Team Pat
Sir Alex Ferguson:
Another game and another formation. Raul reprises his mid-late 90s role as the deepest player in an attacking trident. Personally this version of Raul is the one I've enjoyed watching most whilst researching him,as he dropped deeper and showcased his passing, ball-carrying and underrated workrate.
Defence: High-ish defensive line, dropping off if the initial press fails. Boateng will tend to attack the first ball, with Koeman sweeping up behind him. Koeman to orchestrate the transitions when possible, either finding the front men or wingers early or else opting for the slower build up.
Midfield: Haan anchors, with Giles and Hassler flanking him. Raul at the tip of the diamond/base of the attack, will play a big part in building our attacks and can be relied on to put in the graft out of possession too.
Attack: Raul plays in a familiar attacking structure here, reminiscent of the Raul/Mijatovic/Suker, Raul/Mijatovic/Morientes and Raul/Morientes/Anelka trios he featured in at Real. Careca comes back in as the 'reference point' at centre forward, with his movement and intelligent, muscular hold up play making him a fine fit for the role. Jupp Heynckes comes in alongside him. Proficent across the entire forward line, the fast and prolific Heynckes will rove across the width of the pitch to search for space and stretch the defence. Raul is the deepest of the trio, and he'll play a big role in our build ups, while capitalising on the movement and link up play of Careca and Heynckes to find scoring opportunities in and around the penalty area.
It's a narrow-ish attacking structure on paper, just like the great Raul/Mijatovic/Suker trio, but there's plenty of options for providing the requisite width. Heynckes was outstanding on either flank as a wide attacker, and Giles and Hassler both played as wingers during their careers. Moreover, we have two of the outstanding attacking full backs in the pool in Cabrini and Beszonov to provide consistent outlets on the flanks.
Team Skizzo
Style - direct
Central Player - Gianni Rivera
The 1969 Balon D'or was awarded to Rivera after his outstanding performances in the European Cup, in which he led Milan to the final, and a dominant win over Cruyff's Ajax team. His performance in that final is considered one of his greatest, most dominant performances, playing in the number 10 role, and assisting in 2 of his team's goals in that final.
In that final, Milan were set up in the same manner we have here, with a sweeper stopper combination (Tresor-Vidic to Malatrasi-Rosato), a midfield two behind Rivera who are able to allow him to concentrate on the offensive side of the game by doing the "dirty work" for him, and also offer outlets for his passing (Clodoaldo-Jansen to Lodetti-Trapattoni), flanked by two wingers who would offer a balance of stretch the play with genuine wing threat, and also cutting inside to offer a direct goalscoring threat (Gadocha-Lato to Hamrin-Pratti) and a striker who could lead the line with his physical play, but also his capability to take part in the build up play with his passing (Van Persie to Sormani).
Defence - Stopper with a covering defender. With the ball, Tresor will look to play it out from the back, or use Amoros/Bossis to bring it forward when available. Vidic comes in for the stopper role.
Midfield - Jansen and Clodoaldo will look to win the ball back quickly, doing their usual defensive job in front of the defense. When they have the ball, they will look to quickly play it into Rivera who will dictate the play and use the space available created by the movement around him. Clodoaldo will tend to hold his position a little more, Jansen will look to drift when in possession to open space and offer another outlet for Rivera.
Attack - Gadocha will look to offer more of a genuine wide threat, stretching play, and looking to deliver balls into the box. Lato offers the more direct threat, cutting in and making runs in behind for Rivera to pick out. Van Persie will look to get involved in the build up, linking up with Rivera, but offering another runner in behind, playing off the shoulder of the defender at times and using his movement to find space for the vision of Rivera to pick out.
Rivera is obviously the player intended to build around, and we've set him up here in a very similar style which led to him winning the Balon D'or. Everyone around him is tasked with freeing him up, and offering him the best possibly platform to shine and thrive, pulling the strings as he did at his very best.
KEY POINT: As i made mention of in the first round..all key players around Rivera thrived in a set up where they played with a similar central figure. Lato and Gadocha with Deyna, Jansen with Cruyff, Clodoaldo with Pele, Bossis/Tresor/Amoros with Platini, and to lesser extent, RVP with Sneijder. All of them were part of very successful teams and part of a bigger unit which was led by a top-tier central playmaker/figure.
