Edgar Allan Pillow
Ero-Sennin
...................................... Team Chester .................................................................................. Team Enigma/Tiger ............................................
Team Chester
Key points/strengths/roles:
GK: Fillol. Strenghts: Reflexes. Match winning saves.
CB: Franklin. Style: Fairly conservative. Will use his ball playing quality to bring the ball out, but mainly through passing (as opposed to making any wild runs with the ball up the pitch).
CB: Wright. Style: Conservative. A stopper.
RB: Bezsonov. Style: Balanced. Should be able to venture forward to an extent and combine with Mendieta.
LB: Júnior. Style: Balanced. Part of his natural game is to drift inside to an extent, and given the fact that my opponents' strength is mainly a central one, this is not something I will discourage, especially when I'm off the ball.
DM: Mullery. Style: Fairly conservative. He will mainly hold. Nevertheless, he's normally capable of contributing a fair bit offensively, and I don't think that part of his game will be entirely stifled here. Useful for joining the attack on the counter, certainly, and his speed and stamina will enable him to get back and forth without this being overly hazardous.
CM: Blanchflower. Style: Playmaker. Very far from being a luxury player, however, Will track back and keep the shape defensively whenever called upon. Will seek to get on the ball and use it creatively. Key strength (relevant to this particular match): Passing range (and precision, needless to say). Blanchflower finding runners, both left and wright (Rensenbrink will be a particularly useful target) will be an important weapon for me.
RM: Mendieta. Style: Balanced. Role: Allrounder/wide midfielder. Will move inside when off the ball to help out centrally, but will nevertheless primarily function as a wide midfielder, seeking to stretch play on the right.
AM/Custom: Šekularac. Role: Free/attacking. His task will be to get on the ball as much as he can, and use both his dribbling and his ingenious playmaking qualities to cause havoc. He's a trouble maker – that is his primary function here. He is a goal threat to an extent too, but I mainly depend on him to create room and opportunities for others, Larsson and Rensenbrink in particular.
LW: Rensenbrink. Role: Winger/finisher. He will operate in his natural style, as a tricky, pacey left winger who likes to cut in. More of a threat in the box than a chalk licking crosser, but his overall game will be balanced in terms of how much he seeks to create and how much he seeks to get on the end of what others serve up.
CF: Larsson. The focal point of the attack and the main finisher. A natural goal scorer with both head and feet. His intelligence and crisp passing make him much more than a sheer box player, however, and he will drift around to an extent, using both these qualities to set up his team mates and - not least - keep dragging whoever is marking him around the shop. He won't be operating statically in the box, waiting to be served.
CB: Franklin. Style: Fairly conservative. Will use his ball playing quality to bring the ball out, but mainly through passing (as opposed to making any wild runs with the ball up the pitch).
CB: Wright. Style: Conservative. A stopper.
RB: Bezsonov. Style: Balanced. Should be able to venture forward to an extent and combine with Mendieta.
LB: Júnior. Style: Balanced. Part of his natural game is to drift inside to an extent, and given the fact that my opponents' strength is mainly a central one, this is not something I will discourage, especially when I'm off the ball.
DM: Mullery. Style: Fairly conservative. He will mainly hold. Nevertheless, he's normally capable of contributing a fair bit offensively, and I don't think that part of his game will be entirely stifled here. Useful for joining the attack on the counter, certainly, and his speed and stamina will enable him to get back and forth without this being overly hazardous.
CM: Blanchflower. Style: Playmaker. Very far from being a luxury player, however, Will track back and keep the shape defensively whenever called upon. Will seek to get on the ball and use it creatively. Key strength (relevant to this particular match): Passing range (and precision, needless to say). Blanchflower finding runners, both left and wright (Rensenbrink will be a particularly useful target) will be an important weapon for me.
RM: Mendieta. Style: Balanced. Role: Allrounder/wide midfielder. Will move inside when off the ball to help out centrally, but will nevertheless primarily function as a wide midfielder, seeking to stretch play on the right.
AM/Custom: Šekularac. Role: Free/attacking. His task will be to get on the ball as much as he can, and use both his dribbling and his ingenious playmaking qualities to cause havoc. He's a trouble maker – that is his primary function here. He is a goal threat to an extent too, but I mainly depend on him to create room and opportunities for others, Larsson and Rensenbrink in particular.
LW: Rensenbrink. Role: Winger/finisher. He will operate in his natural style, as a tricky, pacey left winger who likes to cut in. More of a threat in the box than a chalk licking crosser, but his overall game will be balanced in terms of how much he seeks to create and how much he seeks to get on the end of what others serve up.
