The First Redcafe Sheep Draft

I'll leave that for anto to try that in the next one, as it already seems he has a loads of surprises. :D
Oh come on, we should vote then, I agree with Edgar that the sheep format should be used for the reinforcements as well.
 
Nah, come on. Where's the fun? Infact we can do a variation of 10th round, i.e. a 3 player pick without the block option!

Not having the block would be much more balanced I think. The block pick made it a bit more of a lottery because you ended up with 30 potential blocks for each player, which is just too many for the number of players.
 
Oh come on, we should vote then, I agree with Edgar that the sheep format should be used for the reinforcements as well.
I actually had something planned - well planned is too strong a word maybe - for reinforcements.

I was going to categorize all of you according to the number of sheep you got so 0,1,2 and 3. And then run the random generator on each category and make the order with the list of those who had 0 sheep first and so on. Just as a last little stick for getting too many sheep, which I hinted earlier on.

From there on it would have been like earlier drafts, that is picking reinforcements in that order.
 
I actually had something planned - well planned is too strong a word maybe - for reinforcements.

I was going to categorize all of you according to the number of sheep you got so 0,1,2 and 3. And then run the random generator on each category and make the order with the list of those who had 0 sheep first and so on. Just as a last little stick for getting too many sheep, which I hinted earlier on.

From there on it would have been like earlier drafts, that is picking reinforcements in that order.
Not bad, I'm sure we find something exciting for the reinforcement rounds :).
 
I prefer Cesc actually, Xavi always has that weird 'he can't do it without Busquets and Iniesta'-tag on him. Everyone starts to question his ability the moment he isn't played in a tikitaka team. It's mind-boggling, but that's how it is.

It's not questioning his ability really. It's purely his peak was 100% tiki taka so if you want Xavi not playing tiki taka you are taking Xavi right before his peak. Still a great player, but Fabregas would edge it then.
 
It's like he is a threat all over the final third.

Like? He is, you almost sound surprised!

Some finishes thin the video where he dribbles past multiple defenders and scores is just :drool:



One thing I always find hilarious with drafts is people keep assuming X has Y, C has D, etc. and so long as they are comparable it should be OK. Only Garrincha gets to dribble past people, and that's so long as it isn't Maldini. Else you need a huge disparity for dribbling/beating a man to happen.

Yet you watch a proper game and it happens all the time.

I blame Ashley Young and Tony V.
 
Shevchenko/Batistuta would have been perfect. Love to have seen that.

You don't need to sell Baggio to me mate because I love him as a player and it's not a criticism of either him or Shevchenko, or Rui Costa in truth. The fact is that the roles do overlap and if you want to confine one to a certain play style then whilst it will work it's not their natural game.

It isn't really the goalscoring either and I certainly agree that all three would be capable of scoring fantastic goals playing with each other - they won't lose that ability. The problem is much more about general play and the positions they will look to get into when attacking, this is where the overlap happens - in fact if you just take Baggio's goal vs Czechoslovakia that is a movement and run you would see Sheva making.

I agree that Baggio and Shevchenko have the potential to get in the way of each other but I don't see Rui Costa being dragged into that. I see him in a very different role to the one Baggio will be occupying. If you look at Rui Costa's assist v Juve (0:10), that's how I expect things to shape up. Rui Costa using his range of passing to create things from deep while the front two stretch the opposition defence. People always talk about Baggio as a #10, and of course he was that, but he was a great forward more than anything. If we talk about Baggio at his peak then we're inevitably looking at Baggio in '94, and in his best performance of the tournament he was part of a strike partnership with Casiraghi rather than the link between attack and midfield. Asking Rui Costa to play the role he had at Milan and Baggio to play as he did in '94 will not be limiting them in any way, IMO, it's just giving them some direction on where to focus their talents. They're entirely capable of excelling in these roles as they've shown even if neither is playing as a classic free role #10.

