Variable Formation Draft: QF - harms vs Jim Beam

With players at their peak, who would win?


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Physiocrat

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harms



Jim Beam


harms

A good old-fashioned 5-3-2 spruced up by the addition of 2 of the most influential fullbacks of modern times — Marcelo, the ultimate attacking left-back & Philipp Lahm, whose versatility and intelligence heavily inspired Pep's idea of false fullbacks.

The midfield has a distinct 90's feel about it with Edgar Davids joining Didier Deschamps to recreate their partnership for Lippi's Juve.

Behind them is a wonderful back three lead by none other than Franco Baresi himself. Paul McGrath plays closer to the right side to keep an eye on Blokhin's runs while John Greig moves to the left (his experience as a left back & as a centre back makes him perfect for the job). All three of my central defenders are brilliant with the ball, which will help out massively against Jim's pressing — Greig & McGrath even spent huge spells of their careers in midfield while Baresi is... Baresi.

I don't think that I need to sell Denis Law's role here but I thought that I'd specify what I expect from Suárez & Rensenbrink here (and why I have chosen to bench Finney, who would fit pretty well in any of those roles). You can probably argue that the set of roles that they're playing at are quite similar to United's Holy Trinity with young Suárez as Charlton & Rensenbrink as Best.

This is the earlier version of Luis Suárez — a slightly underrated one due to the relative lack of footage despite him winning Ballon d’Or in 1960 (his brace at Santiago Bernabeu signified Real Madrid’s first ever European Cup elimination) and finishing 2nd in 1961. I genuinely struggle to decide which version of him was better — a devastating inside-forward at Barça (with a perfect 1 to 2 ratio of 61 goals in 122 games) or a more reserved midfield general at Inter, so I’m glad to be able to use in this draft. For Barça he excelled alongside Kubala, Czibor & Kocsis. For Spain he was playing alongside the likes of Di Stéfano, Puskás, Kubala & Gento as one of the inside forwards — probably more playmaking than any of his other peers yet still surprisingly prolific (14 goals in 21 appearances during his peak).

Rob Rensenbrink — but wasn’t he a winger? For Anderlecht he’s had 6 seasons in a row with more than 20 goals during the time when Anderlecht was a proper European heavyweight — 2 European Supercups, 2 Cup Winner’s Cups (and another final), all with Rensenbrink shining as their brightest star and main goalscorer. He still remains CWC’s all-time top-scorer with 25 goals (8 goals in 9 games in 75/76 & 7 goals in 9 games in 76/77) — and he was centimetres away from finishing the 1978 as its winner, top goalscorer & best player (Kempes went on to steal all three). It’s hard to find a direct comparison as Rensenbrink was quite unique — certainly not Cristiano-esque wing-forward but probably something similar to how George Best played in early 70’s, still a devastating dribbler, creative and unpredictable, but with more focus on goals than in the more winger-esque stage of his career.

Jim Beam

Tactics: 4-3-3, high press, high possession with emphasis on dominating the game, players interchanging position during the attack

Style of play: Emphasis not only on possession for the sake of it but on hurting the other team while being in possession through the gaps that open up. The team must act as a collective in both phases of the game.

Conclusion or confusion:

 

Jim Beam

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The hype obviously reached unwarranted level (or not).

It is quite simply because for all of us who loved him all along this Swan song was brilliant to see. Pick in an all draft at number 2?

Ironically, harms has a similar striker, but it's a rare breed...

 

harms

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That's a wonderful team harms. And I usually don't like 3 at the back.

Well done.
Cheers. I really like the versatility that Greig provides me.

Nice team yourself. I do feel that my defense is well-suited for your attacking unit though, even with Benzema in his current form. There's literally no one better to handle him than Baresi & McGrath's insane athleticism will help with Blokhin's pace quite a lot.
 

Šjor Bepo

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whats the story with Tostao on the right? even if we ignore that, the partnership with Benz would be strange as they offer almost the same things
 

Jim Beam

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whats the story with Tostao on the right? even if we ignore that, the partnership with Benz would be strange as they offer almost the same things
We, well obviously I think that Pep would play him as inverted winger in today's game mostly if he had a complimentary striker upfront.


