If Villa is playing as far as wide as Srna on the pitch then you've already solved half the issue for us.
Simple question though - who is assigned to pick Totti here, both when he's up front and when he drops deep?
Surveillance Draft - R1- Aldo/Prath vs PatBepo
- Thread starter Physiocrat
- Start date
Simple question though - who is assigned to pick Totti here, both when he's up front and when he drops deep?
Like I said I've watched him all his career, he's someone I've always enjoyed watching and respect a lot so it's not a case of me underrating him. The 'some reason' was that he was a level or two below the required standards at the top clubs and there's nothing more to it, quite simply.
And he's a cut below what he's up against here, it isn't even a debate as far as I'm concerned. We aren't just talking of random midfielders who happened to play at top clubs - Boban is in the AC Milan hall of fame and was one of their most important players during his highly successful spell there, similarly Sousa was at the heart of two back to back Champions League wins for Dortmund and Juventus. Both played in the Serie A when it was at it's toughest and littered with class midfielders and came out on top.
We have a pretty huge advantage in midfield as things stand and the quality of those players on the ball, the attack won't have any lack of quality service and it would be a matter of time before the deadlock is broken.
Will leave Pat that part but yeah, one of our strongest parts in the team....partnership of Villa and Larsson(just watch CL final against Arsenal where Larsson opened space with his movement for others and assisted for both goals IIRC) and ideal fit for Figo when you take in mind his qualities in the air.
Villa is playing as an inside left forward, he will exploit the space between Srna and Vidic so yeah, Srna is very much crucial in stopping him.
Plan would be to mark zonally so we dont have a strict marker on Totti, there will always be one of the midfielders in the DM spot so both Boli and Ferrara will get help in those zones.
We will have to agree to disagree on that one.
His aerial ability with Figo's delivery is definitely a great weapon to have in your Arsenal.
Fortunately for us we have two centre backs who are elite in the air in Vidic and Hierro as well as a defensive nut like Montero who will be cutting Figo's service with that job assigned to him. Aerial threat isn't something that bothers us.
As someone who hasn't voted in the drafts before, what is the etiquette? Is it within the rules to ask a question to one of the managers, type out an observation, or is it solely between the two teams in the draft to formulate the hypothetical scenarios?
Will do mate. I just got home and I need food badly but I'll get on it soon. I love the guy
Still, there are a finite number of players there. With the ball we will have Boban advancing from the CM position and combing with Deco and Totti constantly interchanging between the lines. You are likely to be outnumbered in that area especially with your CBs having to deal with Rivaldo making in-roads from the left. You needed a Mascherano-esque DM who would easily switch between the roles and cover the danger zones efficiently. You protection against my midfield is solid, sure, even though Redondo is massively being overworked there but beyond that with Rivaldo attacking the box Totti will have a rather free reign without having anyone designated to stop him nor the style of your DMs being helpful in that regard. It's a pretty big game changer.
More than Vidic?I love the guy
You're welcome to participate, mate.
You can do all of those and then some. Feel free to provide your views on this matchup. I promise you, we won't bite...much.
@Aldo
Changed OP line-up and added player roles. Sorry I forgot the latter they came in a separate message.
Changed OP line-up and added player roles. Sorry I forgot the latter they came in a separate message.
The plan would be that Larsson targets Hierro in aerial duels because Vidic was an absolute monster on that we agree. Against Hierro i wouldnt bet against Larsson thats for sure.
As for midfield issue, Gazza was fantastic defensively(for an attacking midfielder) so he will help out as well. In all times we will have someone as pure DM to limit the space between the zones and two in front as the midfield three.
It's not like it's not in our control on who to mark Larsson with. He's a great aerial threat and we will have our best aerial defender mark him - that is Vidic.
I don't see Rivaldo as an ideal fit in a false 9 system at all. He's got it in his locker to stretch defences with his off the ball runs, but it wasn't the prominent feature of his game at all. He'll be looking to get on the ball in deeper areas much like Totti will. Ljungberg on the other wing is a good tactical fit for the system but hardly the most likely match winner at this level, particularly not against a higher calibre of player in Cole.
We had plenty of options for a destroyer in midfield but it's just not what we were looking to build, and its a strange criticism given the composition of your midfield. I don't see any of them having anywhere close to the athleticism or ball-winning abilities required to stop Gazza running through them.
Aldo said:
Well I'm sold.
No really I am. See votes.
That's pretty much what Sousa did, played as a defensive midfielder.
