Billy No Mates Draft: R1 - Balu/crappy vs Sjor/Viva

What will the result be?


  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .
I'm sorry I'm just not sure how it works, I thought its:
10 votes of 1 goal for you
3 votes of 2 goals for you
so 10+6 = 16
9 votes of 1 goal for us
2 votes of 2 goals for us
1 vote of 3 goals for us
so 9+4+3 = 16
 
I'm sorry I'm just not sure how it works, I thought its:
10 votes of 1 goal for you
3 votes of 2 goals for you
so 10+6 = 16
9 votes of 1 goal for us
2 votes of 2 goals for us
1 vote of 3 goals for us
so 9+4+3 = 16
Forget the goals part, you lost on votes.
Balu/Crappy got 13 votes, as opposed to your 12. GD only comes in play when there is a tie.
 
Yeah, you need one more vote to tie the game and win on goal difference.
 
-That front trio of sjor/viva's pretty tasty as well and I consider both Elkjaer and Sivori to be significant upgrades over Neymar and Suarez. Esp Elkjaer who was Suarez on steroids for me and Sivori who had all the directness of Neymar with the added touch of class as well.
I think you can argue that Sivori has done more and over a much longer period than Neymar, but considering Neymar's form in the past 18 months I think he's on a good way to surpass Sivori, arguably plays on a level that matches Sivori's peak. I strongly disagree with Elkjaer being a signficant upgrade on Suarez though. I admit that I probably underrated Suarez a bit when he moved to Barca, but I think he's in sensational form for quite some time now and has surpassed Elkjaer's peak by quite a bit. Suarez is a much, much better finisher than Elkjaer ever was while offering a similar level in his link-up, hold-up play and movement. I get that it was a much more defensive era back then, but Elkjaer's goalscoring record really isn't up to par here.
 
I think you can argue that Sivori has done more and over a much longer period than Neymar, but considering Neymar's form in the past 18 months I think he's on a good way to surpass Sivori, arguably plays on a level that matches Sivori's peak. I strongly disagree with Elkjaer being a signficant upgrade on Suarez though. I admit that I probably underrated Suarez a bit when he moved to Barca, but I think he's in sensational form for quite some time now and has surpassed Elkjaer's peak by quite a bit. Suarez is a much, much better finisher than Elkjaer ever was while offering a similar level in his link-up, hold-up play and movement. I get that it was a much more defensive era back then, but Elkjaer's goalscoring record really isn't up to par here.
As I said earlier in the thread, I'd have them about par as there is a number of similarities. Suarez is trickier in tight situations and can really embarrass top defenders, yet Elkjaer was a fine and often under-rated dribbler. Elkjaer offers more physical presence, particularly back to goal, but they are both exceptional at harrying and bullying defenders. The defender-friendly environment of the 1980s versus the attacker-friendliness of the 2010s makes comparing their respective scoring records very difficult. Even moreso when we account for the huge disparity in the resources held by the top teams now compared to the 1980s. Nevertheless you'd give Suarez an edge there - I think 'much, much better' is too strong - for how he has plundered goals in recent years (the dry spell in 2010-2012 apart). If we look at international football, which is far less affected by either of those variables, Elkjaer has a slightly better record. So I'd qualify in that sense and overall place them on a similar footing. Obviously while Elkjaer was basically done at 30, Suarez is continuing to write his story and, should he maintain the current performance level for another couple of seasons, is well placed to overtake him.
 
I think you can argue that Sivori has done more and over a much longer period than Neymar, but considering Neymar's form in the past 18 months I think he's on a good way to surpass Sivori, arguably plays on a level that matches Sivori's peak. I strongly disagree with Elkjaer being a signficant upgrade on Suarez though. I admit that I probably underrated Suarez a bit when he moved to Barca, but I think he's in sensational form for quite some time now and has surpassed Elkjaer's peak by quite a bit. Suarez is a much, much better finisher than Elkjaer ever was while offering a similar level in his link-up, hold-up play and movement. I get that it was a much more defensive era back then, but Elkjaer's goalscoring record really isn't up to par here.

