Nostalgia Draft - Winner - Isotope

Surprised tugay didnt get picked, id pick him for sure if i didnt have my midfield safe from injury.
 
I love picking the players and seem to have a good memory. I'm not that great at the rest of the game though so that's my downfall :lol:
 
No, but he was shite
By the way @Enigma_87 I was sort of joking here. I followed Barca very closely in the 90s, loved the rollercoaster their games were, typically about outscoring the opposition... and the problem with that is it really leaves goalkeepers exposed. Definitely competent but never felt he was particularly special either, a recurring thing with Barca keepers if you ask me.
 
General consensus ? He is an idol at Porto and one for the highlights reels in terms of shot stopping ability. Did his resume crash based on his Barca stint alone?
Sorry, hadn't seen this. Read above. No idea re others, that's just my take up there.
 
General consensus ? He is an idol at Porto and one for the highlights reels in terms of shot stopping ability. Did his resume crash based on his Barca stint alone?

I think Vitor Baia was a very good keeper. Early 00s. He won a few awards and was part of that Porto squad.

Good international career too.
 
He'd be a good fit in a modern possession based side. Imo. One of those players who you need to build around, but not being a GOAT, nobody does.

Yeah agreed. He was more a DLP than a 10 for me but you need to have the right players around him for it to work.

Interesting character though and did try his hand in Europe for a period although got a mixed reception and seemingly struggled at times with the pace of the game.
 
I really wanted to find a place for Stankovic, Valeron, Caminero and Klinsmann.

Roy Makaay was also absolutely prolific but stained a little internationally.
 
By the way @Enigma_87 I was sort of joking here. I followed Barca very closely in the 90s, loved the rollercoaster their games were, typically about outscoring the opposition... and the problem with that is it really leaves goalkeepers exposed. Definitely competent but never felt he was particularly special either, a recurring thing with Barca keepers if you ask me.

Yeah I guess same feeling is shared towards Valdes. Although to me Baia looked better than Valdes and their best keeper since Zubi.
I think Vitor Baia was a very good keeper. Early 00s. He won a few awards and was part of that Porto squad.

Good international career too.
aye, he fits also the modern GK type as he was good with ball in his feet. He and Ricardo were pretty good keepers for Portugal and often underrated.

I'd have picked Klinsmann if I didn't have to pick a keeper. Had an eye on him ever since Bebeto went and IMO had a great 3 year peak at the beginning of the period that was worth the selection.
 
Some other decent GKs

Marcos
Dida
Ceni (130 goals!)
Baia
Songo'o
Frey
You forgot the butt of all jokes about goalscoring keepers:

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Injuries for game 1:

Everybody's 7th round player will be injured.
 
Jugovic was perfect for this draft in many ways. Had to prioritize Bananaman over him for tactical reasons.

Ruben Sosa was a standout and pretty much one of the top LWFs of this draft in my list. Surprised at Kanchelskis, Vialli and Klinsmann in particular missing out. Came this close to picking the latter but preferred Ravanelli in the end as he was a better fit despite being an inferior player. Camoranesi could have been a decent sub and was my back up to Bananaman. Had Pepe as someone who I thought would have been picked for sure.
 
Jugovic was perfect for this draft in many ways. Had to prioritize Bananaman over him for tactical reasons.

Ruben Sosa was a standout and pretty much one of the top LWFs of this draft in my list. Surprised at Kanchelskis, Vialli and Klinsmann in particular missing out. Came this close to picking the latter but preferred Ravanelli in the end as he was a better fit despite being an inferior player. Camoranesi could have been a decent sub and was my back up to Bananaman. Had Pepe as someone who I thought would have been picked for sure.

What you make of my list of those who didn't make the grade?
 
Well, from my scant not particularly exhaustive shortlist of 16 players per position this was all that was left:

GK: Vitor Baia, Marchegiani
SW/CB: Onopko, Naybet, Nadal (had Pique but was never going to pick him)
FB: Srna
CM: Lampard, Baraja, Petit, Emerson
AM: Juninho, Sneijder (had Recoba and Valerón as options that may get picked but I wasn't going to)
Wide: Ginola, Kili González, Joaquín, Kanchelskis (didn't work much on it as it was out of the window once I landed in the middle)
Second striker/forward: Le Tissier, Francescoli, Ortega, Piojo López, Yorke, Edmundo
Striker: Klinsmann, Klose, Vialli, Salas, Zamorano, Owen, Torres (I had a lot more than 16 as it was all contingent on style, partners, build up, etc)

In bold the ones that were in the mix throughout as Plan B options.

