Biggest Ever All Time Draft - R2 - Red Viper vs MichaelF7

[Synco]

THE RED VIPER

MICHAELF7

THE RED VIPERS

THE TEAM

We will play a 5-3-2 formation which can transition into a 3-4-3 during games when needed, with Kopa as the right sided attacking midfielder and Kalle as a left wing forward/second striker. Sammer will have full license to make darting runs during the attacking phase and provide more nos in midfield.

The defense comprises of Zoff in goal with a back-5 of Alves, Förster, Sammer, Ferrara and Gordillo. Zoff who is usually considered a top-3/at worst Top-5 goalkeepers of all time, will be in goal. A fantastic all rounded goal-keeper with great leadership and organizing ability. Alves and Gordillo will be the wing-backs in the team. Two of the best attacking full-backs ever with fantastic delivery and creativity from the flanks. They will prove us with width and creativity down the flanks but at the same time were quite adept defensively as well. Sammer is one of the greatest sweepers ever. While he may not have had the longevity like a lot of great defenders, at his peak, in terms of impacting the game he was as good as any great defender. There's a reason he is one of the 3 defenders to have ever won Ballon D'or. Marshalled Germany to win UEFA Euros in 1996 and UEFA Champions League in 1997 with Dortmund. Partnering Sammer in the core of the central defense are Förster and Ferrara. Förster, one of the finest man-markers ever, could man-mark a top tier poacher like Hugo Sánchez as effectively as he could man-mark one of the greatest No 10s ever in Michel Platini, as he demonstrated during the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Ferrara's career was somewhat mared with injuries which stopped him from being considered amongst the all-time great defenders ever. But he still had enough sample size and performances to be rated a fantastic defender. A very complete defender who could play across the backline in a variety of roles. Be it as a sweeper, man-marker or as a full-back. He was quick, read the game really well, had great anticipation and could step out wide and defend one on one against fast tricky wide attackers. There's a reason why Ryan Giggs and Zbigniew Boniek, two of the best wide attackers in the 80s and 90s considered Ferrara the toughest defender they have faced.

In midfield we are rolling with a double-pivot of Mackay and Luis Suárez. Mackay was an OG old school hard-man who was an excellent ball winner oozing with bravery and tenacity. George Best thought Mackay was the hardest player he had ever faced while Bobby Charlton considered him the most intimidating opponent he had faced ahead of the likes of Pelé, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Franz Beckenbauer. Alongside him is Luis Suárez Miramontes, "El Arquitecto". A deep-lying playmaker extraordinaire, Suárez was the architecht of "La Grande Inter" side under Helenio Herrera. Suárez was a master at controlling the game but at the same time possessed some of the best passing range and vision amongst the footballers to have laced 'em up. His ability to swiftly transition from defense to attack with his pinpoint and precise passing will be vital in us initiating swift counter attacks from the back and also find the attacking trio in the final third. Suárez's with his long range passing and vision can switch flanks at ease and also put in lofted balls over the defenses for the likes of Müller and Rummenigge to exploit when they run the channels.

In attack we have an attacking triumvirate of Gerd Müller, Rummenigge and Kopa. At No 10, we have the 1958 Ballon D'or Winner, Kopa who is one of the greatest playmakers to have graced the game of football. Kopa will feed our attack with his incisive passing and fantastic through-balls. The current record holder for the most assists in a FIFA World Cup tournament, Raymond Kopa is the perfect player to provide ammo for our attack to thrive. Along with dropping deep and providing through balls for Müller and Kalle, Kopa can also drift out wide and be a withdrawn wide attacking midfielder where he can link up with Alves who will be stretching the game and providing the width down that flank. The two-time Ballon D'or winner in 1980 & 1981, Rummenigge would be playing in front of Kopa and off Gerd Müller in a second striker-ish/withdrawn forward role. Kalle was an athletic all-round forward, who could play across the front line be it as a wing-forward on both the sides, a second striker or upfront on his own, which made him as one of the most completed attackers the World has ever seen. His link-up play along with his incisive runs into the box from wide areas or deep will be a nightmare for opposition to defend. Rounding up the attack, up-front we have Gerd Müller, possibly the greatest goalscorer ever leading the line for us. With Alves and Gordillo pumping in crosses from the flanks, Kalle, Kopa and Suárez creating and playmaking from centrally along with Sammer's runs from deep, there will be plenty of service to feed arguably the greatest No 9 ever.

