Team VivaCrappy
Basic tactics:
A 5-2-3 that easily becomes 4-3-3 or 3-5-2, my team has the dynamics in it to either play super fast counter attacking football using Messi Eto'o and Kanchelskis' speed and technique, or play possession football using Sammer Lahm Modric and Messi.
In this game - We chose to play counter attacking football. Our entire team will sit deep allowing KM/Stobz very offensive team to get frustrated and send plenty of men forward, while our front trio of Messi-Kanchelskis-Eto'o will stay forward and punish. The reason we chose not to play possession football is that KM/Stobz's midfield is awesome, Zidane-Davids-Veron are all great on the ball so I don't think even Modric and Sammer can beat them in possession football. Messi in the free role will thrive under this setup, with Eto'o and Kanchelskis who are also really fast, we will steal the ball after tough tight narrow defending, send the ball forward for either of the trio who will be against 3 or 4 defenders, with Messi there with space to burn, and Eto'o's finishing I know where my money is going.
How will our team shape up against the opponent:
KM/Stobz's team is filled with players who like to venture forward. The midfield duo of Davids-Veron are both very offensive, and although they do offer protection to the defense, when our team will defend deep they'll naturally go more forward. We will defend with 7 players - Hyypia-Sammer-DeBoer will be in the middle, With Sammer's role is to stop Zidane at all costs. Zidane will not be shut down completely obviously, but it will frustrate him and greatly limit his influence on the match. Lahm will easily handle the pressure from Balakov, leaving the troubling Robben against Zambrotta. Zambrotta is wonderful but not great defensively, that's why he'll keep his focus on this match in Robben, and when Robben occasionally beat him, De Boer will come there to assist at his best position of LCB. Than, it leaves De Boer & Hyypia and rarely Hyypia alone on Signori, and as renowned goalscorer as Signori was, he can't beat that pairing in a tight deep sitting 5 man defense like mine. Cocu and Modric will also sit really deep, so when Davids and Veron move forward they will meet Cocu&Modric and have no place to maneuver. So basically you got 7 man brick wall that lets the opposition attack it, and by closing down spaces and not leaving an inch will stop Zidane & Robben(who are the main threats).
Than we steal the ball, we've got 4 great long passers to distribute the ball to Messi Eto'o or Kanchelskis in De Boer, Sammer, Lahm and Modric. Either of them can send the ball, Messi who will be in the free role will either go to the right to attack Irwin who will be roaming, or join the middle to attack with Eto'o the not strong central pair of Ferrara and Pallister, and with the lack of a defensive midfielder Messi will have plenty of room in these ares. 3vs3 or 3vs4, that's a great setup for us.
Why we will win the match:
1. Frustrating Zidane and Robben by narrowing down - Zidane and Robben are KM/Stobz's main attacking figures in this match, with Balakov shut down by Lahm, and Signori trying to squeeze between a tight central defense who are sitting deep, KM/Stobz goals will have to come from a moment of brilliance by Zidane and Robben. Neither will be stopped completely, Robben on paper has the obvious upper hand on Zambrotta when attacking, that's why we've got both Cocu in LCM to aid when Robben in going a little bit deeper to start his runs from deep and De Boer when Robben cuts inside and beats Zambrotta. That's two backdoor options incase Robben tries anything different, so that's covered with plan b and plan c. As for Zizzou, Sammer will do a great deal on him, but of course again, he will not completely stop him. But take Sammer's influence against Zidane's play, add that the lack of room for Zidane to operate because the defense will sit really deep, and you've got a match that can possibly make Zidane be weakened.
2. The devastating counter attacking football - As I said, my tactics and KM/Stobz setup will force them to send plenty of men forward, and we defend with 7 players behind the ball in open play. I predict between 6 to 8 players will attack by KM/Stobz each attack(Dead Certs - Veron, Davids, Balakov, Robben, Zidane, Signori, Possibly Roam - Irwin, Aurier), and with Kanchelskis Messi & Eto'o waiting to get the ball from one of our great passers(Sammer, De Boer, Lahm, Modric) they will punish the 3 to 4 players left there(Irwin-Pallister-Ferrara-Aurier). Messi will receive the ball on the right and beat them one by one or send the ball to Eto'o in great movement to finish off.
3. Eto'o and Messi's finishing - Eto'o and Messi's finishing is a crucial part of our counter attacking football. When you play counter attack you must have a top finisher, and Eto'o was bloody unstoppable at his prime, Messi still is. When he gets to a chance you just know they'll score it, we don't need more than a couple of chances to win it.
4. Defending defending defending - We have 7 players instructed to simply sit and soak the pressure, allowing the opposition to move the ball around endlessly and pointlessly. Modric is the only player from these players who isn't defensive minded, and with that we will take the best features of KM/Stobz brilliantly built attacking team. Their strength is in attack, our strength is in counter attacking teams who are attacking with plenty of players.
