4Way Draft - SF: General vs TRV

Who will win the match?

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Pat_Mustard

I'm so gorgeous they want to put me under arrest!
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A never-nude? I thought he just liked cut-offs.
GENERAL:



THE RED VIPER:

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GENERAL:

Formation: 3-2-2-3

Details: I changed from 4-3-3 to 3-2-2-3 for more effectiveness in controlling midfield since TRV's midfielders are out of this world with household names like Lothar and Frank. Alberto with his skillset will move to play as an invert fullback to help my midfield in the attacking phase. In the defensive phase, he can drop right back in the back to defend against his Wideman. Moore and Thuram with both ball-playing skills and defensive abilities seem to be an upgrade for my team. Otherwise, it still looks similar to previous round.

THE RED VIPER:

THE TEAM

First and foremost, every single player in the team was in their peak between the age of 26 and 30. So, we are getting the absolute best version of them. Now back to the tactics board, we will look to play an attacking-minded brand of football and maximize the ability of our players on the ball. Because Vogts aside, all of them were excellent playmakers on the ball who could impact the game either with their passing, crossing or ability to run with the ball at opposition defense.

In attack, we have an attacking quartet of Gerd Müller, Rivaldo, Luís Figo & Michael Laudrup. Up-front we have Müller, possibly the greatest goalscorer ever leading the line for us, while Rivaldo will play off him as a left sided second striker. He would come off the left flank like he used to with Brazil NT and at Barcelona and link up with the other attackers as well as look to create and finish chances. On the right, we have one of the Top-3 wingers of all time in Figo. A chance creating machine with his wizardry and crossing, Figo is the perfect winger in this team. Laudrup will be the No 10 in this team. With the license to orchestrate the attacks from midfield as well as in final third, Laudrup can drop deep, grab the ball from midfield and find the openings, either to Figo or Rivaldo on the flanks or the through-balls for Müller to latch on to.

In central midfield, we have Lothar Matthäus & Frank Rijkaard. The two greatest central midfielders of all time. Matthäus is universally considered the greatest central midfielders of all time while Rijkaard is, considered by many as the greatest defensive midfielder ever. Both were as complete as they come with no weaknesses in their game. Matthäus' penetrative runs with the ball, as well as the ability to make runs beyond opposition's midfield off the ball, positional sense, precise passing and powerful shooting would complement really well with the physicality, tenacity, energy and reading of the game of Rijkaard. And with Laudrup's ability and tendency to drop deep and carry the ball forward, Rijkaard, Falcão and Laudrup will link-up and create all sorts of havoc with "pass & move" football in midfield.

The defense comprises of Andreas Brehme, Franco Baresi, Elías Figueroa & Berti Vogts with Gordon Banks as the goalkeeper. Whats even there to talk about Baresi? The GOAT "pure" defender. Anticipation and reading of the game second to none. A leader amongst men, Baresi would be tasked with marshalling and organizing our backline. Baresi was also very good on the ball and would look to initiate attacks from the back. And having his old mate Rijkaard there, along with whom he had great synergy, we would be very tough to break down. Partnering him at the back would be Don Elías. Like Baresi, Figueroa is one of the greatest defenders ever. What made him truly special was just how complete of a defender he was. Possibly the most complete defender ever. There was zero weakness in his game. He was quick on the ground and absolutely colossal in the air. Could go in for crunching well time tackles or stay deep and intercept the attack right before it reaches the penalty box. Could be given the task to man-mark the great Gerd Müller or play as a sweeper. Whatever you wanted and the team needed, Figueroa would do it and do it better than anyone. Also, like Baresi, he was excellent on the ball and would initiate swift counter-attacks from the back. On the flanks we have the German full-backs duo of Brehme and Vogts. Two of the greatest full-backs of all-time, but both quite different from one another. However, they are exactly what the team needs. Brehme was an outstanding crosser of the ball and can create from deep at will. And with Müller lurking in and around the penalty box, we are a threat every time the ball is out on the flanks with Figo on the right and Brehme on the left. Vogts as right back, offers us great balance with our defense, as having a defensive minded RB ensures we would have men behind when we get him on the counters. After all Vogts was a defensive wall and one of the greatest markers ever. Rounding up the team we have Banks in goal. A shot-stopping extraordinaire and a very commanding goalkeeper, who also is England's greatest goalkeeper ever.
 
