All Time Chain Draft - QF4: mazhar13 vs Tuppet

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

vs

.......................................Team mazhar13......................................................................................Team Tuppet....................................

Spoiler: Sub by Tuppet ( mazhar 2 - 5 Tuppet)

Team mazhar13

Write-Up:

Formation: free-flowing 4-3-3 / 3-4-3

My team has it all to face anyone: fluidity, flair, intelligence, bite, solidity, aggression, composure, leaders, and match winners.

The most important part about my team is that it is fluid with attacking players given all of the freedom to play their game. This freedom is brought to them by the great discipline, defensive solidity, and intelligence of the defensive players in the team. Now that I also have a striker in the team, I am able to keep defenders even more busy and provide more freedom to my other flair players.

The beauty of my team is that I have players with great individual skills who can pull opposing teams' defences apart all by themselves, but when they're in a team together, they can gel and work well together with their styles of play complementing each other. You have Eto'o making runs that stretch the opposition, allowing Rivaldo and Savicevic all the time they can get in dangerous spaces. Eto'o can comfortably drift wide to stretch teams as well, and this allows Savicevic and Rivaldo (in particular) to go for goal. Rivaldo can also enter the box and provide crossing options for his teammates with Eto'o looking for gaps in the box. If there's any concern about Rivaldo and Savicevic being able to freely play their own game, ther's no worries at all. The midfield trio I'm playing are quite disciplined and happy to influence the game in deeper areas. With one of the best Italian deep-lying playmakers ever in di Bartolomei, I have someone who will control the game with his passing, vision, and technique on the ball. To allow him to do this, I have two disciplined midfielders in Falcao and Jugovic who know when to stay back, when to go forward, and when to play the key passes. Defensively, my midfield's well set. Jugovic and Falcao both provide energy, discipline, and astute positioning in midfield. di Bartolomei was a successful libero with Roma in a back 4, and he'll complement the more tenacious nature of the two box-to-box midfielders with his reading of the game, sound defensive positioning, and overall intelligent defending. Plus, he's very good in covering for central defenders who get out of position, so I have no worries if one of my central defenders get out of position.

In the defence, I have quite an all-rounded setup. The full backs need no introduction with two of the best to have ever played the sport. Roberto Carlos will be sure to dominate the left flank with his energy, skill, and magical left foot. Zanetti will do the same with his tactical intelligence, defensive assurance, and great technique on the ball. Zanetti, with his versatility, can allow Tassotti to play his proper defensive game, allowing him to drift out wide or remain in the middle. Tassotti (AC Milan version) was composed, calm, and intelligent in his game. His positioning, tactical flexibility, man marking, and reading of the game allowed him to excel as a defensive full back, and he was a key right-sided defender under Arrigo Sacchi's total-football-like system. To play alongside him, I have a warrior in Puyol whose never-say-die attitude and determination should help match my defence against any attack that it faces. Puyol was one of the most important players in the Barcelona side, and whenever he was not around, Barcelona often looked defensively weaker. His aerial strength, marking, tackling, anticipation, and recoveries were important for a team fielding so many attacking players and a ball-playing defender in Pique.

Finally, I have one of best goalkeepers the Netherlands ever produced in van Breukelen. A hero of the 1988 Euros, this is a keeper who has won matches just with his key saves. A tall keeper with a large frame, he dominates the goal area. His reflexes as well as his anticipation made him tough to score against, particularly in 1-on-1's and penalties, and if Tuppet is ever going to get past my solid defence, van Breukelen will make sure that they won't be able to score.

TL;DR: My team consists of great attacking flair and unpredictability. The skill, creativity, flair, and jaw-dropping shooting techniques of my players allows them to score goals from almost everywhere. To complement this, my team also has defensive solidity and steel to allow the attacks to be fluid and incisive. I am pretty much guaranteed to get a goal or two whilst shutting out the opposition.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Team Tuppet

New Addition:
Our team welcomes 2 times Ballon D’or winner and one of the most complete center forward in history - Rummenigge and one of the most successful defender of Germany - Augenthaler.

Tactic:

To accommodate our new signings as well as counter our opponent’s strength, we have changed the tactic to resemble Juventus’s Zona-Mista(-ish) lopsided 3-4-1-2 formation.

