My Dream Team captained by an inspirational leader
Genius: Neymar – Liga 2013/16 - 77 goals at the moment
The new Brazil Captain is already one of the top 6 Greatest Left-Wingers of All-Time with Best, Giggs, Gento, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dzajic. The phenomenon plays as a left sided forward for both Barcelona and Brazil in the team's 4–3–3 formation, drifting infield, due to his energetic pace and playmaking skills; this position allows him to shoot with his stronger foot, or create chances for team-mates. Although naturally right-footed, he is capable of scoring with both feet, as well as with his head, and is an accurate free-kick and penalty taker.
“Messi and Ronaldo played in different styles and now Neymar can emerge as best in the world" - PELE
"Logically, Messi is better right now but Neymar is a great talent who will show the world that he will be number one" - RONALDO
“I see Neymar like a [Cristiano] Ronaldo or a Messi, the type who appears and makes things happen" - ZICO
Some achievements: 7 trophies with Barcelona including the ECL & La Liga. 46 goals in 69 games with Brazil (24 years only)
Homogeneous Offensive Strategy comprised of unpredictable and multi-skilled talents who share the same philosophy
OM: Özil – Bundesliga 2006/2010 - League peak with Bremen (2008/10): 55 assists & 16 goals in 108 matches
Özil started his senior career at hometown club Schalke in the Bundesliga in 2006, transferred to Werder Bremen in 2008 and was signed by Real Madrid in August 2010 following his break-out performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Germany. He was the joint-highest assist provider at both the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As the key playmaker of Werder Bremen, he managed to make a significant impact in most games and helped lead the North German club to the 2009 DFB-Pokal with the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. He also excelled in Europe where he led Bremen to the final of the last ever UEFA Cup, losing out to Shakhtar Donetsk. During the 2009–10 season, Özil was also declared as the "best player of the first half of the season".
Some achievements: DFB-Pokal in 2009, Europa League Runner-up in 2009, DFB-Pokal Runner-up in 2010 & nomination for the Golden Ball Award awarded to the 2010 WC best player. 70 caps with Germany. WC winner.
RW: Di Maria – Liga 2010/2014 - Career peak: #1 provider of assists in La Liga with 17 assists in 2013/14.
Quick, tricky and talented winger who is also capable of playing as a more central attacking midfielder or on either side of the pitch, although he is predominantly a left-footed player. Di María is an agile, creative and highly technical player who possesses excellent dribbling skills and ball control, as well as great pace, stamina and acceleration, attributes which allow him to beat players easily in one-on-one situations. He is also gifted with excellent vision, passing and crossing ability, which allow him to function effectively as a playmaker and as an assist provider, although he is also capable of scoring goals himself. Despite not being physically imposing, he is also a very hard-working player.
Some achievements: La Liga (2012), Champion's League (2014), MOTM against Atletico Madrid in the ECL's final (2014). 70 caps with Argentina.
Forward: Falcao – Liga 2011/2013 - Career peak: 77 goals in 2 years including 8 for Colombia
Before his awful injury in January 2014 with Monaco, Falcao used to be a Tiger. A Tiger who can be described as a pure striker, a traditional #9. Fabio Capello has considered him to be on the same level as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Also his Atletico Madrid teammate Gabi said in 2012 that he thought Falcao was the best header of the ball in the world.
"He is sensational, the best forward in the world in the penalty box" - Guardiola (2012) !
DM: Stankovic – Calcio 1998/2011 - Career peak with Lazio
Despite fierce competition in midfield, with the likes of Pavel Nedved, Matias Almeyda, Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Simeone all fighting for spots, Il Drago (dragon) fought his way into the squad and was an integral part of the scudetto winning side that will forever be remembered in the history of the sky-blue part of Eternal City -- particularly since Lazio have yet to take another title. So, he is a tenacious and hard-working player known for his efficient, accurate passing, versatility and creativity, as well as his ability to score goals from long distance. He will harass Khedira and Sneijder!!
