....................................... TEAM OAENCHA .................................................................................... TEAM RAEES/INVICTUS ..................................
TEAM OAENCHA
We are set up in an attacking 4-3-3 formation with a focus on getting the ball to the devastating trio of Messi, Batistuta and Neymar. I’m going to keep the write up simple but will be here to elaborate and answer any questions.
- Messi and Neymar both have free roles on the flanks and will be supported by Suurbier and Maxwell.
- Netzer will collect the ball from deep and push forward, utilising his exceptional passing skills to create chances for the attack.
- Albertini is playing as a deep playmaker but will drop back to help defend when the team is under pressure.
- Couto, Vidic and Gattuso will form ‘The triangle of hard bastards’ and give Pele, Kubala and Nordahl as little time and space as possible.
- Formation: 4-3-1-2 that can split wider as a Christmas Tree, of sorts, if need be.
- Ideology: Fairly direct and robust given the nature of attack, but with the nous to control possession to stifle the game.
Neuer is one of the best keepers in the draft and of all time. Given his trademark style of play in terms of using his feet in the build-up phase or launching counters with his hands, he can be the ideal genesis of several attacks as well. Puppeteering the slightly staggered defense is perhaps the greatest defensive organizer in all of football - Gatenao Scirea. A couple were marginally better pure defenders in the uppermost echelon of defensive play, others offered more in certain aspects - but none could match Scirea's ability to leave his imprint on the entire structure in inimitable fashion and orchestrate his team from back while boasting GOAT tier defensive nous. To the right of him is former Argentina captain, and one of the great South American defenders - Roberto Perfumo. His modern day equivalent would be someone like Godín - neither pure sweeper nor pure stopper - but somewhere in between - a complete no-frills centerback who had advanced positional awareness, innate leadership qualities and battle-hardy tackling mentality to go with it - forming a formidable bank of two in tandem with Scirea. To the left of Scirea is Christian Panucci - a typically defensively sound Italian fullback on either flank who could also slot in seamlessly at center-half while being tidy on the ball. Panucci will play a slightly reserved game with the freedom to tuck in ever to slightly - which should suit him and help contain the opposition's most prominent offensive threat as well. Will he silence Messi? Of course not, no one could consistently stop Messi in his tracks. However, Panucci's knack for tracking ball-carriers and right-footedness will serve him well vs. left footed Messi as he drifts inwards. Completing the defense is a bona fide X-Factor, Manfred Kaltz - whose crossing threat is perhaps second best to only Beckham down the right - and suits our offensive cast to a tee given their individual and collective prowess in the air as Manny's renowned GOAT-ish level Bananenflanken will add an extra wrinkle to our team composition:
Patrolling the defensive midfield third is Two Time World Champion, Zito - a precursor to the likes of Makelélé in the post-modern era, Zito was a renowned midfield organizer - with a knack for being in the right place at the right time to mitigate danger as the defensive pivot for Brazil's attacking behemoth as well as Santos' nigh all-conquering '60s team (which is considered by many to be one of the greatest club teams of all time). Pretty much the ideal building block as holding/defensive midfielder for our setup. To the left of him is arguably the finest left-half in football history and the first Eastern European Ballon D'Or winner, Josef Masopust - a dominant force in his half of the field, he will play a big part in our build-up play with his strength in possession, drag markers slightly wider towards his favorite inside and outside left channels (thus providing auxiliary width), and link up with the forwards with his ability to go on surging runs. On the right is arguably the most dynamic and irrepressible box-to-box midfielder since the days of Davids and Keane - Arturo Vidal. An enforcer par supreme, Vidal's infectious energy and drive and ball-winning/pressing ability and verticality is the ideal complement for Masopust and Zito, and his prowess as a supplementary goalscorer should keep should keep the opposition midfielders on edge as well. Also crucial is Vidal's knack for driving onto the outside channels - mirroring Masopust on the left - where Il Guerriero can link up with Kaltz.
Spearheading the attack is one of the most clinical and brutal classic strikers of all time, record 5 time Serie A Top Scorer as Capocannoniere, the most efficient goalscorer in Serie A ever with 0.77 goals/match, and the highest scorer for Milan to date - Gunnar Nordahl. A behemoth in the opposition box, naturally athletic and quick despite his imposing frame - boasting devastating power and aerial dominance, Nordahl will stretch the field and look to unsettle the defense. In an offset attacker role on to his right is László Kubala:
And in a free role in the eye of the storm is perhaps the greatest of them all, Pelé - who has the license to pretty much do what his heart desires as an all-encompassing titan in attack, because that would be the best role for him, in our opinion.
That is fecking brutal!