Dead Drafters Society

[Šjor Bepo]

Have to say that he started pretty good the 01 season, very good performances against two top league sides. His defending is still suspect, so far he turned massive brainfarts into minor and FINALLY added the attacking quality to his game!
Crossing and long passing is still hit and miss, shooting is still meh but overlaps are fantastic and generally he uses the ball well which tbf was always the case. Looking forward to see if the form will continue or will he go back to his usual self.

Regarding others, thought Figo was pretty quiet but then he destroys one of the best DMs ever in Mauro Silva and creates a goal for Raul who was brilliant the whole game. Just a classy footballer that is completely forgotten which is funny as i think he would be brilliant in the modern game. Hierro still bang average while scored his goal, Salgado crap as from previous watchings and that was most notable when he got replaced by Geremi who had a great game afterwards.
Guti and Makelele had a very good game, specially Makelele who was covering a lot of ground while their midfield partner Flavio Conceicao struggled heavily and almost made "Stevie Special" but Tristan i think missed a 1v1 or to be precise, Iker saved it.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

decided to watch at least half a game of rijkaard before the final, i just dont get it......its irrelevant how anyone rates him at this point but how is it possible that every single historian got his position so wrong? is one enough and everyone else just more or less copy/pasting without actually watching the games?

 

[prolifik]

decided to watch at least half a game of rijkaard before the final, i just dont get it......its irrelevant how anyone rates him at this point but how is it possible that every single historian got his position so wrong? is one enough and everyone else just more or less copy/pasting without actually watching the games?

Yeah, I watched one this morning and had the same thought. He doesn't play remotely like a holding midfielder or even a defensive-minded box-to-box most of the time. In this one he was more advanced than even Bergkamp and Gullit for much of the game. It's so jarring to watch.

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

Maybe his later time at Ajax and with the Dutch national team where he was more defensive (plus the CB performances at Euro 88) skewed some perceptions that mostly saw him during those years? I always thought of him as just a typical 70s-90s centre-mid...which is basically box to box. There was a lot of rating Matthaus as a defensive midfielder on online forums of the last 20 years as well...actually quite a few CM's of those decades that were known to have good defensive ability or be combative like Keane, Souness I had seen in defensive midfield lists.

 

[harms]

Yeah, I think @Demyanenko_square_jaw is right. His CL-winning campaign at Ajax as a DM + that 1988 Euros as a CB skews perceptions quite a bit.

 

[prolifik]

Maybe his later time at Ajax and with the Dutch national team where he was more defensive (plus the CB performances at Euro 88) skewed some perceptions that mostly saw him during those years? I always thought of him as just a typical 70s-90s centre-mid...which is basically box to box. There was a lot of rating Matthaus as a defensive midfielder on online forums of the last 20 years as well...actually quite a few CM's of those decades that were known to have good defensive ability or be combative like Keane, Souness I had seen in defensive midfield lists.

That's what I initially thought, but I swear I've seen Matthaus playing something approximating that role more often than Rijkaard. I can't even call him box-to-box in the games I've seen because he doesn't cover a lot of ground or apply much defensive pressure without the ball.

 

[Gio]

I think it’s more an overall terminology issue that goes beyond Rijkaard. As Demyanenko says in a lot of online lists any 442 B2B CM of the 70-00s was regarded as ‘defensive’ to distinguish them from the 10s.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

In possession he was very much in the DM position which usually isnt the case but defensive wise he didnt have much of an impact and the style was as per usual, do first think later type. But okay, at least in one segment of the game he was playing as a DM!

It was an interesting game, proper battle of Vierchowod and Van Basten where the defender came on top even though he was allowed to do a lot of things modern defenders would been sent off.....but impressive nevertheless. Star of the team Mancini did very little, struggled to get in the game and when he did was handled brilliantly. Once again Srecko Katanec stood out in that Sampa midfield, such a brilliant midfielder so reminded me how people were praising Ince for doing well in Italy yet never ever did i see him playing on the level of someone like Katanec who never gets a mention.

From Milan time and time again Maldini just looks like a robot, insane player. Baresi is good, very good but nowhere near the level of Maldini tbh and one thing that annoys me in draft games would be when every defender would be called as good on the ball so the team would cope against the high press or would be good in a build up.....such an insult and underrating of the guys that are actually brilliant in that segment.
Really dont like Baresi in the possession, not the biggest fan of the defending either(compared to other GOATs like Nesta and co.) but in possession his best quality is the ball carrying yet he runs into blind alleys way to much and his passing is very, very erratic.

 

[Šjor Bepo]

to follow up my last post here, what a fecking player! Insane engine and moblity for someone of his height, comfortable in possession with a silky touch though he does plays it safe most of the time which tbf was his role and i see that as a quality. Played a bit higher then usual in this game, was mostly near Rijkaard who apart from being dominant aerially struggled to have an impact on the game. I do wonder why he doesnt feature in drafts considering he was one of the standouts in for what many consider, best and toughest league ever. I get that a lot of great get forgotten a bit but still, irks me a bit....

Also, have to mention Pagliuca! Dont think i ever saw a goalkeeper with the worse kicking of the ball, even a turd like Shilton looks like Ederson compared to this.