Team Invictus/ Theon
We will don the Blaugrana kit - to honor the latest addition to our squad.
Gameplan
The team will play with a medium to high defensive line because our back 4 of Briegel-Cannavro-Stam-Alberto is incredibly athletic with great pace; and Manuel Neuer can rush out to expand this particular area of the pitch with his command over the general penalty area on top of his feline shot stopping skills. Hans-Peter Briegel is tasked with controlling Rummenigge, and he has the pedigree as well as the physical skillset to handle that assignment to a degree. He will play a balanced game - joining Gento when he needs to, but never letting his eyes off Rummenigge. On the other side, the magnificent Carlos Alberto will venture forward in a calculating fashion (like only he can) but never forsaking his defensive responsibilities, though we don't really envisage a situation where Rensenbrink will cause him a lot of trouble.
In the center, Cannavaro and Stam complement each other beautifully, and form the ideal vanguard to stop the timeless Pelé. Jaap Stam the physically violent bully, and Fabio Cannavaro the imperious presence who will try to stifle the Brazilian great, and individually - as well as a duo, they have requisite defensive nous, man marking ability and speed to contain Pelé's influence on the game, not all of it - we're not going to diminish an iconic legend of the game, but enough to maybe bog him down. Overall, the back four were all athletic and possessed fantastic pace, whilst Neuer is the modern day gold-standard when it comes to rushing out and sweeping up behind a defense.
We will look to dominate possession in midfield and create chances for a devastating attack built around Van Basten, Michel Platini and the newest attacking addition to the starting XI - Lionel Messi. We will control the flow of the game through the Platini-Redondo-Sammer axis in the middle of the pitch - all fantastic passers and capable of dictating the game against any midfield. The most important role on the pitch is given to our captain - Matthias Sammer, the heartbeat of our XI, whilst El Principe - Fernando Redondo offers exquisite control to the game and instigates attacks from deep whilst providing a secondary playmaking threat beyond Michel Platini. And all of them fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Roaming throughout the midfield is Michel Platini, three time Ballon d'Or winner, and the greatest offensive midfielder that Europe has ever produced. Technically flawless and amongst the most accomplished passers in the history of the game, Platini was also a consistent goal threat - on ten occasions he scored 25 goals or more in a season, at his peak scoring 82 goals in 139 games in 80's Serie A, as well as a record 9 goals in 5 games for France at Euro '84.
In attack the unrivaled Van Basten will stretch the field vertically, whilst the classic speed merchant Gento stretches the field horizontally - creating room for Platini in the middle and stretching harms' back line, and allowing a bit of freedom to the ace up our sleeve - Lionel Messi in a right inside forward role of sorts. On the left, the record six time European Cup winner Francisco Gento offers exceptional pace to open up the channels, attack the byline, link up with Platini, provide deft movement and evade his marker to drift in centrally, hit crosses over to Van Basten - his attacking arsenal is extremely diverse, and he is a perfect tactical fit for what we're trying to implement with this team.
Three time Ballon d'Or winner Marco Van Basten leads the line - his unique blend of acrobatic - gravity defying skill, physicality and ruthless finishing (honed in the treacherous environs of late 80s/ early 90s Serie A) is extremely harsh to defend against. Completely rounded, two footed and capable of scoring all types of goals - he is the ideal linchpin to lead our attack, and offers a devastating hold up threat to free up even more space for the assortment of creative talents behind him, especially the wee Argentine who'll be licking his lips at the chance to turns the opposition defense inside out.
The last member of our starting XI needs no introduction, but we'll give one anyway, because why not? He is someone who can make a genuine claim at being considered the best footballer of all time, and certainly, undoubtedly - the best of the post-Maradona era. In this player, we have someone who can go toe to toe with the opposition's big threat - Pelé. 5 Ballon D'Or awards, 80 goals in ~100 European matches, a member of the World XI for 9 consecutive seasons, and so forth; 440 goals in ~500 games at the highest level of European football, 170 club assists to highlight his creative threat, scorer of 58 goals and provider of 26 assists in 57 games just last season from the position we're asking him to play in - the indomitable Lionel Messi. He will play off Bossis, utilizing the vacant island between the inside and outside channels, and has the freedom to improvise - drifting in and out with his mesmerizing dribbling ability, unleashing his supreme creative skillset, and rampaging goalwards behind Van Basten.
