Surveillance Draft - R1 - SkizzAnnah vs Bleezy

[Physiocrat]

SkizzAnnah

“We showed the world you could enjoy being a footballer; you could laugh and have a fantastic time. I represent the era which proved that attractive football was enjoyable and successful, and good fun to play too.” - Cruyff

We will be playing deep defensive line and a risk taking and free flowing direct offense lead by deep-lying playmaker Guardiola.

"In his first week at the club, Johan Cruyff turned up unannounced at the 'Mini Stadium', a venue just down the road from Camp Nou used by the youth and B teams. Just before half-time he wandered into the dug-out and asked Charly Rexach, the youth team manager at the time, the name of the young lad playing on the right side of midfield. 'Guardiola – good lad' came the reply. Cruyff ignored the comment and told Rexach to move him into the middle for the second half, to play as a pivot. It was a difficult position to adapt to and one not used by many teams in Spain at the time. Guardiola adjusted immediately, as Cruyff had suspected he would, and when he moved up into the first-team in 1990 he became the pivot of the Dream Team."

The team is built around Pep Guardiola as a player, (we're not mimicing the dream team by any means), and his unique, careless but utterly mesmirizing way to play football. As a player he was basically the contradiction to his manager self where possession and lowering risk is a big part of his game.

Like for Koeman, The Dream Team's willingness to take risks, saw them excel as footballers. Cruyff's trust in Guardiola and his passing allowed him to establish himself as one of the best deep lying playmakers in history and one of the very best in terms of creative long ranged passing.

"Although he was competent defensively and at pressing opponents to win the ball, due to his slender build he usually functioned as a deep lying playmaker, where he excelled courtesy of his technical ability and intelligent, efficient, precise passing game. Despite his lack of notable pace or physical attributes, Guardiola was highly regarded throughout his career for his vision, close control, passing range, positional sense, and calm composure on the ball, which enabled him to retain possession and either set the tempo of his team's play in midfield with intricate short exchanges,or switch the play or create chances with longer passes"

An important part of his style was his ability to combine long cross field passes with great precise passes on the ground that penetrated several lines of the opponents defense to find the feet of his teammates and here he has close to ideal movement in front of him.

Ronaldinho loved receiving a long ball in to space or receive a ball in space from deeper to then use his dribbling runs and playmaking to lead the attack from out left or in a more central area.

Robben also has great dynamic movement behind the defensive lines or as for Holland to receive a shorter pass to his feet and run straight at the defense. Both of them are fantastic goalscorers with a goalscoring ratio that would be great even for strikers.

"Any young footballer, watch Cavani's movement. The best in the business." Michael Owen
"His movement to get in to space is amazing" - Ian Wright

Bleezy

Attack

Up front we have the deadly goalscoring ability and pace of Fernando Torres, next to the second striker Del Piero. Del Piero is himself a great goalscorer, but also gives creativity and will pull into the 'Del Piero Zone' to create space and opportunities for Torres.

El Payaso

Aimar in behind provides endless creativity, vision and dribbling. Playing in the hole, Aimar will naturally drift out wide to find space to operate and opportunities to create mayhem.

The midfield two

Ballack brings strength, goals, passing and power to the midfield. He'll get forward and provide yet another outlet in attack. Petit holds the team together, incredibly strong and gifted positionally, he'll break up play and also has the technique to start off attacks. He is naturally left footed, providing balance to the side. Also able to play centre back, he'll be able to cover for Sammer when he gets forward in the sweeper role. This midfield will outpower the opposition and control the game.

The Brazilian full backs

Roberto Carlos and Dani Alves are two of the greatest attacking full backs Brazil have produced, and provide true width and attacking flair. Both will get up and down the flank all game long, are experienced in the biggest games in history, and with Ronaldinho and Robben not the types to track back, will have a lot of space to cause damage.

Sammer

Ballon d'Or winner in 96, Sammer takes up his favoured sweeper role. Able to burst forward and provide an extra man in attack, Sammer is also a brilliant defender and alongside the classy Couto and strong, fast and reliable Radebe, will be in his element here.

