Quaranteam Draft - SF: harms vs Enigma

Who will win the match?


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Edgar Allan Pillow

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VS


................................... TEAM HARMS .................................................................................. TEAM ENIGMA ..........................................



TEAM HARMS

I decided to do something different this time as I got a little bored of my 4-4-2. Now, creating a proper 4-men midfield unit is not an easy task, but I feel like my personnel is actually a nice fit for this experiment — and using this set up will allow me to both put pressure on Enigma's team relative weak points & boost my defense to match up better against his attack.

Why the midfield 4?

So, how would it work? Needless to say, the structure of this midfield very roughly resembles both French carré magique & Brazil 82' set up, but with a twist — especially in terms of van Hanegem's role (more on it later).

I doubt that Jean Tigana's role requires an explanation, since he had literally peaked in this role, so I'll move on to more interesting topics. The only thing that I'm going to mention that Tigana is perfectly positioned to face Don Andres and there aren't many players that I would've chosen ahead of him for this task — unlike most typical midfield destroyers, Tigana was quite little (only 168 cm tall). While it may pose an issue against imposing physical players in the mould of Gullit, Tigana's agility and low centre of gravity, combined with his endless energy & almost complete immunity to pressure (which is Iniesta's main defensive skill — and it should help out against Robson or Blokhin if they try to harass him) would pose quite a challenge to the little Spaniard.

Moving on from Tigana, let's talk about Duncan Edwards. Not often can we have such a complete tactical profile on a player with so little footage remaining, but, luckily for us, he had managed to write a book (no doubt, with the help of some ghost-writers), which actually had a lot of tactical and practical insight for young players. I'll post more quotes in the thread itself, but here's how Edwards describes the role of a wing-half — his own role that he would more or less will replicate here:

Duncan Edwards said:
These (the left and right half) are the link men, the men who make or break a side. Have a good defence, have a good attack, but have poor wing-halves linking them and the team loses half its efficiency. Their job is to stop the other sides inside-forwards fetching and carrying the ball – once they have done that the game is half won – and yet at the same time see that their own inside-forwards get as much of the ball as possible.
...
Yet obviously he cannot do it through close marking, in the way that the full-backs and centre-half do their job.
...
His dominance of mid-field is the deciding factor in any match. When a line of forwards is sweetly and smoothly mounting an offensive, notice where the move starts. Invariably it is with some enterprising wing-half. Conversely, if a side’s attack is starved of the ball, watch and see who is winning the mid-field duels. It must be the other team.
The wing-half needs all the defensive skill, power of recovery and hardness of tackle of the full-back, yet he must ally these to the enterprise of the inside-forward.
But perhaps the most interesting quote leads me straight to our next hero — Wim van Hanegem. Edwards described United's set up not as an orthodox W-M, but as a more fluid attacking set up with only one inside-forward (the one that would be considered attacking midfielder instead of a forward today):

Duncan Edwards said:
Our five-forward plan is a searching test of stamina and fitness. We play one inside-forward – generally Bobby Charlton – about ten yards behind the rest of the forwards to establish a link with the wing-halves. Once Charlton has collected the ball, or it has been passed to another forward, he immediately moves into line with the rest of the attack, so that from a goal-keeper’s point of view Manchester United on the attack must look like a red tidal wave
Van Hanegem is usually used deeper in midfield and it's quite understandable — after all most of us saw him play predominantly for Netherlands, most notably in 1974, when he was that side's main orchestrator from deeper areas with Cruyff occupying free-roaming creative role in attack. Yet I would argue that van Hanegem's peak performances came for Feyenoord and not for the Oranje, as he was the player the whole team was built around. Interestingly enough, van Hanegem's tactical evolution very much resembles the one of the above-mentioned Bobby Charlton — just like Charlton he had started his career as an outside left before being moved to an inside-left role (although it was already 4-2-4 and not WM at the time). And, even after Happel introduced 4-3-3 to Feyenoord, van Hanegem remained very much a Cruyff-esque figure at Rotterdam's club — the amount of offensive responsibilities that he had carried there are probably best illustrated by this stat: at his peak De Kromme had 8 consecutive seasons with 10+ goals, usually averaging about 15 goals per season.