Some achievements: 20 trophies in Italy. Tripletta with Inter Milan in 2010. 103 caps with Brazil
DM: Yaya Touré – Liga 2007/2010 - Career peak as a pure Defensive Midfielder
Yaya Touré played there primarily as a pure defensive midfielder behind Xavi & Iniesta. Complete and versatile, his key strengths: passing range, vision, and physical ability. He is gifted with good technique and ball control, although he also excels defensively at breaking down opposing attacking plays and winning back possession through his powerful tackling ability. He is known for his pace, stamina, and physical presence, which is often combined with lungbursting runs from midfield, and he has been referred to as a "human train" and a "colossus" by various pundits.
Some achievements: 7 trophies with Barcelona including the ECL & 2 La Liga. 103 caps
My Defence: strength, complementarity and fighting spirit
RB: Maicon Douglas – Calcio 2006/2012 - Career peak with the Tripletta (2010)
He was gifted with outstanding physical attributes, athleticism, excellent technical and crossing ability, as well as a powerful shot, making him a serious attacking threat down the right wing. Due to his success, strength, pace, power, and stamina, he earned the nickname "il colosso" (the colossus) during his time at Inter, where he developed into one of the best attacking fullbacks in the world.
Some achievements: 9 trophies with Inter including the Tripletta in 2010. 75 caps with Serbia.
CB: Marco Materazzi – Calcio 1990/2011 - Serie A Defender of the Year 2007 & Tripletta (2010)
An aggressive, physical, and hard-tackling centre-back, who was also known for his tight marking of opponents, Materazzi was considered to be one of the best defenders of his generation. Materazzi was lauded by his managers in particular for being a goal threat as a defender, due to his outstanding aerial ability, which made him dangerous during set pieces. His prolific goalscoring allowed him to capture the record for most goals in a Serie A season by a defender, which was broken during the 2000–01 season. He was also an accurate set piece and penalty kick taker, with a powerful shot from distance. In addition to these attributes, he had reliable technique and distribution skills, and was known for frequently playing long balls to the strikers.
Some achievements: 13 trophies with Inter Milan including the Tripletta in 2010. WC winner
Sweeper: Júlio César – Bundesliga 1994/99 - League peak 1994-96
He used to form a legendary pairing with Sammer. Widely considered to be one of Brazil's best central defenders, Júlio César was known for his physical strength, speed, and aerial ability, as well as his positioning, tackling, and adeptness at reading the game. A quick, versatile, and powerful defender, with good feet, vision, and passing range. His aerial prowess is also a useful asset. He will cover Materazzi and anticipate the movements of Etoo.
Some achievements: Best Central Defender Award (WC 1986), Bundesliga (1995, 1996),UEFA Champions League (1997), DFL-Supercup (1995 & 1996), Intercontinental Cup (2007)
LB: Jorg Heinrich - Bundesliga 1988/07 - League peak 1996-02
We need a hard-worker guy whose generosity and versatility would enable us to limit the influence of Muller. Any great team needs humble & generous players like Heinrich.
Some achievements: Bundesliga (1996),UEFA Champions League (1997), Intercontinental Cup (2007), UEFA Cup finalist (2002)
Tactics:
A possession built team which can go also on quick counter using the pace of our superb front trio who has tons of speed from Robinho & Eto'o, scoring ability between them mainly from Eto'o & Muller or the creativity of Muller & Robinho.. Sneijder & Guardiola are expected to keep the midfield ticking while Khediradoes the hard work with Guardiola the deep possession starter and Sneijder the main creative point in the attack. Behind them, a very strong and balanced defensive line, we've got 3 of the European top defenders with Champions League winner Abidal as a tucked in LB, supporting another CL winner Walter Samuel & The best defender in this generation Thiago Silva and they will aid Carvajal in his effort against our opponent's attack. Carvajal ha be in the team to add athleticism and tenacity to the team.