Shevchenko on the other hand will have to be more of a foil for Baggio rather than being the focal point of the attack so we're unlikely to see him in Ballon d'Or winning form, but allowing him to focus more on goalscoring isn't necessarily such a bad thing. He's Milan's 2nd highest goalscorer of all-time more than anything because of his aerial prowess and sharpness in the box. I'd say at least a third of his goals came from headers and over half of his goals were typical predators' goals - the kind Baggio didn't score. So you're essentially limiting him to something he did exceptionally well.
 
I don't mind starting Monday.

Jayvin vs Thisistheone - 24 Feb
Edgar Allan Pillow vs Snipers Breath - 26 Feb
crappycraperson vs Pippa - 27 Feb
Balu vs Polaroid - 28 Feb
Stobzilla vs antohan - 01 Mar
Chesterlestreet vs Gio - 02 Mar
Cutch vs sullydnl - 03 Mar
MJJ vs VivaJanuzaj - 04 Mar

If anyone has a problem with that, tell us in the thread so we can make changes.

Also, no game on 25 as United is playing.

Err, can play 26th or 4th, nothing in between. My annual romantic long weekend trip with the missus :rolleyes:
 
I know Stob will find a strange arrow that will make it all work... or will find placing RvP slightly lower turns him superhuman. ;)

God, I wonder now, having spent all that time clarifying roles, making pretty teamsheets for him explaining how it could all work IMO. Remember thinking it could come back to bite me in the arse :lol:
 
Jayvin vs Thisistheone - 24 Feb
Edgar Allan Pillow vs Snipers Breath - 24 Feb
crappycraperson vs Pippa - 26 Feb
Stobzilla vs antohan - 26 Feb
Balu vs Polaroid - 27 Feb
Chesterlestreet vs Gio - 27 Feb
Cutch vs sullydnl - 28 Feb
MJJ vs VivaJanuzaj - 28 Feb

Is that fine, going with 2 games a day?
 
I know Stob will find a strange arrow that will make it all work... or will find placing RvP slightly lower turns him superhuman. ;)

God, I wonder now, having spent all that time clarifying roles, making pretty teamsheets for him explaining how it could all work IMO. Remember thinking it could come back to bite me in the arse :lol:

I do well in the first stage, its the write ups that screw me over. The match itself is so fecking tedious.

I'm going with a different tactic, I refuse to be overtly detrimental towards my oppo in any future matches I play, the hyperbole kills me. I'm just going to focus on why my team works.
 
I'm good with my date, I can play on the 24th and 26th as well, in case someone wants to switch, can't play on the 28th though.
 
There simply wasn't any need for Dunga and Mauro Silva. Couldn't understand that at all. They actually look like complete misfits to me when I'm used to having seen the likes of Guardiola and Bakero in that Barca midfield. Mendieta was a good pick IMO and would have been well suited to one of the midfield roles, it was the midfield overkill which created the problem.

The entire transition seems to rely primarily on the fullbacks carrying the ball forward, which is miles away from the setup that made Stoichkov, Enrique and Romario play at their very best. The ball travels faster than ball carriers, which is why having the right players to deliver it is essential for them. In fact, that Cruyff clip Stob keeps quoting he says precisely that, something along the lines of "if you rely on your fullbacks for the transition you are fecked because those on the other side of the pitch are redundant, you need to create through the middle and find space either side". Makes an awful lot of sense really.

The original plan was to have Guardiola-Redondo-Mendieta but that didn't work out. I want the fullbacks to have as much license to get forward as possible, and having the 2 destroyers in there will help enable that to happen. I will be looking to mix things up if i progress further, possible someone like Redondo/Cocu instead of Dunga or Laudrup/Rivaldo instead of Mendieta perhaps but as of now i'm very happy with what i've got.

Up against Sully/NM you'll see that the majority of his play will be going through the middle with Essien/Kaka/Fabregas/Litmanen. Having M Silva-Dunga in there infront of the back will assist hugely. With Romario now added too, his movement and acceleration will be giving Nadal/Gamarra all sorts of problems.
 
