Team harms
I'm playing a very fluid 4-3-3/4-4-2 diamond formation.
Overall strategy:
My formation allows me to overload opposition's box at times, while still being pretty solid on the counter. Apart from my scary attacking trio, I have a few players in deeper positions that are famous for their goalscoring contribution - Passarella (only Koeman surpassed him as the world's top scoring defender), Ballack, Enrique - not to mention Kaltz and Cabrini (top scoring defender for Italian NT). The key point of every defence is its organization - and it's impossible to defend rationally against a incredibly determinate horde, just look how Bayern collapsed in 1999 after Fergie subbed on 2 additional forwards and pushed Schmeichel forward. My backline can form a competent three, four and five man defence, so I can spare a few of them to go forward.
First of all - there all are immensely prolific goalscorers, who all scored around goal per game during their peak years.
Hidegkuti is playing in his NT role - probably the most interesting tactical innovation of that great Magyar team. He is called the first false-9 in the football history - a deep-lying forward, who is equally capable of supporting the strikers from behind or to lead the line himself. He was devastating in this role - he scored a hat-trick in the match of the century. I wanted to pay an homage to him and tried to replicate that attacking movement in my front three.
Ibrahimovic is a big striker - very agile and mobile for his size - he is a nominal focal point of my attack, but I have several of those. Like Kocsis, he would provide physical presence in the box, but he is, like Sven always says, a very complete player - so it won't be a problem for him to move back or to draw the defenders away from Hidegkuti. He also had a memorable England moment
Kubala, arguably the best player on the pitch, is doing what he did best - roaming all around the front, scoring, assisting and helping to keep the ball.
Hidegkuti is playing in his NT role - probably the most interesting tactical innovation of that great Magyar team. He is called the first false-9 in the football history - a deep-lying forward, who is equally capable of supporting the strikers from behind or to lead the line himself. He was devastating in this role - he scored a hat-trick in the match of the century. I wanted to pay an homage to him and tried to replicate that attacking movement in my front three.
Ibrahimovic is a big striker - very agile and mobile for his size - he is a nominal focal point of my attack, but I have several of those. Like Kocsis, he would provide physical presence in the box, but he is, like Sven always says, a very complete player - so it won't be a problem for him to move back or to draw the defenders away from Hidegkuti. He also had a memorable England moment
Kubala, arguably the best player on the pitch, is doing what he did best - roaming all around the front, scoring, assisting and helping to keep the ball.
In the pivoting role I have Xabi Alonso, one of the modern greats, who proved himself in a dozen different systems and won almost everything, while being crucial part of his teams organization. Nicknamed "The Magneto", he will orchestrate the game from the back, while being responsible for the shape of teams defence. I'm lucky to have such an intelligent player doing this.
Luis Enrique and Ballack are two of your typical box-to-boxes - physical, vocal, determined, skillful - the whole package, really. There is nothing special about their roles.
Luis Enrique and Ballack are two of your typical box-to-boxes - physical, vocal, determined, skillful - the whole package, really. There is nothing special about their roles.
As I stated earlier, I have a very fluid and competent backline. Buchwald (nicknamed "Diego" after he successfully marked Maradona out of the 1990 World Cup final) is the only one that have to stay back - Kaltz, Cabrini and Passarella are free to roam forward as long as one of them is staying back - because Alonso is also covering for them.
In the goal I have a relatively unknown keeper, Waldir Peres - though he only once conceded more than one goal in his 27 games for Brazil (not known for their defending) and a winner of Bola de Ouro in 1975 (the best player in the league) - just take a look at his competition: Zico, Falcao, Figeroa, Nelinho, Cerezo...
In the goal I have a relatively unknown keeper, Waldir Peres - though he only once conceded more than one goal in his 27 games for Brazil (not known for their defending) and a winner of Bola de Ouro in 1975 (the best player in the league) - just take a look at his competition: Zico, Falcao, Figeroa, Nelinho, Cerezo...
Key points:
Viva has a great team, but he is a little rigid defensively. While his fullbacks are busy, he will only have Vierchowod, Ferrara and Dunga to track my attacking trinity - and nor Keane, nor Scholes, as much as I adore them, don't have the discipline (not determination, mind you) to track down late runs of Passarella, Ballack and Enrique - which are probably my easiest routes to the goal.
The one to watch:
In 1999 he was voted as the best player in Barcelona history, no less. Ahead the likes of Cruyff, Laudrup, Stoichkov, Luis Suarez, Kocsis... Camp Nou was built to accommodate everyone who wanted to see him play. Sadly, he ran away from Hungary early and so we haven't seen him playing for their Golden team - I'm not sure that Puskas would've been their main star if they were to play together.
He was a mix between George Best and Eric Cantona - a molly-coddled drunk who always was the best player on the pitch and an inspirational leader. After his most productive season, where he scored 26 goals in only 19 league games (Barcelona won incredible 5 cups this season), he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Nobody expected him to make it back to football - but he did, and he was the catalyst that led struggling Barca from 4th place to their second league title in a row (sounds familiar, right?)
His game was based on finesse as much as fitness; all drag backs and flicks, running on his toes, protecting the ball, drawing players in and then slipping beyond them. He could do thing that no one had ever seen before. Even his penalties were different, paradinha pause included - he only ever missed one, something he put down to his "psychological study of opposition goalkeepers".
Here is the intake of Luis Suarez - one of the best players in Spain history: "No one had seen anyone curl a ball over the wall before. Kubala did it. He was extraordinary player who brought to Spain a series of innovative improvements and perfections. He united physical power and exceptional technique. Defenders were sucked toward him and then he protected the ball brilliantly. They tried to push him over but just fell over themselves. Among the players I've seen, and I've seen a lot, he is the best of all time".
vs