 

[Physiocrat]

@Skizzo @Annahnomoss @bleezy

 

[green_smiley]

Lizarazu #69

 

[SirScholes]

Quick question for @bleezy do you think with your full backs going forward you'd leave gaps for Robbin and Ronaldinho? Agreed they don't track back but for counter attacks they would be ideally placed.

Just playing devils advocate because at the mo I'm leaning towards your team

 

[Annahnomoss]

I think we do have a tactical advantage considering our wings are our strength and they are up just against Roberto Carlos and Alves, who even with support from a winger aren't the greatest defensively. Lizarazu against Alves would be a great battle alone which the French would most likely win, but with Ronaldinho there as well it would lead to a lot of chances. On the other side Robben and Neville are great defensively and won't give Carlos an inch to work on, while Robben with an overlapping Neville would prove extremely difficult for Carlos to deal with.

Guardiola is the perfect maestro to bypass a midfield battle with penetrating passes and make sure that we expose those wings as many times as possible but also that we can find the space behind them on the counter with a perfect cross field pass.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Lizarazu #69

 

[Annahnomoss]

Quick question for @bleezy do you think with your full backs going forward you'd leave gaps for Robbin and Ronaldinho? Agreed they don't track back but for counter attacks they would be ideally placed.

Just playing devils advocate because at the mo I'm leaning towards your team

Robben does a great job defensively though. Far from a lazy winger like Ronaldinho.

 

[Physiocrat]

Lizarazu #69

For the purposes of injuries he's number 41 just so no-one thinks he's injury immune

 

[Annahnomoss]

This man is unleashed with complete freedom to take risks here, whatever the result would be it'd be one of the most entertaining matches ever. Guardiola with his masterful passing, and on the receiving end is Ronaldinho ready to blast forward.



On the other side we have one of the most consistent performers and dribblers in his peak. Robben has produced so many moments of magics as well while both these wingers were great goalscorers too.

 

[bleezy]

Quick question for @bleezy do you think with your full backs going forward you'd leave gaps for Robbin and Ronaldinho? Agreed they don't track back but for counter attacks they would be ideally placed.

Just playing devils advocate because at the mo I'm leaning towards your team

I think having 3 at the back and Petit covering reduces the risk of that. I don't think the opposition bursting forward will be able to outnumber us, only the 3 attackers and possibly Baraja joining in will mean they won't have a real numbers advantage on the counter. That's not even including Carlos or Alves getting back in time, two players who have built their careers on pace and stamina and getting up and down the flanks,

I think my goal threat will be the difference in this game - I think Gamarra and Miranda are open to be breached by Torres and Del Piero, and the full backs/Aimar/Ballack/Del Piero/Sammer give so many ways to create and attack that I'm confident we'd score up against a defensive opposition.

 

[Annahnomoss]

 

[Annahnomoss]

I think we're better set up to defend against the opponents strength in the central area than they are to coop with our great wings. Considering they have little to no wide threat as we have a two on one advantage there defensively it forces them to become predictable through the middle. Baraja and Simeone were great defensively with their tremendous work rate and ability to win the ball back and they'll have no reason to defend out wide in this game and can instead suffocate the space centrally. Guardiola gives us that tactical and intelligent defensive type who will cut off passing options and always be in the right position as Baraja and Simeone play more aggressive and from front Cavani is a notoriously hard worker for a striker.

Our back four is also lead by Buffon, one of the best defensive players in this draft while Bleezy sports Friedel, and our defense contains both Lizarazu, Gamarra and Gary Neville who were top notch - while Miranda is a great choice for his reliability in a unit. He won't win the game for us with some spectacular performance but he rarely gets exposed even against the greatest players around. How many times have we seen Atletico with a stellar defensive performance with Miranda in the team? Especially surrounded by absolute greats and a Gamarra who is aching to Godin in type.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Skizzannah has built a solid team as usual. Cavani can be considered lightweight compared to rest of the team, but is a good fit. Juicy midfield trio.

