...................................................... TEAM GIO .................................................................................................... TEAM IDMANAGER ..................................
TEAM GIO
TACTICS:
A 4-2-3-1 built around unmatched midfield control, with a multi-faceted attack filled with world-class forwards and an effective and complementary backline.
ATTACK
The greatest forward in British football history, Denis Law leads the line - a Ballon d'Or winner who rattled 85 goals in 94 games at his peak. Law is one of the most rounded footballers of all time who combines constant goal threat with world class playmaking, hold-up play and pressing from the front. With the creativity provided by Falcao, Zidane and Kubala Law is guaranteed a host of chances which he is always liable to put away. Stylistically we fancy his movement, technique and aerial ability to be too hot to handle for Ecstatic's centre-backs.
Alex Ferguson said:
One of the greatest left wingers of all time and mainstay of the Might Magyars, Zoltan Czibor dominated the left flank during the 1950s with his pace and dribbling ability. With his propensity for classic wing-play and ability to hug the touchline, Czibor offers a balance to the side and pin-point crossing ability - he looks set to provide a constant target for Zidane's through balls and we see him providing huge assist potential for Law and Kubala. On the opposite wing is Czibor's Barcelona teammate and the man declared Barcelona's best ever player in 1999, László Kubala, who will support Law from the right and get on the end of Czibor's delivery in the very same way he did at the Nou Camp. With 280 goals in 345 games for Barcelona, Kubala's combination of power, trickery and eye for a goal poses real problems for Moby's backline.
Di Stefano said:
MIDFIELD
The midfield is headed up by the maestro Zinedine Zidane who provides the link to the attack with his supreme technical ability and guaranteed stream of service. He'll be in his element with willing runners and quality ahead while sparking off another creative genius in the centre of midfield.
Pele said:
Beckenbauer said:
Behind him a South American tandem of Paulo Roberto Falcão and Nestor Gonçalves provides a technically exquisite and defensively solid platform for the rest of the team. Both players dominated European opposition throughout their careers, with Goncalves the defensive midfield backbone of the great Penarol side that won 9 league titles between 1958 and 1968, three Copa Libertadores wins, two Intercontinental Cup wins (overcoming Eusebio's Benfica and Real Madrid) and the Intercontinental Cup Winners Supercup (defeating Pele's Santos). Falcao requires no introduction and remains the standout midfield playmaker in the pool, with his performances for Brazil in 1982 the stuff of legend, and like Law at Old Trafford he was crowned the King of Rome after he led Roma to their first league title in 40 years.
DEFENCE
In defence Andreas Brehme is one of the greatest full-backs of all time and his ability to control a game from full-back is almost unmatched, he will link up well with Falcao and Kubala ahead of him, while Law will relish his accurate crossing. On the opposite flank, Silvio Marzolini is the best Argentinian left-back of all time and his reading of the game, positioning and anticipation were all world-class. In the heart of defence we have made a significant double upgrade to marry the best of yore with the best of today. Diego Godin is arguably the finest defender post Nesta/Rio and has been at the heart of the most watertight defensive unit in the modern game, further strengthening his CV again this summer. The Divine Master Domingos Da Guia is the consensus choice as Brazil's greatest ever centre half and is comfortably ensconced in the top bracket of South American central defenders. In the same way he formed a superb partnership with the Uruguayan Nasazzi in the 1930s, he should dovetail well here with Godin next to him. Behind him is the Boca and Argentina keeper Antonio Roma who formed an integral part of the watertight Argentina back line of the 1960s.
WHY WE WILL WIN:
- Too much firepower. Falcao and Zidane overflow with creativity, providing a steady stream of service for the King Law and the Hungary and Barcelona duo Kubala and Czibor.
- The grizzly Goncalves is just the sort of pain in the arse that Bergkamp won't relish playing against. Further forward, ol divino mestro Da Guia has the impeccable reading of the game required to nullify Bergkamp's invention. In the middle Godin's imperious aerial ability should cancel out Spencer's threat in the air.
- A pair of top class full-backs who will match up well to Idm's wide men. Marzolini's conservative nature and all-round quality should allow him to keep Matthews in check. The two-footed Brehme can control the play from the right and his reading of the game should be well suited to dealing with Gento.
- Idm has a fine midfield partnership, but frankly I back Zidane, Falcao and Goncalves to take control. That makes it 3v2 in there in the absence of any meaningful support from Idm's front four. I feel Davids and Monti could be overworked and Idm's attack could be starved of service.
TEAM IDMANAGER
Defense and Midfield:
The defense and midfield were built based on the profiles of the players in the opponent's attack.
Finney constantly liked to cut in from the right. Blokhin was a wing forward who liked to come from the left wing and score. He was far from being an orthodox winger. Ronaldinho I think will be expected to impact the game centrally.