A player who should also feel at home in such a set-up is Omar Sívori, most often compared to Diego Maradona (the resemblance is often uncanny), but if we're talking about the tactical role, Zico's one from 82' fits him like a glove. Michel Platini was very a different player, but during that 84' tournament he significantly cut down on his usual playmaking routine (Giresse-Tigana-Fernandez handled it for him), focusing mostly on goalscoring — which resulted into his record-breaking tally of 9 goals! Sívori was this Zico-esque 9,5, whose Ballon d'Or winning peak came in a fluid Trio Magico frontline of Bonaperti, Sívori and Charles, so this free role that gives him full creative freedom without asking him to dictate the tempo is perfect for him.

Uwe Seeler and Jairzinho also look like the perfect partners for him up front — there are a lot of similarities between Seeler and Charles (size excluded) in that they acted as those intimidating line-leading target men but also heavily participated in the build-up and defensive phase of the game, and Jairzinho is a great upgrade on the goalscoring wide forward Boniperti. Jairzinho will obviously roam around often peeling out wide just as he was used to for both Botafogo & Brazil — and having Carlos Alberto on the right would surely boost his individual performance.

I'm going to wrap this up with a few words about my defense. Bennarivo gets to start ahead of Marzolini for this game — generally I rate them about the same but Antonio is a more expansive option which is quite important in this centrally-oriented set up. Willy Schulz and Pietro Vierchowod, with the additional cover of my two defensive midfielders & Big Pete behind them, are a very formidable unit. I'm a huge fan of Schulz, who often flies under the radar, but he was one of the most consistently brilliant defenders of the 60's and it takes some player to retain his starting place for many years with Beckenbauer as a competition — and Vierchowod's pace is going to be very useful against Enigma's most threatening forward. Not many can match Blokhin's top speed, but Vierchowod is one of the few defenders in history that can try to.


TEAM ENIGMA

Formation: 4-3-3
Style:
direct, press in the middle, don't give opposition much time on the ball. Counter at will at every opportunity and turn defence into attack. Quick transitions and open up space between opposition wing backs and wide CB's with two fast and direct wide forwards in Robben and Blokhin.

Defence:
Lev Yashin
is our last line of defence - one of Bayern and Germany all time greats is a complete keeper who had an enormous presence in the box and one of the greatest commanding his area. Alongside him is his partner in crime - Bixente Lizarazu who won it all at every level and was instrumental in both phases in the game. His overlapping runs will come in handy with Villa cutting in and attacking the box. Eric Gerets is another full back famous for his engine and stamina levels, that can allow him man the whole flank. He will be supporting Robben. Ciro Ferrara and Bergomi are familiar couple, each one of them pretty complete defenders being able to play in multiple positions and comfortable on the ball.

Midfield:
Toninho Cerezo
comes to the fore and at the base is in his familiar role screening the defense and also start attacks from deep. Having Villa, Robben and Blokhin running behind the defence gives him a multiple targets to start quick and lethal counters when the opposition is on the backfoot. Alongside him we have our very own United legend and midfield general in Bryan Robson who provides us withe the engine and presence in the middle of the pitch, but has also the fluid passing game to get things ticking in the middle of the park. He plays with a lot of intensity that would put pressure on the opposition and force mistakes. Iniesta will be in his best and familiar role - break and move between the lines, drive the ball forward and link with the attack. His dribbling ability will give us numerical advantage in the final third an the ability to see the pass and release a team mate is appreciated, especially when we have a fluid front three with great off the ball movement. Cerezo brings more physicality to our midfield whilst not losing an eye for the pass from deep and alongside Robbo a lot of energy and bustling stamina levels to help our transition in both phases of the game.

Attack:
Fluid and interchangeable front three is a mix of goalscoring ability, off the ball presence, pace and technique can give any opposition a torrid time. Robben and Blokhin are absolutely devastating catching defenders on the backfoot and they have bundle of creativity behind them. Opposition will most likely field a 5-3-2/3-5-2 where the key to unlock that defence is the space left between the wing backs and the wide CB's and we have exactly the type of players to unlock that defence, whilst Villa is leading the attack with his incredible movement and ability to stretch the defence and move them drag them outside position.
 