Bleezy's team is built for Sammer to shine. He doesn't really have any #10 troubling him so is free to move up and cause a lot of damage on recovery. I think Carlos/Alves tend to get underrated defensively due to their stellar attack, but I think they are perfectly fine in a back 4, more so in a back 5. Torres's pace will cause some concern to the CBs too.

Quite close match. Good teams both!

 

[Annahnomoss]

I think Bleezy has a flawless team bar that Radebe-Couto centre back partnership but I also think we are lucky to face him tactically and with the individual match ups here. Lizarazu alone would probably be an edge for us against Alves, and Ronaldinho will make that an absolute nightmare for Alves. Even if he breaks free from Ronaldinho, which he realistically will several times, he has Lizarazu against him and that would leave Ronaldinho completely free on the counter which would lead to chance after chance here with Guardiola being one of the best options in terms of turning a won ball to a counter attack with just a touch or two.

While Roberto Carlos is up against a unit of Neville and Robben which will make it extremely hard for him to provide anything but width as a tactical pawn, and Carlos isn't the ideal defender in the best of cases - and a one vs two against Robben and Neville just screams danger and potential chances.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Skizzannah has built a solid team as usual. Cavani can be considered lightweight compared to rest of the team, but is a good fit. Juicy midfield trio.

Bleezy's team is built for Sammer to shine. He doesn't really have any #10 troubling him so is free to move up and cause a lot of damage on recovery. I think Carlos/Alves tend to get underrated defensively due to their stellar attack, but I think they are perfectly fine in a back 4, more so in a back 5. Torres's pace will cause some concern to the CBs too.

Quite close match. Good teams both!

Cheers mate! A big part of our defensive tactic is to sit deep and force Sammer, Carlos and Alves further up field as that defense of Couto and Radebe suddenly looks even further away from ideal. Considering the wide areas are well contained already by our winger-full back cominations it means that Simeone and Baraja can focus on the central areas. I really like the intelligence, positioning and lethal counter-attack that Guardiola offers coupled with the ferocious and energetic Baraja and Simeone.

 

[Enigma_87]

two quality teams, but bleezy's just edges it for me at this point. I don't rate Cavani which was the deciding point for me. Elber would've be perfect but I guess he clashes with Lizarazu.

I pretty much like Skizzannah flanks probably the best in the draft but bleezy's central core looks tasty.

Will keep tabs on the thread after the injuries. It's very close match.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Yeah. Can't decide. Let's see if injuries break the deadlock.

 

[Raees]

Both teams have very underwhelming CB pairings when you consider the quality of the attacks they are up against.

Both midfields are fine, but I think Skizzo's is more gritty and can provide better shielding of the defence but Bleezy's has more ability. Tough one to call there.

Carlos/Alves is a brilliant wing back pairing, but they're both reknowned for attacking exploits and seem vulnerable to the quality of wingers they are up against. Alves has form for struggling against Ronaldinho, but the worry is who is going to protect against that if he gets past Alves. On the flip side, if Sammer is on form and can deal with Ronaldinho breaking towards goal.. and Robben is locked off by Carlos, WTH is Cavani going to achieve.. feck all because he isn't good enough to be here tbh.

Bleezy edges it in terms of midfield goal threat too.

 

[bleezy]

I'd say despite Skizzo/Annah trying to flood the midfield, I have enough movement in the side to stretch things. Torres plays in the channels, look at the highlights below and how many of these goals are coming from in between the full back and centre back. Neville was never blessed with pace, and I'd say he's a level above Miranda/Gamarra:



Then there is Del Piero who would drift out to the wing and his famous zone. Aimar could often be found dribbling out wide and creating. Ballack is a massive goal threat, and then there's Sammer running in from deep. I'd be confident in my side stretching even this defensive outfit, and having the movement to create something special.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Both teams have very underwhelming CB pairings when you consider the quality of the attacks they are up against.