Matthias Sammer's Role
So, let's talk about Matthias Sammer. But wait, first - let's segue into another issue - what separates the good from the truly great? Consistency, length of career, achievements, performances in key moments, peaks - all these things are generally at the top of the list when separating them in a spectrum. But one thing that is often underrated is the ability of the greats to play beyond their limits - to be overtasked and still perform exceptionally - that can often separate them from the hoi polloi.
Within the framework of our team, Sammer has complete freedom to help out defensively and offensively as he feels fit, just like he's done a thousand times before. He is joining the midfield battle to make it a 3 and assert his dominance as an advanced libero (which is kind of what the modern defensive midfielder is) - fluidly transitioning between roles, keeping an eye on Netzer, reading the game and act accordingly, operating in the free/ libero role to influence the game, linking up with Redondo, moving the chains for Platini and Messi, dropping slightly deeper from time to time to stifle out attacks, cutting off the supply routes to Pelé, and supporting the attacking game from a 'sunken' midfield position with grace and skill - he will be exactly where he needs to be - the active heartbeat of our XI.
Is he overtasked with all these roles? You betcha. But that's the beauty of it, and that's why Sammer was chosen - he can perform this free role as well as probably anyone in football history bar only Der Kaiser himself. That's just what great players do, especially ones as intelligent as Sammer - they operate at 110%, and they make physical sacrifices for the team when the match is at stake. The more that's asked of Sammer, the better he'll perform, the more he's stretched to his limits defensively, the better he'll tackle. They didn't call playing against him like playing with a team that has 12 players for nothing. And since he's a better defender than every defensive midfielder in the draft by virtue of actually being a world class pure defender, he provides a magnificent sense of stability and dynamism to our team from the general defensive midfield area.
Articles & Profiles
Manuel Neuer
Carlos Alberto
Jaap Stam
Fabio Cannavaro
Hans-Peter Briegel
Matthias Sammer
Fernando Redondo
Michel Platini
Francisco Gento
Lionel Messi
Marco Van Basten
We will don the Blaugrana kit - to honor the latest addition to our squad.
Gameplan
The team will play with a medium to high defensive line because our back 4 of Briegel-Cannavro-Stam-Alberto is incredibly athletic with great pace; and Manuel Neuer can rush out to expand this particular area of the pitch with his command over the general penalty area on top of his feline shot stopping skills. Hans-Peter Briegel is tasked with controlling Rummenigge, and he has the pedigree as well as the physical skillset to handle that assignment to a degree. He will play a balanced game - joining Gento when he needs to, but never letting his eyes off Rummenigge. On the other side, the magnificent Carlos Alberto will venture forward in a calculating fashion (like only he can) but never forsaking his defensive responsibilities, though we don't really envisage a situation where Rensenbrink will cause him a lot of trouble.
In the center, Cannavaro and Stam complement each other beautifully, and form the ideal vanguard to stop the timeless Pelé. Jaap Stam the physically violent bully, and Fabio Cannavaro the imperious presence who will try to stifle the Brazilian great, and individually - as well as a duo, they have requisite defensive nous, man marking ability and speed to contain Pelé's influence on the game, not all of it - we're not going to diminish an iconic legend of the game, but enough to maybe bog him down. Overall, the back four were all athletic and possessed fantastic pace, whilst Neuer is the modern day gold-standard when it comes to rushing out and sweeping up behind a defense.
We will look to dominate possession in midfield and create chances for a devastating attack built around Van Basten, Michel Platini and the newest attacking addition to the starting XI - Lionel Messi. We will control the flow of the game through the Platini-Redondo-Sammer axis in the middle of the pitch - all fantastic passers and capable of dictating the game against any midfield. The most important role on the pitch is given to our captain - Matthias Sammer, the heartbeat of our XI, whilst El Principe - Fernando Redondo offers exquisite control to the game and instigates attacks from deep whilst providing a secondary playmaking threat beyond Michel Platini. And all of them fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Roaming throughout the midfield is Michel Platini, three time Ballon d'Or winner, and the greatest offensive midfielder that Europe has ever produced. Technically flawless and amongst the most accomplished passers in the history of the game, Platini was also a consistent goal threat - on ten occasions he scored 25 goals or more in a season, at his peak scoring 82 goals in 139 games in 80's Serie A, as well as a record 9 goals in 5 games for France at Euro '84.