CF: Larsson. The focal point of the attack and the main finisher. A natural goal scorer with both head and feet. His intelligence and crisp passing make him much more than a sheer box player, however, and he will drift around to an extent, using both these qualities to set up his team mates and - not least - keep dragging whoever is marking him around the shop. He won't be operating statically in the box, waiting to be served.
General:
I see this match as similar to the last one. A tight affair, in other words. Lack of wide strength has been a common theme in this draft. I thought both myself and my opponents lacked this to a degree going into the knockout stages. They still do - whereas I have strengthened significantly in that respect, bringing in a natural left winger to compliment Mendieta on the opposite flank (thus, also, allowing Šekularac to operate in a more ideal role for him). Will it be enough? Time and the voters will tell, but I'm pleased with this team - I think it's well balanced and of a generally very high quality.
Player profiles (and links).
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-third-redcafe-sheep-draft.411575/page-54#post-18495327
Team Enigma / Red Tiger
GK: Rinat Dasayev - The best goalkeeper of the 80's. Nicknamed the "Iron Curtain" he's a tall keeper with magnificent reflexes. However his biggest strength is the ability to command his box and area, his anticipation and aerial presense. One of the most dependable keepers - usually prevented any dangerous situation before it even happened.
RB: Vogts - He will be up against Rensenbrink(most likely) or Sekularac. After effectivelly neutralizing Cruyff I think he'll get the better of Rensenbrink as well. Great marker, tackler and if he's given space can whip an excellent cross.
CB: McNeill - Solid, great in the air, strong into tackle will be probably up against Larsson and neutralizing him in the air and on the ground.
CB: Cannavaro - One of the best central defenders at his peak, will anticipate and neutralize any danger that Owen would most likely be able to create.
LB: Komano - Fast, reliable. Having to be up against not a very fast and skillful wide midfielder won't let him be exposed(Mendieta), given proper shielding from Seedorf when needed, but having more pace than Mendieta will help him get back into his position fast.
DM/MC: Redondo - Arguably the best defensive midfield. He and Seedorf will be able to screen the defence, also combine well together and control the midfield. He will most likely spray passes to the wing or try to find Shearer and Singori with a direct pass from deep.
DM/MC: Seedorf - Strong, very physical, excellent reading of the game, excellent technically, he and Redondo would control possession and find space from deep.
AML: Nedved - will be up against Bezsonov most of the time when he has the ball, and I think his trickery and directness will most likely get better of him most of the time.
In the hole/SS - Signori - pace and exploiting the space around Shearer. He needs little space to get a goal himself. Not sure how Chester's CB pair will deal with his pace/trickery and directness.
AMR: - Stojkovic - will be up against Junior, who has the tendency to tuck in most of the time, which is exactly Stojkovic favorite movement. Junior has most notably offensive game while Stojkovic is one of the best dribblers in history and most likely he'll find himself in space.
CF: Shearer - Tougher and stronger than both of Chester's central pair. In this game he'll also have slight height advantage over Franklin and huge over Wright.
Key points:
Midfield battle. Our both central midfielders are a bit similar in terms of style and key qualities, however I think we have the superiority here, both in terms of playmaking (Blanchflower/Redondo) and work rate and engine(Mullery/Seedorf)
Rinat Dasayev reinforcement. While Roa had excellent reflexes, Dasayev is considered one of the top 10 best in history. His ability to read the game, collect the ball and his command of the area is one of the best for a keeper.
Shearer: Most likely with his presense and sheer power he'll be able to sneak a goal or two. Last game he was up against two very physical CB's in Hansen and McGrath and IMO Wright/Franklin(excellent CB pair of course) are not better suited for his style.
Creativity: I feel we have more quality up the field with Signori/Nedved/Stojkovic pulling the strings behind Shearer and Redondo/Seedorf spraying passes from deep.
Rensenbrink vs Vogts - Rensenbrink is a very good addition to Chester's lineup however he'll be up one of the best markers in the game and he should get the better off him.
Komano vs Mendieta. On the right flank most likely it will be Mendieta(who also has to tuck inside to help the midfield as with Signori dropping from deep we'll have an advantage there) and I don't think Chester can provide enough presence on his right side of the pitch. Bezsonov would most likely have to watch his zone,otherwise Nedved would tear the space apart.
Link to more descriptive player profiles:
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-third-redcafe-sheep-draft.411575/page-58#post-18576716
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-third-redcafe-sheep-draft.411575/page-58#post-18576720