Individual brilliance: As much as I love Baggio, the two most likely players on the pitch to produce that moment of magic are Cristiano Ronaldo and Pelé. They're two of the most prolific goalscorers of all time and they score time and time again with half chances. Joga's defense is great but these two only need a few centimeters of space to decide a game.
Definitely, I'd rate Pele's and CR7's individuality higher than Baggio's, but relatively speaking I'd back Kocsis against the Charles-Costacurta pairing. Think it's the match-up which promises the most joy on the entire pitch myself. The former wasn't a proven centre-back, let alone at the highest levels but was an excellent striker, whose scoring record speaks for itself. His versatility is excellent but playing as a specialist centre-back against a top notch forward like Kocsis, he could be found wanting here.
Never was a fan of Charles as a center back at the highest level, even though he is a good fit for Kocsis here.
and Charles will be very useful in the air vs Kocsis).
Kocsis v Charles/Costacurta.. I think this comes down to how highly you rate Charles at CB as stylistically he's a great matchup for Kocsis on paper. Draw.
Cheers for the feedback, also something that I'd like to clarify about Kocsis. He was an immense header of the ball and was aptly coined the Golden Head but he wasn't exactly a target man ala Vieri/Shearer but rather a fairly complete forward with modern-day centre forward traits. Think Gio and Theon both experienced problems in regards to this in their last draft when he was flanked by Blokhin and Stoichkov
Imo, neither Hungary nor Barcelona were anywhere near crossing sides or played 'wide'. Only Czibor was a tricky wing player who loved playing crosses but he was a free roaming type and could frequently be found in the channels or even on the right flank (had a one-in-two goalscoring record), likewise Budai on the other flank was more of a forward. Hungary had a lot of central inter-changing going on and the likes Czibor and Budai were only expected to stretch play as opposed to being instructed to frequently cross from out wide - the likes of Puskas, Bozsik etc drifted wide at times to play some lovely curling crosses though.
Likewise for Barca, only Czibor was the only 'wide' player with the play being extremely central with the likes of Evaristo (sort of like Aguero), Suarez and Kubala. Kubala played as the outside right but was more like Kopa on the right and frequently cut in. Likewise Czibor was hardly a disciplined left winger like Giggs and frequently cut inside or was found on the right flank (check out his goal against Benfica in the European Cup final where he cuts in from the right and scores a great goal). Kocsis had to frequently function as the link-man in these centrally heavy set-ups and had to frequently play alongside extremely forward oriented players.
His link-up play was excellent as too was his hold-up play, and he is the kind of a striker who needs service, but could go an entire game without a cross and still score goals. Doesn't change the fact that he was bloody brilliant in the air and of course it's better if you have a good crosser in your side to take advantage of that (Czibor or Brehme here for that matter) but it most certainly is not a necessity like say with Vieri or a Shearer. Kocsis was brilliant in the air but also quite the player and finisher on the deck with predatory movement off the ball. Of course it's definitely nice to have a great header against Kocsis in the box (Charles) but Kocsis is more than wily enough than to go on a straight up duel with Charles (a fair few of his headed goals arose from his movement and he wasn't a battering ram of a forward per se, though he had a salmon like leap and excellent physical attributes) and would be a real nuisance to Charles-costacurta with his all round goalscoring arsenal in the box.
Just to expand on my previous post, have made an video of Kocsis's performance from the inside right position against England. Not particularly a gifted dribbler but a really well-rounded forward who links up very well with his fellow forwards, holds the ball up excellently and brings others into play, as opposed to a target man or a someone who relied exclusively or heavily on crosses.
That being said, he was the chief target of the side's set-pieces and occasional crosses nonetheless but as one can see with plenty of central movement from the likes of Neeskens and Baggio, he won't be a static forward going head to head against Charles, but will be fluid (not dropping too deep though as I'm not exactly utilising him at inside right here) and his movement is bound to cause troubles for Charles and Costacurta, whilst the likes of Neeskens, Lothar and Baggio are bound to enjoy his link-up play.
Kocsis's performance against England
And of course with service from Baggio, Brehme, Lothar, Neeskens and C.Alberto amongst others, one won't bet against him nicking a goal or two here too.
Joga's team will have a bit more of the ball and when you're passing it around the back you're always closer to a mistake.
Tbf, I'd back my back 5 (all of whom are comfortable on the ball), to relatively make fewer mistakes than your back 4 for instance (none of whom are particularly gifted passers, although R.Carlos was great with the ball).
The mistakes that I see happening more often are in midfield. Both midfields are very combative which should result in counter attacks for both teams and I see us having an advantage there.
Both midfields are very combative which should result in counter attacks for both teams and I see us having an advantage there. Cristiano Ronaldo is probably the scariest player ever to play against in these situations and Gullit with his long strides was unstoppable. I don't see Schweinsteiger catching up with our counters which will result in direct running against Joga's defense.
Neither do I see Vieira being defensively astute enough to keep up with Neeskens and it could be potentially dangerous resulting in Neeskens or Lothar having a couple of runs at your defense. I'd say there would definitely be some ball turnovers for both sides but I'd say my midfield trio backs a wee bit more balance and stability than a dynamic midfield duo of Keane-Vieira (it could very well be argued that they'd prefer a slightly more restrained partner alongside each other, like Schweinsteiger for example).
EDIT: The fact that I'm not playing a classical #10 should be taken into account when considering the merits of a Keane-Vieira partnertship and to some extent, it makes it more feasible. However, I'm not utilising a single B2B midfielder here with a more laid-back playmaking central midfielder, which could have allowed Vieira to function defensively alongside Keane. However, with the twin-pronged threat of Neeskens-Lothar, Vieira might not be at his defensive best here. Btw, I'd back Keane anyday against Lothar or Neeskens but truth be told, I've never rated Vieira's defensive game very highly and have always rated the offensive facets of his B2B game higher, I'd have preferred a more classic B2B pairing of Keane-Souness/Edwards for instance.
