The Modern / Current Players Draft

{The Midfield}

DM - Nigel De Jong: Midfield warrior of the highest class, a lynchpin for club (key figure behind City's first title win) and country wherever he has played and instrumental in the recent resurgence in the Dutch National team in terms of performances ( back to back world cup final/semi finalists). Very underrated on the ball rather like Mascherano, in that it is impossible to win it off him, great mobility on the ball, tenacious and fantastic positioning/aggressive tackler.

CM - Ilkay Gundogan: Pre back injury, he was arguably the leading midfielder in europe, owning Modric in the champions league and capable of going toe to toe with Schweinsteiger. He would also have starred in the world cup and partnered Bastian to glory no doubt. Sensational talent and unlike Kroos this isn't a guy who needs to be protected and doesn't run much, he is the backbone of Dortmund and the guy who dictates the tempo of their games. Ridiculously ambidextrous, great dribbler, great intelligence on the ball, solid defensively and composed as feck.. perfect modern day centre-mid.



AM - Isco: In current form, he is probably the best young midfielder in europe...running the show to the extent that some madrid fans feel Ronaldo looks like an unnatural footballer compared to when the ball is at this lads feet. New found defensive work-rate complements his existing extra-terrestial attributes such as his vision, world class first touch, mercurial dribbling ability and ability to get goals. Future ballon d'or material and potentially a more 'match-winning' version of Iniesta.
 
{The Attack}

RM - Ji 'Three lungs' Park: Manchester United icon... the ultimate big match performer, he consistently brought his best to the toughest encounters and marked out the likes of Pirlo at his best but during his best years at PSV, he was a dynamo with the ball at his feet. Extremely direct, very unique two-footed dribbler who could run at the heart of an elite defence and cause trouble. Below is him at his peak v Cafu. Maldini, Nesta, Stam, Pirlo, Kaka & co... he has proven ability to take the game to the very best.




LM - Ronaldinho: The best player in the draft and one of the greatest of all time, he doesn't need no introduction. Be honest though, you never tire of watching the performance below... tremendous physical strength and pace allied with the greatest imagination/technique the game has ever seen. Pure unadulterated genius...



CF - Gonzalo Higuain: Before injuries, he was the main man in Real Madrid's attack and one of the rare few who was a great goalscorer as well as a scorer of great goals. It is a shame his peak didn't come at the same time Bale, Ronaldo came to the Madrid team as he would be talked about as one of the very best in Europe. Great hold up play, very technical, fantastic acceleration and a perfection combination of supplier/fox in the box. His goal record for Real of 107 goals in 190 performances is simply stunning.

 
I've decided to blame my loss on people's anger at Falcao (and to a lesser degree Di Maria) for their form lately, but will now be rooting hard for the Red Viper's team to win so I can claim 2nd place.
 
Stobz vs Crappycraperson - winner - Crappy

BorisDeLeFora vs Isotope - winner - Isotope

Pat_Mustard vs Theon - winner - Theon

No Pace vs The Red Viper - winner - The Red Viper

Skizzo vs Snow - winner - Skizzo

Barney vs VivaJanuzaj - winner - VivaJanuzaj

Physiocrat vs Raees - winner - Raees

NM vs MJJ - still to be decided



  1. Pat_Mustard: 1. Xavi 2. Villa 3. Dani Alves 4. Barzagli 5. Verratti 6. Laporte 7. Tevez 8. Kwadwo Asamoah 9. Deisler 10.Mandanda 11. Lars Bender 12. Michel Bastos
  2. Physiocrat: 1. Robben 2. Fabregas 3. J. Boateng 4. Wilshere 5. Alba 6. Nani 7. Rafael 8. Berbatov 9. Vermalean 10. Igor Akinfeev 11. Gustavo 12. Sturridge
  3. Stobzilla: 1. Lahm 2. Alaba 3. Vidal 4. Rooney 5. Turan 6. Özil 7. Griezmann 8. Luiz 9. Bonucci 10. Valdes 11. Otamendi 12. Kondogbia
  4. BorisDeLeFora: 1. Vidic 2. Kompany 3. De Rossi 4. Cavani 5. Rakitic 6. Hamsik 7. Arbeloa 8. Vicente 9. Walcott 10. Ter Stegen 11. Richards 12. Kehl.
  5. Snow: 1. Hazard 2. Modric 3. Busquets 4. Azpilicueta 5. Adriano 6. Thiago 7.Srna 8. Garay 9. Badstuber 10. Lloris 11. Cuadrado 12. Diego.
  6. NoPace: 1. Kroos 2. Reus 3. Ramos 4. Di María 5. Ledley King 6. Falcao 7. Casillas 8. Filipe Luis 9. T.Rosicky 10. Motta 11. Debuchy 12. Donovan.
  7. Barney: 1. Gerrard 2. Alonso 3. Martínez 4. Benatia 5. Zabaleta 6. Ricardo Rodriguez 7.Valencia 8. Benzema 9. Demichelis 10. Hart 11. Podolski 12. Benayoun.
Pool to pick from so far.

Picking order since it will be starting from the bottom.

NM*
Crappy
Skizzo
vivaJanuzaj
Theon
Isotope
TheRedViper
MJJ*
Raees

* one of them will be removed after game.
 
Some unbelievable players in the reinforcement pool. Arguably the two best full backs in the draft, the best midfielder, the best winger, the joint best centre back and one of the very best strikers. The drafting order could prove crucial here in terms of managers' chances of addressing weaknesses.
 
Pat_Mustard said:
Some unbelievable players in the reinforcement pool. Arguably the two best full backs in the draft, the best midfielder, the best winger, the joint best centre back and one of the very best strikers. The drafting order could prove crucial here in terms of managers' chances of addressing weaknesses.
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Some teams could definitely make some drastic improvements to their teams here.
 
Pat_Mustard said:
Some unbelievable players in the reinforcement pool. Arguably the two best full backs in the draft, the best midfielder, the best winger, the joint best centre back and one of the very best strikers. The drafting order could prove crucial here in terms of managers' chances of addressing weaknesses.
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It's fecked me over big time. Not sure which areas I'll be able to improve with the players that will be left.
 
MJJ said:
In that case, I think you should drop him for park's mates tevez and evra :D
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I miss their bromance.. the most unlikeliest collection of amigos ever. Ever heard the one about the french man, the korean and the ugly argentine? Me neither.
 
Gio said:
Ronaldinho got you into the second round.
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He was a one man attack so I won't argue with that.. but nani berbatov v higuain and park.. I'd pick the latter duo as theyre more dynamic as a pairing and better mentality too.
 
Raees said:
He was a one man attack so I won't argue with that.. but nani berbatov v higuain and park.. I'd pick the latter duo as theyre more dynamic as a pairing and better mentality too.
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Mentally Berba and Nani are indeed very unpredictable, but as someone who watched Higuain often for RM he was never good enough there. Lacked the "big game" mentality that is required for a club like RM and always bottled it in big matches, which is why Real showed him the door. Same thing happened to Ozil, and that was always the main reason they didn't fit well in that club.
Park obviously is great in all sorts of ways, both mentally and physically superior to many players.
Even though Nani Berbatov as a pair might be < Park/Higuain, I won't even argue against it or for it as it doesn't matter. I actually think Berbatov would've been a more fitting partner for Robben than Higuain is to Ronaldinho. The reason I voted for you is the huge mismatch between Rafael and Dinho and that was the real game changer. As an attacking unit I'd argue that prime Nani-Berbatov-Robben will work better than prime Park-Higuain-Ronaldinho.
 
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