......................................Team Skizzo/Pat.....................................................................................Team Gio/Theon.........................................
TEAM SKIZZO/PAT
Formation: 4-4-1-1
Tactics: Counter-attacking/Quick Transitions
The reinforcement round has allowed us to massively strengthen our already brilliant attack. We unite the two greatest attackers the Premier League has ever seen in Henry and Ronaldo, with Luis Suarez and David Silva rounding off a fearsome attacking unit. One of the PL’s finest deep-lying playmakers in Xabi Alonso bolsters the midfield and slots in alongside Gilberto. We reprise our Mourinho-influenced defensive tactics from our first match in the draft, with Gallas, Desailly, Campbell and Bridge keeping a deep defensive line.
Gio’s strength lies in his excellent midfield trio, and if he feels he’ll have an edge in possession we’re happy to concede that. That said, we have two avenues to give Gilberto and Alonso additional support in midfield. David Silva will tuck infield frequently, and Suarez will be expected to channel his huge work rate towards pressing Makelele and Vieira.
We foresee an open match with frequent turnovers of possession. For all their talents and sometimes underrated passing, both Vieira and Gerrard are fairly direct players who aren’t the type to maintain a stranglehold on possession. Similarly, none of his attackers are particularly suited to playing possession football. Combined with our strong defence and the ball-winning skills of Gilberto Silva, we don’t see ourselves being denied possession for large spells of the match.
When we regain possession, we aim to counter quickly, with Alonso utilising his brilliant range of passing to spring our incredibly fast attackers. Gio’s defence just won’t have the pace to deal with them. Gio may decide to play strictly on the counter to not expose Vidic, and particularly Kompany's struggle against pace – if this is the case we’re happy to adopt a more patient build up, with our attacking quartet sure to create chances without us having to overcommit players forward. David Silva, in particular, is masterful at finding space between the lines and unlocking tight defences. Henry, Suarez and Ronaldo will thrive off his service.
Keys to Victory:
Our Attack: Its simply too good, too fast and too multi-faceted to contain. In their most prolific seasons, Ronaldo claimed 31 goals and 7 assists, Suarez 31 and 12, Henry 24 and 20, and David Silva 6 and 15. Ronaldo vs Vertonghen is the starkest mismatch on the pitch, and while Petrescu was a competent defender his best qualities were attacking. He faces a horrible assignment in this match, with Henry and David Silva reprising, and arguably upgrading, the brilliant Henry/Pires partnership.
As good as Kompany was at his peak, he’s always been prone to rashly stepping out of defence to try to make a tackle, and with both Suarez and Henry so good at dropping back to collect the ball, he’s highly likely to follow them at times, which most likely won’t end well for him. Vidic’s weakness against quick forwards has been well-documented and in our view unfairly exaggerated, but it does have a factual basis and it will be exploited here against our blisteringly fast and tricky attacking unit. It’s a very rough match up for him – Henry, Ronaldo and Suarez are all great dribblers who can comfortably outpace him; Kompany’s eagerness to step out of defence will leave holes that Ferdinand seldom did; and Ronaldo having the beating of Vertonghen will drag him out wide frequently where he doesn’t like to be. He’s probably the best penalty box defender in the draft, but this is an awful match up for him stylistically.
Wide Playmaker: Makelele is as good as it gets in this draft in terms of shielding his defence, but he’s got too a lot of ground to cover here. With David Silva starting on the left, Makelele is left with the predicament of choosing between drifting to that side to keep tabs on him, staying more central to pick up the strikers when they drop deep, or coming out to our right wing when Vertonghen inevitably needs help against Ronaldo. He’ll receive heavyweight support from Vieira and Gerrard of course, but Silva’s starting position gives him a big headache.
Question Marks about Gio’s Attack: We’re unsure whether Gio will start with Giggs/Shearer/Robben or Giggs/Shearer/Tevez. Either way, it’s a good unit, but there’s issues with both set ups.
With Robben, his greatest strength as an inverted winger is without a doubt his incredible end product. In his Premier League days, that end product simply wasn’t there:
Also, Shearer produced all his best football with a partner up front – his partnerships with Sutton, Ferdinand and Sheringham coincided with the most memorable stages of his career. On paper he’s got many of the attributes to succeed as a lone centre forward, but the question mark remains. If Tevez starts as a right-sided forward then this is somewhat mitigated, although it’s still not the 4-4-2 with 2 wingers and a strike partner that Shearer thrived in. Regarding Tevez, whilst his defensive workrate would be a valuable help for Petrescu versus David Silva and Henry, we don’t recall him producing much if any of his best football from the right wing. His title-winning form for City was squarely as the main man at centre forward, while even in Utd’s 07-08 fluid front three he seemed far more comfortable operating from the left wing.brwned said:
It's a massive upgrade on Suarez-Sturridge that worked brilliantly, and they are in a similar counter attacking setup.