Gutted not to have picked Le Tissier. I lived in Southampton for a while and have been to The Dell to watch him more times than I actually made it to OT! He just doesn't fit at all with the hustle and bustle I'm going for.

Gutted Enzo didn't get picked at all, what he did at River in the mid-90s was very much up there with the rest.

One of those two would have likely been my 16th luxury and unnecessary pick.

Edit: José Mari Bakero as well, but peak was somewhat on the wrong side of the cut off

Edit #2: Ah, feck, Raúl injured. Can I take @TheReligion challenge and swap Córdoba for Enzo? The only reason he remotely made sense was to make him partner Crespo if Raúl got injured :lol:
 
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Well, from my scant not particularly exhaustive shortlist of 16 players per position this was all that was left:

GK: Vitor Baia, Marchegiani
SW/CB: Onopko, Naybet, Nadal (had Pique but was never going to pick him)
FB: Srna
CM: Lampard, Petit, Emerson
AM: Juninho, Sneijder (had Recoba and Valerón as options that may get picked but I wasn't going to)
Wide: Ginola, Kili González, Joaquín, Kanchelskis (didn't work much on it as it was out of the window once I landed in the middle)
Second striker/forward: Le Tissier, Francescoli, Ortega, Piojo López, Yorke, Edmundo
Striker: Klinsmann, Klose, Vialli, Salas, Zamorano, Owen, Torres (I had a lot more than 16 as it was all contingent on style, partners, build up, etc)

In bold the ones that were in the mix throughout as Plan B options.

Gutted not to have picked Le Tissier. I lived in Southampton for a while and have been to The Dell to watch him more times than I actually made it to OT! He just doesn't fit at all with the hustle and bustle I'm going for.

Gutted Enzo didn't get picked at all, what he did at River in the mid-90s was very much up there with the rest.

One of those two would have likely been my 16th luxury and unnecessary pick.

Good list.

Marchegiani was a good shout and I loved Ortega but I remember picking him on here a while ago and he wasn't well received.

Which Juninho though...? Pernabucano was a sleeper I think and quite versatile.
 
What you make of my list of those who didn't make the grade?

It's a good list, some great shouts and favourites there. Valeron, Makaay Klinsmann etc. A lot of the 2000s la liga players (esp the ones from Cuper's & Benitez's Valencia) were unlucky to miss out - Baraja, Kily Gonzalez, Albelda, C. Lopez etc
 
Jugovic was perfect for this draft in many ways. Had to prioritize Bananaman over him for tactical reasons.

Ruben Sosa was a standout and pretty much one of the top LWFs of this draft in my list. Surprised at Kanchelskis, Vialli and Klinsmann in particular missing out. Came this close to picking the latter but preferred Ravanelli in the end as he was a better fit despite being an inferior player. Camoranesi could have been a decent sub and was my back up to Bananaman. Had Pepe as someone who I thought would have been picked for sure.

I thought of Jugovic, he is an odd one though in that most times I've seen him in a draft nobody seems to pay any attention to him, what he may be doing or what he contributes. He is just there filling a spot. Agree he was a very handy option to slot into any midfield.

Sosa I didn't even consider, his peak was 88-92, bang before the start of the period.
 
Good list.

Marchegiani was a good shout and I loved Ortega but I remember picking him on here a while ago and he wasn't well received.

Which Juninho though...? Pernabucano was a sleeper I think and quite versatile.
Ortega was sensational until he completely lost the plot far too early in his career. Way too many of those really and it's hard to tell sometimes if you aren't projecting what may have been, as some often say about Ronaldo Fenómeno himself. On the ball, he kept you on the edge of your seat though, that's for sure.

Juninho I mean Paulista, was more a backup of the (picked) backups if Balakov didn't come through.

Had Baraja as well, didn't list him as for some reason I thought he had been picked.