Dead even going into the final stretch and neither manager has commented in the last 15 hours. Shameful prioritising of real life concerns over imaginary football matches 
Billy No Mates Draft: R1 - Physiocrat vs mazhar
- Thread starter Edgar Allan Pillow
- Start date
No. The intention is to play a more direct version of Pep's 3-5-2 at Bayern without the high line or press. Ultimately it is very similar to a 433 but wanted to have Rivaldo as central as possible with Suarez as an AM. That said I'm changing formation slightly and going to a conventional back four but the overall tactics are broadly the same.
@Edgar Allan Pillow Please update the OP.
Sorry for not being involved I've been really tied up at work.
I couldn't find a huge amount of footage of him but from the reports I read he was well known for his crossing and getting forward. Now that may be conservative compared to Roberto Carlos but he had the skill set to operate much more aggressively. I acknowledge it's not how he was deployed but I don't see any reason why he couldn't excel in the role.
Thats much better.
mazhar's defense wins this for me.
Forster is way, way out of position without a proper wing-back which Conti certainly is not. Rivaldo will cause havoc.
I think if you switch Rivaldo and Best it will have even better effect. Best can really stretch Forster and Rivaldo natural instinct would be to tuck in but Vogts will be more useful in attacking the space imo. Vogts apart from brilliant defender and man marker had contributed going forward as well and IMO should have a better impact on the game than Marzolini left.
I think Marzolini was more of a defensive outlet(researched him as well due to almost all full backs going in two rounds) and won't make such difference as Vogts as attacking RB or even wing back.
However I really like the new setup and as far as the tie goes so far I'm inclined to vote for you.
Mazhar has got a much better defense but I feel Physiocrat's attack is superior as well. Not much to separate between the midfield as both have very good midfields. I also like the idea of Desailly covering for Beckenbauer when he goes on his trademark runs. Physiocrat's team has a slight edge because I feel Rivaldo vs Forster is kinda something which Physiocrat can exploit. Xabi is a great midfielder but I won't exactly have him as someone who would cover the full-backs. He was more of a player who would drop deep and become the third CB. Bergomi, Gentile and Burgnich are ideal for that role obviously but someone like Puyol would have been solid and IMO a better option than Forster for that position even though overall, Forster was a better CB. Sorry Mazhar. Going with Physiocrat.
I have never mentioned that Vogts will be beaten by del Piero several times. I appreciate Vogts as a full back and rate him very highly even against me. The only reason I mentioned that Physiocrat's right side is an issue is because I have Nilton Santos who can go forward and outnumber that side. For the talk of Best keeping Nilton concerned, similarly, Physiocrat's right side has to contend with Nilton Santos and del Piero together.
The thing with Nilton is that he was never one to go forward needlessly. He was an excellent reader of the game on the attack and defence (hence the Encyclopedia nickname). He'll be able to pick out the perfect moment to get forward and support del Piero, and if Neeskens pulls out wide to eliminate the numerical advantage, I have the opportunity to outnumber him in the midfield.
The thing is, I'm not playing a high-line, possession-oriented setup where I have wing backs bombing forward at every opportunity. As stated in the OP, this is a Catenaccio-inspired setup that I'm going with that is set up to contain Physiocrat's attack and exploit the spaces behind him. In such a setup, Nilton Santos won't be bombing forward frequently. He's not the sort of guy who'd do it needlessly, anyways. Thus, Xabi Alonso wouldn't frequently need to go cover for him, and if Nilton does go forward, I still have the pacy Sol Campbell to make up for him going forward.
All of Bergomi, Gentile, Burgnich, and Puyol had these things in common: solid man-markers, strong tacklers, great starting positions, goal-saving recoveries, and strong aerial abilities. Guess what? Karlheinz also has these abilities! He's demonstrated it countless times for club and country, which is why he's one of Germany's best-ever defenders.
I know that this video is a bit long, but it gives you enough info on how Karlheinz approached the game from the same exact role I have him in. Keep an eye on his positioning when Germany get the ball, and pay attention to how he closes down and wins the ball quickly whenever it enters the right side.
