tostao were for example, let alone the Garrincha's or Pele's.

 

[harms]

Fair big chunks of Pnut’s 4222 are on the money. The left side with Carlos hurtling on, covered by Chielini and Makelele, is perfect. Which is why for all Harms’ World Cup winning quality down the right, I don’t see major inroads there, with Chiellini being a good fit for Seeler in my view. Doesn’t look as compelling on the right though.

The issue is, when either Chiellini or Makelele goes to cover Carlos, one simple pass leaves Sìvori & Seeler against Bonucci & one of Chiellini/Makelele. And one thing is a counter, the other — positional attack, where P-Nut literally doesn’t have a player who would cover overlapping Carlos Alberto, so one of Chiellini/Makelele has to move out of position even if we don’t assume that Carlos gets beaten one on one.

Eto’o on the left wing would’ve helped with that, but he isn’t there.

 

[harms]

Am I the only one that doesn't rate Jairzinho all that much? He shone brightly in the 70 WC, but from what I've read/heard about him that was really exception of the rule. Was bang average to good in 74 WC when he was 30 years old and when he moved to France he played only handful of games before falling out with the management. He was never raved about in Brazil prior or after the 70 WC to the same extend that Rivellino or Tostao were for example, let alone the Garrincha's or Pele's.

I don’t rate him that much, as in as highly as he’s usually placed on the lists of GOAT right wingers/forwards. Garrincha & Best aside, I’d for sure take Robben & Figo ahead of him, possibly Matthews & Finney too, although it’s hard to judge them properly.

Beckham was picked to be a starter, but Jairzinho was too good to pass up 1) given the fact that I was gifted Carlos Alberto 2) tactically he was a great fit, better suited to expose Roberto Carlos one on one.

I’ve researched him thoroughly at one point, trying to evaluate his career outside of that World Cup and was relatively impressed. He wasn’t a silky smooth dribbler like Figo, let alone Best, and he wasn’t an elite creator, but he was a physical monster and his goalscoring & movement was top notch. Ability-wise as well as stylistically (albeit with a different strong foot) I’d compare him to Bale, without a premature MJ-like move to a different sport.

In 1974 he was already past it, which can be expected from a player who was so dependent on his athleticism. His peak lasted from 66/67’ to the early 70’s (I think up until 1972, maybe 1973) — he was a bit unlucky that in 1966 he had to play out of position as Garrincha still started on the right (in Botafogo is was similar, but Garrincha often missed a lot of games at that point).

 

[Enigma_87]

I don’t rate him that much, as in as highly as he’s usually placed on the lists of GOAT right wingers/forwards. Garrincha & Best aside, I’d for sure take Robben & Figo ahead of him, possibly Matthews & Finney too, although it’s hard to judge them properly.

Beckham was picked to be a starter, but Jairzinho was too good to pass up 1) given the fact that I was gifted Carlos Alberto 2) tactically he was a great fit, better suited to expose Roberto Carlos one on one.

I’ve researched him thoroughly at one point, trying to evaluate his career outside of that World Cup and was relatively impressed. He wasn’t a silky smooth dribbler like Figo, let alone Best, and he wasn’t an elite creator, but he was a physical monster and his goalscoring & movement was top notch. Ability-wise as well as stylistically (albeit with a different strong foot) I’d compare him to Bale, without a premature MJ-like move to a different sport.

In 1974 he was already past it, which can be expected from a player who was so dependent on his athleticism. His peak lasted from 66/67’ to the early 70’s (I think up until 1972, maybe 1973) — he was a bit unlucky that in 1966 he had to play out of position as Garrincha still started on the right (in Botafogo is was similar, but Garrincha often missed a lot of games at that point).

yeah tactically that decision was spot on so not a slight on that.

It's a fair evaluation I'd classify him around Bale or Lato level in terms of all time stature and spotlight.

Definitely Robben/Figo tier I'd take above him which is IMO the next tier after the Garrincha and Best. However I'd prefer also guys like Conti, Becks and Johnstone ahead of him.

Back to the game if you isolate the right flank a proven partnership always boosts the individual abilities, but Becks does bring something else to your team - the ability to find Seeler in the box (your previous plan) and coupled with his work rate in a 4-4-2 he brings a lot more balance to the team as Jairzinho is likely not to contribute in the defensive phase.

It's a tough choice indeed and two different players that offer different things to the team.

 

[harms]

He was never raved about in Brazil prior or after the 70 WC to the same extend that Rivellino or Tostao were for example, let alone the Garrincha's or Pele's.

He was Botafogo's biggest star after Garrincha departed (and that's with Gerson also on the team), twice became the best player of Campeonato Carioca (as well as Rio-Sao Paulo tournament, but that was a very short competition, they've had so many!) etc. So yeah, he was certainly among the biggest stars in Brazil even before that World Cup — but then I know that I would rather watch more aesthetically pleasing Rivellino rather than more efficient Jairzinho personally.

However I'd prefer also guys like Conti, Becks and Johnstone ahead of him.

He's certainly wouldn't be in a different tier to them though. Depends on your tactics though.

 

[Gio]

The issue is, when either Chiellini or Makelele goes to cover Carlos, one simple pass leaves Sìvori & Seeler against Bonucci & one of Chiellini/Makelele. And one thing is a counter, the other — positional attack, where P-Nut literally doesn’t have a player who would cover overlapping Carlos Alberto, so one of Chiellini/Makelele has to move out of position even if we don’t assume that Carlos gets beaten one on one.

Eto’o on the left wing would’ve helped with that, but he isn’t there.

I'd assume that Kaka will slide across to pick up Carlos Alberto. Might not be the most ideal fit, but I wouldn't envisage Carlos scrabbling around trying to pick up the two Brazilians at the same time.

It's a fair evaluation I'd classify him around Bale or Lato level in terms of all time stature and spotlight.

Definitely Robben/Figo tier I'd take above him which is IMO the next tier after the Garrincha and Best. However I'd prefer also guys like Conti, Becks and Johnstone ahead of him.

Yeah I'd say those comparisons are fair. I'd throw Salah in too as well as a similarly direct and physical wide goalscorer.

Potent combination though. Same as Eljkaer and Laudrup next door, the partnership is greater than the sum.

 

[P-Nut]

Yeah I was never expecting to win the draft using a 4222, but it's far too boring using 4231/433 every game. In fact I can't remember the last time I set up that way

I go out first round most games, but I enjoy the drafting more for building weird and wonderful formations.