Up against Sully/NM you'll see that the majority of his play will be going through the middle with Essien/Kaka/Fabregas/Litmanen. Having M Silva-Dunga in there infront of the back will assist hugely.

Sure, I was saying it broke down the system/logic of it. It sure makes you stronger through the middle which in certain games here could really pay off, no doubt.
 
Sure, I was saying it broke down the system/logic of it. It sure makes you stronger through the middle which in certain games here could really pay off, no doubt.

Aye i get what you're saying, but i'm not finished yet, still a work in progress. If i get the right man that can pair up with Mendieta infront of M Silva but can also be the right link man between Dunga-Silva and the attack it will give me 2 very good options to choose from depending on the opponent
 
Good stuff, what time are the games going to be at? I'll try to actually be online this time :p
 
I actually had something planned - well planned is too strong a word maybe - for reinforcements.

I was going to categorize all of you according to the number of sheep you got so 0,1,2 and 3. And then run the random generator on each category and make the order with the list of those who had 0 sheep first and so on. Just as a last little stick for getting too many sheep, which I hinted earlier on.

From there on it would have been like earlier drafts, that is picking reinforcements in that order.

That's actually quite fair as a surprise "sheep punishment". There has to be an incentive after all.
 
Jayvin vs Thisistheone - 24 Feb
Edgar Allan Pillow vs Snipers Breath - 24 Feb
crappycraperson vs Pippa - 26 Feb
Stobzilla vs antohan - 26 Feb
Balu vs Polaroid - 27 Feb
Chesterlestreet vs Gio - 27 Feb
Cutch vs sullydnl - 28 Feb
MJJ vs VivaJanuzaj - 28 Feb

Is that fine, going with 2 games a day?

Thanks for being so considerate with the missus and getting the draft out of my mind before the weekend :lol: That said, Stob seemed to prefer the 4th. I'm easy if it makes a difference for him.
 
I actually had something planned - well planned is too strong a word maybe - for reinforcements.

I was going to categorize all of you according to the number of sheep you got so 0,1,2 and 3. And then run the random generator on each category and make the order with the list of those who had 0 sheep first and so on. Just as a last little stick for getting too many sheep, which I hinted earlier on.

From there on it would have been like earlier drafts, that is picking reinforcements in that order.

That's actually quite fair as a surprise "sheep punishment". There has to be an incentive after all.

It sounds fair but i'm not sure if i'd rather be start/middle/end for reinforcements. There's probably little difference
 
I agree that Baggio and Shevchenko have the potential to get in the way of each other but I don't see Rui Costa being dragged into that. I see him in a very different role to the one Baggio will be occupying. If you look at Rui Costa's assist v Juve (0:10), that's how I expect things to shape up. Rui Costa using his range of passing to create things from deep while the front two stretch the opposition defence. People always talk about Baggio as a #10, and of course he was that, but he was a great forward more than anything. If we talk about Baggio at his peak then we're inevitably looking at Baggio in '94, and in his best performance of the tournament he was part of a strike partnership with Casiraghi rather than the link between attack and midfield. Asking Rui Costa to play the role he had at Milan and Baggio to play as he did in '94 will not be limiting them in any way, IMO, it's just giving them some direction on where to focus their talents. They're entirely capable of excelling in these roles as they've shown even if neither is playing as a classic free role #10.

Shevchenko on the other hand will have to be more of a foil for Baggio rather than being the focal point of the attack so we're unlikely to see him in Ballon d'Or winning form, but allowing him to focus more on goalscoring isn't necessarily such a bad thing. He's Milan's 2nd highest goalscorer of all-time more than anything because of his aerial prowess and sharpness in the box. I'd say at least a third of his goals came from headers and over half of his goals were typical predators' goals - the kind Baggio didn't score. So you're essentially limiting him to something he did exceptionally well.