Defence:
Our defensive line is packed with world class defenders, we have 3 CL winners in Abidal, Carvajal & Samuel which are being strengthened even further by the best CB in this generation Thiago Silva. Silva-Samuel will form an impeccable partnership, both come from the toughness of the Seria A and they know how to tackle strong CFs like Falcao. Thiago Silva is as complete as it gets with CBs and this gives him great strength in helping Samuel throughout the match, even better than Lucio did. Eric Abidal, the man who beat cancer twice, or as antohan likes to call him "The left flanked version of Lillian Thuram", is known for his defensive abilities and his control of the ball, making him vital for our team. Abidal is very good on the ball and brilliant in keeping possession, plus he's a very tough tackler and a great reader of the game. To add some young and liveliness to our back 4, we've added Carvajal to the mix. We knew there would be a big problem for us defensively against an amazing forward like Neyamr, so we though we better have someone like Carvajal who isn't the best around defending, but can definitely give Neymar a fight in terms of athleticism, flair & tenacity. Using Abidal who is tucked in, our defence can aid Carvajal when Neymar occasionally beats him, than he will face the brick wall which is Thiago Silva. Behind all them is the wonderful Stefan Klos who played over 200 games for Dortmund and Rangers, Klos is a brilliant keeper who was unlucky to be born in an era of even greater GKs like Kahn and Kopke who kept him out of the NT for most of his career, but he was still one of the best Bundesliga keepers in his years there.
Midfield:
Our midfield is very all round and is built to keep possession between Sneijder & Guardiola. We're talking about two of the best midfielders in the pool in terms of creativity and ball control, and they will make this machine work with Guardiola dictating possession from deep and Sneijder dropping to get it and push it forward or receiving it in the final third and making the final passes. Between the runs of our very slick forwards these two's passing will be very hard to stop. Sneijder at his prime was the best attacking CM/AM in the world, leading Inter to an historic treble and the Dutch team to great success, constant long ranged threat with his long shots, slick passes to find the strikers, everything you might want. We needed some muscle & work rate to that midfield so we brought Khedira to do what he does best - work hard, win balls, run constantly and pressure the opponents into making mistakes.
Attack:
Two of our attackers are amongst the best in the world in their prime and that is Muller & Eto'o, who both have almost a goal/assist per match, Eto'o for Barcelona and Muller for Bayern. Eto'o was crucial to Barcelona's success, one of the best African players in history Eto'o was unstoppable at his prime, playing off the shoulder from defenders his speed was unstoppable at times. All Eto'o needs is his teamates to provide passes and you know you'll get goals. That's were Muller gets into the picture, with over 80 assists for Bayern Munich, Muller is one of the smartest footballers in the world. He can play anywhere in the front four and he has speed, intelligence, ball control, vision, flair & everything you can ask from a top footballer. Added to these two monsters, we've got Robinho who at his Real Madrid peak was light speed quick, beating defenders 1on1 often with his silk ball skills and technique. Robinho played for Real Madrid at both flanks, and is lethal when the team is on the counter. On his debut season he scored 14 goals for them, in what would later be a very fast drop of form after a few seasons in Milan.
Why we will win:-
The only way to stop a front three of Muller, Eto'o and Robinho, is to cut the service to them. Get them on the ball enough time and the former two will score, while the latter will wreck havoc with his dribbling and passing. La liga's robinho was a force of nature, finishing 10th in the ballon d'or voting, winning a copa america for brazil and carrying real madrid all on his own for a brief while.
They are up against a defense of ter Stegen, Julio Cesar, Materazzi, Heinrich and Maicon. I'm not an expert on Heinrich, but a quick look at transfermarket says that he played the majority of his time in the Bundesliga as a LM, not LB. Stegen who was never a world classs goalkeeper in the Bundesliga and Maicon was more of a wingback.
Against our front three, provided they see enough of the ball, I don't see that back four being enough to stop us.
As mentioned a couple of times above, if our front three see enough of the ball we will win. Muller is so good at finding space that they named a made a new role in FM specifically for him . With Sneijder and Pep in midfield, two of the best passers in this draft who are facing an ageing Viera&before their primes Ozil-Yaya Toure, I believe there would be plenty of through balls for our front three.
Sniejder in fact was imperious in the season he won inter the UCL, so much so that he was if Robben had been more accurate he would have won the Ballon D'or ahead of Messi and Ronaldo! Thats a serious achievement that should really not be ignored.
I would admit that his attack is pretty awesome, in Falcao and Neymar he has two strikers who are amongst the best to play in la liga in recent years. It wont be easy but I believe with Samuel, Abidal and Silva we will be able to provide more of a challenge then what our strikers would face.