Both midfields are fine, but I think Skizzo's is more gritty and can provide better shielding of the defence but Bleezy's has more ability. Tough one to call there.

Carlos/Alves is a brilliant wing back pairing, but they're both reknowned for attacking exploits and seem vulnerable to the quality of wingers they are up against. Alves has form for struggling against Ronaldinho, but the worry is who is going to protect against that if he gets past Alves. On the flip side, if Sammer is on form and can deal with Ronaldinho breaking towards goal.. and Robben is locked off by Carlos, WTH is Cavani going to achieve.. feck all because he isn't good enough to be here tbh.

Bleezy edges it in terms of midfield goal threat too.

With us soaking up the pressure and defending deep, Sammer will push up in his box to box style of play and won't make it back to defend a direct counter. Also it isn't just a matter of Robben against Carlos in a battle of skills, the biggest advantage we have out wide is both Neville and Robben working together against Carlos. Just Robben alone would be able to find his chances when Carlos is too far up attacking, but also beat him in 1 on 1's a couple of times through out a game. But with Neville and Robben working together in the slightly longer attacks, and Carlos being pushed forward on the counter attacks I believe Robben(And Ronaldinho on the other side) will have a lot of influence here running straight towards the centre backs.

Also Cavani obviously isn't great, but he does offer what we need here which is work rate off the ball, incredible movement and runs behind the defense and he's going to be silverplated by Guardiola, Ronaldinho and Robben. Him being a player who tends to score in most games is just a bonus here considering the fact that Ronaldinho and Robben are great goalscorers and match winners at the top level themselves.

 

[harms]

The thing about Cavani - we shouldn't judge him on his PSG performances. He was an absolute beast in Italy, destroying teams single-handedly, I used to watch Napoli just for him. Years as a second fiddle to Ibra broke him. He still has great workrate and movement, but his self-belief, which is very important for a striker, is long gone

 

[Raees]

With us soaking up the pressure and defending deep, Sammer will push up in his box to box style of play and won't make it back to defend a direct counter. Also it isn't just a matter of Robben against Carlos in a battle of skills, the biggest advantage we have out wide is both Neville and Robben working together against Carlos. Just Robben alone would be able to find his chances when Carlos is too far up attacking, but also beat him in 1 on 1's a couple of times through out a game. But with Neville and Robben working together in the slightly longer attacks, and Carlos being pushed forward on the counter attacks I believe Robben(And Ronaldinho on the other side) will have a lot of influence here running straight towards the centre backs.

Also Cavani obviously isn't great, but he does offer what we need here which is work rate off the ball, incredible movement and runs behind the defense and he's going to be silverplated by Guardiola, Ronaldinho and Robben. Him being a player who tends to score in most games is just a bonus here considering the fact that Ronaldinho and Robben are great goalscorers and match winners at the top level themselves.

Voted for you first, but as I went through it in my head.. decided to go with Bleezy. Still in two minds tbh.. Robben and Ronaldinho, just saying it makes me want to vote for you.

 

[Annahnomoss]

The thing about Cavani - we shouldn't judge him on his PSG performances. He was an absolute beast in Italy, destroying teams single-handedly, I used to watch Napoli just for him. Years as a second fiddle to Ibra broke him. He still has great workrate and movement, but his self-belief, which is very important for a striker, is long gone

Yup. And even now he's averaging more than a goal per game in the CL/League this year.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Voted for you first, but as I went through it in my head.. decided to go with Bleezy. Still in two minds tbh.. Robben and Ronaldinho, just saying it makes me want to vote for you.

Won't give up on you then, don't forget about Buffon vs Friedel. Robben and Ronaldinho are mouth watering alone but Lizarazu adds so much to Ronaldinhos game, both in terms of what he adds in the offense with his overlaps and ability to run a wing and let Ronaldinho be anywhere he want - but also being defensively solid and allowing Ronaldinho space on the counter. With the team set up to attack down the wings so Robben and Ronaldinho would be with the ball at their feet on the counter over and over. Also, Baraja and Simeone will love the box to box work and will be a threat offensively as well bursting up and down the pitch.