I tried to steer clear of mentioning Rui Costa, firstly because of what you say, but more importantly simply because the diamond requires a player like Rui Costa to be involved. You were always going to have an attacking midfielder and in that sense Rui Costa is only relevant to the extent that he has influenced the formation. Beyond that its minimal differences really, there is nothing wrong with him as an AM and it was always going to be a player of that type. In fact Rui Costa's ability to pull deeper than alternative AM's actually has the potential to make that front two work better. I don't think it is a significant difference but as a minor point I think it is true.

Basically what I am saying there is that Rui Costa is not a problem - you need a player like him or it ceases to be a diamond. The potential problem is the one I mentioned previously i.e. Baggio and Shevchenko overlapping in their approach to the match and positions they will take up. As you know it was Sheva pulling deep and running the channels behind Inzaghi or Crespo and this is the sort of movement we see Baggio make time and time again. Although their styles differed and Sheva of course never had the technical proficiency of Baggio he was a complete striker who was never pinned down into a particular role.

Here I think the potential issue is that they could overlap and you lack that threat in the box. You have hit the nail on the head though and its clear we're on the same wave-length - it would be Sheva playing the advanced role which mitigates this somewhat. You sacrifice a small piece of his all round game but he could certainly play a clearer number 9 role.

I would have preferred a Sheva/Batistuta front two though personally. The constant movement and running of Shevchenko works so well as the deeper striker in a diamond formation which can potentially become quite static. I'm interested in reading the thread though, I love Baggio so no doubt he will make it work.
 
Anto, i'm waiting on your predictions for all of the games. As soon as i hear who you're instantly writing off i'm away down to the bookies to put a big wager on them

Considering where my reinforcements could come from... sully/NM ;)
 
Thanks for being so considerate with the missus and getting the draft out of my mind before the weekend :lol: That said, Stob seemed to prefer the 4th. I'm easy if it makes a difference for him.
Considering we are going with 2 games a day 4th would be too late.

Is it just 26 for you or anytime before 26? @Stobzilla are you okay for 26th?
 
It sounds fair but i'm not sure if i'd rather be start/middle/end for reinforcements. There's probably little difference

TBH, being first last time actually screwed me royally. It's a wee bit different here though in that there won't be tonnes of superstars and unfinished teams, more balanced teams which need a few finishing touches, going earlier would likely make a bigger difference than it did then.
 
I'm rather pleased with the draw, nothing against MJJ&Rpitroda who drew really well but I think I have an excellent chance of winning.
@AldoPaine18 @MJJ Is there any chance we can have our game on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday? Friday and Thursday are really bad for me..

And another question, Aldo perhaps you can make a list of whose assisting each manager? So we can really check that no one is double teaming someone in the match day thread or voting double?
 
I think player for player I match up favourably against Antohan. The problem is gonna be his gift of the gab. It should be fairly even in that sense.
 
I'm rather pleased with the draw, nothing against MJJ&Rpitroda who drew really well but I think I have an excellent chance of winning.
@AldoPaine18 @MJJ Is there any chance we can have our game on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday? Friday and Thursday are really bad for me..

And another question, Aldo perhaps you can make a list of whose assisting each manager? So we can really check that no one is double teaming someone in the match day thread or voting double?


Jayvin vs Thisistheone - 24 Feb
Edgar Allan Pillow vs Snipers Breath - 24 Feb
MJJ vs VivaJanuzaj - 26 Feb
Stobzilla vs antohan - 26 Feb
Balu vs Polaroid - 27 Feb
Chesterlestreet vs Gio - 27 Feb
Cutch vs sullydnl - 28 Feb
crappycraperson vs Pippa - 28 Feb

Swapped your game with crappy - pippa, hope others are okay with it.

As for AM, I guess we have 4. NM for Sully, rpitroda for MJJ, Brwned for Pillow and KM for Stob. Anyone else?