.................... Team Theon ......................................................... Team The Red Viper ............................
Team Theon
TACTICS
A 4-3-3 boasting the best offense in the draft - devastating pace and trickery on the wings, flanking a 6 ft 5 colossus who has scored 128 goals in his last 157 games. With an excellent midfield supplying him from deep and two explosive wingers on the flanks, Ibrahimovic has the perfect platform to perform and influence the game.
The midfield is balanced and complimentary, with two industrious Germans in Schweinsteiger and Khedira replicating their World Cup winning partnership whilst Wesley Sneijder adds a touch of quality and composure in the final third. Albiol has been selected to keep it secure on the right and track Neymar when he cuts inside, while Ashley Cole will play more adventurously on the left and double up on Litchsteiner with Sanchez. In goal David De Gea provides the last line of defence - not to be underestimated, particularly given his form this season.
Some short points:
Both of TRV's fullbacks are very offensive which will leave the centre backs (who both lack pace) exposed – Marcelo in particular is prone to leaving gaps defensively which Robben has the ability to exploit. Voted the 4th best player in the World in the Ballon d'Or – Robben is arguably the most dangerous player on the pitch, scoring 17 goals in 19 games in the league this season after dragging an average Holland to 3rd place in the World Cup.
TRV's defence and midfield are not complimentary – Xavi and Iniesta played their best football for Spain and Barcelona in a high pressing, offensive side that pushed up to squeeze the opposition midfield to try and dominate possession of the ball. In contrast, Cahill and Terry were a genuinely awful partnership when they tried to play that way and it is only when they reverted to Mourinho's defensive set up that they have looked effective. Terry is still by far the best centre back on the pitch (though Cole would be IMO the best defender overall) but his style of defending is completely opposite to that of Spain and Barcelona.
Sneijder was excellent at his peak, leading Inter to the treble in 2009/10 and reaching the final of the 2010 World Cup. With Terry and Cahill dropping off and Robben/Sanchez stretching the pitch out wide, Sneijder should have plenty of space in midfield to receive the ball in dangerous positions and slip passes into the attackers.
In Bastian Schweinsteiger the side has arguably the most complete central midfielder of the last decade - leading Bayern Munich to a historic treble in 2012/13 and, partnered with Khedira, winning the World Cup in 2014 in which Schweinsteiger was MOTM in the Final. Against an Xavi/Iniesta led Barcelona in 2013 Schweinsteiger dominated both legs, cutting of space for Xavi and pressuring the midfield into mistakes – ensuring a historic 7-0 aggregate win against Barcelona in the semi finals of the Champions League.
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Team The Red Viper
THE TEAM
We will play a 4-3-3 formation. Salvatore Sirigu is the goalkeeper. The back four comprises of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Gary Cahill, John Terry and Marcelo. Lichtsteiner and Marcelo would play as full-backs who would overlap when needed. In central defense, we have the tried and tested combination of Terry and Cahill. Both complement each other's style quite well and have been amongst the best central defense pairing in the last couple of years.
In midfield, we would have a three-man midfield of Owen Hargreaves, Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta. Hargreaves would play as a defensive midfielder/enforcer, who would cover the defense and would help us win back the possession with his fantastic tackling and ball-winning ability. Ahead of Hargreaves, is the duo of Xavi - Iniesta. Xavi is the metronome of the team. He would control the tempo of the game and would also look to initiate the attacks. Playing ahead of the the midfield maestro, Xavi would be The Illusionist, Iniesta. Andrés Iniesta would play as an attacking midfielder who would not only link the midfield with the attack and create the openings for the attack to exploit but also would support the midfield when the opposition has the possession.
Upfront, Robin Van Persie would lead the line for us, with Neymar and Marco Reus playing as wing-forwards/inside-forwards. Neymar would play as the left-sided second striker/left wing-forward, the role he plays for Brazil NT and Barcelona currently while Reus would play as the right-sided second striker/right wing-forward, the role he played at Borussia Mönchengladbach when he made a name for himself. Van Persie would be the main striker, where he could either play on the shoulders of the last defender and run the channels or drop deep and link-up with the other attackers. Whenever Van Persie drops deep, Neymar and Reus would look to make those attacking runs and look to exploit the space between oppsition full-back and right centre-back.
THE TACTICS
We will play possession based football. It won't be out and out tiki-taka but more like the brand of football Spain NT played in the 2008 Euros, when they won their first ever trophy at International stage. It will be possession based, pass and move style of play. The entire front six is extremely comfortable in possession and all of them are very good at link-up play. In Iniesta and Xavi, we have two of the greatest playmakers of all time. With Van Persie running the channels and both Neymar and Reus looking to attack the space between opposition full-backs and centre backs, we would look to feed them with the through-balls from Iniesta and Xavi. Overall, the attack has plenty of weapons in its arsenal to penetrate any defense with their pace, trickery, creativity and goals. And, with Xavi and Iniesta feeding them, there would be no shortage of chances for them. We will specifically look to exploit Theon's right flank. Neither Coleman nor Albiol are good enough to deal against Neymar. Coleman doesn't have the discipline to do that while Albiol isn't quick enough to keep up with Neymar. One of Bastian or Khedira has to support Albiol/Coleman. Otherwise, Neymar would run them ragged. However, its a two-edged sword. If they go and support Albiol/Coleman, it would free up Iniesta to stamp his authority on the game even further and with Van Persie lurking around, he would be able to create plenty of chances for him.
Defensively, we would deploy a deep defensive backline to ensure we don't leave too much space behind our backline for the likes of Robben and Alexis Sanchez to run at. Hargreaves would help Marcelo while dealing against Robben. Marcelo alone can't stop Robben but one thing he has in his favour is that, he has the pace to keep up with Robben and ensure Robben doesn't get a free run at him. With Hargreaves helping him out, I think we will be able to do a decent job against Robben. On the other flank, Lichtsteiner would have a reserved role going forward to ensure Alexis doesn't get too much space to run at. Both Iniesta and Xavi would look to press Bastian and Sneijder whenever they are on the ball to ensure, we don't give either of them any time and space on the ball to initiate counter-attacks. That way, we will do a good job of slowing down his transition and thereby allowing our back five to regain its shape. Ibra is a great striker, but I feel both Terry and Cahill have the ability and attributes to deal with him a lot better than what Kolo and Koscienly would be able to against Van Persie.