Player Profiles - Part 1 Player Profiles - Part 2 Player Profiles - Part 3
For the last match Edgar and Skizzo/Pat both did the following. Can you guys both provide a summary of the players picked (Downcast I know you're done it in the play bio's but a summary would be good).
I. Proven & consistent overall strategy #1 - All my players play in their natural position in a 4-3-3 system suited for them
#2 - High expected complementarity between the Offensive players because they share the same understanding of football (Classico Inspiration)
- Two pure scorers (Falcao/Neymar) benefiting from the support of 2 world-class providers of assists
- Ozil & Di Maria know what to do to make Neymar (the Brazilian equivalent of Cristiano) shine.
#4 - The Battle Midfield should be won thanks to my 2 warriors and the potential defensive contribution of Ozil & ADM
#5 - No weak players in defence (please see below) II. Neymar = "MAN OF THE MATCH" because Carvajal (Bundesliga) = "FLOP"
#1 - As a reminder, there is an important criteria here: "Voting is based on league peak". - So, player abilities will be based upon their performance in the league they are representing.
That is why, Vieira is on the bench despite a greater Italian CV that the German one of Carvajal.
- Carvajal (Leverkusen) has played only one year in Germany, his 1st season as a professional footballer! Indeed, on 11 July 2012, after failing to make a single appearance for Real's first team, he signed a contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen with a buy-back clause. Unlike the precocious genius Nesta, Carvajal has not the level required to be part of this tournament in terms of experience and credentials in the Bundesliga. #2 - The History of El Classico demonstrates Carvajal (career prime) can’t stop Neymar who already scored 2 goals against him. So, what could we expect from a Carjaval, young and inexperienced Bayer 04 Leverkusen player?
- As you can see, the Madridian Carvajal (career peak) is unable to prevent Neymar to score and be dangerous. Let’s analyse the ratings regarding one of these games: Neymar was MOTM with a rating of 9/10 against 4/10 for Carvajal.
- While Neymar is simply the best LW playing in Europe with Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of statistics and impact on the game. That is why, Carvajal as a Bundesliga player is a "false good idea".
III. WE WOULD EXPLOIT THE POSITIONNING OF THIAGO SILVA
#1 - Thiago Silva sometimes ignore the main opposing threat including Falcao! (PSG-Monaco below)
I have watched more than 100 games of Thiago Silva. He is brilliant & elegant but his positioning is sometimes weird when it comes to play under high-pressure. Do you remember the goal of Diego Costa last week? #2 - Thiago Silva is not an issue for Neymar (Barcelona-PSG below)
#3 - The right-side of the opposing defence will be targeted
IV. DESPITE EXCELLENT PLAYERS, MY OPPONENT SEEMS TO HAVE AN UNPROVEN OFFENSIVE STRATEGY
#1 - Etoo is not in a position to excel very well
Indeed, Etoo (career prime) used to be successful in 2 tactical systems: A. Barcelona configuration with Messi/Henry on the wings and Iniesta/Xavi in support.
Henry was a more collective player than Robinho.
B. Inter Milan configuration with Sneijder / Pandev / Milito. Here we have Sneijder, so where is the equivalent of Milito, the fantastic striker who creates opportunities for others and attract defenders ?? I am very skeptical about the ability of Robinho to defend a lot like Pandev (he was a support striker in AC Milan).
As a reminder:
#2 - Sneijder is not in his preferred position to deliver assists: only Guardiola covers him and there only one pure CF here
Indeed, Sneijder used to play with players with high work rate like Milito, Pandev, Zanetti, Cambiasso... some Warriors. Moreover, Sneijder performed well as a lonely offensive midfieler who work mainly for 2 scorers (Milito & Etoo).
#3 - Muller is a brilliant versatile player but is clearly better as a Support Striker: what a waste (Inter Milan- Bayern Final of the Champion's League in 2010 above) (Dortmund- Bayern Final of the Champion's League in 2013 below)
At first glance, these teams look almost identical in terms of personnel and set up. Both teams have a slight advantage in terms of ability in a few areas, but tough to separate for me right now.
I have to say, it comes as a surprise for me that Maicon is Serbian
Couple of thoughts:
Would love to hear more about Heinrich and Cesar. Heinrich has one of the toughest jobs on the pitch, trying to contain Müller and overlapping Carvahal. @Balu?