At the back we have 3 world class defenders, with Augenthaler playing his Libero role, he would be looking to start the moves from the back. While both Nesta and Costacurta would play as tucked in RCB & LCB respectively. Looking at Mazhar’s side, both Rivaldo and Savicevic looks to cut inside, which works perfectly for our defense.

At Midfield, Makelele would play the holding role at the right side, marking Rivaldo. This would allow Reuter to have more attacking freedom. Reuter would face off with Roberto Carlos and with his pace and physicality would be a match for him. Van Hanegem is the primary playmaker for my team. His extraordinary vision and passing, as well as ball retention abilities would help him to create many chances for our fantastic attack. Van Hanegem would also have the support of Nedved and Gullit to fight Mazahar’s fantastic midfield. Both Nedved and Gullit are physical, tenacious players with heaps of work rate and versatility.

Nedved’s primary role would be to provide width on the left side, and to generally play the Boniek role of the Juventus team. He would engage with Zanetti and also share playmaking duties with Van hanegem. With his bullet long shot and dribbling abilities he would provide a great outlet for my team on counter.

In attack Gullit would look to impose himself on Mazhar’s rather weak defense, he would look to burst into the penalty area when Rummenigge and Del Piero pull apart opponent’s center backs to finish Nedved, Van hanegem or Reuter’s crosses with his fantastic heading ability. Or drift to the right to provide width when Rumminegge move to center. Finally in Del Pierro and Rummenigge I have a pair of complete center forwards. Both are able to move in wide areas and have fantastic movement to pull opponent defenders out. This would provide chances to Gullit or even Van Hanegem to arrive in box late to apply finish. Del Piero would provide creativity, movement and general trickery from left side. Rummenigge is the best attacker on the pitch and with the service he would be receiving, I can not see him not scoring in this game. I don’t like to use goal statistics as they are meaningless without context, but I am confident that there are more goals in our attack then our opponent’s.


Why would we win:

There is a lot to like in Mazhar’s team. I love his midfield, and even though I would rate our attack better, his attack is no pushover. we both have a pair of rapid wide players, a fantastic playmaker and a great number 10. So in Midfield we are pretty even, in attack we are slightly better but in defense we are a lot better, and I believe that’s where game would be decided.

1. Mazhar’s defense can not live with my attack - Whatever way you spin it, Mazhar’s defense got to be one of the weakest at this stage. Puyol and Tasotti are decent center backs but what they are facing here is above their pay grade. Del Pierro - Gullit - Rummenigge supported by Van hanegem & Nedved is a frightening attack and I fully expect to get better of his defense.

2. Rivaldo is shackled - Rivaldo is the best attacker in Mazhar’s team and is one who can cause damage to best of defenses. He is also supported by Roberto Carlos which makes a very good left flank. These are minded by Makelele - Nesta - Reuter in my defense. I don’t think there are much better combination to contain the threat of Rivaldo - Carols. As a trio Makelele - Nesta - Reuter have everything to stop attackers, great Marking, Positioning, tactical awareness and physicality. I don’t see Rivaldo getting much joy in this game.

3. My defense is world class and would contain Mazhar’s attack much better - Savicevic is up against Costacurta. A brilliant defender on his own right, he would also have support of Nedved and even Van Hanegem(who had great stamina and was a very good tackler) while defending. Augenthaler is a world cup winning defender, has won Bundesliga 7 times and as been highest ranked defender in Germany on 2 occasion. He has more than enough in his locker to defend again Eto’o

4.Lack of aerial threat in Mazhar’s team - First of as I have mentioned before both of Mazhar’s flank guys like to dribble and cut in. They can sure choose to stay out wide and put crosses in, but firstly that would take away a lot from their game and secondly there is hardly anyone to cross to. Similarly while his fullbacks while mostly occupied with my wide men, they would still be able to cross some time, my CBs would deal with them all game long.

On the other hand I have one of greatest header of the ball in Gullit, while Van Hanegem, Rummenigge and Nedved all were very good in the air.

Overall I think, we have advantage in crucial areas of the pitch, which should prove enough to win in what is going to be a tight game.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Game on~

@mazhar13 @Tuppet @VivaJanuzaj

All the best!