Our midfielders also have larger bodies of work than Gazza who honestly is a what would have been than someone who actually delivered on the biggest stage like Sousa, Boban and Deco - all of whom have been central to some of the most important moments in the history of clubs such as Juventus, AC Milan, Barcelona and Dortmund.
I'd have to disagree. The Rivaldo at his first 4 odd years at Barcelona is an ideal fit there. His biggest moments came in the final third and he wasn't someone who would constantly drop as deep as midfield to start attacks and having someone like Totti there to control the flow of attacks and play him constantly behind your defense would only let him focus on his work in the final third.
Ask away. Question any player's ability, fit to role they are deployed, how they'll fare against said opposition....it's open season. Once you made a decision, make an observation on why you're voting for the said manager...and then let them try to convince you otherwise.
There's some outstanding creativity in our team which I cannot see being stopped here.
Deco was the main midfield force under Jose for Porto. He won best midfielder of the year that season and was MOTM in the final.
Totti had most assists in 2006 World Cup when Italy won.
Rivaldo won silver boot in 2002 WC and ballon d'or in 1999. He was a prolific scorer all round and will be deadly with the kind of service to play off.
Indeed. He's better off with a different type of partner. Especially with Totti in mind.
Anyone else feels Boban and Deco should be swapped?
@Aldo can you put some light on this:
Deco indeed was more of an advanced midfield in Barca with Xavi in deeper role but Boban was more of an advanced midfielder himself usually. I can't agree with Boban's description. He was ether AM with Desailly in DM role or RM in the 4-4-2 employed by Capello.
Knowing both I think Deco will be more suited to the deeper playmaking role while Boban with the more advanced one.
Alright! Going to type out some observations.
The flank with Figo and Montero is really interesting. A prime Figo is a good a winger as any, and I can't see Rivaldo helping Montero much defensively - Sousa will have to do a lot of work down that flank, potentially opening up some space in the middle for Gascoigne. The same can be said for the opposite flank with Cole not getting much help from Villa, but I don't think Ljungberg was quite as good as Figo, which leads me to my next observation.
Tugay sticks out a bit in the midfield battle. Although a good player in his day I think he comes up slightly short of the players he has to contend with here. Together with Totti's ability to drop deep, I think a pretty clear possession advantage will be to Aldo/Prath, which isn't inherently a bad thing as that might give Figo 1v1 situations against Montero, which with Larsson's and Villa's clever movement might become problematic to defend for Vidic and Hierro. As a side note even though Larsson is good in the air I don't think he'll have much fortune there in this match up as Vidic and Hierro are at least equally as good - Figo has to keep his crosses low.
If Team Aldo/Prath has the possession advantage and Team PatBepo defends deep Lloris has to use every bit of his great shot stopping. There might not be much space in the box for them, but Team Aldo has at least three players good at long range efforts (Rivaldo, Deco, Totti), and being comfortable in possession I think they'll get at least a few chances to find space in front of the opposition box to shoot from.
This is a close one for me due to how highly I rate Figo in 1v1 situations. If he gets injured (they can get injured right?) I think Team PatBepo will have a difficult time getting much out of the game. Really fun match up with two good teams.
Of course, larsson won't win every duel in the air, but if figo crosses it 10 times larsson gets in front of/above Vidic and hierro at least twice. He was phenomenal in the air
He was similar in style to Carrick. He was assiduous and smart, but he's nowhere near the calibre of ball-winner that you'd want to slow down Gazza, nor does he have the pace or power to keep up with him.
Welcome to the draft, great to see new faces in comments and not just in votes
Player by player Tugay maybe is the weakest player in there but football doesnt work like that and surely he difference isnt that big, well at least not in my opinion. Tugay is the perfect tactical fit for Redondo(even though Aldo disagrees) who is btw comfortably the best midfielder on the pitch and when you take in mind which type of player he is the possession battle is not that clear. Best game controller on the park, perfect casting crew around him helped by Figo who was fantastic in possession, Villa who played in most dominant possession based team in history and two fullbacks that are very good in possession. Oh and just like you it seems that i forgot to mention Gazza. Absolute beast of a player at his peak, was making tons of problems for Rijkaard, Baresi and co. everytime they meet so im pretty confident he would have a big impact in this game where i dont see who can much him in terms of athleticism, drive and energy.
Back on possession battle, lets say that we lose the possession battle we still have a good crew for the counter-attack, Gazza and Figo would be unstoppable on the break.
