Nothing wrong with presenting your case properly, my friend. Spoilers are a good idea, though, as some might be inclined to take thoroughness for overkill - might piss off scan voters and so forth.
One detail (seeing as we're being thorough): The bit about Neeskens doesn't strike me as relevant. You don't have Neeskens - and I wouldn't say you have anyone like him either - which may actually turn the point against you. Not saying it does - it's obviously primarily meant as an illustration of how good your man was, but still. It doesn't say anything beyond "he was good and here's yet another point to prove it", and you don't really need that. If you had Neeskens - or if you had set up like Ajax in the early 70s - then it would've been a great point. But you don't - so it ain't.
mmm, partly agree. You need both. But if pushed to make a choice, I'd rate balance over individual technical ability. Take Real's Galacticos as a example, putting in a bunch of technically accomplished players does not necessarily equate to success. You need a balance to the team (a la Makelele sale) without which the overall impact is greatly reduced. I haven't made my choice yet, as despite the balance you still have raw firepower to push through even on goals. Let me put this on for a bit later.
Yes, it makes a interesting read. But you should differentiate between player profile and tactics discussion. They have overlaps, but posting full profile kind of shadows the tactical point you are trying to make.
That is the key point, I will bear that in mind for the next draft.
- Don't think either midfield is perfectly balanced so there's no tactical advantage to either side there.
- Joga's defence is brilliantly imposing and looks a cut above Raaes in getting the job done. What it lacks is ability on the ball but he does have Hierro in there opening up play with his raking long balls and Cole providing short-and-sharp interplay.
- Gerets and Breitner will contribute significantly to the shape of the game here and it would be important that Joga's wingers do their fair share of tracking.
- Vasovic and Carvalho were great defenders but as a partnership they will be vulnerable to Vieri's bullying and aerial strength. It's a bit like when I faced up to Anto with Nordahl up front against Vasovic and Rio. You'd fancy Vieri to get something off one of the creative geniuses behind him.
- In contrast you'd feel that Kohler would have a better chance of nullifying some of Batistuta's strengths because he is both the best defender on the park and a grizzly man-marker who'd relish the battle.
- Schwarzer stands out like a sore thumb in this company.
Vieri is being made to look like he is superhuman.
Vieri received his first international cap during the 1996–97 season after some impressive displays for Juventus. He scored a key goal for Italy in the play off against
Russia during
qualification for the 1998 World Cup. At the finals of the tournament in France he formed a strong partnership with
Roberto Baggio. Vieri opened the scoring against
Chile after an assist from his strike partner. He went on to score three more goals against
Cameroon and
Austria during the
group stage. Vieri scored Italy's only goal in the round of 16 match against
Norway. He scored Italy's fourth penalty in the quarterfinal shooutout against
France but
Luigi Di Biagio missed the fifth and Italy were eliminated. That quarter-final showdown against France was the only game of the tournament in which Vieri was unable to score.
Vieri missed out on Euro 2000 after suffering a recurrence of an old thigh injury, during the fourth place playoff with
Parma at the end of the
1999–2000 seasonafter a collision with
Gianluigi Buffon, who would also miss out on the tournament.
Italy played Vieri as a lone striker in the
2002 World Cup, scoring an impressive four goals in four games. He managed a brace in the opening game against
Ecuador and scored Italy's only goal in the 2–1 defeat to
Croatia despite having a previous goal incorrectly ruled out for
offside. In the round-of-16 match against
South Korea he opened the scoring in the 18th minute, scoring a powerful header from a
Francesco Totti corner. Italy led the game until the Koreans equalised 3 minutes before the end. Italy was eventually eliminated by South Korea by a
golden goal. The only game in which he failed to find the net was against
Mexico in a 1–1 draw.
His world cup exploits are against weaker sides, can someone explain to me, his effectiveness against top top defenders. How is he rated so highly?
I simply can't separate the teams either. Joga has a slightly better defense, but his keeper is Schwarzer. How did you end up with him again?!
Raes playing a compact midfield, on the other hand, just invites way too much pressure IMO, even with a solid defense. I'm not convinced about the argument he presented against that.
It could well be a coin toss for my vote
I did say it will occasionally press too. It is a sensible midfield, it won't just completely sit off like sitting ducks.. it is just a tad more cautious than his, I am not going toe to toe but I am not a shrinking violet by any means.
.
. As if one of them wasnt bad enough to contend with for Series A defenses. Shame about those injuries which deprived their time together at Inter and had a severe negative impact on both their careers.