Looking at it from another angle than tactically, i think Laudrup is definitely the attacking player from both teams most likely to have a bad/average game. I've just seen too many passively tidy 6/7 out of 10 sort of performances when given that same important role in bigger games; for all his undoubted talent, he has had nowhere near the consistent gravitas and reliability of Cruyff to get very involved every time, regardless of if off-form. Suarez also seems a better man for the big occasion, though it's hard to compare the two as he has a much smaller sample size of games that i've watched.

On the other hand, Muller is probably the best forward you could want to mitigate that tendency to play within himself/drift out of the game for long stretches. You'll always get a few clinical passes from Laudrup even in his lesser efforts, and Muller is as good as any to have receiving them.
 
Demyanenko_square_jaw said:
Looking at it from another angle than tactically, i think Laudrup is definitely the attacking player from both teams most likely to have a bad/average game. I've just seen too many passively tidy 6/7 out of 10 sort of performances when given that same important role in bigger games; for all his undoubted talent, he has had nowhere near the consistent gravitas and reliability of Cruyff to get very involved every time, regardless of if off-form. Suarez also seems a better man for the big occasion, though it's hard to compare the two as he has a much smaller sample size of games that i've watched.

On the other hand, Muller is probably the best forward you could want to mitigate that tendency to play within himself/drift out of the game for long stretches. You'll always get a few clinical passes from Laudrup even in his lesser efforts, and Muller is as good as any to have receiving them.
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I mean, Laudrup is definitely not as consistent and great as Cruyff. So, I am not going to argue about that.

However, I disagree about him not being a big game player. He was the big game player. I mean he was the architect of the two 5-0s in El Clasicos afterall. Was good in the 1992 European Cup Final as well playing in a somewhat False 9 role. If anything the criticism was, while he would thrive in the bigger games, he would go through the motions during the other less relevant games during the league season. Thats what prompted the famous quote by Cruyff about him:- "Had Michael been born in a poor ghetto in Brazil or Argentina with the ball being his only way out of poverty he would today be recognised as the biggest genius of the game ever. He had all the abilities to reach it but lacked this ghetto-instinct, which could have driven him there."

I think a player Laudrup or Iniesta or Zico etc are the ideal AMs to have here because against a box midfield you need guys who are great at evading the press and leaving behind players on the turn. All of Rivaldo, Laudrup and Figo are outstanding one on one players and extremely skilled to beat their marker and break the press.
 
The box midfield is great and not easy to mitigate against but I think having Rijkaard and Matthaus, with Baresi and Figueroa marshaling behind them, Laudrup dropping deep along with Rivaldo who also had the tendency to drop deep, get the ball and attack with it, makes it very difficult for his set-up to maintain its shape. I am guessing CAT will be be checking Brehme's attacking runs when he overlaps, which means the space that will open up there can be exploited by Rivaldo.
 
The Red Viper said:
The box midfield is great and not easy to mitigate against but I think having Rijkaard and Matthaus, with Baresi and Figueroa marshaling behind them, Laudrup dropping deep along with Rivaldo who also had the tendency to drop deep, get the ball and attack with it, makes it very difficult for his set-up to maintain its shape. I am guessing CAT will be checking Brehme's attacking runs when he overlaps, which means the space that will open up there can be exploited by Rivaldo.
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I mean in the defensive phase, my team can drop into a 4-4-2 or any back4 shape to defend against your combination on the wings. Rummenigge has enough work rate to check Brehme's attacking run, and Alberto will drop to right-back will make it pretty difficult to pass it. Also if Alberto is out of position due to any reason, Thuram is the best person to cover anything else fault due to his tendency in both RB in back4 and RCB in back3. The reason that I shift back 4 in the defensive phase is to prevent any kind of overload that you can persuade me especially Baresi's joining the midfield.

