The Redcafe Champions League Draft

Exactly. Give one name to somebody who can post in your absence so at least the effort was made. I would be reluctant to give two names myself in case it could give somebody else some ideas.
 
:lol:

I've been online most of the day but am back to work tomorrow so won't be online until 5 o'clock tomorrow evening when I log off tonight. He better not stroll in here at 2.30am this evening and post his pick, and let me hang out to dry! :D
 
He has 12 hours. No need to fret. If he doesn't come through he'll have 6 hours from then on out. He doesn't have an assistant and he appears to have a life outside the internet. Just be patient.
 
Ah, no, I'm only messing. As I said earlier, he said he's at a festival this weekend so that explains the gaps between picks. It'll go swimmingly once we get to the week days, you'd imagine.
 
nahealai said:
:lol:

I've been online most of the day but am back to work tomorrow so won't be online until 5 o'clock tomorrow evening when I log off tonight. He better not stroll in here at 2.30am this evening and post his pick, and let me hang out to dry! :D
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You can PM your picks. I'll at work until NBA is over so I'll be online for a good while. I'm also going to pick twice after you've made your pick so you can PM your top two picks if you want.
 
Gio said:
Yeah Riquelme was fundamental in Cling Bak winning the 70s draft. Kps is looking the strongest for me.
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Eh? I actually thought it was one of his weak points towards the end. It was his front three that did it IMO.

Ronaldo is an outstanding pick here with him not having won the CL.

Were's the updated list of picks?
 
The Game: 1. Zidane 2. Seedorf 3. Shevchenko 4. Frank De Boer 5. Pires
JakeC: 1. Messi 2. Cantona 3. Buffon 4. Roberto Carlos 5. Xabi Alonso
kps88: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Kohler 3. Davids 4. Vieri 5. Riquelme
Thisistheone: 1. Ronaldo 2. Desailly 3. Rui Costa 4. Blanc 5. Essien
Ralaks: 1. Keane 2. Del Piero 3. Effenberg 4. Beckham
nahealai: 1. Xavi 2. Raúl 3. van Nistelrooy 4. Ballack
Stobzilla: 1. Henry 2. Stam 3. Totti 4. Gerrard
Feeky: 1. Maldini 2. Scholes 3. Bergkamp 4. Deschamps
akash02: 1. Romario 2. Cannavaro 3. Hagi 4. Guardiola
Gio: 1. Rivaldo 2. Nedved 3. Ferdinand 4. Zanetti
Snow: 1. Ronaldinho 2. Kaka 3. Mendieta 4. Terry
Isotope: 1. Redondo 2. Ribery 3. Eto'o 4. Albertini
EDogen: 1. Nesta 2. Giggs 3. Hierro 4. Van Persie
Theon: 1. Iniesta 2. Pirlo 3. Cafu 4. Gattuso
Fergus'son: 1. Batistuta 2. Thuram 3. Ayala 4. Makelele
BD/NM: 1. Vieira 2. Figo 3. Vidic 4. Drogba
 
antohan said:
Eh? I actually thought it was one of his weak points towards the end. It was his front three that did it IMO.

Ronaldo is an outstanding pick here with him not having won the CL.

Were's the updated list of picks?
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Nah, he had those pacy winger/wide strikers and Riquelme was feeding all the ammo. His whole front six was sex, it was his back five and full-backs that were suspect.
 
Some already have the makings of a very good side there, others have intriguing choices and are more "wait and see".

I can already see from the picks players will be rated quite differently from what they would have a couple of years ago, which is what I find really weird and interesting in these things.

Some comments/feedback, nothing to get worked up about:
  • Jakec, GKs don't make much of a difference. It is not even an unwritten rule but cast in stone.
  • I liked KPSs team a lot up to Riquelme, I love every single one of those players, but Riquelme plays at an entirely different tempo. Getting him 5th round is not bad at all, think about that though.
  • Tito will have a hard time selling his team. All good players but at least three tend to divide opinion.
  • Ralaks will probably have the classic "Becks isn't a winger" problem and difficulty switching formations. As with Riquelme, a great player nevertheless.
  • I see Gio has finally decided he can't just wing defending in the early stages :lol:
Long way to go though. It just hit me how many great players from the 90s would marginally miss out on the 20 game rule :(
 
I'm not playing to win a competition, I hope I do. I'm playing to see how balanced and talented a team I can make. With such an array of attacking talent, I'd need somebody in goal that I trust. And Buffon has been the best goalkeeper of the past 20 years. Add to that a lack of a CL medal and his experience, and I think he's a good pick.
 
I'll be picking in a second, just got home from the final day so no more delays from me, once again I'm soooorry!
 
Gio said:
Nah, he had those pacy winger/wide strikers and Riquelme was feeding all the ammo. His whole front six was sex, it was his back five and full-backs that were suspect.
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Yeah, the six was awesome once he had two solid DMs behind him (Vieira and Mendieta, wasn't it?) but that side had an element of "put a man on Riquelme and they'll struggle". None of the front four did bugger all defensively/tracking back and the fullbacks were attrocious. You could see Vieira and Mendieta running themselves into the ground chasing the ball.

