Fantasy Tournament: World Cup All-Time All-Stars

Cutch said:
Don't be modest Annah. You had a stormer in that match, some crackin posts. Was a great read
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Thanks mate! I thought I mixed one considering not a lot of people left any clear constructive critique to why they voted for Fergus which made it impossible to try and argue against it.
 
When's the next game going to be? The "Missing managers" have been online. Have you sent them a PM Pol?
 
Annahnomoss said:
When's the next game going to be? The "Missing managers" have been online. Have you sent them a PM Pol?
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Thanks for informing me Annah
Will PM the managers the schedule

Kickoff on Jan 13th, noon GMT 0
Cal vs Desert
Crappy&Pippa vs Paceme

Managers please PM me your formation graphic and tactics for the OP (Cal and Crappy to line up with GK at the top)
Player profiles and videos are to be posted in draft thread and provide me the links in OP
It will be a walkover if I do not receive the OP materials by by 13 Jan noon GMT 0 (Cal and Crappy have already sent me so this does not apply to them)
 
I hope Polariod wins the draft so that we can add "Top of the order isn't a good position to be in the draft" to anto's "D(r)aft Pele" collection. :p
 
I've been thinking the last hour about how to improve my team when the next draft round begins and I realised, I really have not the slightest clue how people view my 3 midfielders. Basically all my game was about Cruyff being brilliant in attack and de Boer / Schulz being hopeless in defense, so obviously I'll strengthen my centerbacks. But how do people view Haan and Ceulemans? Not good enough individually and need to be replaced as soon as possible? Of course I tried to turn the midfield battle against TITO into a tactical battle, because his midfield was individually on a higher level, but I really struggle to come up with players that I'd prefer in those positions over mine?

Really lost here, if anyone wants to share his opinion on these players, I'd love to hear it. I can't even say how Haan is rated in comparison to Davids. For example, if I get my hands on Matthäus, would people see Davids + Matthäus in midfield as stronger than Haan + Matthäus? Or does Haan get some extra credit for being perfect for the idea of total football and his understanding for all that movement? In any other team, he needed to be upgraded, no doubt, but in my case?
 
Balu said:
I've been thinking the last hour about how to improve my team when the next draft round begins and I realised, I really have not the slightest clue how people view my 3 midfielders. Basically all my game was about Cruyff being brilliant in attack and de Boer / Schulz being hopeless in defense, so obviously I'll strengthen my centerbacks. But how do people view Haan and Ceulemans? Not good enough individually and need to be replaced as soon as possible? Of course I tried to turn the midfield battle against TITO into a tactical battle, because his midfield was individually on a higher level, but I really struggle to come up with players that I'd prefer in those positions over mine?

Really lost here, if anyone wants to share his opinion on these players, I'd love to hear it. I can't even say how Haan is rated in comparison to Davids. For example, if I get my hands on Matthäus, would people see Davids + Matthäus in midfield as stronger than Haan + Matthäus? Or does Haan get some extra credit for being perfect for the idea of total football and his understanding for all that movement? In any other team, he needed to be upgraded, no doubt, but in my case?
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Personally I buy the total football argument - and as such Haan is not an issue for me. But the question is whether you can win a similar tactical battle in the next round, arguing your case as you did in the first round? It will be easier for your opponent to tailor his arguments, knowing the lay of the land already. From that perspective it can be a distinct advantage to replace some of the personnel - as it gives you fresh ammunition in a tactical debate.

It should be possible to argue a total football case - Cruyff still being your main asset and your real trump card here - even if you replace Haan with a midfielder who might have a broader appeal, so to speak. Matthäus would be an example of such a player, to my thinking. His WC credentials are unquestionable, he's a bigger name than Haan and he is a player you can plausibly use in many different functions, depending on your set-up.

Ceulemans was an excellent choice in my opinion - but is he a second round player? Again, I should think it's possible to replace him with someone who can fill a similar role - but who is an easier sell.
 
Can you afford to replace them so hastily? Both Haan and Ceulemans are non-winners and you'll only be able to have 6 winners in the semis. What's you current tally?

Haan is a defensive midfielder and having played in that Dutch side he won't look out of place. I'm not sure Davids would be a big upgrade. Matthaus would be but that's because he would be an upgrade on pretty much anyone.

You do realize that you draft from a pool of all the knockouts, not just from the person you yourself knocked out.
 
Thanks both of you.

@Snow, I shouldn't be in too much trouble with the winner restrictions, my left wing with Forlan and Marzolini are non winners and all of my 4 midfielders (Cruyff included) are as well. So if only one of my 4 incoming replacements is a non-winner, I'm still good for the semifinals. That's why Figueroa might be the centerback pick ahead of Baresi, then I'm basically good throughout the draft and can do what I want in midfield without looking too much at the restrictions (depending on Anto's pick as well, of course).