An attack like this IMO would find it tough to break a well organized narrow defense setup. And that is what I am going to use.
In defense I have Tresor in the centre with Forster on the right and Zebec on the left. All three of them were considered great CBs of their times.
In the midfield I have Davids on the left, Smistik in the centre as the anchor man and Andrade on the right.
The idea is to always have at least 2 players to cover for the opponent's front 4.
Blokhin - Andrade to close him down and Forster to wait for him when he comes centrally to try and score
Finney - Davids to close him down and Zebec to wait for him when he tries to cut inside
Ronaldinho - All of Smistik, Davids and Andrade to help shutting him down depending on where the game is being played.
Smistik while being a great DM was also amazing at starting attacks with his excellent passing (especially long passing) after breaking the opponents attacks. Davids will carry the ball forward as well as he so often did. And Andrade was a more than decent passer who played as a hybrid of a midfielder and right back in the 1950 Uruguay setup.
Attack:
The attack is pretty straight forward.
We have two of the all time great wingers in Gento and Matthews. Both were great out wide and coming inwards to score as well. Both were good at starting attacks running from deep as well.
In the centre we have Cubillas, Peru's all time great player. He will be in his element in this setup. Cubillas will try to overload the left side of the pitch along with Gento. We will try to hit the relatively weaker side of the oppositions defense (Sensini and Campbell) as hard as possible.
Upfront we have Alberto Spencer, considered one of the greatest South American Strikers of all time.
He was an ambidextrous striker with lethal pace, off-the-ball movement, heading and balance skills, and excellent finishing, that tore defences to shreds for over a decade
FAQs:
Q. Who are your out balls from the back?
A. Smistik, Davids, Andrade, Tresor and Zebec
Q. Was Zebec a CB? I thought he was a left back?
A. Zebec started his career as an attacking player and played as a left winger. He occasionally played as a little bit defensive CF. In one game against France he played as defensive CF, who had assignment to go back to defense, and guard Raymond Kopa . He did that so successfully, that it seemed that Kopa didn't played at all. On the same game he also played very good in the attack, and journalists gave him 10, for his perfect game.
After all that, he was transformed into a CB and he was very good on that position. During one of the most important games for the national team (qualifications for World Cup 1958), in which Yugoslavia played against Romania he played as CB. Many claim that this was his best game for national team at that position. Every high ball was his (very superior in the air), he won every 1 on 1 play against opposite attacker, also during the game he was in every place in the defense. In one word: Perfection! One of the coaches came to him after the game, grab his shoulder and said: "Are you a man or are you a beast? I've never seen anybody playing the whole 90 minutes so perfect and without any mistake!".
After his stints for national team in CB position , many foreign journalists and football experts wrote that he's one of the greatest discoveries in CB and that he played in those positions even better than on his original position. Many journalists, football experts, coaches and players, from 1950s, agree that Zebec was the best center-half during that era. Some of them even said, that he should be among Best 11 squad of all times.
Q. Why is Andrade playing there?
A. In the older setups, there were no dedicated full backs. There were half backs who were hybrids of defensive midfieders and full backs, who impacted both areas of the pitch. He is playing that same role here
Q. Can you tell me a bit more about Smistik and whether this role suits him?
A. Smistik played mainly as centre half back (DM in modern setups) but also as defender. Smistik worked as an animal, always in perfect condition, was master in breaking the opponents attacks and starting offensive moves with his trademark long balls, but also good ball control and dribbling.
He was most known for his fantastic long balls and speed, fighting spirit, great vision and intelligence, as well as powerful play, great endurance and good technique.
He formed the core of the great Austrian Wunderteam along with Sindelar and Nausch. He is playing a similar role as he played in the wunderteam.
Q. I know Davids is hard working as feck, but has he played a similar role before?
A. He played in a similar setup in the Ajax 1995 team
Q. Isn't Alberto Spencer the same guy whom Pele said had a better header than him and is widely known as Magic head? Was that all his game was about?
A. While he was amazing in the air, it was just a part of his game. You don't get to be considered in the top 20 greatest South American players of all time just for your heading skills. He was known to tear teams apart with his pace, dribbling, movement and shooting. He was very hard working as well. Below goal against Real Madrid in the 1966 Intercontinental Cup final shows what he was capable of.
Smistik -1900s
Matthews - 1910s
Zebec - 1920s
Andrade - 1920s + WC + Copa
Gento - 1930s + EC
Spencer - 1930s
Cubillas - 1940s + Copa
Tresor - 1950s
Forster - 1950s
Conejo - 1960s
Davids -1970s + EC
Matthews - 1910s
Zebec - 1920s
Andrade - 1920s + WC + Copa
Gento - 1930s + EC
Spencer - 1930s
Cubillas - 1940s + Copa
Tresor - 1950s
Forster - 1950s
Conejo - 1960s
Davids -1970s + EC