 

[Joga Bonito]

Straight off the bat, the trio of Gullit-del Piero-Rummenigge seems a much of a muchness to me, would rather leave one of them out for a more conventional forward up front. In the sense that all three of them would prefer attacking from deep, rather than being a reference point of sorts up front for other players - despite their tremendous goalscoring records. Can't recall any of them playing that role individually.

mazhar essentially has two wing-forwards but both of whom are ably supported by two top notch wing-backs. Also Rivaldo's work when peeling out wide is not be underestimated, he had a cracking cross on him. As it stands tuppet looks a wee bit undermanned on the flank front, with Nedved being tasked with too much to handle against Savicevic-Zanetti, and Reuter (an excellent attacking wing-back but not that great defensively) against a proven wing duo of R.Carlos-Rivaldo. Can also see the fairly solid defensive core of mazhar dealing well with what the centrally oriented attack of Tuppet's. Once again, I love the fluid nature of his forwards but I don't see it being optimal here and correct me if I'm wrong, but all of them have played alongside/behind a more traditional central forward and never without one.

Would be great to see Tuppets forwards play but I can't see them working together tbh. Although, Tuppet has a solid backline, I'd say mazhar will eventually break through with his superiority on the flanks. Also with a great and complementary CB duo in Nesta-Costacurta, Augenthaler's presence seems a bit superfluous especially against mazhar's tactics here. A left back would have been more ideal.

 

[crappycraperson]

oh boy.. did not see that team coming from tuppet. very interesting.

Straight off the bat, Nedved's role.. guess he can play this.. but his best usage?

Tuppet has rightly padded his right side since Rivaldo + Carlos will be a handful. MF is even IMO. Tuppet has the best central defensive pairing while Mazhar's full backs are clearly better. Leaning towards mazhar here since I think his front 3 + the 2 full backs seem like a better rounded attack

 

[Gio]

Straight off the bat, the trio of Gullit-del Piero-Rummenigge seems a much of a muchness to me, would rather leave one of them out for a more conventional forward up front. In the sense that all three of them would prefer attacking from deep, rather than being a reference point of sorts up front for other players - despite their tremendous goalscoring records. Can't recall any of them playing that role individually.

mazhar essentially has two wing-forwards but both of whom are ably supported by two top notch wing-backs. Also Rivaldo's work when peeling out wide is not be underestimated, he had a cracking cross on him. As it stands tuppet looks a wee bit undermanned on the flank front, with Nedved being tasked with too much to handle against Savicevic-Zanetti, and Reuter (an excellent attacking wing-back but not that great defensively) against a proven wing duo of R.Carlos-Rivaldo. Can also see the fairly solid defensive core of mazhar dealing well with what the centrally oriented attack of Tuppet's. Once again, I love the fluid nature of his forwards but I don't see it being optimal here and correct me if I'm wrong, but all of them have played alongside/behind a more traditional central forward and never without one.

Would be great to see Tuppets forwards play but I can't see them working together tbh. Although, Tuppet has a solid backline, I'd say mazhar will eventually break through with his superiority on the flanks. Also with a great and complementary CB duo in Nesta-Costacurta, Augenthaler's presence seems a bit superfluous especially against mazhar's tactics here. A left back would have been more ideal.

Aye, that's largely my take on it.

 

[Tuppet]

Best of luck @mazhar13

 

[Tuppet]

Straight off the bat, the trio of Gullit-del Piero-Rummenigge seems a much of a muchness to me, would rather leave one of them out for a more conventional forward up front. In the sense that all three of them would prefer attacking from deep, rather than being a reference point of sorts up front for other players - despite their tremendous goalscoring records. Can't recall any of them playing that role individually.

mazhar essentially has two wing-forwards but both of whom are ably supported by two top notch wing-backs. Also Rivaldo's work when peeling out wide is not be underestimated, he had a cracking cross on him. As it stands tuppet looks a wee bit undermanned on the flank front, with Nedved being tasked with too much to handle against Savicevic-Zanetti, and Reuter (an excellent attacking wing-back but not that great defensively) against a proven wing duo of R.Carlos-Rivaldo. Can also see the fairly solid defensive core of mazhar dealing well with what the centrally oriented attack of Tuppet's. Once again, I love the fluid nature of his forwards but I don't see it being optimal here and correct me if I'm wrong, but all of them have played alongside/behind a more traditional central forward and never without one.