Also when you're in a building-up phase, will your structure be in back3 with Vogts alongside Figueroa and Baresi?
 
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Cruyff's advantage in this game

Simple Simple

-Can overload opponent midfielders and join my midfield unit to be a better degree
-Decent work-rate on his own and can press the opponent center-backs in the highest degree
-can be a great finisher in the penalty box
-very creative player: so he can drop deep and make some beautiful passes to even midfielders who will join the penalty box to score like Suarez and Neeskens( or Alberto:)), or wing forwards like Kalle and Kempes who have excellent movement in the box.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
Intriguing role for Carlos Alberto. Love it.
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I think if he plays in today's football, some managers would deploy him in an inverted role due to his skillsets like being a great passer from the back both short and long, very intelligent both on and off the ball, and he was defensively great too.
 
General_Elegancia said:
I think if he plays in today's football, some managers would deploy him in an inverted role due to his skillsets like being a great passer from the back both short and long, very intelligent both on and off the ball, and he was defensively great too.
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Yeah, Carlos Alberto would be an ideal inverted RB today. He is much more suited to that than as a Cafe style wing hugging wing back.
 
Thought TRV would have played Laudrup off the left in a 4-3-3 with Rijkaard / Matthaus / Falcao in midfield.
 
Has anyone played a box midfield with a false 9 before? I know Cruyff isn't someone like Firmino but it would seem to me that the central attacking AM ish positions might be a bit crowded - it might be better with a typical CF in this setup.

I'm not sure about this though.
 
Great idea with Carlos Alberto and the rest of the cast seemlessly transforms to a 4-3-3 when he drops back but a false 9 in a WM without inside forwards plays into the Baresi-Figueroa dead end. Insane potential for counters for TRV when Baresi-Figueroa stop attacks in their tracks and start quick attacks from the back.
 
Good Game, @General_Elegancia . Hard Luck.

NGL, that box midfield kinda put me in a spanner. Was wondering if I should make a sub and take Rivaldo off and put Falcao in with Laudrup on the left coming off the front-3 as an attacking midfielder.
 
Theon said:
Thought TRV would have played Laudrup off the left in a 4-3-3 with Rijkaard / Matthaus / Falcao in midfield.
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I considered that.

But I thought with Rijkaard and Matthaus, my central midfield was set. And what I needed was more creativity in the final third to break down General's defense. I thought he would go with a back-4 of Thuram - Kohler - Moore - Krol or a back-5 of CAT - Thuram - Moore - Kohler - Krol. So, felt like I needed both Rivaldo and Laudrup there to break down that defense.
 
The Red Viper said:
Good Game, @General_Elegancia . Hard Luck.

NGL, that box midfield kinda put me in a spanner. Was wondering if I should make a sub and take Rivaldo off and put Falcao in with Laudrup on the left coming off the front-3 as an attacking midfielder.
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Thank Viper, you deserve to be a winner in this round. Your team is an almost complete team without any significant weaknesses.

Also Thanks to @P-Nut and Enigma_87 from the previous rounds, both of your teams are superb too.

Good luck
 
The Red Viper said:
I considered that.

But I thought with Rijkaard and Matthaus, my central midfield was set. And what I needed was more creativity in the final third to break down General's defense. I thought he would go with a back-4 of Thuram - Kohler - Moore - Krol or a back-5 of CAT - Thuram - Moore - Kohler - Krol. So, felt like I needed both Rivaldo and Laudrup there to break down that defense.
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At first, I thought the same as Theon, You may choose 3 elite midfielders ( Lothar-Falcao-Rijkaard) and play Laudrup in a bit more advanced role. So, I decided to play 4 man midfield box to counter your unbeatable midfielders. Another reason is I have played 4-3-3 throughout the previous 2 matches, I think that I need to change something. :D
 
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