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GodShaveTheQueen

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Harms wins my vote just for that excellent write up. Must read.

Fecking copy cat though with the Sivori-Zico bit
 

harms

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I've been thinking a lot on why Iniesta & Robson look so odd together as I was always one of the most vocal supporters of a wider and more creative use of Don Andres. I feel like I've finally been able to put a finger on it, so I'll try to explain my line of thinking below. One cautionary note though — I love both of them to bits and it's not about their quality as I don't think that there's a level on which either of them would look out of place.

Xavi had spoken a lot about it especially when covering Qatari players that he has been coaching. Basically, if you won't to help your teammate, don't run towards the ball, run away from it. It's a very simple concept that originates from Michels & Cruyff's idea of controlling the space — it logically evolved into Pep's juego de posición where the pitch is separated into multiple little areas and every player should keep note of his position & position of his teammates in order to control the space of the pitch as effectively as you possibly can. If you don't know enough about it, although I'm pretty sure that most of us are very much familiar with it, here's a brilliant short explanation by spielverlagerung. The important note is that possession is not the philosophy (hence why Iniesta & Xavi can play in different systems), but control of the space is and I would be wary of them playing in a system that significantly differentiated from this concept.

Bryan Robson was the ultimate Roy of the Rovers midfielder and this suited English football perfectly. He would chase the opponent for half of the pitch, get the ball off him with a great tackle and then run back to score a screamer — that was what his game was all about. And he was good enough to execute it.

Take a look at some quotes on him:
Brian Clough said:
When Robson plays football, he must expect to get hurt, because that’s him. When he sees a ball, irrespective of where it is on a football field, he automatically goes for it. Afterwards, he sometimes says, ‘I don’t really know why I went for it.’ And he’ll be asking that when he’s lying in the treatment room. But that is Robson, and that is the end of the story with him.
Paul Gascoigne said:
He was the ultimate midfielder. He got everywhere, scored goals and was a leader. He didn’t give you a second on the ball. If you got it, you knew Bryan would get stuck in to you. My favourite player of all time.

So, basically, what you have here is an eternal conflict between two systems — one, Cruyff-esque, relies on team movement with control of the space being prioritised over the control of the ball itself. And on the other, you have arguably the most defining player of that English football culture where you have to run for the whole 90 minutes, chasing the ball down, getting back and scoring. Robson was good enough to entertain that football even at the highest level, but at this point it's not about his opponents, it's more about the comparability between him and Iniesta and the styles that take out the best of them.
 

harms

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Harms wins my vote just for that excellent write up. Must read.

Fecking copy cat though with the Sivori-Zico bit
Cheers! I've added Duncan's quotes in as well now as they got lost during the copy/paste process.
 

General_Elegancia

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As much as I love Harms,I still think your two full-backs(include Alberto) will have very difficult times to handle both Blokhin and Robben .Both of them in playing days had the pace of 100m Olympics sprinters(I'm sure Blokhin especially Blokhin in 1975 could match prime Bale's or Lato's pace easily.)since both of them biggest strengths are overlapping-runs and try to supports their attackers.I'm sure if they face in real life,both of them wouldn't use their biggest strengths for sure.They would be more concentrate in defense .

I know that Edwards and Tigana in playing days were great defensive players and in this game both of them will covers your fullbacks for sure but Robben best attacking-thread is cutting from lb position and score pass many great goalkeepers of his era.His predictable moves was isolation with lb next he would cut to middle in the lane of center-backs and the last one scored or passed to strikers(in his later years he was a lot more team-oriented player).So,In this game he will isolate with Benarrivo and cut inside to face Schulz one of the greatest Germany defenders for sure but his weakest point was he lacked pace therefore Robben will give a lot of troubles to them.

Blokhin is one of the fastest players in the history of the game.His biggest rivals in this game are Vierchowod and Carlos Alberto and it's gonna be tough for both defenders and Blokhin too.
Vierchowod and Alberto both of them had the pace to fought with Vierchowod(in real life).In this game I doubt that Blokhin will give Alberto headache for sure and he need a lot brutal services from Vierchowod(who's main duty is marking Villa out of the game) and if Vierchowod is out of the lane,Villa will have some free spaces and scores.

