Tactics
Boris has a great team with no glaring weaknesses in terms of player quality and a higher average level through out the side. Both my wings stand out as great strengths though with Garrincha on one side and Brehme and Boniek on the other.
Team Annah
Team Boris
This is my team. At a high level, it's very attacking, the full backs will bomb forward when they get the chance, Pires will cut in from a wide left position as he did, linking up with the three playmakers in the centre of the pitch.
Annah has two unbelievable wide players in Garrincha and Boniek, as far as I am concerned I don't have the players to try and contain them, thus this side is set up in a relatively gung ho fashion, with the aim of outscoring the opposition.
In Buffon I have the best goalkeeper in the draft, and in front of him I have a good combination of strength, power, and ability on the ball, in Lucio and Tresor. At full back Lizarazu and Cafu are primarily attack minded, however both are also fairly decent defensively as well. Now, I'm not saying they are going to come out on top of any duels going back the way, but both are capable of putting up a fight, and have the athleticism to match counter attacking runs.
In midfield I have Souness and Gerson as deep lying players. Souness is the grafter but on top of that he was also a fantastic footballer in his own right, capable of picking out forward passes and scoring the odd goal. Beside him as the main playmaker of my side is Gerson, who had an unbelievable range of passing. It's important to remember that Gerson was also relatively solid defensively as well, and wasn't afraid to put his foot in when it mattered.
Ahead of those I have Socrates in a central attacking midfield role and Stojkovic starting slightly right but drifting in and around Socrates and Shevchenko. I am hoping that Socrates and Stojkovic can link up similarly to the way in which Zico and Socrates linked up for Brazil. Pires would then provide a threat from the left hand side, another technically and creatively excellent player who was incredibly efficient in the final third at his peak and will look to create or shoot at any opportunity.
Finally up front I have Shevchenko, who in his peak years at Milan yielded 175 goals in 196 games, not a bad return in Italy. Yes he was terrible for Chelsea, but that's not the Sheva I picked. His combination of pace and movement will his runs will consistently be spotted and picked out by the quality of the creative players behind him.
Obviously there is one massive flaw in my team, as the attacking midfield three weren't necessarily known for tracking back all the time, but I think they would be efficient enough in attack to make up the balance.
A small bit on some of the perhaps lesser known players:
Dragan Stojkovic
Stojkovic gained 84 caps for Yugoslavia over an 18 year period, scoring 15 goals. Throughout his career he excelled as a number 10, and possessed fantastic control, dribbling skills, passing, and creativity. He was a key player for Red Star and was named the best player in Yugoslavia twice, before moving to Marseille in 1990, where he suffered a serious knee injury and never really recovered. Here is a youtube highlight video of him taking the piss:
I know these can prove anything but it's important to note that a lot of the time he is receiving the ball under pressure or gets surrounded by players but he still manages to retain possession, this is vitally important for my teams style of play. Socrates was similar in that he could use his strength and skill to hold off players, and these characteristics are vital considering the type of midfield players Annah possesses.
Gerson
Gerson was the deep lying playmaker of the great 1970 Brazil team that won the world cup. He linked the defence and attack and set the tempo for the way that they played, He was named man of the match and scored the vital second Brazilian goal of the final that year. Perhaps his greatest asset was his long passing, and thus any lapses in concentration from Annah's defence and he will pick Shevchenko out from anywhere. Here is his world cup final goal;
Boris has a great team with no glaring weaknesses in terms of player quality and a higher average level through out the side. Both my wings stand out as great strengths though with Garrincha on one side and Brehme and Boniek on the other.
Team Annah
Team Boris
This is my team. At a high level, it's very attacking, the full backs will bomb forward when they get the chance, Pires will cut in from a wide left position as he did, linking up with the three playmakers in the centre of the pitch.
Annah has two unbelievable wide players in Garrincha and Boniek, as far as I am concerned I don't have the players to try and contain them, thus this side is set up in a relatively gung ho fashion, with the aim of outscoring the opposition.
In Buffon I have the best goalkeeper in the draft, and in front of him I have a good combination of strength, power, and ability on the ball, in Lucio and Tresor. At full back Lizarazu and Cafu are primarily attack minded, however both are also fairly decent defensively as well. Now, I'm not saying they are going to come out on top of any duels going back the way, but both are capable of putting up a fight, and have the athleticism to match counter attacking runs.
In midfield I have Souness and Gerson as deep lying players. Souness is the grafter but on top of that he was also a fantastic footballer in his own right, capable of picking out forward passes and scoring the odd goal. Beside him as the main playmaker of my side is Gerson, who had an unbelievable range of passing. It's important to remember that Gerson was also relatively solid defensively as well, and wasn't afraid to put his foot in when it mattered.
Ahead of those I have Socrates in a central attacking midfield role and Stojkovic starting slightly right but drifting in and around Socrates and Shevchenko. I am hoping that Socrates and Stojkovic can link up similarly to the way in which Zico and Socrates linked up for Brazil. Pires would then provide a threat from the left hand side, another technically and creatively excellent player who was incredibly efficient in the final third at his peak and will look to create or shoot at any opportunity.
Finally up front I have Shevchenko, who in his peak years at Milan yielded 175 goals in 196 games, not a bad return in Italy. Yes he was terrible for Chelsea, but that's not the Sheva I picked. His combination of pace and movement will his runs will consistently be spotted and picked out by the quality of the creative players behind him.
Obviously there is one massive flaw in my team, as the attacking midfield three weren't necessarily known for tracking back all the time, but I think they would be efficient enough in attack to make up the balance.
A small bit on some of the perhaps lesser known players:
Dragan Stojkovic
Stojkovic gained 84 caps for Yugoslavia over an 18 year period, scoring 15 goals. Throughout his career he excelled as a number 10, and possessed fantastic control, dribbling skills, passing, and creativity. He was a key player for Red Star and was named the best player in Yugoslavia twice, before moving to Marseille in 1990, where he suffered a serious knee injury and never really recovered. Here is a youtube highlight video of him taking the piss:
I know these can prove anything but it's important to note that a lot of the time he is receiving the ball under pressure or gets surrounded by players but he still manages to retain possession, this is vitally important for my teams style of play. Socrates was similar in that he could use his strength and skill to hold off players, and these characteristics are vital considering the type of midfield players Annah possesses.
Gerson
Gerson was the deep lying playmaker of the great 1970 Brazil team that won the world cup. He linked the defence and attack and set the tempo for the way that they played, He was named man of the match and scored the vital second Brazilian goal of the final that year. Perhaps his greatest asset was his long passing, and thus any lapses in concentration from Annah's defence and he will pick Shevchenko out from anywhere. Here is his world cup final goal;
You have Lizarazu and Cafu and they are both among the top full backs in history, Lizarazu often underrated but he's not far off someone like Cafu.
That match will always be remembered as everything that is wrong with these drafts.