...........................................Team Kazi......................................................................................Team MJJ/Crappy...............................................
TEAM KAZI
Ladies and Gentlemen, Kazi will be playing 4-4-fecking-2.
Attack
Darren Fletcher and Michael Ballack are at the heart of my midfield. Both are playing in box-to-box roles, as they did for their clubs. They will be the ones making things tick while in possession, spreading play to the wings and strikers. Klinsmann, Suarez, Waddle and Milner are all very capable ball carriers, and they along with Fletcher/Ballack will drive the ball forward into areas where chances can be created. INB4 Ballack only ever played in a midfield three. Goes hand in hand with my choice of Milner on the left, who is more a midfielder than a winger. He can tuck in at times when the midfield is struggling, with Suarez covering the left.
Klinsmann for Tottenham and Suarez for Liverpool both showed incredible goal returns in their respective spells; they'll be my primary source for goals. They'll both pounce on crosses from wide areas, especially the right with Waddle cutting in and Lauren overlapping. Ballack's creativity from central areas will mix well with the runs Suarez and Klinsmann make.
Klinsmann and Suarez will probably fare best when they are one on one with the opposing team's defenders. You have to fancy them every time against 90% of defenders in this draft. My forwards will have the opportunity to do this when we counter, and I believe the formation and personnel allows them the platform to exploit this. Two-on-two situations will literally be too easy. Even in two-on-three/four situations; with the ball at Suarez's feet, he has the ability to make it really easy for Klinsmann with the right ball.
My midfield four are also capable of chipping in with goals, while my two centre backs will be threats from set pieces. Not like they'll be needed with Klinsmann and Suarez, but it's nice to have the insurance.
Defence
My defensive pairing of McGrath of Vidic is literally perfect for a Premier League draft. Both are brilliant tacklers while both being cultured (McGrath more naturally but you saw it more from Vidic later on in his United career), so collectively, they'll have the edge on most forwards. Azpilicueta has shown himself to be amongst the most competent full-backs defensively in recent Premier League history while Lauren showed his value as part of a well oiled back four during his time at Arsenal, most notably as part of the Invincibles. Tim Flowers, two times in the PFA Team of the Year has proven he could be the best keeper in the league while competing against the likes of Schmeichel.
But defending starts at the front, and Suarez and Klinsmann will run endlessly to nick the ball off the feet of defenders. My midfielders also enjoy a press, and it won't be long before they win the ball back and set my attackers free. Defending in two banks of here will be simple and effective. Some may say that Ballack will not be able to handle the defensive aspect of his role, but he did play box-to-box at Chelsea and there were even times where he played as the deepest midfielder (can't be bothered to plough through every PM line-up but check FA Cup 2010).
MJJ / Crappy
I'm sure some will say MJJ / Crappy has a more well built team than me. Their team is strong, but it's all about match-ups, and his weaknesses on the pitch are playing in the same area as my strengths, while his strengths can be nullified by my players.
Let's look at Southgate and Agger first. Both good defenders, make a nice pairing. But they're coming up against Suarez and Klinsmann. Two-on-two they'll get killed. Keane and Ince will be so worried about them that they'll spend all their time in their half of the field baby-sitting, rather than setting up attacks. Will they risk going on the front foot knowing that their defence will be exposed if do? I doubt it; and therefore I see their team struggling either defensively or offensively - their choice.
Berbatov and Fowler - again both very good strikers and make a nice pairing. But I don't think they have they have that elite level of talent that can give my centre-backs huge amount of problems. Berbatov will do something special every once in a while (hopefully not in this match) and Fowler was a brilliant finisher, but will he get a chance to finish with Vidic or McGrath on him in a flash? Nope.
I suspect it will be Overmars on the left and Ginola on the right. Overmars vs Lauren will be a good battle. Thankfully, Lauren has the pace to keep up with the flying dutchman, so he won't get shown up - it's definitely not a mismatch. I'm quite confident about Azpi vs Ginola. Ginola was brilliant but Azpi is just so competent defensively, I expect him to deal with whatever Ginola cooks up.
There is a possibility of being overrun in midfield. But as I've already noted, that's why Milner is in the team. Fletcher and Ballack are both engines so it's not like they'll be hopeless, but if they do need help, Milner can tuck in from the left and help out. I don't really see their fullbacks being a threat going forward with my side midfielders tracking back. Waddle going forward vs Pearce could be an interesting battle of two veterans. Waddle cutting in is something Pearce may not have come across every week during the early periods of the Premier League, so there's that. I quite like Waddle in that battle tbh.
In Short
My forwards vs their centre backs. My centre backs vs their forwards. Both are miss-matches. That's why this match-up favours me so much, and that'll be the difference here. The other seven players on the pitch will create a platform where my remaining four players are able to drive us to victory.
Also this is great.