Henry ---------
---- Totti
Giggs -----------------------Beckham
Rijkaard - Matthaus
R. Carlos -- Baresi -- Kohler -- Cafu
---- Totti
Giggs -----------------------Beckham
Rijkaard - Matthaus
R. Carlos -- Baresi -- Kohler -- Cafu
All-Time XI Built Around Henry
- Thread starter Physiocrat
- Start date
That‘s a great side. Totti is a tasty upgrade on Bergkamp.
Thanks. I had Baggio before, but point taken that he'd outshone Henry. Tbf, I still have doubt that Totti won't be either. But his 'profile' is a tad lesser than Henry, and maybe suit that supporting role.
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I have an idea for these sorts of threads. Create an XI around X player with only players who were born in the same decade as x
Ooh that’s a good idea
Yeh. That's more plausible. Good idea, man.
Not a bad idea for a draft either.
It would be similar to this one https://www.redcafe.net/threads/tactical-draft.428872/ except with a decade restriction. One of the problems is that they aren't straight match ups which makes discussion a little odd. Similar in certain respects to Joga's Remake Draft although that was fascinating learning about various historical tactical systems
A bit lackluster in the company of some of the XIs that have been posted thus far, but I'd probably go with this...
Peak Henry was a prolific scorer, a decisive playmaker, a rampant dribbler and had a great degree of freedom even though he started in a nominal central forward position.
Peak Henry was a prolific scorer, a decisive playmaker, a rampant dribbler and had a great degree of freedom even though he started in a nominal central forward position.
- The team has a fair bit of creativity, but it will still rely on Henry, especially in the attacking third.
- Will definitely rely on him for goals considering Suárez is the only other consistently proven goalscorer wrt. volume from open play.
- There's a lot of space around him to dribble into or dribble through, and he can alternate as a center forward or a wide attacker or a second striker.
- Suárez is one of the best foils in contemporary football given his record with Forlán, Sturridge, Messi, Neymar, Cavani and co. and can both lead the line with great ferocity when Henry drops or dart wide to create central room for the latter.
- The left flank should give Thierry great joy — Seedorf was magnificent in those spaces and famously dovetailed with Kaká/Raúl through the inside channels, and Marcelo can further link up with Henry on the outside.
- Passarella was adept at instigating rapid counter-attacks which should suit a speedster on the break like Henry.
I was intrigued to see if someone would challenge that
I think both are technically out of this world and brilliant at playmaking. Yet Totti hit goalscoring heights which Bergkamp never did outside of the Dutch league and he is also a bit of a cnut, which is often a plus at elite level football
I'm with you here. It's debatable that he's an upgrade on Bergkamp in the first place, and considering chemistry between Bergkamp and Henry, he's definitely not worth breaking up that partnership.
Denis was quite the cnut as well to be fair. I wouldn't just brush off Bergkamp's goalscoring in Holland. Not Serie A, but the league was fairly strong then with PSV and Ajax both winning the Champions League either side of the six years that Bergkamp was rattling the onion bag. Comparing their outputs in different roles, their goalscoring rates are fairly similar as 10s and as 9s through the course of their careers.I was intrigued to see if someone would challenge that
I think both are technically out of this world and brilliant at playmaking. Yet Totti hit goalscoring heights which Bergkamp never did outside of the Dutch league and he is also a bit of a cnut, which is often a plus at elite level football
Bergkamp does have a surprisingly big edge as a goalscorer at international level. Totti never really got going there, his record is more in line with that of a midfielder.