Here he is playing for Bordeaux where he was maybe their biggest star and carried them all the way past Milan to a final which they lost against Bayern.


Here is another video of him in a more attacking role.

 

[Isotope]

That fullbacks-midfield and wingers are final worthy, imho. Excellent team. Add Messi for Cavani, or CRonaldo to the wing and move Ronaldinho to middle; that attack would look unstoppable.

 

[Annahnomoss]

That fullbacks-midfield and wingers are final worthy, imho. Excellent team.

Happy you like it! Was wondering if we were way off the mark and just liked it ourselves as nobody commented the team in the draft thread. I really like the heart, desire and work rate from the likes of Baraja, Simeone, Lizarazu and Gary Neville(who are all still good in possession) coupled with just a complementary triangle of Guardiola-Ronaldinho-Robben who get to shine as bright as possible. Just a team I'd love to see play and I think it could combine being entertaining while not naively so.

 

[Skizzo]

Lest we forget and take for granted just how good Ronaldinho was...let's remember the man got a standing ovation at the Bernabeu for his performance.



And it hardly mattered who he found in front of him when he had the ball at his feet and the pitch in front of him. With his potential direct opponent making a couple of appearances in here :P



I struggle to see who here would really stop him. Couto - Radebe - Friedel isn't really going to instill the confidence in you to stop prime Ronaldinho, before factoring in Robben, Lizarazu, the movement of Cavani etc. Sammer would be hard pressed to try and cover for everyone.

Not to make them all sound like defensive liabilities, because that obviously isn't the case. But when you've seen Ronaldinho tear apart some of the best defenders, period, you'd need more than that defense to stop him.

 

[Enigma_87]

Yup. And even now he's averaging more than a goal per game in the CL/League this year.

Thing is he gets an enormous number of chances which he fails to convert time and time again. He plays in a dominant PSG side so naturally he'll score a fair few. Of course his positioning and movement in the box should be acknowledged but he's pretty underwhelming choice to spearhead that attack at this point. The flanks however are great so he'll get plenty of service.

 

[Skizzo]

Thing is he gets an enormous number of chances which he fails to convert time and time again. He plays in a dominant PSG side so naturally he'll score a fair few. Of course his positioning and movement in the box should be acknowledged but he's pretty underwhelming choice to spearhead that attack at this point. The flanks however are great so he'll get plenty of service.

That's completely forgetting his time at Napoli when he was, IMO, at his best. Predatory instinct in and around the box, great pace and movement, and the confidence in his ability to finish chances. Not to mention the work rate he puts in as a defender from the front.

Judging him just off his time at PSG when he played second fiddle to THE ZLATAN isn't really a fair judgement of his ability.

Plus with Robben and Ronaldinho pulling the defense apart, full backs overlapping, and service from Guardiola, he'd have chances here and he's still a finisher on his day.

 

[Skizzo]

Let's just consider Roberto Carlos pushing up here as well...if he's out of position, who plans on stopping Robben when he's tearing down the other side?



There's nobody in that defence who I'd back to stop Robben bursting through if Robbie C is ever out of position. As i said above, Sammer will have his hands full trying to influence the midfield battle, as well as trying to cover defensively for our trio.

 

[Enigma_87]

That's completely forgetting his time at Napoli when he was, IMO, at his best. Predatory instinct in and around the box, great pace and movement, and the confidence in his ability to finish chances. Not to mention the work rate he puts in as a defender from the front.

Judging him just off his time at PSG when he played second fiddle to THE ZLATAN isn't really a fair judgement of his ability.

Plus with Robben and Ronaldinho pulling the defense apart, full backs overlapping, and service from Guardiola, he'd have chances here and he's still a finisher on his day.

I think he averaged even more shots while he was at Napoli than PSG where he was the focal point of attack. He was scoring a fair few more but also missing fair few in the process. It's not like his finishing worsened at PSG, he was just playing a second fiddle to Zlatan.

