Raees/Invi vs Onenil/Anders - Tactical Draft

[antohan]

So... why Crespo? He definitely wasn't fast. And about 90% of his goals came from crosses (even most of his incredible volleys). How is he maximizing Bergkamp's passing ability? Since that quote leaves me with the impression that Bergkamp would like someone like Henry as his partner.

Crespo will be a good fit for him, of course, but if you're arguing that he'll play Henry-esque role and will mostly try to be on the end of Bergkamp's through-balls, I don't know. I don't see it.

In fairness, he was quite nippy and had a good burst of pace, further aided by positioning himself very well to play off the shoulder. He did eventually bulk up and get more similar to Batistuta.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Isn't that the inherent flaw in the format, though? The likes of Pirès and Ljungberg are very easy to replicate, et voilà! You have a replication of Arsenal with little effort or invention - plus, you know Bergkamp will provide elegant through-balls, so you put a relatively mobile 9 ahead of him. Quite formulaic, by and large. Contrast that with Law - how do you make someone like him shine, really, and how do you quantify how shiny he's going to be? He was at his BEST as an inside forward or secondary striker who would prowl on the edge of the box - going both ways, and that's what he is here.

GK 1 David Gaskell
RB 2 Tony Dunne
LB 3 Noel Cantwell (c)
RH 4 Pat Crerand
CH 5 Bill Foulkes
LH 6 Maurice Setters
OR 7 Johnny Giles
IR 8 Albert Quixall
CF 9 David Herd
IL 10 Denis Law
OL 11 Bobby Charlton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_FA_Cup_Final

Instead of outside left and right, we are using wingbacks (emulating Charlton or Best would result in a watered down pastiche in this pool) and giving Law unlimited freedom to do whatever he desires on offense - whether he wants to drop, or go wide or head straight for the box. On top of that, part of Ceulemans' remit is to pull markers off Law apart from being economical in possession, as opposed to a standard 10 in the classic sense who will hog the ball and be an impediment to Law on the counter by controlling more of the ball than he needs to.

I see what you mean about a straight remake being the path of least resistance, but to be fair to Onenil/Anders I don't think that's really the case here - theirs is more an amalgam of various Bergkamp teams.

I always enjoy reading the rationale behind your teams and your take on various players, but in this case I don't think the back 5 was optimal for Law. A wee bit more playmaking and control in midfield makes sense to me. It doesn't really need to be a languid No. 10 either, but someone in the mould of Modric (who Anto mentioned), or my man Johnny Giles if they hadn't overlapped by a season.