................ Team Edgar Allan Pillow ................................................................................. Team Skizzo ................................
Team Edgar Allan Pillow:
Attack:
- Andriy Shevchenko in his Balon d'or winning form leads the line. A complete striker he is proven goal scorer himself and is versatile with excellent hold up play to bring Kalle and Totti, fantastic goal scorers themselves into the play.
- 2 x European Footballer of the Year, 'Kalle' Rummenigge plays in his favourite position having a free role playing behind Shevchenko. Having played on the Right Wing for Germany, he'll be deadly in stretching the defence and finding spaces to exploit. With Shevchenko ahead and Totti behind him, his pace and movement will cause havoc in any kind of opposition defence. Additionally he has his favourite midfielder, the other half of Breitnigge operating behind him.
- Francesco Totti, one of the greatest Italian players of all time, a playmaker renowned for his technical ability and goal scoring ability completes the attacking trio. A totally versatile player, he has excelled as a sole CF leading the line, a supporting striker, a attacking midfielder, left inside forward throughout his career. Creativity, vision, goal scoring ability...he has it all
Midfield:
- Der Tiger Effenberg, was never just a ball carrier. A fearsome character, who has brilliant leadership skills, fantastic passing range, powerful shooting ability he can run the midfield on his own. One of the best box to box midfielders of all time, he'll be a crucial link in both recovery and transition to attack.
- Der Afro Breitner is the perfect complement to Effenberg on the other side. Another fantastic playmaking box-to-box midfielder, he has a proven and fabulous partnership with Kalle. During his 'breitnigge' spell (1981-82) he scored 18 goals from 29 matches from the midfield!
- The Puma, Emreson was a quick and elegant ball winning defensive midfielder who is versatile and has operated as central midfielder or box-to-box midfielder. A important part of the Brazilian National Team for nearly 10 years, he was noted for his efficient tackling, stamina, anticipation, and ability to read the game. Not just winning the ball back, he was also competent to start attacks on his own.
Defence:
- Brehme is one of the best left backs of all time. He has an exceptional knack for finding the back of the net, scoring at every club he played for. He is also one of the greatest free-kick takers and crossers of all time
- Klaus Augenthaler, a mainstay and long time captain of Bayern Munich is a exceptional defender and has been named in Bayern Munich all time XI. He has excellant ability on the ball and was able to play as a sweeper later in his career.
- Phillipe Mexes a hard hitting no nonsense defender partners Augenthaler. Be it Roma or Milan, Mexes has been an integral part of the defence. He'll be a perfect foil and makes up a tasty partnership.
- Willy Sagnol was one of best full backs of his generation. Integral part of one of the best France national teams and a mainstay with Bayern at his club level, he is capable of owning the flank on his own.
Team Skizzo
Formation/Tactic - 4-3-1-2
Between the sticks, we have one of the best, if not the best, goalkeeper in the draft in Gigi Buffon. The Italian stopper will be protected by 4 of the greatest defenders to have ever appeared for Real Madrid. The full back spots are secured by Antonio Camacho and Chendo. Both are defenders first, with Camacho offering more going forward than his full back compatriot. In the center we have Jose Santamaria and Fernando Hierro. Two tough defenders, who just love to defend. With Hierro, we have the added bonus of having his incredible distribution from the back.
In midfield we have one of the greatest Spanish players of all time, Pirri. He will be the deepest midfielder and will look to add extra protection to the already solid backline. He'll be flanked on either side by two versatile, hard working midfielders in Luis Del Sol and Luis Enrique. Both Del Sol and Enrique have a fantastic work ethic, but also the added bonus of being comfortable out wide. Del Sol started his career as an outside left, and Enrique played regularly on the wings also.Both of them will look to offer width to the attack when appropriate, and look to supply our main playmaker.
That being the last true number 10, Juan Roman Riquelme. An absolutely fantastic passer of the ball, Riquelme will look to supply the forwards, as well as make use of the runners around him whether it be the hard working midfielders, or an overlapping fullback. Riquelme will be looking to work his magic, and fill in a role similar to what made our front two so successful.
John Charles and Omar Sivori will be leading the line, and striking up their partnership that was so successful for Juventus. Riquelme will take the deeper role that Boniperti took up, and link with these two fantastic front players. Sivori would often drift around the defense, looking for areas to receive the ball and link play between Charles and Boniperti, here he would have a fantastic playmaker in Riquelme who would feed the movement with his incredible eye for a pass.
Why we would win:
- A proven, successful strike partnership. Charles and Sivori complement each other fantastically well, and aren't just the typical big man/little man type of duo. Both work hard with and without the ball, and will be a handful for the defense.
- Everyone on our team is comfortable in possession, and won't struggle when pressed. All are comfortable moving the ball around and looking for openings. If Edgar does employ a high press, we have a fantastic out ball with Hierro to Charles, who can knock it down to Sivori or Riquelme.
- Three out of our 4 defenders can be comfortably placed into a Madrid all time team, and Chendo wouldn't be far away. They can also be part of any conversation of some of the best defenders of all time. I see them being relatively comfortable dealing with the type of threat the opposition poses.
- With Del Sol and Enrique we have to fantastically hard working players who will look to support the attack at times, drop back and defend, and also offer width when necessary. The biggest bonus to that is that we don't have to rely on our full backs to offer it, meaning we can keep a solid base.
- That being said, Camacho is still a fantastic outlet down the flank and will look to make runs when available, knowing that Chendo will mostly be staying "home" and there's three hard working midfielders capable of covering.
- Service to Charles. He has a height advantage on both central defenders as it is, and his phenomenal ability in the air will cause havoc. Either directly with chances on goal, or winning the ball to knock down to Sivori and Riquelme.
- Lastly, goals throughout our team. Charles and Sivori are both great goal scorers. Del Sol and Pirri offer goals from midfield. Hierro is capable of scoring regularly. Riquelme offers us a threat from direct set pieces, and balls in to the box from free kicks and corners for Charles, Hierro etc to attack.
Good luck Edgar!
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yeah I was chuckling about that myself when looking at them both when you did the draw.
but I should be around in a couple of hours.