I can't post links but I'm sure you know that he destroyed Maier,Franz and Schwarzenbeck,gave a lot of hell to Italy82(one of the best backlines ever),destroyed Brazilian82 backlines and gave Vogts hardtime during EC1977.So,I'm sure Alberto will have a hard time for sure.

On MF battle it would be interesting for sure(If I talk about them,it would be too long.) but my point in this regard is Harms team is a bit lack of width and your fullbacks will probably have too many jobs to do both(defense and attack).So,right now I'm voting for Enigma but it can changes everytime.

How about your ideas to deal with Robben and Blokhin?
If in this scenerios,Do your fullbacks and defensive mf(Tigana and Edwards) will have too much works?
@harms
 
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harms

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How about your idea to deal with Robben and Blokhin?
@harms
Forwards in 4-3-3 don't operate just against the fullbacks and Blokhin especially has a difficult job of by-passing not only Carlos Alberto, but also Vierchowods who is one of the fastest defenders to ever play the game. And on the left if Robben beats Bennarivo (an easier task than Blokhin's one), he still won't get a free pass to make his trademark shot. Schulz won't be pushing forward to meet him but in Edwards I have one of the best players in history to cover Bennarivo. Not to mention that it's Schmeichel in goal, so that makes it a bit more difficult to score against us — Robben would need to be even more accurate than he usually was.

Robben's role is not that of an outside right in the front 5, so he's certainly more of an inside forward, especially considering his tendency to cut inside. Edwards' main defensive task as a left wing-half was to cover right inside-forward — or, in his own words:
Duncan Edwards said:
Have a good defence, have a good attack, but have poor wing-halves linking them and the team loses half it’s efficiency. Their job is to stop the other sides inside-forwards fetching and carrying the ball – once they have done that the game is half won – and yet at the same time see that their own inside-forwards get as much of the ball as possible.

The main part of his defensive job is to keep check of those inside-forwards.
Yet obviously he cannot do it through close marking, in the way that the full-backs and centre-half do their job. Rather he has to rely on his own speed to get him back in defence once his own side has been suddenly robbed of the initiative.

Some are allowed to concentrate on attack, while others are pulled back into a defensive role – particularly if the other side have an especially brilliant inside-forward who needs checking. Some play a delicate, probing type of football like Tottenham’s Danny Blanchflower, while others, like myself, recognise their strength and rely on power.
My own idea of the top class wing-half is that he should defend and attack with equal competence, and he should always remember that he is nearest thing to perpetual motion the game will ever see. It is a position that will sap a man’s strength both physically and mentally. Yet it is infinitely satisfying.
Just to remind you not that you need to be reminded of it, but Edwards was already one of the world's best players while performing as a wing-half at the mere age of 19-21 — not one of the best midfielders, one of the best players — and that's with the competition like Di Stéfano, Puskás, Kopa etc.

1956 (19-20 years old) — already shortlisted for Ballon d'Or but only getting 13th
1957 (20-21 years old) — 3rd in Ballon d'Or vote behind only Di Stéfano and Wright
He didn't made the list in 1958 for obvious reasons :(

On MF battle it would be interesting for sure but my point in this regard is Harms team is a bit lack of wide and your fullbacks will probably have too many jobs to do both(defense and attack).So,right now I'm voting for Enigma but it can changes everytime.
I'm not sure if the lack of width is really a huge issue here. I'm a big fan of players with hybrid roles and in this formation I have 2 midfielders who are very much comfortable in both outside and inside left channels in van Hanegem and Edwards & Jairzinho and Tigana who can (and will) peel out wide — just as they did in real life. Tigana often started as a side midfielder for France, even though his role was quite dynamic — and Jairzinho had spent his whole career alternating between right wing and forward roles both for Brazil and for Botafogo.
 

Enigma_87

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good luck @harms !

Not going to go in much detail as I've already shared my views on our midfield many times throughout the draft. To me Iniesta is the perfect glue and one of the most versatile players to link up midfield and attack.

