All-time Fantasy Draft - Gio v antohan

[Brwned]

At the ouset I was planning on Laudrup-Rijkaard-Stoichkov-Romario as my first four picks. Thought it was doable, but then MBR (I think) picked Stoichkov in the 2nd round and shot it to pieces.

Yeah Stoichkov going so early was a surprise to me as well, I was sure someone would be going for the Romario parnership there but Laudrup in the mix too...now that would've been something to bang on about. Though it probably would've been ignored/overlooked by half the people anyway!

Laudrup was the player Iniesta looked up to as a kid. Throughout his formation years, Laudrup's influence on the club as an example of how football should be played obviously seeps through. Of course, if it were me it wouldn't matter, but someone as talented as Iniesta growing up trying to be like Laudrup and studying how he played would obviously make their understanding almost telepathic.

Somewhat the same I would expect from a Ryan Giggs playing with George Best, or Scholes with Charlton (although that pair would be unlikely to end up on the same teamsheet).

I don't see any link between Cantona and van Persie though, unless I have missed something.

Yes, the "footballing style" comment was a bit vague. The fact that Iniesta modelled his game on Laudrup's brilliance is of course where the real synergy comes from, whereas I don't see a whole lot of weight in the Rijkaard, Laudrup, Iniesta link of all coming from the same footballing school. You can say the same for Davids and Xavi - I'm not seeing it.

The Cantona/van Persie comment was about excelling in the same basic system of the United 4411 in the early 90s/early 10s which to me is the same as excelling the Barcelona 433 of the early 90s/early 10s as is the case with Laudrup and Iniesta. Like I said I think the synergy comes from the complimentary styles not from being participating in the same team with the same "footballing philosophy", in my book.

Anyway, enjoy the win! I think you'd have just sneaked my vote too but it was too close to call.

 

[antohan]

It took me a while to pick trust me. You have a cracking team and it seems ridiculous that a team with Rivaldo, Platini, Xavi etc is going out already but I think Anto's was maybe slightly more balanced, with a solid defence. Good match up though

Agreed, I was very worried about this game. I did believe that overall as a team mine was more accomplished. And yes, I do think Erico is the dog's bollocks and waited several rounds to pick him because I knew no one would! Somehwat lucky to have Moreno in Gio's side to provide a comparison, in any other team I would have struggled to portray him properly. I was also surprised to find Nordahl was not the beast I always thought he was, but was quite happy to share!

I did start it off on that note as it was the only way to put both strikers in perspective, and I think it was a fair assessment. But first and foremost, the objective was to completely derail the discussion away from how good Platini/Rivaldo/Moreno were. Nothing good could come out of that

Gio, I never want to play you again, I'm fed up with you, you are a pain in the arse! I know it goes both ways

 

[Gio]

Good game lads. A close call, perhaps I was a bit slow off the mark to make my case. Antohan's sage judgement in Facchetti and Rijkaard, both best in their position, nullified quite a bit of the Platini / Rivaldo / Moreno axis, and yes, it's a draw I'd quite happily avoid in the future.

 

[Cutch]

Good battle lads. Enjoyed readin it

 

[Fergus' son]

TBH, I don't. I'm losing interest very quickly since it is quite clear having a solid team, with a sound defensive setup, a fluid attack and a better bench counts for nothing unless you have a pair of fancy names.

I went into this knowing I would have a tough ride against some great household names that would be instant vote winners, yet somehow my attempts to put certain players into perspective are construed as biased and grating. Further, everyone seems to have made it their mission to question my side and my players while blissfully ignoring Gio's weaknesses and some completely random stuff he has setup out there.

If Rijkaard can't stop Platini, what was the point then of carrying on once all those names were gone?

Brwned was having trouble yesterday with a striker who is every bit as good as Eusebio. I picked one who isn't 20th but 8th in South America's all-time best players, Di Stéfano has him as the best he has seen, but he is as good as shot. I might as well have picked up Hugo Sanchez.

Rivelino was a better player than Rivaldo. He was the last piece of the jigsaw for Brazil in 1970, he inherited Pelé's No. 10. No one, and I mean no one, could get the ball of him, yet he is probably as good as playing Arjen Robben.

Laudrup, while not having Platini's scoring record, was the ultimate orchestrator. Never ever before and never again will one player switching clubs result in them swapping league positions between 1st and 4th, overturning a 30 goal advantage for one side and turning it into an advantage for the other, let alone Barca win el Clasico 5-0 only to lose it 5-0 once one single player switched sides. Yet it seems I'm playing Michu.

Apparently Rijkaard, arguably the best and most successful defensive midfielder ever, playing alongside another midfielder who captained his side to CL glory (and it should have been twice), is not enough to stop fancy names. Yet Davids can single-handedly recover the ball and shield a defence that looks every bit a late-drafting car-crash.

