It was a poor decission by the ref and an infantile decision by Rafael. It didn't take Overmars, Ribery or Robben, it was Vardy from Leicester. I'm more comfortable with the notion you aren't sitting deep now, and Rafael can work pretty well with Robben on that flank going forward, but by the second half the damage is done already.
The Reality Draft - Round 1: The Red Viper vs Annahnomoss
- Thread starter Edgar Allan Pillow
- Start date
It was a poor decission by the ref and an infantile decision by Rafael. It didn't take Overmars, Ribery or Robben, it was Vardy from Leicester. I'm more comfortable with the notion you aren't sitting deep now, and Rafael can work pretty well with Robben on that flank going forward, but by the second half the damage is done already.
24-23 to TRV, nail-biter this one 
All square now
And a reminder to all us managers out there:
And a reminder to all us managers out there:
I think that Littbarski is slightly under the radar here. He's one of the best wingers in history and he was known for his explosive pace and dribbling, his close control is right up there with the best ever. He'd have the upper hand on Sergi in a 1 vs 1, who was best offensively. With Prosinecki on that side it just reeks errors as his defensive contribution was poor for a match at this quality. That means the very fast Amoros will be able to push up on the outside for overlaps - which means Litti can challenge Sergi for a 1 v 1 - and then just find Amoros on the inside.
Or Sergi chooses to cover the run in behind the defense and Littbarski gets to challenge towards goal. He's a big goal threat and an outstanding player.
Please watch this video before voting, for Littbarskis sake!
Or Sergi chooses to cover the run in behind the defense and Littbarski gets to challenge towards goal. He's a big goal threat and an outstanding player.
Please watch this video before voting, for Littbarskis sake!
Last edited:
Mate. That isn't accurate at all just talking my players down, the lad won the fecking Ballon d'Or(and the Onze d'Or the same year), how is that not being considered a top attacker? When you get an award as the best player in the world? Ahead of Platini, Boniek, Conti, Rummenigge, Falcao etc.
- Serie A Top Scorer: 1977–78
- FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 1978
- FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1978, 1982
- FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe: 1982
- FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1982
- Onze d'Or: 1982
- Ballon D'or: 1982
- World Soccer Awards Player of the Year: 1982
- European Cup Top Scorers: 1982–83
- FIFA 100
Paolo Rossi was also excellent at forcing mistakes from his defenders with his hard defensive work and with Stam-Vidic here where neither is the best ball playing outlet. That could lead to some stressed playmaking from them - which could lead to Sterling, Gascoigne or Littbarski winning the ball back high on a counter attack.
Scirea is also a match winner with his interceptions and tackles which he then started a counter-attack with his passing range from. I think that Littbarski will have a lot of chances on the ball in this match.
Scirea is also a match winner with his interceptions and tackles which he then started a counter-attack with his passing range from. I think that Littbarski will have a lot of chances on the ball in this match.
No. You didn't get my point. Rossi was simply brilliant in the 1982 World Cup and quite good in the 1978 World Cup as well. I am not going to contest that. My point was leaving that world cup campaign aside, was he ever top class at any point of his career? And, the year he won the Ballon D'or and Onze D'or was the world cup year. It was his exploits in the 1982 World Cup that won him Ballon D'or. If you look at his performances in that calendar year, he was hardly that good.
You are overrating his World Cup in '82 mate. I watched that world-cup since this draft started to have a look at how the Zona Mista worked and I've read up about it too. You can't be more off with your view. This is what was said about the Golden Ball award "no one claimed this World Cup personally so the award went to the topscorer, with some other players included in the list for their names only". Zico, Boniek, Rummenigge and Littbarski all had the same amount of goals/assists pretty much.
So the Ballon d'Or wouldn't have been in favour of Rossi over those players because of the World Cup, it was extremely even between them and Rossi won it because he scored most and nobody played that good which they got spoiled by back then.
So what made Rossi win the Ballon d'Or ahead of these players was that when they counted in the season and the World Cup they thought he came out on top. Which is incredibly impressive as you see the names of these lads. Rossi didn't have the longest peak due to his 80-82 seasons were he didn't play at all due to a "ban for betting".
This one is so difficult to call. Annah's defence is obviously brilliant and I definitely agree with putting Bossis up against Robben, but I'm not sure his attack would get much change out of Vidic and Stam.