Aye, I don't think Elkjaer ever hit double figures in a season in Serie A, which is pretty damning in comparison to Suarez despite the different eras.
 
As I said earlier in the thread, I'd have them about par as there is a number of similarities. Suarez is trickier in tight situations and can really embarrass top defenders, yet Elkjaer was a fine and often under-rated dribbler. Elkjaer offers more physical presence, particularly back to goal, but they are both exceptional at harrying and bullying defenders. The defender-friendly environment of the 1980s versus the attacker-friendliness of the 2010s makes comparing their respective scoring records very difficult. Even moreso when we account for the huge disparity in the resources held by the top teams now compared to the 1980s. Nevertheless you'd give Suarez an edge there - I think 'much, much better' is too strong - for how he has plundered goals in recent years (the dry spell in 2010-2012 apart). If we look at international football, which is far less affected by either of those variables, Elkjaer has a slightly better record. So I'd qualify in that sense and overall place them on a similar footing. Obviously while Elkjaer was basically done at 30, Suarez is continuing to write his story and, should he maintain the current performance level for another couple of seasons, is well placed to overtake him.
I don't think that Elkjaer's international record is that special considering the creativity in his team. He had a fantastic supporting cast and was pretty much from the start their main forward. Obviously he had fantastic overall performances for Denmark, especially at the World Cup in '86, but as a finisher? Nope, I don't buy it. Not that Suarez is particularly lethal either, but even for his nationalteam Elkjaer never scored in a knockout game at a tournament or against one of the elite sides. His game winner against Belgium is probably the closest to that he ever got.

Don't get me wrong, I really like Elkjaer and what he offered overall to his teams was sensational. I just don't buy that his scoring ability/finishing is particularly great. It was always a flaw of his for me.
 
Aye, I don't think Elkjaer ever hit double figures in a season in Serie A, which is pretty damning in comparison to Suarez despite the different eras.
Yeah, that sounds correct. In Verona's title winning season, Briegel actually outscored him playing as an attacking box to box midfielder.
 
I don't have much to say really, I think your points regarding are strengths are spot on, but I think the question in the whole Messi vs Lizarazu and Eusebio vs Makalele is who will have the better supporting cast. Yes Eusebio & Seeler are great combination I won't deny it, but you have to take into account the fact that their facing off a trio of Makalele - probably the best water carrier in the world, Schwarzenbeck - who was a stopper designed to stop especially the type of Eusebio's and make sure the ball won't even reach them, and Hansen who is probably Liverpool's best CB of all time and was good in passing his way out of trouble. Add that to Schnellinger who pushing that much forward you've got a very very solid backline against the threat of counter attacks from 2 men basically, maybe 3 if Masopust or Czibor are quick enough to join. These long balls that will be sent to them are exactly what Makalele and Schwarzenbeck excelled defending against and it plays directly to our strengths. We'll have more men behind to effectively fight that front two.
On the other hand, the minute Messi gets a foot over Lizarazu with his quick breaks to the middle, there's so many options! He can find a pass to Sivori in his classic to Neymar/Alba style of pass, he can pass it between the Costacurta(who needs to come out to him) and Scirea(who has Charlton roaming as well) for the relentless movement of Elkjaer, he can pass it back for one of those deadly long shots from Charlton who is bound to find space, or he can even take his shot or try to beat Costacurta as well!
And the biggest difference between our teams is not just how much more Messi is built to cause more damage here than Eusebio against the defenders their facing and setups they have, it's that we have more goal threat than "Messi" where they are very reliant on Eusebio magic on the counter. When Messi is being doubled with Masopust or Edwards or Costacurta, it's Charlton who will find these spaces and Sir Bobby is one of the best United players in history, and these deadly shots he had are bound to find the net at some point with so many players going Messi's way and our forward's movement.