Robben and Dinho are great wings no doubt. You can't upgrade that in this draft apart from probably Figo on the right.

 

[harms]

I think he averaged even more shots while he was at Napoli than PSG where he was the focal point of attack. He was scoring a fair few more but also missing fair few in the process. It's not like his finishing worsened at PSG, he was just playing a second fiddle to Zlatan.

Cristiano also has a bad % of converting his chances, will you use it as his criticism? Playing for a dominating Madrid side. What matters in the end is how many did you score - and the best players will get into the scoring positions more often.

 

[Ecstatic]

The thing about Cavani - we shouldn't judge him on his PSG performances. He was an absolute beast in Italy, destroying teams single-handedly, I used to watch Napoli just for him. Years as a second fiddle to Ibra broke him. He still has great workrate and movement, but his self-belief, which is very important for a striker, is long gone

His self-belief is back this season. Cavani is an interesting case. He tends to be subject to harsh comments and is generally blamed for his lack of efficiency.

With Napoli playing in counter-attack, you know he had impressive stats and was the best top scorer of the Serie A in 2013. Then, he joined PSG but had to play on the wing: despite his limited technical skills, his stats were decent. Season 16/17: 1st season with PSG as a #9: 20 goals in 20 games with PSG (including 6 goals in 6 games in Champions League) + 5 goals in 5 gams with Uruguay. In terms of stats, he's simply the #1 this season in Europe.

And you know the high number of chances he misses. Cavani is still a reliable striker in terms of physical impact (a beast, hard pressing), aerial play and stats.

On the other hand, his technical/passing skills are pretty disappointing. He's an instinctive player whose end product is poor if the number of consecutive touches on the ball is superior to 2.

I like to say he isn't born to play football but to score

What does @antohan think of Cavani here?

 

[Skizzo]

It needs to be kept in mind too that we're playing a deep defensive line to limit the ability of the opposition to get in behind. Torres was a handful with his pace and movement in between the defenders (insert post about Torres vs Vidic or something) and we're set up to defend against that by picking two defenders who thrived in setting up a defensive wall and holding firm.


GAMARRA

One of the most well respected South American defenders, he was included in the 1998 World Cup team of the tournament for his performances. His performances in the 98 World Cup should be regarded as one of the best defensive performances on display. At his absolute best, he was a real defender. Hardly ever caught out, and very clean in the tackle.



MIRANDA

Came to prominence playing in the Atletico defence famed on its watertight efficiency. Playing alongside another leader in Gamarra, he's comfortable making tackles with his back to goal, and able to be comfortable enough on the ball to find a teammate after he wins it.



And both of them backed up by arguably one of the best Keepers of all time, and probably one of the top two in the draft.

GIGI BUFFON

What really needs to be said about him?

 

[bleezy]

Good movement Cavani might have, but how many opportunities will he get? The defence is pushed deep to stop Torres and the midfield won't be much higher as they try to squeeze out Aimar, Ballack and Del Piero. Ceding possession will limit the opportunities to feed Cavani, and to a lesser extent Ronaldinho. From what I can gather from the OP, the game plan is firmly for Guardiola to try a long diagonal to Ronaldinho/Robben. I think they'd both do better with dynamic players up and supporting them, rather than relying on long balls from a deep midfield that won't have much of the ball.

 

[Skizzo]

I think he averaged even more shots while he was at Napoli than PSG where he was the focal point of attack. He was scoring a fair few more but also missing fair few in the process. It's not like his finishing worsened at PSG, he was just playing a second fiddle to Zlatan.

Robben and Dinho are great wings no doubt. You can't upgrade that in this draft apart from probably Figo on the right.

The man scores goals that gets even ZLATAN off his feet applauding

 

[Enigma_87]

Cristiano also has a bad % of converting his chances, will you use it as his criticism? Playing for a dominating Madrid side. What matters in the end is how many did you score - and the best players will get into the scoring positions more often.

