Šjor Bepo
Wout is love, Wout is life; all hail Wout!
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2011
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Team Fortitude
It could be seen as pulling the short straw landing a Messi-infused team, but I believe I have constructed one of the best defences in the draft with a level of cohesiveness and intelligence to really make Messi work for every gained yard. There's no way to absolutely shut down some of the players in this draft, but there are plenty of ways to curtail them and really affect the flow of the game, which is what my team's defensive unit is set out to do.
Looking at eden10's attack, Henry is likely to go off to his natural left position with Mane going to the right side - I feel putting Henry as a centre-forward is suboptimal, especially so against Nesta and Moore, so it's hard to envisage a logical line-up that doesn't have Messi going through the middle with the aforementioned flanking. For me, the problem with Messi in the middle is it renders Rivera redundant and a spectator, as Messi will gobble up all of the central area as he roams and does whatever he wants, but again, putting Messi on the right and Henry through the middle makes a sacrificial pawn out of Henry and really funnels the attack through too few players. Messi can do it all on his own, but this calibre of defence, with Mascherano at his terrier-like best and Toninho Cerezo's robustness and tactical acumen, is going to stifle and supress and bearing in mind Messi's stamina levels, particularly up against either Cole or Nesta, you really don't want him running like a battery as he isn't built for it.
I feel eden's side is unbalanced and that he can't get the best out of his all of his attack all at once - Messi through the middle compromises both Mane and Rivera; Henry through the middle compromises Henry, so I believe the bottleneck is more likely than not.
By contrast, my attack is aggressive, balanced and tenacious. All around Greaves is dribbling ability, sharp, sudden movers with tonnes of aggression and ball carrying ability. Every one of them can go it alone or suddenly involve teammates with a quick pass, cross or 1-2. Greaves is intended to use his cunning, movement and ridiculous finishing ability to steal in at any given moment and slot home - I don't believe Hansen has the pace or acceleration to cope with darting players all around him as well as Greaves making optimal runs at any opportunistic angle. Chumpitaz is the guy you want on Greaves, but with Greaves intelligence and both Kubala and Johnstone constantly driving with or without the ball, there's no way to keep eyes on Greaves for a full game, and in split-second moments, Greaves has the beating of both these CB's.
Lahm is an exceptional player, but Jinky Johnstone has the ability to put any full back on the backfoot, or at least fully occupy them for the entire game. I don't believe Suurbier can contain Vinicius for two halves of football. Vinicius gets better and better as the game goes on and he conditions his man. In a battle of attrition I'd put my money on Vinicius every time between the two. Wim wants to bomb forward, not contain a tireless winger all game, but doing so verses Vinicius would be suicidal as it would break the entire shape of a defence that is already slowed on account of Hansen - that backline needs to remain tight and compact at all times vs my attack as their tenacity and pace on the break is already excessive, let alone with open space to run into.
Midfield itself is an interesting battle ground here; Masopust and Tardelli are excellent drivers with the ball. They both have a lot of qualities you want in battling midfielders, but in terms of direct, individual quality, I don't believe they go into a tussle with midfield unit and come out on top. As a pair, they are better at ball carries than my pairing, but in terms of actual ball-winning and using, Toninho's skill factor is huge here and Mascherano is adept at passing to a member of his own team with something perfunctory that keeps the shape of midfield intact at all times - the Mascherano of 2014, who carried Argentina to the World Cup final, is the imperious player on display here.
Jimmy Greaves warrants a paragraph because I'm not sure how highly regarded he is in terms of drafts despite being one of the superstars of the 60's and every bit as good as players like Law, Charles and other greats of the era. The guy was a lethal finisher and mover in and around the final third. Fast, mobile, cunning with deft technique and a stunning array of finishes. Greaves can be the pre-cursor to a Romario in some ways, and is in that ballpark as a finisher too. I fell like he needs praise reserved because he isn't a run of the mill striker and I'm very happy to have him spearheading my team.
I'm not really going to talk about the rest of my attack in great detail in terms of individuals as they are a total unit who will move and attack as one, as well as defend the ball. I don't have the star quality in attack, but I have the better cohesion, aggression, stamina and no bottlenecking or problematic suiting of the unit as their roles are defined and nobody steps on another's toes. That, and a better defensive unit are good bets for me in this game, I feel.