Gentile's World Cup exploits were as a fifth defender free to roam around man-marking his prey. As a right back he contributes jack going forward and when I have Facchetti, Rivelino, Iniesta and Henry, all comfortable srifting to the left side and interlinking, he would be chasing shadows.

Franklin apparently is Rio. Never heard of him. No one has. No one cares. Kohler "stopped Van Basten" yet never stopped his side winning the league or the Euros, but somehow he stopped him. Demyanenko...

It's simple, you need to get the star names to win this because no one cares if your entire creative engine and attack very much share the same football philosophy and have been schooled in the same playing style. No, just chuck players from different eras randomly and so long as they are big names you are onto a winner. feck sound defending.

It's ridiculous, and even if I got an early shot at a reinforcement, that would only give me one name to bang on about and clearly it wouldn't be enough.

 

[antohan]

You can laugh all you want, but read that out of the context and the presumed "meltdown" and a fair share of that is spot on.

Better, it worked, Gio was a single vote away from drawing it after picking 11 votes to my 3.

 

[Fergus' son]

You can laugh all you want, but read that out of the context and the presumed "meltdown" and a fair share of that is spot on.

Better, it worked, Gio was a single vote away from drawing it after picking 11 votes to my 3.

 

[Gio]

You can laugh all you want, but read that out of the context and the presumed "meltdown" and a fair share of that is spot on.

Better, it worked, Gio was a single vote away from drawing it after picking 11 votes to my 3.

Although your rant did merit an accompanying Kevin Keegan "I'd love it" youtube video, it did do the job given the scores were all square if we removed Aldo's vote from the total. It would have been a more accurate post and one I would have agreed with had you been facing a squad-full of 1990/2000s stars.

 

[Moby]

Hey! I voted as a neutral.

 

[Cutch]

I didn't understand Anto's post at all. It was a solid win against one of the best sides in the draft, so i don't think he was hard done by at all at any stage. Similar to Brwned yesterday who grinded a win against another of the best sides in the draft also with several players lesser known to many.

 

[NM]

If I go through and am drawn against Anto - I will make Theon mnager so the two of them can go at it!!

 

[antohan]

Although your rant did merit an accompanying Kevin Keegan "I'd love it" youtube video, it did do the job given the scores were all square if we removed Aldo's vote from the total. It would have been a more accurate post and one I would have agreed with had you been facing a squad-full of 1990/2000s stars.

I was primarily referring to the marketing pull of Platini-Rivaldo-Xavi and, somewhat, Davids with his cool black X-man glasses.

More than anything else it was a good excuse to list my great players in a disparaging way to get people to wake up and smell the coffee... followed by pointing out all the randomly assembled players you had that they were ignoring and most likely weren't perceived at Platini-Rivaldo-Xavi's level.

It was tactical, but infused with the element of frustration I was carrying from off-Caf matters.

 

[antohan]

I didn't understand Anto's post at all. It was a solid win against one of the best sides in the draft, so i don't think he was hard done by at all at any stage. Similar to Brwned yesterday who grinded a win against another of the best sides in the draft also with several players lesser known to many.

Hard done by is not the term, but there's an element of it. I do agree it was a close contest and I was surprised to build such a massive lead early on (15-5). The problem is what then kicks in is people's love for a comeback and solidarity with the losing side.

Go through the thread and look for anyone having a go at Gio, the most you will find is someone pointing out an area for improvement, but no one being overtly critical/aggressive. Now, look at the posts I was getting the moment I built a lead, nasty shit. I was being arrogant, etc. when all I was doing was trying to navigate my team to a win with factual arguments and a clear strategy not to talk about his two star players (why should I? it's his job). By page three and with 15-5 turned into 17-16 (minus Aldo), I was well and truly fed up with the one-sidedness of it all.

I don't take it personally beyond the thread, it's natural, I do it myself. Early on KM was all over the shop so I gave him my advice, then paceme was getting trolloped out of nowhere so I offered him my advice. You don't go around offering advice or support to the side that is winning by a clear margin, it's not in our instincts.

In fact, I mentioned to Brwned yesterday, my random night-time posts bumping the thread probably saved his skin. He was 6 down, if he woke up 6 down with two hours to go he was a goner. Bumping it attracted interest, some voted, more of them in his favour, and he woke up 2 or 3 behind, which was doable once he made a pretty inspired post to rally his team (and voters) to a draw.

Was I picking on EDogen? No, just keeping the game alive, voters chose which way to go. Would he have been better off if I didn't? Definitely, but there's nothing personal in it, just prefer seeing a game like that stay competitive... and may the best team win. Right? Even if strategically I would have much rather seen Brwned's midfield broken up into a reinforcement pool!