Davids is already playing btw., it's Davids + Haan now, so the idea is to maybe replace one of them and I'm not sure who of those two that should be.
 
In my eyes Davids is possibly the most physical DM in the draft and that is exactly what you want with that high line. With the range of passing the players in this draft has you can be sure Davids will have to make runs behind his own defense to clear up messes. He is the optimal player to do that though.

Haan on the other hand is the perfect fit for the obvious reason that he was there, playing maybe the key-part in that high-line/offside trap and then also played the DM role KNOWING exactly what the defense needs from him and what he needs to do to help the defense if it fails.

Your CB's and AM is the eye-sore in my opinion. Cueleman is supposed to carry you the way Neeskens did and that is never going to happen against the elite quality of this draft. Neeskens was pretty superior individually which allowed him to thrive in that role - it made him pretty unstoppable from that role. Because that role is perfect for someone great. You need that great pseudo CM/AM - the player who will win this game for you.

I think there are many available who would be able to take you from - one of, if not the worst AM in the draft - to a player who will be your Neeskens.
 
It's all Jayvin's fault, I could simply pick Neeskens now if he started with the right line-up and kicked Anto out :cool:.
 
:lol: In my eyes though I don't rate Neeskens as some very important player for you to pick up. The DM being so strong defensively - the offensive being so strong defensively and offensively meant he had a role many others can fulfill to even better.
 
Laudrup, Albert, Cubillas, Charlton, Gazza - all these got knocked out. Laudrup perhaps? Would fit the bill, is a non-winner and seems to be a very popular man round these parts too.
 
Annahnomoss said:
:lol: In my eyes though I don't rate Neeskens as some very important player for you to pick up. The DM being so strong defensively - the offensive being so strong defensively and offensively meant he had a role many others can fulfill to even better.
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Neeskens is my first pick, if he's available later and I'm still in the tournament, don't care if he improves my team the most, but I'd love to get as close to that Netherlands team as possible.
 
By the way, I am looking to organize a new kind of draft in February beginning. Will be completely different in terms of picking players, a bit mental and crazy actually, and if you haven't played that format before it would be super fun. So tell me in advance if someone wants to reserve a place.
 
@Chesterlestreet
You actually missed my two favorites and I'm confident that I get the one I want as my 4th pick, if I choose to upgrade Ceulemans. Depends a lot who I get in as my 2nd centerback, because then it could make sense to pick a DM that works well with the centerback pair and is an individual upgrade on Haan.

There's also the possibility of picking a brilliant striker so that I could change the formation to a more usual 433 with Cruyff in midfield.
 
But it was good to hear that Haan is actually rated and not seen as one that has to be upgraded right now. Ideally I get to pick Neeskens and van Hanegem later and play all 3 together with Cruyff in midfield, flanked by Southamerican wings. I'd love that, wouldn't care if I lost or not. Such a long shot though, all teams look great and 4 picks should allow everyone to improve their teams significantly, the next round of games will be even tougher and we already had some incredibly close games.
 
Unfortunate that Paceme has other pressing matters on his plate. Hopefully, he can join us next time.
Aldo will take over :)
 
This draft has been really even so far with every game either having seen comebacks(Anto/Pol), draws(Annah/Balu) or at the very least incredibly even starts in Theon and Trippy's wins.

I am hoping the next game will see a clear winner so I can get to enjoy planning for the coming draft!

The interesting part is that we have one Magic Square, one Total Football, Pol's "lone winger" formation and just two 4-2-3-1's. Usually 99% of the teams plays 4-2-3-1 and it feels like a real showcase of the level this draft is holding.

Of the ones we have who play 4-2-3-1, one is keeping a very complex theme(anto) and the last one has just picked so beautifully he gets away with it while still being impressive(Trippy).

This makes it so much more interesting than when everybody plays 4-2-3-1 and it is much more just about which players you have. I can't deem anybody having a clear edge over others right now - everybody has someone who kind of counters them very hard.

It will be interesting to see which people draft to be able to handle their "worst opponent" better and who just tries to enhance their strengths instead.
 
Received tactics from Aldo who has taken over Paceme's team
Crappy and Aldo, if you want to kick off earlier, do let me know

Have not received anything from Desert yet, hope he will send soon
It will be a walkover for Cal if that I have not received anything by noon GMT 0
 
Polaroid said:
Received tactics from Aldo who has taken over Paceme's team
Crappy and Aldo, if you want to kick off earlier, do let me know

Have not received anything from Desert yet, hope he will send soon
It will be a walkover for Cal if that I have not received anything by noon GMT 0
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Let Absolute take it!
 
Polaroid said:
Received tactics from Aldo who has taken over Paceme's team
Crappy and Aldo, if you want to kick off earlier, do let me know

Have not received anything from Desert yet, hope he will send soon
It will be a walkover for Cal if that I have not received anything by noon GMT 0
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Give me 10 minutes. I will send you a consolidated post with tactics and profiles.
 
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