I do think we have a very good game here as our full back/winger combo can overload the flanks and put pressure on harms full backs.

Since it's a magic square it intends concentrate in the middle of the park and control in midfield, whilst we are perfectly set up to exploit the opposition on counter and on the backfoot.

Whilst Vierchowod is pretty fast on the deck, this is not the case with Schulz who will have a very torrid time with incoming Robben.

Both Blokhin and Robben are easily capable of wreaking havoc when catching the opposition on the backfoot and with Villa running into channels it makes it even harder to mark.
 

harms

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Here's an example of how a partnership like Edwards & Bennarivo can operate in defense — Zanetti had played mostly in left midfield that night, covering Chivu for every time that Messi got past him. Robben is a different player, obviously, as well as Bennarivo compared to Chivu, but the logic is more or less similar.

 

harms

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How about your ideas to deal with Robben and Blokhin?
If in this scenerios,Do your fullbacks and defensive mf(Tigana and Edwards) will have too much works?
@General_Elegancia forgot to tag you, but the previous answer was for you.

In short, I have 6 players, keeper excluded, dealing with a front three and two midfielders that would push up. I don't think that it's too much at all, especially considering the sheer quality of those players. And Villa is a wonderful player, but I would be more worried if there was someone like Seeler or Sheva up there.
 

Enigma_87

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Here's an example of how a partnership like Edwards & Bennarivo can operate in defense — Zanetti had played mostly in left midfield that night, covering Chivu for every time that Messi got past him. Robben is a different player, obviously, as well as Bennarivo compared to Chivu, but the logic is more or less similar.

Inter played deep line which is way different to proactive approach of carree magique..

Besides Benarrivo and Carlos Alberto are your biggest provider of width and they bound to have more attacking responsibilities which will leave spaces to exploit behind.
 

General_Elegancia

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Inter played deep line which is way different to proactive approach of carree magique..

Besides Benarrivo and Carlos Alberto are your biggest provider of width and they bound to have more attacking responsibilities which will leave spaces to exploit behind.
I agree with this Benarrivo and Alberto must have do "Superman" roles in this game.Run up and down against 100mOlympics sprinters and then support the attacks but I'm sure if both of them attack Tigana and Edwards will take positions and take care the backline(So,Robben and Blokhin will have very hard times too.).

Anyways,It's great game.
 

harms

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Besides Benarrivo and Carlos Alberto are your biggest provider of width and they bound to have more attacking responsibilities which will leave spaces to exploit behind.
That's a very lazy assessment that doesn't account for my team's versatility and multiple different options of setting up in attack & defense.

That team can very easily create many different front lines in possession, when they do need to stretch the pitch — and those aren't the only options by the way:

Bennarivo - Seeler - Sívori - Jairzinho
Edwards - van Hanegem - Tigana - C. Alberto

van Hanegem - Seeler - Jairzinho - C. Alberto
Bennarivo - Edwards - Sívori - Tigana

van Hanegem - Seeler - Sívori - Jairzinho
Bennarivo - Edwards - Tigana - C. Alberto​
 

Enigma_87

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I agree with this Benarrivo and Alberto must have do "Superman" roles in this game.Run up and down against 100mOlympics sprinters and then support the attacks but I'm sure if both of them attack Tigana and Edwards will take positions and take care the backline(So,Robben and Blokhin will have very hard times too.).

Anyways,It's great game.
Aye definitely will be a fun game and great to watch.

On Tigana and Edwards - even if they cover the space it's two of the most dangerous wide forwards in the game on counter. 1 on 1 they are more likely to beat their marker and gain space, after which they are very hard to catch.

That's a very lazy assessment that doesn't account for my team's versatility and multiple different options of setting up in attack & defense.

That team can very easily create many different front lines in possession, when they do need to stretch the pitch — and those aren't the only options by the way:

Bennarivo - Seeler - Sívori - Jairzinho
Edwards - van Hanegem - Tigana - C. Alberto

van Hanegem - Seeler - Jairzinho - C. Alberto
Bennarivo - Edwards - Sívori - Tigana

van Hanegem - Seeler - Sívori - Jairzinho
Bennarivo - Edwards - Tigana - C. Alberto​

It really isn't. You set up in specific way with players playing in specific roles. When you opt for carree magique it's a specific formation with it's strengths and weaknesses. If you have versatile players that doesn't mean you have the best of both worlds and playing in multiple formations as you will not have a designated pattern of play.