Player by player Tugay maybe is the weakest player in there but football doesnt work like that and surely he difference isnt that big, well at least not in my opinion. Tugay is the perfect tactical fit for Redondo(even though Aldo disagrees) who is btw comfortably the best midfielder on the pitch and when you take in mind which type of player he is the possession battle is not that clear. Best game controller on the park, perfect casting crew around him helped by Figo who was fantastic in possession, Villa who played in most dominant possession based team in history and two fullbacks that are very good in possession. Oh and just like you it seems that i forgot to mention Gazza. Absolute beast of a player at his peak, was making tons of problems for Rijkaard, Baresi and co. everytime they meet so im pretty confident he would have a big impact in this game where i dont see who can much him in terms of athleticism, drive and energy.
Back on possession battle, lets say that we lose the possession battle we still have a good crew for the counter-attack, Gazza and Figo would be unstoppable on the break.
Interesting debate on the midfields. On the upside they both look very fluent in possession. If I'm being hyper-critical, they both look a bit passive off the ball. Therefore I can see Gazza having a good game, because I don't see anyone really capable of getting to grips when he starts shimmying forward. Nice to see Tugay get a pick, I don't think he would have looked out of place in many midfields much better than Blackburn's. That said, the likes of Barry Ferguson and Gio Van Bronckhorst were well ahead of him on my shortlist, in the same way they were for Advocaat's Rangers. He fits quite well here, albeit Rivaldo could cause some issues when dropping deep. Both attacks are strong and well constructed. I've got a fundamental concern with the lack of pace, individually and collectively for AldoPrath, but it depends on the consistency of service as to whether it gets exploited.
Welcome to the draft, great to see new faces in comments and not just in votes
Back on possession battle, lets say that we lose the possession battle we still have a good crew for the counter-attack, Gazza and Figo would be unstoppable on the break.
Aye, I only mentioned Gascoigne briefly, in combination with Sousa having to help Montero against Figo. Really think Figo will be a key figure in the game. I've run out of posts for the day so won't be able to reply to more comments. Well drafted and good luck!
Just to zero in on this is as your argument against Tugay and in favour of your own collection of midfielders seems to mostly revolve around the clubs they played for. Of Boban's 4 Scudetto-winning seasons, he played in 13, 20, 13 and 27 league games in those seasons respectively. He was peripheral to several of those campaigns, partly because he was unlucky wih injuries but also because he often just didn't make the team IIRC. He was hardly the driving force behind Milan's successes for much of the time he spent there. And lets not forget that Tugay was key to Turkey achieving third place in a World Cup too.
Less of that on here please.
Yes, me too. Completely sold, actually.
Last edited:
Re: injuries
Here's the thing: I enter the match thread after a few points have been discussed (important ones, I'd say), I look at the teams, read the OPs, get a fairly clear idea about how this will play out - and then I vote.
As do close to 30 others. How many of those people will come back to check whether anyone's been injured, and then to assess whether said injuries will impact the match to a degree which makes it necessary to change the vote? Dunno. But I probably won't myself - got a pretty busy schedule ahead of me. So - yeah. We'll see how it all turns out but at first glance it looks like the system requires people to a) keep checking back or b) wait until the injuries have been announced before voting. The former isn't practicable in many cases, and the latter simply won't happen (as evidenced by the number of votes already cast).
Here's the thing: I enter the match thread after a few points have been discussed (important ones, I'd say), I look at the teams, read the OPs, get a fairly clear idea about how this will play out - and then I vote.
As do close to 30 others. How many of those people will come back to check whether anyone's been injured, and then to assess whether said injuries will impact the match to a degree which makes it necessary to change the vote? Dunno. But I probably won't myself - got a pretty busy schedule ahead of me. So - yeah. We'll see how it all turns out but at first glance it looks like the system requires people to a) keep checking back or b) wait until the injuries have been announced before voting. The former isn't practicable in many cases, and the latter simply won't happen (as evidenced by the number of votes already cast).
I didn't think you'd like that. Just to cleanse your eyes:
Better. I was there that day - have to say that Tugay's touch up close was highly impressive. Technically he was in the top handful of midfielders in the UK at that time, although he obviously fell short of some of the big-hitters in terms of his physical capacities.
It is a concern. I'm happy to see how it pans out in this draft, but I'm uncinvinced that it will a keeper.
Some amount of votes in the games so far, good to see
I kind of expected that. I do think the first line-up is the most important anyway. The injuries were only intended to mix it up for the managers and those who can actually keep up.
A possible alternative would be to do the injuries before the match and publish three different line-ups per side in the OP, or similar, to have all the info out early. It would though reduce the surprise and momentum changes it can bring.
Note also injured players are injured for the next round so it also has an effect on reinforcements
I'm very pleased with that too. We haven't had this many votes for a while