Love the balance in the newbie attack.
Not sure if Guardiola, Khedira (don't rate him highly) and Snejider are going to play well together
I have to say, it comes as a surprise for me that Maicon is Serbian
Couple of thoughts:
Would love to hear more about Heinrich and Cesar. Heinrich has one of the toughest jobs on the pitch, trying to contain Müller and overlapping Carvahal. @Balu?
Love the balance in the newbie attack.
Not sure if Guardiola, Khedira (don't rate him highly) and Snejider are going to play well together
Yes, just finished it. A little overenthusiastic in the critique of Eto'O and Snejider's roles, imo (it's not like they require exactly the same formation to shine in the fantasy team), but it's understandable.
Yes, just finished it. A little overenthusiastic in the critique of Eto'O and Snejider's roles, imo (it's not like they require exactly the same formation to shine in the fantasy team), but it's understandable.
At first glance I'm not sure Ozil and Neymar will work too well. For me Ozil is a proper 10 at his best and could well be operating in space that Neymar would want to cut into. That said if Ozil played deeper at Bremen I'm all ears. Also Di Maria is so much better in his wide CM role and is wasted out right.
Thinking about it I think this setup would have been better:
He was awesome at times on the right too, but inconsistent - his best spell was definitely in a LCM supporting role that Ancelotti created specially for him.
Here he's playing as a right winger at his peak level though
Di Maria played as a central midfielder during 6 months: he was so brilliant that he was MOTM against Atletico Madrid (final of the ECL in 2014). He is versatile and likes to move a lot.
I prefer Ozil as a pure playmaker and will ask ADM to join the central area to disturb Guardiola/Khedira and create spaces for Ozil.
At first glance I'm not sure Ozil and Neymar will work too well. For me Ozil is a proper 10 at his best and could well be operating in space that Neymar would want to cut into. That said if Ozil played deeper at Bremen I'm all ears. Also Di Maria is so much better in his wide CM role and is wasted out right.
Thinking about it I think this setup would have been better:
I was tempted to do that and, of course, it makes a lot of sense but I have decided to put Ozil behind the striker because he played like that with Bremen and Germany during the WC 2010.
Who played ? Germany & Ghana at the WC in 2010
Who won ? Germany !
How ? 1-0
Who saved Germany ?
You're right! Mesut Özil !
Consequently, I let ADM playing as a RW as he used to do in 2012.
Indeed, Real Madrid scored more than 100 goals in La Liga and was Liga winners.
He was awesome at times on the right too, but inconsistent - his best spell was definitely in a LCM supporting role that Ancelotti created specially for him.
It's much easier to top the goals/assist lists when you're playing for Spanish giants, especially when you're playing with one of the best finishers in the history of football. Despite the stats, which are awesome, of course, he was inconsistent on the wing - absolutely unplayable at his best (look at the video that I provided earlier, for example, 3 assists and a goal against the world champions) but sometimes anonymous. It was the move to the central midfield that made him a genuine contender for the 3rd best player in the world place.
I have to say, it comes as a surprise for me that Maicon is Serbian
Couple of thoughts:
Would love to hear more about Heinrich and Cesar. Heinrich has one of the toughest jobs on the pitch, trying to contain Müller and overlapping Carvahal. @Balu?
Love the balance in the newbie attack.
Not sure if Guardiola, Khedira (don't rate him highly) and Snejider are going to play well together
At first glance, these teams look almost identical in terms of personnel and set up. Both teams have a slight advantage in terms of ability in a few areas, but tough to separate for me right now.
I have to say, it comes as a surprise for me that Maicon is Serbian
Couple of thoughts:
Would love to hear more about Heinrich and Cesar. Heinrich has one of the toughest jobs on the pitch, trying to contain Müller and overlapping Carvahal. @Balu?
Love the balance in the newbie attack.