Would be great to see Tuppets forwards play but I can't see them working together tbh. Although, Tuppet has a solid backline, I'd say mazhar will eventually break through with his superiority on the flanks. Also with a great and complementary CB duo in Nesta-Costacurta, Augenthaler's presence seems a bit superfluous especially against mazhar's tactics here. A left back would have been more ideal.

I dont really see a problem with Rumminegge's ability to play a center forward role. He clearly has the skill set to shine there as a deep lying forward. As for Roberto carlos - Rivaldo, despite of Rivaldo's placement on team sheet, he is not out and out winger and he would look to play between left flank and middle, where he would be picked up by Makelele and Nesta, Reuter should mostly be against Roberto Carlos.

 

[diarm]

I loved Tuppets side in the first round. It was so well balanced and cohesive. I thought you'd just upgrade Arbeloa and maybe even Benzema (although that wasn't essential) and have a side capable of going all the way.

This is very different. It's still a world class side and this will be a great game, but suddenly Mazhar has the setup which looks like it just works. I can see his wide players getting a lot of joy and his defensive shape looks very good.

Very tough to call this one.

 

[Moby]

I agree with Joga's summary, that's a mouth watering front three on paper but possibly one of Del Piero or Kalle can make room for a proper CF. Although I don't see it as a big issue, though. The bigger issue is with the use of Nedved, sure he has the work rate and the industry for running up and down, but he's not a natural wide player, and you'd need someone of that sort to provide genuine width on that flank. With Del Piero already working in that left-channel there's a bit of clash there with Nedved (in the attacking phase of course.) If you are only planning to use him as a wide midfielder who defends the flank, then that's not his best use. Lastly, is Costacurta capable of going out wide as a LCB if needed? These are all the minor criticisms I have of an otherwise fantastic side.

For Mazhar, I'm not convinced by Tassotti as a CB. I get the whole rotation of Savicevic going central - Pupi bombing forward - Tassotti manning that flank with Di Bartolomei dropping back, but it is not going to be a frequent course of action, with a fullback such as Pupi in there. It would have been a lot more frequent if there was Dani Alves in there, but Pupi is a lot more likely to take care of his own flank instead of forcing his CB to come out which basically means Tassotti will spend a lot more time central, against that very strong central core of Viva-Tuppet and that is a source of joy for them.

 

[Tuppet]

Di Bartolomei is one whose role I am not sure about. Wasn't he more like a deep lying playmaker than a defensive midfielder. I think that arrow is misleading in that he is not the kind of midfielder to drop in defense. I can see Gullit giving him a torrid time.

 

[green_smiley]

Di Bartolomei is one whose role I am not sure about. Wasn't he more like a deep lying playmaker than a defensive midfielder. I think that arrow is misleading in that he is not the kind of midfielder to drop in defense. I can see Gullit giving him a torrid time.

He can be anything. DLP, CM, AM, B2B, he names it, he gets it

 

[Tuppet]

I loved Tuppets side in the first round. It was so well balanced and cohesive. I thought you'd just upgrade Arbeloa and maybe even Benzema (although that wasn't essential) and have a side capable of going all the way.

This is very different. It's still a world class side and this will be a great game, but suddenly Mazhar has the setup which looks like it just works. I can see his wide players getting a lot of joy and his defensive shape looks very good.

Very tough to call this one.

If only it was this easy . Decades + Chain rules mean you can not really get the players you want and you would have to make use of the squad you got. I still think my team has what it takes to win against mazhar's , his placement of Rivaldo and Savicevic might make it seem that they are out and out wingers who would take on Nedved and Reuter , but that's hardly the case. I have a 3 man defense and more often Rivaldo and Savicevic would be up against Nesta and Costacurta.

 

[Moby]

If only it was this easy . Decades + Chain rules mean you can not really get the players you want and you would have to make use of the squad you got. I still think my team has what it takes to win against mazhar's , his placement of Rivaldo and Savicevic might make it seem that they are out and out wingers who would take on Nedved and Reuter , but that's hardly the case. I have a 3 man defense and more often Rivaldo and Savicevic would be up against Nesta and Costacurta.

That's true.

 

[crappycraperson]

He can be anything. DLP, CM, AM, B2B, he names it, he gets it

 

[harms]

Di Bartolomei is one whose role I am not sure about. Wasn't he more like a deep lying playmaker than a defensive midfielder. I think that arrow is misleading in that he is not the kind of midfielder to drop in defense. I can see Gullit giving him a torrid time.