TRV's team has different strengths. I really like his attack, Scholes-Rui Costa-Prosinecki-Robben-Eto'o is, but they're obviously up against a concrete wall. He has a real weakness in Rafael and I feel Annah has missed a trick not playing Littbarski against him. Sterling will cause some trouble, but I feel Rafa can deal with him.
This is a game that would come down to that one decisive moment, and that's when I'd rather have Kahn in goal that Preud'homme. So I'm going - most narrowly - for The Red Viper.
TRV's team has different strengths. I really like his attack, Scholes-Rui Costa-Prosinecki-Robben-Eto'o is
, but they're obviously up against a concrete wall. He has a real weakness in Rafael and I feel Annah has missed a trick not playing Littbarski against him. Sterling will cause some trouble, but I feel Rafa can deal with him.This is a game that would come down to that one decisive moment, and that's when I'd rather have Kahn in goal that Preud'homme. So I'm going - most narrowly - for The Red Viper.
Ouch! Losing the game with that one hehe. Great game TRV! Well played mate.
I am not overrating his world cup performance, mate. You yourself mentioned about his ban. He missed the first part of 1982 calendar year due to the ban. Yes, he started off quite slow in the world cup and wa spoor in the initial group stages game but after that he was sensational. Now coming to the second half of that calendar year, he wasn't that good in Serie-A. But, he scored four goals in four games in the UCL matches. I really doubt he was given the Ballon D'or award based on that. His world cup performance clearly played a major part in the Ballon D'or being awarded to him.
What's the final score then? Viper won?
Sorry about that
I really had a hard time deciding, and after the moaning about the pointlessness of keepers in the draft thread I decided to use that as a tiebreaker. (If you had played Litti down the left I probably would have voted for you.)
Of course it is a big part of why he won the Ballon, nobody is arguing against that. But he won the Ballon, not because he played magnificent football - he was invisible in the first three matches and heavily criticized. He won the Ballon because he was one of the players with the best performance in it - and then he continued on that form for Juventus. Why would the Ballon voters give it to Rossi if he had been poor after the World Cup? You realize that Platini, Boniek, Rummenigge, Scirea, Cabrini, Bossis also had very good world cups and their usual level was incredible. If Rossi wasn't performing anywhere near their level during this time then he wouldn't have been given the Ballon.
His WC performance was his stand out time, but you don't win a Ballon just because you got the Golden Ball in the World Cup.
Indeed very comfortably in the end I think.
Annah hasn't worked out yet that if scan-voters aren't your friend you shouldn't go hyper and keep the thread bumped
Great game, well played guys.
Annah hasn't worked out yet that if scan-voters aren't your friend you shouldn't go hyper and keep the thread bumped
I couldn't really care about the results in this draft as it was a randomized draft. I wanted to get to straightening everything out rather so the players we were assigned got the credit they deserved.Hard Luck, @Annahnomoss . Good Game.
Tardelli going Tevezola was a blow for you as he very was instrumental for you.
Tardelli going Tevezola was a blow for you as he very was instrumental for you.
Just to make it offical:
The Red Viper - 28
- crappycraperson, MJJ, ctp, Joga Bonito,
- Wittmann45, arjwiz, IBleedRed, ha_rooney, sajeev, ashgabat, Ish84045, sun_tzu, bucky, Theon, Isotope, Bazi, Kazi, BW.k, rpitroda, MTR, fcbforever, fontaine, Invictus, BigDunc9,
Annahnomoss - 23
- antohan, Jayvin, BorisDeLeFora, Raees,VivaJanuzaj, Chesterlestreet, Skizzo, harms,
- Gio, Pat_Mustard, manikandan nair, Paolo Di Canio, Balu, Edgar Allan Pillow, PedroMendez,
The Red Viper wins the game.
Congrats TRV. Hard Luck Annah!