Defensively, Di Stéfano wouldn't be easy to deal with but Mackay has the physicality and the tenacity to at least keep up with him and with Sammer helping him out and looking to pluck out attacking transitions we would look to restrict Di Stéfano's influence. Blokhin with his pace would be another tough task for our defence but with Ferrara, along with help from Alves have the ability and experience to match-up vs him. Ferrara had plenty of experience marking pacy wide attackers like Giggs and Boniek, both of whom rate him amongst the best defender they faced against. Ferrara's anticipation and positioning will be a key in ensuring Blokhin isn't left free to maraud down the inside channels.
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TEAM MICHAELF7

My team will play a 4-2-3-1 formation. I will highlight the less commonly drafted player in my team Zlatko Čajkovski

Zlatko Čajkovski won 55 caps for Yugoslavia between 1946 and 1955. Cajkovski had high levels of stamina and tenacity as well as great marking skills and metronomic passing. His zigzag dribbling style also made him difficult to predict when he chose to run with the ball. Here are some quotes from this @Enigma_87 post with more details on Cajkovski:

His jump and header was something special. He never marked opposition's attacker so closely, when the ball was in the air and going toward them. First, he always knew where the ball is going to fall, and then when he realized where the ball is going, he would start to run and then jumped (that gave him advantage in the air, because everybody else waited for the ball, and then jumped from the place they were standing all that time). Using all of these things (his jump, reading of the game, positioning), he was often superior in the air, even when he guarded much higher players.

Hungarian national team coach from '50s, Gusztáv Sebes, gave a statement, after seeing friendly game between Partizan and Honved, that before the game he couldn't decide who is better half player in Europe, Čajkovski or Bozsik. After the game he was completely sure that Čajkovski is the best half player in Europe.

Čik had a lot of legendary duels with the opposition attackers, during his career, but one probably stands out from the others. Partizan was on the South-American tour and they had to play against Peñarol (beside other teams). The day of the game came, players came out on the field, referee was there, fans were there, but the start of the game was being postponed. Partizan players were wondering what is happening, and than they saw. 10-15 minutes after the game should start, the biggest star of Peñarol, Schiaffino, was coming on the field, with the crowd cheering like they were in trans. While he was coming on the field, Bobek said something to Čik, that probably struck the nerve. Čik was very eager to play, and he couldn't wait for the game start. Since the game started and right until the end, Schiaffino couldn't be found on the field. He was so outplayed by Čik, that he couldn't receive the ball for 15 minutes in a row. On top of that Čik dribbled, assisted and joined the attack. Miloš Milutinović later said that all Partizan players knew, that after that "movie star" entrance made by Schiaffino and Bobek's words, Čajkovski is going to be the best player on the field.

 

[Synco]

Good luck @The Red Viper @Michaelf7777777!

 

[Synco]

Two of the strongest teams in the draft, unlucky to face each other so early. I like that both managers have benched a high draft pick for what they see as the better overall team. * If I'm going to vote on this, it will be a narrow decision.

* Okay, guess it's actually down to the 12th player rule

 

[mazhar13]

Both teams are built well, and there's very little separating them. I'm struggling to see this as anything but a draw at this time.

 

[mazhar13]

The one thing I'm wondering about is how Michael's side will deal with Dani Alves pushing up. What's the answer to that from his team?

 

[The Red Viper]

Both teams are built well, and there's very little separating them. I'm struggling to see this as anything but a draw at this time.

Yep. This should be a tight one but I feel like my defense is better equipped to deal with Michael's attack than his will vs mine.

 

[harms]

Čajkovski feels like a decision-maker here and not in a good way. I've only seen one game of his (as many as anyone else on here, I'd imagine) and he looked tidy but it wasn't a ground-breaking performance that makes you fall in love with a player. His reputation is top-notch but in such a close encounter this may end up to be the difference between the two sides in my eyes.

 

[Isotope]

Two very well thought teams.

 

[Synco]

Čajkovski feels like a decision-maker here and not in a good way. I've only seen one game of his (as many as anyone else on here, I'd imagine) and he looked tidy but it wasn't a ground-breaking performance that makes you fall in love with a player. His reputation is top-notch but in such a close encounter this may end up to be the difference between the two sides in my eyes.

Agree with your general assessment on Cajkovski, based on the footage I've seen. But I still differ in my conclusions regarding this game. I think that kind of disciplined and efficient performance may be just perfect to support Michael's free-floating attacking four. Even with Voronin already there.

It's always hard to assess these 1950s players on such little footage. Where I'm at with Cajkovski so far is that he was akin to Deschamps in style - a hardworking, controlling, sweeping DM & good distributor in transition. Probably (at least) a bit more expansive in possession than the Frenchman. Which I guess would be down to the more open tactical environment of the 1950s as much as anything else. As usual, I take the hero stories with a grain of salt, except that they likely do tell us something about leadership, determination, performance when the chips are down.

That exhibition game footage is of course invaluable in many ways, but I still have questions about its conclusiveness. As a direct comparison there's Ocwirk, who is proven to have a more dominant, expansive side to him, but who also plays a relatively reserved role to cater to the needs of the all star front five. So maybe the same is true for Cajkovski, who knows. One would need to go through all these old highlight reels & match reports to find out more, which is a massive amount of work.

But even when sticking to this rather modest version of Cajkovski, I really like the midfield two with Voronin in this game. You usually wouldn't pair two holders like this, but as a base for that ADS-led attack, and with their competent two-way game, they seem like a great anchor for this team to me.