Agreed with the Messi vs Eusebio point. There is more firepower in your side and I can see Messi with Charlton, Sivori and Elkjaer working a treat. Also, I rate Schwarzenbeck higher than Costacurta but in this match-up I could have seen the latter faring better with Scirea alongside him. Just noticed that you had Luis Enrique on the bench. Could have been a better tactical fit with him as a LWB and with Schnellinger playing as the CB imo. Hansen is a fine CB but doesn't quite have the aura that the likes of Djalma Santos/Scirea/Schnellinger had tbh and I think Schnellinger's presence in the middle would have made for a more imposing spine, with Enrique's graft and dynamism proving invaluable on the left flank.

A real shame that you guys had to exit so early but it was an excellent team nonetheless.

I think you can argue that Sivori has done more and over a much longer period than Neymar, but considering Neymar's form in the past 18 months I think he's on a good way to surpass Sivori, arguably plays on a level that matches Sivori's peak. I strongly disagree with Elkjaer being a signficant upgrade on Suarez though. I admit that I probably underrated Suarez a bit when he moved to Barca, but I think he's in sensational form for quite some time now and has surpassed Elkjaer's peak by quite a bit. Suarez is a much, much better finisher than Elkjaer ever was while offering a similar level in his link-up, hold-up play and movement. I get that it was a much more defensive era back then, but Elkjaer's goalscoring record really isn't up to par here.

I'd rate Suarez as a better finisher too but I'd rate Elkjaer as a complete package, higher than Suarez. He was arguably more dynamic, more direct, provided a better physical presence and was a better foil overall, although Suarez was a pretty fine one himself and a more skilful player. With two great goalscoring forwards in Sivori and Messi alongside him, I'd rate Elkjaer as the better fit. Not that Suarez can't play that role, as he is doing so with Messi and Neymar currently, but I'd just about prefer Elkjaer myself. Also imo Suarez hasn't surpassed Elkjaer's peak yet. Elkjaer was one of the better forwards in the Euro 1984 and won the bronze ball in the 1986 WC, in addition to winning the Ballon d'Or silver and bronze ball in 1984 and 1985 behind Platini.

Like you yourself stated it was really tough to score goals in the Serie A in mid 1980s with most of the top scorers barely scraping past the 15 goal mark and most of the teams that were relegated, conceding 30 something goals in 30 matches. I reckon Suarez would just about barely hit double figures playing for Hellas Verona in those unbelievably tough conditions. It was no mean feat dragging Hellas Verona to their sole Serie A Title as their main man alongside Briegel. Suarez hasn't hit those levels yet imo although he is on course to surpassing that.
 
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Agreed about Elkjaer's lack of scoring but then, with Messi and Charlton in the team you don't need to worry about goals. They've a few scoring records to their name and Elkaer will be excellent in the role here, and Leo will relish that partnership like he does with Luis. Takes a lot for me to vote against Scirea but had to go with head ahead of heart here.
 
Don't get me wrong, I really like Elkjaer and what he offered overall to his teams was sensational. I just don't buy that his scoring ability/finishing is particularly great. It was always a flaw of his for me.

Agree with that. But if we're talking sheer numbers we have to take the nature of the league into consideration: Hard to dig up anyone who posted very impressive numbers during those years in the Serie A.

But the main point - yes: He wasn't a particularly impressive finisher - whereas the odious Suarez is just that (numbers have nothing to do with it).

Glad to be of service, by the way: My comment clearly jinxed it for Sjor and Viva, the poor bastards (I'll take my payment in Weissbier as per usual).
 
Agree with that. But if we're talking sheer numbers we have to take the nature of the league into consideration: Hard to dig up anyone who posted very impressive numbers during those years in the Serie A.

Virdis and Altobelli come to mind for couple of seasons during that time. Also it's fair to say Seria A had 16 teams, at the time.
 
Virdis and Altobelli come to mind for couple of seasons during that time. Also it's fair to say Seria A had 16 teams, at the time.

Altobelli was frequently there or thereabouts in the top scorer lists *, but he would seem to underline the point rather than disproving it. He was statistically just as likely to post numbers around the 10 mark as the 18 or thereabouts which was his highest. Hardly impressive no matter how you look at it.