Team KMStobz
I will be focusing on my own team, those of you who know, I don't like talking mess on the other team and if I do have to reference them I will try to be as fair as possible.
The starting positions would be a 4-2-3-1
For me, Davids, Veron and Zidane is about as balanced as that triangle of players can be. Davids offers defence for days married to his driving forward runs and good distribution, next to him is another willing box-to-box worker in Veron. A fantastic passer of the ball, also wasn't afraid of getting his foot stuck in, one swing could launch a counter attack and he would look for and find Robben given the opportunity.
Zidane - He had everything, there is no shoe horning him in like he has been in previous drafts, here he plays as he should, between the lines with licence to drift, if he is to drift left as he was inclined to, he interchanges with Balakov taking his position centrally, an equally dangerous proposition. Balakov was arguably the most important cog in the that great Bulgarian side of the early 90's/Late 80's an extremely gifted passer. who provides a wand of a left foot. Arjen Robben completes the line, offering almost unreal pace to the point he can give others a 3-4 yard start, the ability to beat a man either side off the dribble and can cut inside and provide a killer pass or launch a rocket of a shot off his left foot.
Giuseppe Signori - 188 goals in 345 games at the height of Serie A and Italian defensive dominance tells you that he is a threat. with so much service behind him he will get opportunities and he will get goals.
Van Der Sar starts in goal, a master organiser of the defence and mainstay for Manchester United's most sustained period of success under Sir Alex Ferguson, he has the ever reliable Denis Irwin running the left flank all day, genuine under-appreciated world class on either flank and came out on top against virtually every winger he came up against. He locks down the left side with his running mate for so many years on that side Gary Pallister, extremely quick and an intelligent, technical user of the ball as well, he has the rare honour of being a defender named PFA Player of the year. Partnering him is Ciro Ferrara again, a technically accomplished, brave defender who was not lacking for pace either. Another great organiser of the defence who will keep a leash on young rookie Serge Aurier.
Aurier defensively is as capable at centre back as he is at right back and is a physical beast, although capable going forward, tactically I feel it is important to have him sit back and provide balance in the same way Wes Brown did for United circa 07-08 while allowing the more gifted attacker to roam forward (in this case Irwin) his physical presence and pace, along with Ferrara and Pallister give me as good a chance as any of nullifying Viva's counter attacks.
Good luck to Viva. Please be gentle.
Basic tactics:
A 5-2-3 that easily becomes 4-3-3 or 3-5-2, my team has the dynamics in it to either play super fast counter attacking football using Messi Eto'o and Kanchelskis' speed and technique, or play possession football using Sammer Lahm Modric and Messi.
In this game - We chose to play counter attacking football. Our entire team will sit deep allowing KM/Stobz very offensive team to get frustrated and send plenty of men forward, while our front trio of Messi-Kanchelskis-Eto'o will stay forward and punish. The reason we chose not to play possession football is that KM/Stobz's midfield is awesome, Zidane-Davids-Veron are all great on the ball so I don't think even Modric and Sammer can beat them in possession football. Messi in the free role will thrive under this setup, with Eto'o and Kanchelskis who are also really fast, we will steal the ball after tough tight narrow defending, send the ball forward for either of the trio who will be against 3 or 4 defenders, with Messi there with space to burn, and Eto'o's finishing I know where my money is going.
How will our team shape up against the opponent:
KM/Stobz's team is filled with players who like to venture forward. The midfield duo of Davids-Veron are both very offensive, and although they do offer protection to the defense, when our team will defend deep they'll naturally go more forward. We will defend with 7 players - Hyypia-Sammer-DeBoer will be in the middle, With Sammer's role is to stop Zidane at all costs. Zidane will not be shut down completely obviously, but it will frustrate him and greatly limit his influence on the match. Lahm will easily handle the pressure from Balakov, leaving the troubling Robben against Zambrotta. Zambrotta is wonderful but not great defensively, that's why he'll keep his focus on this match in Robben, and when Robben occasionally beat him, De Boer will come there to assist at his best position of LCB. Than, it leaves De Boer & Hyypia and rarely Hyypia alone on Signori, and as renowned goalscorer as Signori was, he can't beat that pairing in a tight deep sitting 5 man defense like mine. Cocu and Modric will also sit really deep, so when Davids and Veron move forward they will meet Cocu&Modric and have no place to maneuver. So basically you got 7 man brick wall that lets the opposition attack it, and by closing down spaces and not leaving an inch will stop Zidane & Robben(who are the main threats).
Than we steal the ball, we've got 4 great long passers to distribute the ball to Messi Eto'o or Kanchelskis in De Boer, Sammer, Lahm and Modric. Either of them can send the ball, Messi who will be in the free role will either go to the right to attack Irwin who will be roaming, or join the middle to attack with Eto'o the not strong central pair of Ferrara and Pallister, and with the lack of a defensive midfielder Messi will have plenty of room in these ares. 3vs3 or 3vs4, that's a great setup for us.