Sir Alex Ferguson:
Fernando Hierro:
Another game and another formation. Raul reprises his mid-late 90s role as the deepest player in an attacking trident. Personally this version of Raul is the one I've enjoyed watching most whilst researching him,as he dropped deeper and showcased his passing, ball-carrying and underrated workrate.
Defence: High-ish defensive line, dropping off if the initial press fails. Boateng will tend to attack the first ball, with Koeman sweeping up behind him. Koeman to orchestrate the transitions when possible, either finding the front men or wingers early or else opting for the slower build up.
Midfield: Haan anchors, with Giles and Hassler flanking him. Raul at the tip of the diamond/base of the attack, will play a big part in building our attacks and can be relied on to put in the graft out of possession too.
Attack: Raul plays in a familiar attacking structure here, reminiscent of the Raul/Mijatovic/Suker, Raul/Mijatovic/Morientes and Raul/Morientes/Anelka trios he featured in at Real. Careca comes back in as the 'reference point' at centre forward, with his movement and intelligent, muscular hold up play making him a fine fit for the role. Jupp Heynckes comes in alongside him. Proficent across the entire forward line, the fast and prolific Heynckes will rove across the width of the pitch to search for space and stretch the defence. Raul is the deepest of the trio, and he'll play a big role in our build ups, while capitalising on the movement and link up play of Careca and Heynckes to find scoring opportunities in and around the penalty area.
It's a narrow-ish attacking structure on paper, just like the great Raul/Mijatovic/Suker trio, but there's plenty of options for providing the requisite width. Heynckes was outstanding on either flank as a wide attacker, and Giles and Hassler both played as wingers during their careers. Moreover, we have two of the outstanding attacking full backs in the pool in Cabrini and Beszonov to provide consistent outlets on the flanks.
Team Skizzo
Style - direct
Central Player - Gianni Rivera
Nero Rocco said:
The 1969 Balon D'or was awarded to Rivera after his outstanding performances in the European Cup, in which he led Milan to the final, and a dominant win over Cruyff's Ajax team. His performance in that final is considered one of his greatest, most dominant performances, playing in the number 10 role, and assisting in 2 of his team's goals in that final.
In that final, Milan were set up in the same manner we have here, with a sweeper stopper combination (Tresor-Vidic to Malatrasi-Rosato), a midfield two behind Rivera who are able to allow him to concentrate on the offensive side of the game by doing the "dirty work" for him, and also offer outlets for his passing (Clodoaldo-Jansen to Lodetti-Trapattoni), flanked by two wingers who would offer a balance of stretch the play with genuine wing threat, and also cutting inside to offer a direct goalscoring threat (Gadocha-Lato to Hamrin-Pratti) and a striker who could lead the line with his physical play, but also his capability to take part in the build up play with his passing (Van Persie to Sormani).
Defence - Stopper with a covering defender. With the ball, Tresor will look to play it out from the back, or use Amoros/Bossis to bring it forward when available. Vidic comes in for the stopper role.
Midfield - Jansen and Clodoaldo will look to win the ball back quickly, doing their usual defensive job in front of the defense. When they have the ball, they will look to quickly play it into Rivera who will dictate the play and use the space available created by the movement around him. Clodoaldo will tend to hold his position a little more, Jansen will look to drift when in possession to open space and offer another outlet for Rivera.
Attack - Gadocha will look to offer more of a genuine wide threat, stretching play, and looking to deliver balls into the box. Lato offers the more direct threat, cutting in and making runs in behind for Rivera to pick out. Van Persie will look to get involved in the build up, linking up with Rivera, but offering another runner in behind, playing off the shoulder of the defender at times and using his movement to find space for the vision of Rivera to pick out.
Rivera is obviously the player intended to build around, and we've set him up here in a very similar style which led to him winning the Balon D'or. Everyone around him is tasked with freeing him up, and offering him the best possibly platform to shine and thrive, pulling the strings as he did at his very best.
KEY POINT: As i made mention of in the first round..all key players around Rivera thrived in a set up where they played with a similar central figure. Lato and Gadocha with Deyna, Jansen with Cruyff, Clodoaldo with Pele, Bossis/Tresor/Amoros with Platini, and to lesser extent, RVP with Sneijder. All of them were part of very successful teams and part of a bigger unit which was led by a top-tier central playmaker/figure.
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