He was a libero

 

[diarm]

If only it was this easy . Decades + Chain rules mean you can not really get the players you want and you would have to make use of the squad you got. I still think my team has what it takes to win against mazhar's , his placement of Rivaldo and Savicevic might make it seem that they are out and out wingers who would take on Nedved and Reuter , but that's hardly the case. I have a 3 man defense and more often Rivaldo and Savicevic would be up against Nesta and Costacurta.

Don't I just know it!

 

[Tuppet]

He was a libero

Oh ok, cause in last game he was playing in a false number 9 ish kind of attacking midfielder role. From whatever I've read about him, he was more like a playmaker, but if he was a capable defender than fair play. I still don't see him supported by Puyol and Tasotti stopping my attack.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

For Mazhar, I'm not convinced by Tassotti as a CB. I get the whole rotation of Savicevic going central - Pupi bombing forward - Tassotti manning that flank with Di Bartolomei dropping back, but it is not going to be a frequent course of action, with a fullback such as Pupi in there. It would have been a lot more frequent if there was Dani Alves in there, but Pupi is a lot more likely to take care of his own flank instead of forcing his CB to come out which basically means Tassotti will spend a lot more time central, against that very strong central core of Viva-Tuppet and that is a source of joy for them.

Even playing full back Tassotti was quite defensive minded. He had awareness and was tactically and positionally aware and I recall reading about the Milan system in an earlier thread (on whether Baresi was a true sweeper or an extremely good ball playing CB / Flat 4 vs 3+1 backline). I recall it was Tassotti and Galli who usually covered for one of Baresi/Maldini moving up. And he has played CB before to his credit. I wouldn't rate him as a all time great CB, but against this attack without a CF, I think he would do OK. Definitely not a weakness.

 

[Moby]

Even playing full back Tassotti was quite defensive minded. He had awareness and was tactically and positionally aware and I recall reading about the Milan system in an earlier thread (on whether Baresi was a true sweeper or an extremely good ball playing CB / Flat 4 vs 3+1 backline). I recall it was Tassotti and Galli who usually covered for one of Baresi/Maldini moving up. And he has played CB before to his credit. I wouldn't rate him as a all time great CB, but against this attack without a CF, I think he would do OK. Definitely not a weakness.

It was a different system that squeezed the life out of their opponents where everyone in defense and midfield worked their socks off, the likes of Donadoni and Gullet while being attacking players put great shifts in defense. Tassotti was a fine defender, no doubt but relatively in this game, he's the weakest central defender on the pitch and he's facing what is a dangerous trio of players. He won't be a liability or anything, not even close and he will always have Pupi in close attendance but for me that is definitely one area that can possibly be a source of a goal from Viva-Tuppet.

 

[green_smiley]

Funny because it is true

Finally, you also have Agostino di Bartolomei, who had an eye for goal even though he was Roma's main creative playmaker (he scored 7-9 goals per season in all but 1 season for Roma).

Your doubts over him at the tip of the diamond stem from the fact that he only seemed to play as a CM. However, for much of his career, he was the most advanced CM out of the other players, frequently playing as an attacking midfielder in Roma's 4-3-3, 1-4-4-1, and other such formations. He often found himself in goalscoring positions, even as a libero in his later years. He was Gerrard-like in the fact that he would often go for long shots from midfield or get into goalscoring positions whenever he could.

di Bartolomei, as I mentioned earlier, frequently played in the attacking midfield role that I've currently deployed him in.

He's an attacking midfielder with the freedom to dictate the game similar to Platini or Valderrama.

Then, with di Bartolomei in a free midfield role, he'll be allowed to drop back to look for the ball and support Falcao. He has done this many times when he wasn't a libero/deep-lying playmaker in his later years

Also, the lack of a goalscoring #10? That's di Bartolomei. In this more free role, he'll be allowed to take up more goalscoring positions a la Lampard or Gerrard

 

[Tuppet]

Even playing full back Tassotti was quite defensive minded. He had awareness and was tactically and positionally aware and I recall reading about the Milan system in an earlier thread (on whether Baresi was a true sweeper or an extremely good ball playing CB / Flat 4 vs 3+1 backline). I recall it was Tassotti and Galli who usually covered for one of Baresi/Maldini moving up. And he has played CB before to his credit. I wouldn't rate him as a all time great CB, but against this attack without a CF, I think he would do OK. Definitely not a weakness.