The only one one'd call genuinely impressive is Platini, who regularly finished around the 20 mark.

It's a pointless exercise, however. The sheer numbers don't tell anything near the full story.

* In the relevant years, i.e. when Elkjaer was at Verona.
 
Like you yourself stated it was really tough to score goals in the Serie A in mid 1980s with most of the top scorers barely scraping past the 15 goal mark and most of the teams that were relegated, conceding 30 something goals in 30 matches. I reckon Suarez would just about barely hit double figures playing for Hellas Verona in those unbelievably tough conditions. It was no mean feat dragging Hellas Verona to their sole Serie A Title as their main man alongside Briegel. Suarez hasn't hit those levels yet imo although he is on course to surpassing that.
In the relevant year when Verona won the league, Elkjaer scored 8 goals, Briegel 9 and Galderisi 11 for Verona. I do think that tells a story regarding his goalscoring even within the context of the crazy defensive Serie A. I know that there was a bit of a random factor to the top scorer lists (fewer games, lots of goals from set-pieces) and that 15 goals was already a terrific output for a striker, but still, it's tough to imagine present day Suarez to be outscored by a significantly inferior attacker and a box to box midfielder in his own team no matter what the conditions are.

I guess it also tells a lot about Elkjaer's overall impact on his team, because I'm sure he played an important role in many of the goals his teammates scored. I've no clue how Galderisi managed to score so many for example. So maybe I did go too far in the other direction when I wrote that he has already surpassed Elkjaer's peak by quite a bit, but I stand by the comment that Suarez is a much better finisher/goal scorer than Elkjaer ever was.
 
Altobelli was frequently there or thereabouts in the top scorer lists *, but he would seem to underline the point rather than disproving it. He was statistically just as likely to post numbers around the 10 mark as the 18 or thereabouts which was his highest. Hardly impressive no matter how you look at it.

The only one one'd call genuinely impressive is Platini, who regularly finished around the 20 mark.

It's a pointless exercise, however. The sheer numbers don't tell anything near the full story.

* In the relevant years, i.e. when Elkjaer was at Verona.
yeah around those years and Catenaccio era it will be hard to find a prolific striker scoring remotely close to what Suarez is hitting now. Of course there is the 30 games per season max at Seria a as well, while Suarez could play 8 games more on paper.
 
In the relevant year when Verona won the league, Elkjaer scored 8 goals, Briegel 9 and Galderisi 11 for Verona. I do think that tells a story regarding his goalscoring even within the context of the crazy defensive Serie A. I know that there was a bit of a random factor to the top scorer lists (fewer games, lots of goals from set-pieces) and that 15 goals was already a terrific output for a striker, but still, it's tough to imagine present day Suarez to be outscored by a significantly inferior attacker and a box to box midfielder in his own team no matter what the conditions are.

I guess it also tells a lot about Elkjaer's overall impact on his team, because I'm sure he played an important role in many of the goals his teammates scored. I've no clue how Galderisi managed to score so many for example. So maybe I did go too far in the other direction when I wrote that he has already surpassed Elkjaer's peak by quite a bit, but I stand by the comment that Suarez is a much better finisher/goal scorer than Elkjaer ever was.

Yeah, that's fair enough. I'd agree with that. Maybe I did go overboard with the 'significant upgrade' quip too.
 
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In the relevant year when Verona won the league, Elkjaer scored 8 goals, Briegel 9 and Galderisi 11 for Verona. I do think that tells a story regarding his goalscoring even within the context of the crazy defensive Serie A. I know that there was a bit of a random factor to the top scorer lists (fewer games, lots of goals from set-pieces) and that 15 goals was already a terrific output for a striker, but still, it's tough to imagine present day Suarez to be outscored by a significantly inferior attacker and a box to box midfielder in his own team no matter what the conditions are.