My team is full of versatile players with every single one of them being able to play in at least two positions - and some in more. That doesn't mean that I'm selling it as 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 all at once.

Besides we will press in our own half and invite pressure to hit you on the counter, so most likely than not your defence needs to step up if you don't want a huge gap between your midfielders and defence.
 

harms

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You set up in specific way with players playing in specific roles. When you opt for carree magique it's a specific formation with it's strengths and weaknesses. If you have versatile players that doesn't mean you have the best of both worlds and playing in multiple formations as you will not have a designated pattern of play.
So, how would it work? Needless to say, the structure of this midfield very roughly resembles both French carré magique & Brazil 82' set up, but with a twist — especially in terms of van Hanegem's role (more on it later).
 

General_Elegancia

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That's a very lazy assessment that doesn't account for my team's versatility and multiple different options of setting up in attack & defense.

That team can very easily create many different front lines in possession, when they do need to stretch the pitch — and those aren't the only options by the way:

Bennarivo - Seeler - Sívori - Jairzinho
Edwards - van Hanegem - Tigana - C. Alberto

van Hanegem - Seeler - Jairzinho - C. Alberto
Bennarivo - Edwards - Sívori - Tigana

van Hanegem - Seeler - Sívori - Jairzinho
Bennarivo - Edwards - Tigana - C. Alberto​
So,If your both full backs attack,Do your dmf will take place at both sides at backline?
Like ACM 2005 when Maldini and Cafu attacked,Ambro or Gattuso would take place to protect backline.
 

harms

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So,If your both full backs attack,Do your dmf will take place at both sides at backline?
Like ACM 2005 when Maldini and Cafu attacked,Ambro or Gattuso would take place to protect backline.
In the rare case they do push forward at the same time, I guess they do, but I don't expect that from my fullbacks. It doesn't happen all that often unless
  • your team is managed by Zeman/Bielsa (who has described his ideal team goal as a fullback's goal scored from another fullback's cross if I'm not mistaken) or
  • you get your tactics explained by your opponent
 

harms

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As for Enigma's team — I don't know. I really prefer Cerezo as an all-rounded number 8 even though he had played deeper on many occasions. And overall, the chemistry between him, Iniesta and Robson just isn't there in my eyes — I've said that before so it's not like it's just to belittle my opponent. And it takes some player to feel wrong next to Iniesta!

Another point for a potential discussion is how he's going to defend when I'm in possession — both of his fullbacks are very much attack-oriented, especially Gerets, whose best features were his insane stamina and attacking runs forward. I've seen him feck up against tricky opponents one time to many. While my team is set up to create havoc in the opposition's defense by consistently interchangeable roles in attack and midfield. By the way, the fact that carre magique in Enigma's eyes is some kind of a rigid formation is funny in itself... Both France & Brazil had their forwards operating as points of distraction most of the time and their midfield units often found themselves in the weirdest shapes possible. Not to mention fullbacks like Júnior or Amoros (I'm not limiting carre magique to the 84' Euros only before you mention that he had missed most of it) doing weird stuff like moving inside or switching wings mid-game...

It really isn't. You set up in specific way with players playing in specific roles. When you opt for carree magique it's a specific formation with it's strengths and weaknesses. If you have versatile players that doesn't mean you have the best of both worlds and playing in multiple formations as you will not have a designated pattern of play.
I've had to quote it twice, I'm sorry :lol:
 

Enigma_87

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As for Enigma's team — I don't know. I really prefer Cerezo as an all-rounded number 8 even though he had played deeper on many occasions. And overall, the chemistry between him, Iniesta and Robson just isn't there in my eyes — I've said that before so it's not like it's just to belittle my opponent. And it takes some player to feel wrong next to Iniesta!