The Red Viper - 28
- crappycraperson, MJJ, ctp, Joga Bonito,
- Wittmann45, arjwiz, IBleedRed, ha_rooney, sajeev, ashgabat, Ish84045, sun_tzu, bucky, Theon, Isotope, Bazi, Kazi, BW.k, rpitroda, MTR, fcbforever, fontaine, Invictus, BigDunc9,
Annahnomoss - 23
- antohan, Jayvin, BorisDeLeFora, Raees,VivaJanuzaj, Chesterlestreet, Skizzo, harms,
- Gio, Pat_Mustard, manikandan nair, Paolo Di Canio, Balu, Edgar Allan Pillow, PedroMendez,
The Red Viper wins the game.
Congrats TRV. Hard Luck Annah!
I was looking for some old clips about Leandro vs. Uruguay in 1983 and came across this. One of my great memories as a kid, the 1980 Gold Cup/Mundialito
To celebrate 50 years of the first World Cup, all former champions were invited. It was even better than planned as the Netherlands took England's spot after they declined the invite.
Beat two of the great teams of the next World Cup on the way to winning it (including @Annahnomoss' formidable Italians, yadda yadda). Such a shame that we had such a great generation of players, later joined by Francescoli, Sosa, Alzamendi... yet a mixture of crap management and idiotic rules (not calling up anyone playing abroad) meant we missed 1982 and didn't play our best side in 1986
To celebrate 50 years of the first World Cup, all former champions were invited. It was even better than planned as the Netherlands took England's spot after they declined the invite.
Beat two of the great teams of the next World Cup on the way to winning it (including @Annahnomoss' formidable Italians, yadda yadda). Such a shame that we had such a great generation of players, later joined by Francescoli, Sosa, Alzamendi... yet a mixture of crap management and idiotic rules (not calling up anyone playing abroad) meant we missed 1982 and didn't play our best side in 1986
Great game mate you really deserved the win! Meh, I don't think Tardelli would have changed anything. I would have loved to go on about him and highlight him a bit more as he's up there as one of the very finest defensive box to box players in the history of the game. I'd have him just below Rijkaard in that role. But the issue was that I kept getting extremely underrated players, or ones which people had some misconceptions with.
Cocu who most people think was purely defensive and lacking in playmaking ability. Tardelli who was actually a defensive box to box midfielder but is always mentioned and labeled a defensive midfielder. Rossi, just underrated through and through.
Then Bossis who was an extremely offensive full-back when he played there. I've never seen him play in a 3 or a 5 man defense, so playing him wide meant using "the offensive full back" version of him. That also meant that Scirea and Gentile would form a centre back pairing - which was far from Scirea at his peak as he was a sweeper/libero.
So whatever I fielded I knew people would have their own ideas of where player X played and there'd be a group who'd object whatever I did. Personally after that tactical change of mine I would have voted for The red viper myself. The only time Scirea played as a proper centre back like he would have to here, was when he got old and couldn't do the leg work of a sweeper/libero. Which means I was playing an out of peak Scirea - who was my star player.
I am sure Bossis would have followed orders and tried to stay back but to say he was comfortable in a role he never played - and better than Gentile in that role who made it a career to play it that way - is a bit crazy.
I put quite some effort in to these drafts for my own personal interest to learn to have good things to say. I watch loads of matches of my own players to get to know them, how they played, in which tactics and read up about them. In this case I knew as I did that my chances of winning were 0 as they played in ways that just the wasn't popular of how they did play.
I was looking for some old clips about Leandro vs. Uruguay in 1983 and came across this. One of my great memories as a kid, the 1980 Gold Cup/Mundialito
To celebrate 50 years of the first World Cup, all former champions were invited. It was even better than planned as the Netherlands took England's spot after they declined the invite.
Beat two of the great teams of the next World Cup on the way to winning it (including @Annahnomoss' formidable Italians, yadda yadda). Such a shame that we had such a great generation of players, later joined by Francescoli, Sosa, Alzamendi... yet a mixture of crap management and idiotic rules (not calling up anyone playing abroad) meant we missed 1982 and didn't play our best side in 1986
Really beautiful football! How were the rest of the matches?
Brazil drew Argentina but both beat Germany, Brazil advanced on goal difference. It would have been great either way as those were the two teams we beat in a Final, would have been dull to play Germany, even if they were the current European champions.
I'm not sure what impact the timing had. It was a XMAS break thing, but you could argue it would find Europeans in better form halfway through their season. The big names were all definitely there... Of course, we had the advantage of the packed stadiums
Great tourno anyway. Even the mascot was awesome.