Why we will win the match:
1. Frustrating Zidane and Robben by narrowing down - Zidane and Robben are KM/Stobz's main attacking figures in this match, with Balakov shut down by Lahm, and Signori trying to squeeze between a tight central defense who are sitting deep, KM/Stobz goals will have to come from a moment of brilliance by Zidane and Robben. Neither will be stopped completely, Robben on paper has the obvious upper hand on Zambrotta when attacking, that's why we've got both Cocu in LCM to aid when Robben in going a little bit deeper to start his runs from deep and De Boer when Robben cuts inside and beats Zambrotta. That's two backdoor options incase Robben tries anything different, so that's covered with plan b and plan c. As for Zizzou, Sammer will do a great deal on him, but of course again, he will not completely stop him. But take Sammer's influence against Zidane's play, add that the lack of room for Zidane to operate because the defense will sit really deep, and you've got a match that can possibly make Zidane be weakened.
2. The devastating counter attacking football - As I said, my tactics and KM/Stobz setup will force them to send plenty of men forward, and we defend with 7 players behind the ball in open play. I predict between 6 to 8 players will attack by KM/Stobz each attack(Dead Certs - Veron, Davids, Balakov, Robben, Zidane, Signori, Possibly Roam - Irwin, Aurier), and with Kanchelskis Messi & Eto'o waiting to get the ball from one of our great passers(Sammer, De Boer, Lahm, Modric) they will punish the 3 to 4 players left there(Irwin-Pallister-Ferrara-Aurier). Messi will receive the ball on the right and beat them one by one or send the ball to Eto'o in great movement to finish off.
3. Eto'o and Messi's finishing - Eto'o and Messi's finishing is a crucial part of our counter attacking football. When you play counter attack you must have a top finisher, and Eto'o was bloody unstoppable at his prime, Messi still is. When he gets to a chance you just know they'll score it, we don't need more than a couple of chances to win it.
4. Defending defending defending - We have 7 players instructed to simply sit and soak the pressure, allowing the opposition to move the ball around endlessly and pointlessly. Modric is the only player from these players who isn't defensive minded, and with that we will take the best features of KM/Stobz brilliantly built attacking team. Their strength is in attack, our strength is in counter attacking teams who are attacking with plenty of players.
Team KMStobz
I will be focusing on my own team, those of you who know, I don't like talking mess on the other team and if I do have to reference them I will try to be as fair as possible.
The starting positions would be a 4-2-3-1
For me, Davids, Veron and Zidane is about as balanced as that triangle of players can be. Davids offers defence for days married to his driving forward runs and good distribution, next to him is another willing box-to-box worker in Veron. A fantastic passer of the ball, also wasn't afraid of getting his foot stuck in, one swing could launch a counter attack and he would look for and find Robben given the opportunity.
Zidane - He had everything, there is no shoe horning him in like he has been in previous drafts, here he plays as he should, between the lines with licence to drift, if he is to drift left as he was inclined to, he interchanges with Balakov taking his position centrally, an equally dangerous proposition. Balakov was arguably the most important cog in the that great Bulgarian side of the early 90's/Late 80's an extremely gifted passer. who provides a wand of a left foot. Arjen Robben completes the line, offering almost unreal pace to the point he can give others a 3-4 yard start, the ability to beat a man either side off the dribble and can cut inside and provide a killer pass or launch a rocket of a shot off his left foot.
Giuseppe Signori - 188 goals in 345 games at the height of Serie A and Italian defensive dominance tells you that he is a threat. with so much service behind him he will get opportunities and he will get goals.
Van Der Sar starts in goal, a master organiser of the defence and mainstay for Manchester United's most sustained period of success under Sir Alex Ferguson, he has the ever reliable Denis Irwin running the left flank all day, genuine under-appreciated world class on either flank and came out on top against virtually every winger he came up against. He locks down the left side with his running mate for so many years on that side Gary Pallister, extremely quick and an intelligent, technical user of the ball as well, he has the rare honour of being a defender named PFA Player of the year. Partnering him is Ciro Ferrara again, a technically accomplished, brave defender who was not lacking for pace either. Another great organiser of the defence who will keep a leash on young rookie Serge Aurier.
Aurier defensively is as capable at centre back as he is at right back and is a physical beast, although capable going forward, tactically I feel it is important to have him sit back and provide balance in the same way Wes Brown did for United circa 07-08 while allowing the more gifted attacker to roam forward (in this case Irwin) his physical presence and pace, along with Ferrara and Pallister give me as good a chance as any of nullifying Viva's counter attacks.
Good luck to Viva. Please be gentle.
Last edited:
just logged in. Good luck mates. I'll make a quick formation flip so it will be with one keeper on top.