Another point for a potential discussion is how he's going to defend when I'm in possession — both of his fullbacks are very much attack-oriented, especially Gerets, whose best features were his insane stamina and attacking runs forward. I've seen him feck up against tricky opponents one time to many. While my team is set up to create havoc in the opposition's defense by consistently interchangeable roles in attack and midfield. By the way, the fact that carre magique in Enigma's eyes is some kind of a rigid formation is funny in itself... Both France & Brazil had their forwards operating as points of distraction most of the time and their midfield units often found themselves in the weirdest shapes possible. Not to mention fullbacks like Júnior or Amoros (I'm not limiting carre magique to the 84' Euros only before you mention that he had missed most of it) doing weird stuff like moving inside or switching wings mid-game...


I've had to quote it twice, I'm sorry :lol:

I think the midfield trio discussion has really beaten to death and again to me I don't really see an issue with either of those three midfielders (Cerezo/Iniesta/Robson) playing together and they have proven their versatility to pull a very specific and designated roles.

Besides if it comes to playing styles in your team half of the players are more fluent in counter attacking teams, the other in possession ones. It's not like Edwards is tailor made for possession or carree magique type of set up, but if a role fits the player and he has what it takes in his locker to pull it off I have no issues with it.

As for "rigid" formation - i never said it was rigid. My point is if you are playing carree magique type of formation or Brazil's square, they are well known for their positives and deficiencies and one in Brazil's square - was indeed the lack of width. I take it that you want to have the best of both worlds but comparing Mourinho's Inter to carree magique and explaining those roles really doesn't compute for me and makes it a mish mash of styles and roles that really doesn't depict well your defensive line and when you are attacking.

I already mentioned we will invite pressure in our own half and initiate press only in our own half. I take it that your defensive line will push up or not?
 

Enigma_87

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Good game @harms . I wasn't too active as I think I grew fatigue with the team as I couldn't change it much given the reinforcement rules and really peaked early.

Best of luck in the final.
 

harms

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Good game @harms . I wasn't too active as I think I grew fatigue with the team as I couldn't change it much given the reinforcement rules and really peaked early.

Best of luck in the final.
Thanks. You’ve had a lovely team that barely had any flaws — I know that I commented a lot of Iniesta/Robson and I still stand by it, but it got disproportionate attention due to it being the only thing that you could really point at.

Yeah, the lack of upgrades was a real issue for me as well. Decided to try to mix the team up as much as I possibly can in every round because otherwise I would’ve been burnt out.
 

Gio

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I didn’t get on in time to vote, but this was a tough one to split. Can see why GSTQ is introducing the must vote rule to try and pick up the numbers again. 7 votes isn’t a great reception for two such impressive teams. And as much as harms has built another juggernaut, and one that would thwart Blokhin, for me Robben looked like the most likely match winner up against Benarrivo / Schulz with the pressure on the Italian to push on. Nice variation though with the 4222 as every player fit their role like a glove.
 

Isotope

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I didn’t get on in time to vote, but this was a tough one to split. Can see why GSTQ is introducing the must vote rule to try and pick up the numbers again. 7 votes isn’t a great reception for two such impressive teams. And as much as harms has built another juggernaut, and one that would thwart Blokhin, for me Robben looked like the most likely match winner up against Benarrivo / Schulz with the pressure on the Italian to push on. Nice variation though with the 4222 as every player fit their role like a glove.
Most likely people was having a hard time to pick the winner.

That Duncan Edward's pick was a gem from heaven for this @harms team. He fits this like OJ Simpson's glove (before get soaked in blood).
 

Enigma_87

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Thanks. You’ve had a lovely team that barely had any flaws — I know that I commented a lot of Iniesta/Robson and I still stand by it, but it got disproportionate attention due to it being the only thing that you could really point at.

Yeah, the lack of upgrades was a real issue for me as well. Decided to try to mix the team up as much as I possibly can in every round because otherwise I would’ve been burnt out.
TBH I thought about the safe choice (picking Tigana instead of Robbo), but wanted to highlight both Iniesta game in not very familiar setup and also a side that Robbo would definitely shine in. Probably Tigana would've won more votes and wouldn't impact the quality much, but it would've made the RR even more boring for me.