  • mindset is on quick collective action
  • always on the move to receive the ball
  • can keep the ball under pressure
  • spends little time on the ball (and he's basically a '60s player!), quick decisive passing
  • loves passing and dribbling in crowded areas
  • strong left foot (-> inverted RW), but uses both feet; can either go inside or outside
  • strong outside -> into the box game
  • tenacious little bugger

the partnership with Benz would be strange as they offer almost the same things
Yeah, some brilliant interchanging.
 

Gio

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I’ve been wanting to see Beam unleashed in a 4-3-3 and the results are as tasty as anticipated. Tostao a slight ill fit, but I back Leandro and Xavi to make it work reasonably well.

Harms counters very well though and looks like a team that could withstand some serious pressure.
 

Jim Beam

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I’ve been wanting to see Beam unleashed in a 4-3-3 and the results are as tasty as anticipated. Tostao a slight ill fit, but I back Leandro and Xavi to make it work reasonably well.
Had Masopust for Xavi's partner on the left, but he didn't cover all roles. Should have take the risk though.
 

Gio

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Had Masopust for Xavi's partner on the left, but he didn't cover all roles. Should have take the risk though.
Would have added another dimension, but Bernardo fits like a glove too though.
 

harms

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Tostao on the right/next to Benzema thing has been highlighted already — while both were/are masters of adapting their game to the needs of the team I don’t really see their partnership as something truly outstanding. Blokhin & Benzema is more than the sum of its parts, for example, Benzema & Tostao…

Another little question for me would be Netto. If I were to name his most outstanding qualities, I’d say that those would be his dribbling & short passing, especially one-twos. He was very astute defensively but what made him special was his contributions as a needle player — he’s much more defensive than Iniesta but I’d still say that he’s more of an Iniesta than Busquets. Although I certainly thought of Netto as a Busquets replacement in Barca’s 4-3-3 and he’ll work just fine… but you certainly lose some of his magic.
 

Jim Beam

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Tostao on the right/next to Benzema thing has been highlighted already — while both were/are masters of adapting their game to the needs of the team I don’t really see their partnership as something truly outstanding. Blokhin & Benzema is more than the sum of its parts, for example, Benzema & Tostao…
But why? Tostao thrived in that Brazil "four 10" tactic where everyone upfront ended up in different place all along. Blokhin is just a side kick, a something different and much needed imo, like Jairzinho, but on a whole another level.

I get the part we will go after Tostao because he looks odd there, but the man thrived alongside quick, technical football.

Zagallo believed that his best players should always be on the pitch. That sometimes meant having to convince them to play in unfamiliar roles. In the 1970 Brazil team, that applied most of all to Piazza.

Piazza was a central midfielder who had been called up by Saldanha to play in his preferred position. Once Zagallo took over, however, he was moved back to play as a central defender. The idea was that Piazza's ability on the ball would improve the team’s build-up play from deep. From there, he could link with the full-backs, Carlos Alberto and Everaldo, and the team’s new central midfielder, Clodoaldo.

Ahead of Clodoaldo, the team's single pivot, Zagallo selected a group of five attacking players who constantly interchanged positions. Individually, Gerson, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Tostão and, of course, Pelé were all star players. As a collective, Zagallo used his so-called ‘Five 10s’ (below) in a dynamic, fluid attacking structure. Opposition defences had never seen anything quite like it.
 

harms

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Almost done a no-talk @Moby here, I wonder if I would've won without any posts.
Nice team @Jim Beam, sorry for not participating more actively, I was really busy.
 

Jim Beam

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Thought Moby is back for a second. :(

Congrats @harms, well deserved. Wasn't in the mood myself so much to debate and didn't see much sense in nitpicking. In general, I think that well constructed and ball playing back 3/5 are well suited to deal with Pep based tactics. With Marcelo and Lahm on each side it becomes very hard to press effectively. Not a fan of Deschamps, but even he looks well in that combo with Davids.

Good luck going forward.