In attack the unrivaled Van Basten will stretch the field vertically, whilst the classic speed merchant Gento stretches the field horizontally - creating room for Platini in the middle and stretching harms' back line, and allowing a bit of freedom to the ace up our sleeve - Lionel Messi in a right inside forward role of sorts. On the left, the record six time European Cup winner Francisco Gento offers exceptional pace to open up the channels, attack the byline, link up with Platini, provide deft movement and evade his marker to drift in centrally, hit crosses over to Van Basten - his attacking arsenal is extremely diverse, and he is a perfect tactical fit for what we're trying to implement with this team.
Three time Ballon d'Or winner Marco Van Basten leads the line - his unique blend of acrobatic - gravity defying skill, physicality and ruthless finishing (honed in the treacherous environs of late 80s/ early 90s Serie A) is extremely harsh to defend against. Completely rounded, two footed and capable of scoring all types of goals - he is the ideal linchpin to lead our attack, and offers a devastating hold up threat to free up even more space for the assortment of creative talents behind him, especially the wee Argentine who'll be licking his lips at the chance to turns the opposition defense inside out.
The last member of our starting XI needs no introduction, but we'll give one anyway, because why not? He is someone who can make a genuine claim at being considered the best footballer of all time, and certainly, undoubtedly - the best of the post-Maradona era. In this player, we have someone who can go toe to toe with the opposition's big threat - Pelé. 5 Ballon D'Or awards, 80 goals in ~100 European matches, a member of the World XI for 9 consecutive seasons, and so forth; 440 goals in ~500 games at the highest level of European football, 170 club assists to highlight his creative threat, scorer of 58 goals and provider of 26 assists in 57 games just last season from the position we're asking him to play in - the indomitable Lionel Messi. He will play off Bossis, utilizing the vacant island between the inside and outside channels, and has the freedom to improvise - drifting in and out with his mesmerizing dribbling ability, unleashing his supreme creative skillset, and rampaging goalwards behind Van Basten.
Matthias Sammer's Role
So, let's talk about Matthias Sammer. But wait, first - let's segue into another issue - what separates the good from the truly great? Consistency, length of career, achievements, performances in key moments, peaks - all these things are generally at the top of the list when separating them in a spectrum. But one thing that is often underrated is the ability of the greats to play beyond their limits - to be overtasked and still perform exceptionally - that can often separate them from the hoi polloi.
Within the framework of our team, Sammer has complete freedom to help out defensively and offensively as he feels fit, just like he's done a thousand times before. He is joining the midfield battle to make it a 3 and assert his dominance as an advanced libero (which is kind of what the modern defensive midfielder is) - fluidly transitioning between roles, keeping an eye on Netzer, reading the game and act accordingly, operating in the free/ libero role to influence the game, linking up with Redondo, moving the chains for Platini and Messi, dropping slightly deeper from time to time to stifle out attacks, cutting off the supply routes to Pelé, and supporting the attacking game from a 'sunken' midfield position with grace and skill - he will be exactly where he needs to be - the active heartbeat of our XI.
Is he overtasked with all these roles? You betcha. But that's the beauty of it, and that's why Sammer was chosen - he can perform this free role as well as probably anyone in football history bar only Der Kaiser himself. That's just what great players do, especially ones as intelligent as Sammer - they operate at 110%, and they make physical sacrifices for the team when the match is at stake. The more that's asked of Sammer, the better he'll perform, the more he's stretched to his limits defensively, the better he'll tackle. They didn't call playing against him like playing with a team that has 12 players for nothing. And since he's a better defender than every defensive midfielder in the draft by virtue of actually being a world class pure defender, he provides a magnificent sense of stability and dynamism to our team from the general defensive midfield area.
Articles & Profiles
Manuel Neuer
Carlos Alberto
Jaap Stam
Fabio Cannavaro
Hans-Peter Briegel
Matthias Sammer
Fernando Redondo
Michel Platini
Francisco Gento
Lionel Messi
Marco Van Basten
TEAM INVICTUS/THEON
Subs: Giuseppe Meazza, Jorginho, Ashley Cole.
vs
TEAM HARMS
Subs: Giuseppe Meazza, Jorginho, Ashley Cole.
vs
TEAM HARMS
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