I am not sure what's going on. Rummenigge is one of the most complete forward in football history. Yeah he likes to play slightly deeper sometimes, but that is definitely not because he is not good at center forward role, but because he provides extra creativity in deeper role. He has absolutely eveything - finishing, heading, holding the ball and moving in channels to be a top notch CF. Here he does not really needs to work deep so much because of the presence of Del Piero and Gullit. I have no idea how he is less of a CF than say Eto'o.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Team mazhar:

- Puyol and Tassotti is quite an underwhelming CB pairing for an all time draft.
- I also don't get this arrow about Di Bartolomei droppin back into defence. He was better off with arrow on the other side dictating the midfield play and attack transition, imo.
- Not sure on Jugovic on left side too, thoug I suppose he can stick centrally more with Carlos bombing up and down.
- Rivaldo and Savicevic despite their positioning will be much more central in the game. mazahar has excellent full backs to make this happen and supported by a good central midfield, I see quite a wide spectrum of threats from him. Eto'o is perfect in the role here.


Team Tuppet:

- Costacurta as LCB without any wingback cover is quite shocking. I recall him playing as RB due to injuries, but I don't recall him on the left of defence at all.
- Van Hanegem / Nedved are definitely not complimentary to each other. Both are more Left midfielders and are better off not played as pure wide men. I see a lot of overlap in that role or Nedved relegated to a role that does not bring out the best in him.
- Front 3 is again not complimentary. Would do better with a CF providing some holdup play.
- Reuter > Gullit > Kalle is probably the most effective route to goal there.

Overall, I believe mazahr's team is more balanced and ha a wider array of attacking routes.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

He was a libero

I put him more as a regista than a libero.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Tassotti was a fine defender, no doubt but relatively in this game, he's the weakest central defender on the pitch

You rate him worse than Costacurta at LCB?

Edit: A prime Savicevic would take apart Costacurta here. Lack of a proper LB there is a far more glaring weakness imo.

 

[harms]

I put him more as a regista than a libero.

He was a libero in a truest sense of the word - free to join the attack or to dictate play from the deep, while still contributing defensively. In the modern football, where libero's are non-existent, the likes of Scirea and Beckenbauer would more likely be deep-lying playmakers than a pure central defenders, because that way they can contribute to the game more.

When you look at his and Falcao's positions it's clear - he is deeper when defending and higher while attacking, he was the player with most freedom on the pitch.

 

[Moby]

You rate him worse than Costacurta at LCB?

Edit: A prime Savicevic would take apart Costacurta here. Lack of a proper LB there is a far more glaring weakness imo.

Yeah both would provide problems for their teams. But I'm not sure if the lack of a proper LB is a big issue wrt Savicevic, given Savicevic is more likely to cut inside and face Costacurta where the latter is more comfortable while the contest out wide would be between Nedved and Zanetti. Now That is a problem, Nedved will burst a lung but Pupi's no slouch when it comes to stamina and he will run forward all day long into that space and I don't expect Nedved to track him all the time, there will be a few times where Pupi breaks into that space and a cross with Rivaldo and Eto'o waiting would be ominous. So yeah overall, a presence of a proper left back there would have been better whichever way you look at it because that Zanetti-Savicevic flank is quite dangerous.

 

[Tuppet]

Alrighty guys, substitution time - Augenthaler leaves the pitch and Arbeloa enters. His instructions are simple. Stay back, maintain the defensive shape and keep tabs on Savicevic. Nedved moves to right side, providing support for Reuter against Rivaldo and generally being his awesome self. While Kalle moves permanently to center. Now before people start spamming about how Arbeloa would be killed by Savicevic, we should remember that he has won numerous trophies, played against the best forwards of this generation, and at his peak was a starter in the one of the biggest club of the world. He is also supported by one of the best center backs in history - Costacurta.

 

[Tuppet]

@Edgar Allan Pillow

 

[MJJ]

I cant believe tuppet got five votes with his starting formation, its horrible!

 

[Annahnomoss]

I cant believe tuppet got five votes with his starting formation, its horrible!

