A very interesting match indeed.
I do however feel its much closer than the what the voting suggests. Annah has gone for the famous tiki-taka system while MJJ has gone for a very direct 4-4-2. We have to consider the tiki-taka when it was at its best. Same with MJJ's 4-4-2. Its obvious that Annah would dominate the possession while MJJ would look to exploit Annah on counters.
Annah's defence is extremely solid with Abidal, Canna, Thiago and Zanetti. Not a lot to say about the midfield trio which is tried and tested and is brilliant. While Silva ain't the ideal wide-forward in a false nine system, I think he would do well in the tiki-taka system. The one I'm not convinced about is Muller. Now, he is a good player who scores important goals but he is like a poacher playing out wide. His positioning is very good which helps him score many vital goals but his link-up play ain't that great. Considering this is semi final, I do feel Annah could have done with a top attacker there. Preferably someone like a Villa who would have been perfect as he would have retained the possession better than Muller would do.
As for MJJ's team, he has got a great team with no real weakness. However, I have one slight issue with his team. Giggs is a very good winger but is he the ideal wide player to have when the front two is of Henry and Rooney? I know Cristiano is there and he can be a threat aerially but in a way, since there is no genuine target-man or poacher, would we see the best out of Giggs? Also, since he is up against a heavy midfield, he could have dropped Giggs and gone for an extra midfielder for this game who could have supported Keane while dealing against the likes of Iniesta, Silva and Xavi etc. Something like:-
--------Henry----------Rooney----------Cristiano--------
-----------------Cesc-----------CM---------------------
------------------------Keane---------------------------
The front three would have been very fluid. Another advantage is, Rooney always has a tendency to drop deep. So if you make him play as the main striker and he drops deep, he will drag one of the CBs along with him. This would mean, there would be space vacated which both Cristiano and Henry can really exploit. Especially with their pace and penetration. It doesn't matter as MJJ is anyway winning this. But I just felt that team would have been even more good as the midfield wouldn't have got dominated easily at all.
Now coming back to the match, I feel its very close. But, I would give the slight edge to Annah. I do feel the two man midfield against a midfield of Busquets - Xavi - Iniesta when all three would be at their peak is risky especially when you consider that Cesc is far from being that solid defensively and one of the wide attackers in Cristiano won't offer any sort of defensive help. As great as Keane was, even he would need defensive support when dealing against a midfield unit like that of Annah.
I do however feel its much closer than the what the voting suggests. Annah has gone for the famous tiki-taka system while MJJ has gone for a very direct 4-4-2. We have to consider the tiki-taka when it was at its best. Same with MJJ's 4-4-2. Its obvious that Annah would dominate the possession while MJJ would look to exploit Annah on counters.
Annah's defence is extremely solid with Abidal, Canna, Thiago and Zanetti. Not a lot to say about the midfield trio which is tried and tested and is brilliant. While Silva ain't the ideal wide-forward in a false nine system, I think he would do well in the tiki-taka system. The one I'm not convinced about is Muller. Now, he is a good player who scores important goals but he is like a poacher playing out wide. His positioning is very good which helps him score many vital goals but his link-up play ain't that great. Considering this is semi final, I do feel Annah could have done with a top attacker there. Preferably someone like a Villa who would have been perfect as he would have retained the possession better than Muller would do.
As for MJJ's team, he has got a great team with no real weakness. However, I have one slight issue with his team. Giggs is a very good winger but is he the ideal wide player to have when the front two is of Henry and Rooney? I know Cristiano is there and he can be a threat aerially but in a way, since there is no genuine target-man or poacher, would we see the best out of Giggs? Also, since he is up against a heavy midfield, he could have dropped Giggs and gone for an extra midfielder for this game who could have supported Keane while dealing against the likes of Iniesta, Silva and Xavi etc. Something like:-
--------Henry----------Rooney----------Cristiano--------
-----------------Cesc-----------CM---------------------
------------------------Keane---------------------------
The front three would have been very fluid. Another advantage is, Rooney always has a tendency to drop deep. So if you make him play as the main striker and he drops deep, he will drag one of the CBs along with him. This would mean, there would be space vacated which both Cristiano and Henry can really exploit. Especially with their pace and penetration. It doesn't matter as MJJ is anyway winning this. But I just felt that team would have been even more good as the midfield wouldn't have got dominated easily at all.
Now coming back to the match, I feel its very close. But, I would give the slight edge to Annah. I do feel the two man midfield against a midfield of Busquets - Xavi - Iniesta when all three would be at their peak is risky especially when you consider that Cesc is far from being that solid defensively and one of the wide attackers in Cristiano won't offer any sort of defensive help. As great as Keane was, even he would need defensive support when dealing against a midfield unit like that of Annah.
Didnt expect to find you here brewlio, Thanks. 