This will be the last comment I'll ever make for this match. I'll be away from my computer for some time and won't be able to comment anymore for this match before it ends, so I'll leave you with this:
Kocsis is clearly going to cause lots of trouble for Carvalho and Thiago Silva, and if the ball is at the right side and Vogts decides to tuck in to deal with del Piero, Kocsis has the perfect man to exploit when going for headers.
Kocsis is clearly going to cause lots of trouble for Carvalho and Thiago Silva, and if the ball is at the right side and Vogts decides to tuck in to deal with del Piero, Kocsis has the perfect man to exploit when going for headers.
This is true. I have seen that bar Puskas, other prominent Mighty Magyars don't get the requisite credit. Him against those 2 CBs is a definite mis-match.
Done.
Carvalho was at the heart of that awesome Chelsea defence, he was much better than Terry in that unit. T. Silva also kept together that awful Brazilian defence too. They are both good in the air too.
Akash is trolling us all 
He was a somewhat different beast at club level: Considerably more offensive. At the WC (fair to say that his reputation in these drafts is mainly based on that) he was under particular instructions that somewhat shackled his natural style. Similar to Vogts, one could perhaps say, in that regard.
The problem is, of course, that digging up convincing evidence of how he normally played at club level is much more difficult than documenting his WC style.
I got some free time out now for some brief comments.
Carvalho, whilst I do love him, had Essien/Makélélé ahead of him anchoring the midfield. Here, he has Schweini, who is more of a B2B midfielder and not suited to anchoring at all. He always had his best performances when he had either van Bommel or Javi Martinez sitting back. And Thiago Silva has struggled against forwards of a world class caliber particularly when he didn't have a defensively solid midfield ahead of him.
I don't really get the criticism of Förster's role here. I have no issues with that at all.
Final note:
Conti was seen as the natural successor to one Franco Causio for the NT. That should say something about his credentials as the right winger for me.
Conti was seen as the natural successor to one Franco Causio for the NT. That should say something about his credentials as the right winger for me.
Physiocrat wins 11-10
Tough luck mazhar, was almost tied all the way along.
Tough luck mazhar, was almost tied all the way along.
Well played. Good game @mazhar13
Great game @Physiocrat. It was quite back-and-forth throughout. Now please, take my Desailly and never play Schweini as the sole anchor man again, please! He's always been best-suited to a B2B role, and you have Knee-skins and Luisito there already.
Also, I suggest that you put Rivaldo in the Cruyff role and get another wide forward to make a great total football team. Upgrade on Thiago Silva as well, and you are perfect.
Also, I suggest that you put Rivaldo in the Cruyff role and get another wide forward to make a great total football team. Upgrade on Thiago Silva as well, and you are perfect.
Interesting idea with Rivaldo. I'll have a think about that.
if you can't beat em..Akash is trolling us all
Yeah, he just pops in with a 3-0 vote and vanishes without a trace
If @Physiocrat seriously allows this, I'll be very happy to assist him. I have really enjoyed this draft so far, and I really like Physiocrat's team, so I really would like to see him win this.
At least @Akash kept things very interesting, so I'll thank him for that.Yeah, he just pops in with a 3-0 vote and vanishes without a trace
I'm wondering whether putting more of a focus on Beckenbauer would have helped me in securing a draw/win. He's the best libero of all time, IMO, and looking at the Balu/Sjor match, I noticed that the focus put on Scirea plus the "central play" argument helped them win by 1 vote.
Then again, I guess it wouldn't have mattered anyways with Förster apparently being an issue to many voters.
Then again, I guess it wouldn't have mattered anyways with Förster apparently being an issue to many voters.
You should've, definitely. Your central defense (and Physio's) was the main reason behind me voting for you. And with Förster, you should've quoted Balu
Unlucky, you deserved to go through, imo
Franz who? Yeah he warranted more of a song and dance, especially given the relative quality of Physio's central pair.
Akash is trolling us all
That vote ended up being a decider in our game, and almost beat us on GD anyway. A real joy it is having him participate in the voting
Thanks for the offer but I'd like to see this one out solo