EAP VS Pat/Skizzo - All time 3 year peak - Auction Draft

Who would win based on players in their 3 yr peak?

  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .
Pat_Mustard said:
The 'leading the line' thing is of limited value when Figueroa/Ruggeri are beating him to the ball the majority of the time. If he can't win or keep possession EAP surrenders possession far too often.
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The crux of it is that for them to ensure he doesn't receive they have to stay with him, they can't beat him aerially otherwise (which I'd have as 50-50, I agree there's few better than those two but Vieri was a beast aerially).

Once they have to stay with him he can help keep them pegged back, both Figueroa and Ruggeri would favour sitting deep and dealing with frontal balls over pushing up against a player like Vieri and risking balls over the top. That means he helps create space between the lines for Jairzinho/Charlton/Rivelino/Falcao to exploit.

He may not be Eusebio or Gerd Müller but that much he would accomplish and making that happen was a meaningful contribution to his side.

I also don't see what Vieri offers in terms of back to goal/target man capabilities that Gullit can't replicate or better. The only argument I can see is that we're asking too much of him by tasking him with providing width on the right occasionally too, but I don't think Gullit and Eusebio alternating who stays central/leads the line is especially problematic.
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I didn't really find Eusebio-Gullit not working. Neither is the other's typical partner, it would need drilling and coordination, but they were very intelligent players so I wouldn't put it past them at all.

The main clash for me was Eusebio and Diego, particularly when you were arguing you would be countering with quick transitions. In that scenario, I would have also expected Gullit to help out in midfield, as he was the only of the three who realistically would... Which overall meant not keeping a guy up top doing what Vieri was doing for EAP. Vieri was gettign the flak, but tactically he was the most spot on of these four.
 
antohan said:
Not sure what I could add here re: his club career. When I lived in Brazil I saw more of him at club level (they had a retro football show which I really enjoyed) and all I can say is you are spot on re: the Djalma everyone sees is one limited/adapted to having Garrincha ahead and Nilton on the other flank.

He certainly could go on a mazy run and was a superb crosser, it just didn't make much sense for him to do that with Garrincha ahead. There's no point trying to overlap Garrincha and offer him a one-two: he enjoyed taking on defenders 1v1, beating them through a 2v1 was no fun.

That's not to say that would be his main characteristic, he was a defender first and foremost, a supremely gifted one. I actually rate him higher than Nilton myself. Nilton was more of a maverick and has this aura about him being the Encyclopaedia and all that, but the one who looked to me as an Encyclopaedia on how to shut out a flank and provide cover was Djalma. He had the physique, he had the tactical awareness, the technique and, crucially, the resilience and character. He was humble, not flashy, not fussed with the limelight. Supremely confident, he just occupied himself with the business of winning games of football and excelled at it like no other RB ever has IMO.
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I'd agree with that myself. He stood out the most for me from that 1958-1962 Brazi team, the best RB of all time imo.
 
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