It's apple and oranges a bit as there is gulf in quality between both of them. Even at Napoli I found him as frustrating as at PSG. He'd score a hattrick against Lazio or Roma and then go missing in the next 6 games or keep fluffing chances. Whenever I watch him even in games where he scores he's always a bit underwhelming. I agree tho with Napoli and all self believe he was the better player.

Here he's the main goalscoring source and while he'll get in goalscoring positions and even score I can see bleezy having converting more with his attacking unit.

Still incredibly close of course and both sides look excellently set up.

 

[Skizzo]

Good movement Cavani might have, but how many opportunities will he get? The defence is pushed deep to stop Torres and the midfield won't be much higher as they try to squeeze out Aimar, Ballack and Del Piero. Ceding possession will limit the opportunities to feed Cavani, and to a lesser extent Ronaldinho. From what I can gather from the OP, the game plan is firmly for Guardiola to try a long diagonal to Ronaldinho/Robben. I think they'd both do better with dynamic players up and supporting them, rather than relying on long balls from a deep midfield that won't have much of the ball.

Ceding some possession doesn't mean we'll suddenly have one or two chances a game. It seems to get confused that because we willingly let you have possession away from goal that we'll never see the ball all game. We have plenty of players capable of holding it and knocking it around, but it plays to our strengths to get Ronaldinho, Robben etc forward quickly, and limits your advantage of the pace of Torres in behind. Guardiola playing quick balls forward to Ronaldinho is an option, as is players carrying the ball from deeper (see Lizarazu, Robben etc) but the ball moves faster than the player. Ronaldinho drifting wide into space that your defence leaves is perfect for him. You saw what he did in that kind of space against Madrid and Ramos with Casillas, here he'd be against Radebe with Friedel in goal?

 

[SirScholes]

I've went with @bleezy i don't really like 5 3 2 but it looks like it would be needed against the threat of ronaldinho and robben.
for me it's the defence that makes the diff, Robben and Ronaldinho are good but so were Torres and Del Perio, GNeville for me was fortunate to be around when there were no great English right backs I think he was a good rb but nothing amazing same goes for Miranda.
Could easily go the other way both good teams just saying what swayed it for me

 

[bleezy]

Ceding some possession doesn't mean we'll suddenly have one or two chances a game. It seems to get confused that because we willingly let you have possession away from goal that we'll never see the ball all game. We have plenty of players capable of holding it and knocking it around, but it plays to our strengths to get Ronaldinho, Robben etc forward quickly, and limits your advantage of the pace of Torres in behind. Guardiola playing quick balls forward to Ronaldinho is an option, as is players carrying the ball from deeper (see Lizarazu, Robben etc) but the ball moves faster than the player. Ronaldinho drifting wide into space that your defence leaves is perfect for him. You saw what he did in that kind of space against Madrid and Ramos with Casillas, here he'd be against Radebe with Friedel in goal?

Ronaldinho and Robben are brilliant and would make a mockery of almost any defenders/full backs in this draft. The way to combat this for me is to basically try starve them of the ball, which I think would happen to a reasonable extent, but also have enough men back to ensure they don't get much space to cause so much damage. A back 3/5, with Petit covering is solid enough I think to limit the damage as much as possible.

Couto is for me a great defender, with experience at the top level and in a 3 man defence from his time at Parma. Radebe clearly won't dominate Ronaldinho because hardly any defender could, but physically I think he could at least compete with him. He's strong, fast, with great concentration and natural leadership and confidence to keep at it and would have help from the players around him. Cavani I'll admit I never saw a massive amount of him at his Napoli peak, but for PSG he has always looked fairly wasteful even if scoring goals as a result of the number of chances he's getting. I think my side could contain him pretty well, or again at least limit his opportunities to get big goalscoring openings.

I'd also say that R. Carlos and Alves are pretty underrated for their defensive abilities because of how brilliant they are going forward. Playing in a back five doesn't mean they'll just play like attacking wingers and never be back to do their job defensively. They have played these roles throughout their careers in fellow attacking sides and are disciplined enough to not completely neglect their defensive responsibilities.