Not sure if Guardiola, Khedira (don't rate him highly) and Snejider are going to play well together
Let me tell you about Heinrich, the very good Bundesliga LM who is magically marking Muller. Heinrich is no LB, he had about 14 games in his Bundesliga career at LB if I'm not mistaken and the underwhelming majority at LB, making him very incompetent for the mission. http://www.transfermarkt.de/jorg-heinrich/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/113/verein/16@Balu
And Julio Cesar, not much to tell about him. Basically his wikipedia page hails him like his the best CB in Brazilian history, in reality a good CB who shone for a very underwhelming Brazilian generation for CB, definitely not in the class to stop Samuel Eto'o in his prime.
He did. He was also brilliant at RW imo but his absolute peak definitely came from LCM.
Basically, the biggest issue here is DownKuyt have too many players out of the position they peak in and he's trying to play a reputation for them which doesn't exist: Yaya Toure - Was never close to his Manchester City peak when he was being played at DM for Barcelona. It limits him to reduce his biggest asset - moving forward. I'm delighted he's a DM here, no moving forward from Yaya but still not enough work rate to cut it for Barcelona against Sneijder at his absolute prime where he finished 4th in Ballon D'or, something Yaya was never close to achieve. Heinrich - His a LM!! That means his all of a sudden a LB who can mark Muller? Seriously? http://www.transfermarkt.de/jorg-heinrich/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/113/verein/16 Mesut Ozil - before his prime, and well well out of position. Werder Bremen's Ozil played either RW or AM, and lacks the physical attributes to actually be a CAM in against our midfield. di Maria - Not as bad as the rest because I actually think he's good at RW, but it's undeniable that his best season in Real Madrid and his best performances for Argentina came from LCM. Stankovic - AM, not a box 2 box. He does have the work rate for this role, but it's just not the role he excelled in.
It's much easier to top the goals/assist lists when you're playing for Spanish giants, especially when you're playing with one of the best finishers in the history of football. Despite the stats, which are awesome, of course, he was inconsistent on the wing - absolutely unplayable at his best (look at the video that I provided earlier, for example, 3 assists and a goal against the world champions) but sometimes anonymous. It was the move to the central midfield that made him a genuine contender for the 3rd best player in the world place.
I fully agree with you: ADM is not Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, he was successful with Benfica, with Manchester United at the beginning and with PSG now... not to mention his good WC in 2014 (injured for the final).
He was awesome at times on the right too, but inconsistent - his best spell was definitely in a LCM supporting role that Ancelotti created specially for him.
Here he's playing as a right winger at his peak level though
Tbf, that was a friendly game against Germany with a hangover after won the WC. Although that's the game that I thought AdM would 'turn it around' for us.
Yes, Downcast has some brilliant players going forward and it's team's quality upfront is unquestionable, but they are facing CL winners Carvajal Abidal & Walter Samuel with the magnificent Thiago Silva. On the other side, Robinho-Muller-Eto'o which is as good is facing a LM, Julio Cesar(which is a Brazilian CB who shone in a generation of poor Brazilian CBs), Matterazzi the loose cannon and Maicon who is much more offensive than defensive. Which attack is more fit to score against their respective opponents? And moreover, which midfield is more likely to create the chances to it's attack? Both questions must be Team MJJ/VivaJ
And come on, whole this propaganda against Sneijder is a bit over the top. We're talking about a player who was named 4th in the Ballon D'or, lead Inter to a treble, and was the main creative point for both Inter and Netherlands for years. No midfielder in Team Downcast was ever close to his peak. Ozil is miles away in his Werder Bremen version, Stankovic was good but not nearly enough as good in passing and shooting, or Yaya Toure who was kicked out of Barcelona for not being good enough, right after losing to Sneijder's Inter in the CL.
And lets not forget the threat he brings for set pieces.
He played as an attacking midfielder, who could also play out wide on the wings, or track back in a defensive midfield role. A tenacious and hard-working player, "Deki", as he is nicknamed, was best known for his efficient, accurate passing, versatility and creativity, as well as his ability to score goals from long distance;[2][3][4] he was also effective in the air,[4] and known for his influence on the pitch - WIKI
He is versatile because he started his career at the age of 17 as an offensive midfielder and many years later used to play as a versatile player who work hard for the team. Stankovic is not Gattuso because he is multi-skilled.
vs
. With Sneijder and Pep in midfield, two of the best passers in this draft who are facing an ageing Viera&before their primes Ozil-Yaya Toure, I believe there would be plenty of through balls for our front three.