I guess it also tells a lot about Elkjaer's overall impact on his team, because I'm sure he played an important role in many of the goals his teammates scored. I've no clue how Galderisi managed to score so many for example. So maybe I did go too far in the other direction when I wrote that he has already surpassed Elkjaer's peak by quite a bit, but I stand by the comment that Suarez is a much better finisher/goal scorer than Elkjaer ever was.
one quick look at transfermarkd and during that season he started only 21 games missing month during December/January. Sure the pure number might seem low but there are other factors to be considered comparing to Suarez and his time at Pool and Barca.
 
one quick look at transfermarkd and during that season he started only 21 games missing month during December/January. Sure the pure number might seem low but there are other factors to be considered comparing to Suarez and his time at Pool and Barca.
22 and one more game as a sub. Elkjaer's goalscoring record at Verona has been pretty consistent over the years though, it's about 1 goal in 3 games and the same was true for that year. Let's assume he might have scored 1-2 more in the 4 games Briegel additionally played or 2-3 in the 6 games Galderisi additionally played, my point still stands.
 
Just playing some more with the sheer numbers (pointless enough as it is), Elkjaer's career average is somewhat higher/better than his Verona average – and his average for Lokeren (predating his Verona stint) is significantly better (around half a goal a game). So, taking the step up to the more defensive (and overall much better) Serie A, he became significantly less prolific – as you'd expect.

But, again, it's pointless enough – because we know he was a brilliant player for Verona, and a major factor in their success in what was then the best football league in Europe.
 
But, again, it's pointless enough – because we know he was a brilliant player for Verona, and a major factor in their success in what was then the best football league in Europe.
Yeah, obviously. It wasn't really a discussion if he was great. It was more a reaction to Joga's comment that he considers Elkjaer a significant upgrade on present day Suarez, who's clearly already a damn fantastic player. I understand that it wasn't just about the individual quality but also about who fits better, but still.

I'm glad we didn't have the discussion how great Elkjaer actually was during the game, might have cost us the win. Which was the reason why I waited until after the game to quote Joga's post :D.
 
It was more a reaction to Joga's comment that he considers Elkjaer a significant upgrade on present day Suarez, who's clearly already a damn fantastic player.

Aye, I get that. And I agree. Much as I dislike Suarez and much as I respect Joga's opinion, the statement makes no sense. At most you could make a case for the pair of them being on the same level - but Elkjaer isn't a significant upgrade on Suarez.
 
To place a bit of context into the Elkjaer/Saurez comparison:
  • During his time in Serie A, his Verona side scored 42, 31, 36 and 23 goals. Barcelona last year fired in 110 goals. On average that Verona team is scoring less than a third.
  • The goals per game average for Serie A as a whole during that period was 2.0 goals. Compared to 2.7 in La Liga last year. That's 35% more goals every game.
Of course we're all sold on how difficult it was to rack up any decent goal tallies in Serie A at the time. But the divergence is such that it's almost meaningless in any cross-generation comparison. Certainly when the international figures don't back it up. And it would be hard to imagine Elkjaer racking up any less than 30 goals or so operating up top for today's Barcelona.

That said I'd agree with Balu that Elkjaer's biggest weak spot as a forward was his goalscoring and in that respect was probably a tier below the most ruthless finishers of his era - Sanchez, Careca, Rush, early Van Basten, even Butragueno.
 
That said I'd agree with Balu that Elkjaer's biggest weak spot as a forward was his goalscoring and in that respect was probably a tier below the most ruthless finishers of his era - Sanchez, Careca, Rush, early Van Basten, even Butragueno.
As much as I love and admire Careca, I really don't think he was as ruthless of a goalscorer as the names you put up there. If anything, I'd group him with Elkjaer in that he was a great complete forward who provided the likes of Maradona, Zico, and Socrates the perfect platform for their ultra-attacking game. However, I would agree that he was a better finisher than Elkjaer, but ruthless is taking it a bit too far with Careca IMO.

Having said that, though, Elkjaer was perfect for this team with the goalscorers they had in the side. I really like Sjor/Viva's team, and the reason I voted for them is their midfield combined with their front 3. Everyone complemented each other, and I saw little to no weaknesses in that team (the only one being the relative lack of width, but that was taken too far by Balu/crappy for my liking).