Me neither. The current one is way way better with van Hanegem orchestrating it all and then two hard working and physical midfielders around him in Gullit and Makelele. I've never been a big fan of substitutions and I'd like to think they'd affect the game quite a bit which it would do in reality. This was an early sub and a good move by Tuppet but I think it would have some definite negative impact on a team to change the tactics completely in the middle of a game.

Not a major deal or anything, but in a tight game it has to count for something. Voted early for Mazhar for that reason but I may change my vote later on.

 

[MJJ]

Me neither. The current one is way way better with van Hanegem orchestrating it all and then two hard working and physical midfielders around him in Gullit and Makelele. I've never been a big fan of substitutions and I'd like to think they'd affect the game quite a bit which it would do in reality. This was an early sub and a good move by Tuppet but I think it would have some definite negative impact on a team to change the tactics completely in the middle of a game.

Not a major deal or anything, but in a tight game it has to count for something. Voted early for Mazhar for that reason but I may change my vote later on.

Its surprising how it was nullifying almost all of his strengths at the same time His current one is miles better even though I dont rate arbeloa that much.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Its surprising how it was nullifying almost all of his strengths at the same time His current one is miles better even though I dont rate arbeloa that much.

He's up for a tough job against Savicevic/Zanetti. Personally a bit unsure on Rummenigge as a centre forward, I get the idea that he'd drop deep and play his regular role and alternate with Del Piero but then again Arbeloa isn't the man to handle the flank on his own. I would prefer seeing him as a real CF for that reason and I've never seen Rummenigge in a straight centre forward role, but I am sure Balu or someone will come in and clear it up.

 

[Moby]

He's up for a tough job against Rivaldo and Carlos

Opposite side, he's up against Savicevic and Pupi.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Yeah, not a fan of Tuppet's initial formation either! The current one is great though, and that Makelele/Van Hanegem/Gullit midfield is monstrous.

 

[harms]

Much better. Not sure though, maybe Augenthaler would've been better than Costacurta here? And he isn't one of the best center backs in history, he just played in one of the best defenses, there is a difference

 

[Annahnomoss]

Opposite side, he's up against Savicevic and Pupi.

Very true. Pretty similar conclusion though with Savicevic liking to cut inside and Zanetti being very good offensively.

 

[Tuppet]

Waiting for @mazhar13 to show up before I reply further. Just this bit about my sub.

Much better. Not sure though, maybe Augenthaler would've been better than Costacurta here? And he isn't one of the best center backs in history, he just played in one of the best defenses, there is a difference

Umm I'll agree to disaggree. I know Costacurta divides opinion but I think he is still one of the best defenders, not in Nesta, Baresi, Scirea GOAT class. But up there with Rio, Cannavaro etc in the second tier. But these things are usually subjective, IMO he is better than Augenthaler and has already played with Nesta, so its a no brainer to play him. He is also better than both of Mazhar's center backs.

 

[MJJ]

Waiting for @mazhar13 to show up before I reply further. Just this bit about my sub.

Umm I'll agree to disaggree. I know Costacurta divides opinion but I think he is still one of the best defenders, not in Nesta, Baresi, Scirea GOAT class. But up there with Rio, Cannavaro etc in the second tier. But these things are usually subjective, IMO he is better than Augenthaler and has already played with Nesta, so its a no brainer to play him. He is also better than both of Mazhar's center backs.

Not sure I would agree with that, there isnt a lot between Rio or Nesta and Cannavaro is closer to both as well. I would put Costa below them, closer to Mazhar's CB than either ferdinand or cannavaro.

 

[harms]

Waiting for @mazhar13 to show up before I reply further. Just this bit about my sub.

Umm I'll agree to disaggree. I know Costacurta divides opinion but I think he is still one of the best defenders, not in Nesta, Baresi, Scirea GOAT class. But up there with Rio, Cannavaro etc in the second tier. But these things are usually subjective, IMO he is better than Augenthaler and has already played with Nesta, so its a no brainer to play him. He is also better than both of Mazhar's center backs.

That's the definition, isn't it? One of the best has to be up there with Baresi, Beckenbauer, Scirea etc. I'm not even sure that I would classify Rio as one, let alone Costacurta. One of the best of his generation? Certainly. Best ever? No, that should be reserved for GOATs, and it's not like there is a shortage of them.