I fecked up respecting him too much and getting Davids to match his DM workrate when Rivaldo would have shat all over his midfield. No better defence than a good attack and all that.
 
jakec said:
I'm not playing to win a competition, I hope I do. I'm playing to see how balanced and talented a team I can make. With such an array of attacking talent, I'd need somebody in goal that I trust. And Buffon has been the best goalkeeper of the past 20 years. Add to that a lack of a CL medal and his experience, and I think he's a good pick.
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Yeah, noticed the lack of CL would have got you more eager to bring him on.

TBH, I haven't actually done the research this would require so have no idea what paucity of quality players may arise later on and in which positions.

I respect the view that you want a side you can be proud of and think would work. I've shot myself in the foot going for that enough times to know what you are talking about.

Let's put it this way, I never fielded Gary Kelly at right back in a final, or Fifo Eyzaguirre for that matter :lol:
 
antohan said:
Yeah, noticed the lack of CL would have got you more eager to bring him on.

TBH, I haven't actually done the research this would require so have no idea what paucity of quality players may arise later on and in which positions.

I respect the view that you want a side you can be proud of and think would work. I've shot myself in the foot going for that enough times to know what you are talking about.

Let's put it this way, I never fielded Gary Kelly at right back in a final, or Fifo Eyzaguirre for that matter :lol:
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I'll go for Gary Breen if you go for Kelly ;)
 
antohan said:
Yeah, noticed the lack of CL would have got you more eager to bring him on.

TBH, I haven't actually done the research this would require so have no idea what paucity of quality players may arise later on and in which positions.

I respect the view that you want a side you can be proud of and think would work. I've shot myself in the foot going for that enough times to know what you are talking about.

Let's put it this way, I never fielded Gary Kelly at right back in a final, or Fifo Eyzaguirre for that matter :lol:
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feck off! :lol:
 
antohan said:
Some already have the makings of a very good side there, others have intriguing choices and are more "wait and see".

I can already see from the picks players will be rated quite differently from what they would have a couple of years ago, which is what I find really weird and interesting in these things.

Some comments/feedback, nothing to get worked up about:
  • Jakec, GKs don't make much of a difference. It is not even an unwritten rule but cast in stone.
  • I liked KPSs team a lot up to Riquelme, I love every single one of those players, but Riquelme plays at an entirely different tempo. Getting him 5th round is not bad at all, think about that though.
  • Tito will have a hard time selling his team. All good players but at least three tend to divide opinion.
  • Ralaks will probably have the classic "Becks isn't a winger" problem and difficulty switching formations. As with Riquelme, a great player nevertheless.
  • I see Gio has finally decided he can't just wing defending in the early stages :lol:
Long way to go though. It just hit me how many great players from the 90s would marginally miss out on the 20 game rule :(
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Thoughts on mine Anto?
 
I've figured I need a good defensive midfielder to complement Ballack and Xavi and I've gone for one whom is tactically and technically imperious. Sergio Busquets has been a revelation for Barcelona and Spain since he's been promoted to their respective senior sides. His game is far from just "keeping it simple" as he is superb at passing through the midfield lines to his front men, as well as linking with lightning sharp one-twos with his midfield partners. I think he'll complement Xavi and Ballack superbly, as well as providing excellent cover to his defence.

Also, if I need him to do a man-marking job on a rival's attacking midfielder, he's more than capable of nullying the opposition, i.e. his man-marking job on a Balon D'Or-chasing Wesley Sneijder in the World Cup 2010 was one of the all-time great defensive midfield performances. Sneijder didn't kick a ball. Busquets can also slip back to a central defence role beside his centre-backs, make it a back three and allow the full-backs licence to roam forward.

I think he's a valuable pick and one which gives me some options.

Sergio+Busquets+Barcelona+v+Real+Madrid+Supercopa+7m6ZGZD29gGl.jpg





Something I'm thinking about at the moment:

Busquets​
​
Xavi ---------- Ballack​
​
​
RAM/Raúl --------------------- LAM/Raúl​
​
van Nistelrooy​


Or just with Raúl playing slightly off van Nistelrooy in a second-striker role. I haven't decided which may be most effective yet.
 
The Game: 1. Zidane 2. Seedorf 3. Shevchenko 4. Frank De Boer 5. Pires
JakeC: 1. Messi 2. Cantona 3. Buffon 4. Roberto Carlos 5. Xabi Alonso
kps88: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Kohler 3. Davids 4. Vieri 5. Riquelme
Thisistheone: 1. Ronaldo 2. Desailly 3. Rui Costa 4. Blanc 5. Essien
Ralaks: 1. Keane 2. Del Piero 3. Effenberg 4. Beckham 5. Overmars
nahealai: 1. Xavi 2. Raúl 3. van Nistelrooy 4. Ballack 5. Busquets
Stobzilla: 1. Henry 2. Stam 3. Totti 4. Gerrard
Feeky: 1. Maldini 2. Scholes 3. Bergkamp 4. Deschamps
akash02: 1. Romario 2. Cannavaro 3. Hagi 4. Guardiola
Gio: 1. Rivaldo 2. Nedved 3. Ferdinand 4. Zanetti
Snow: 1. Ronaldinho 2. Kaka 3. Mendieta 4. Terry
Isotope: 1. Redondo 2. Ribery 3. Eto'o 4. Albertini
EDogen: 1. Nesta 2. Giggs 3. Hierro 4. Van Persie
Theon: 1. Iniesta 2. Pirlo 3. Cafu 4. Gattuso
Fergus'son: 1. Batistuta 2. Thuram 3. Ayala 4. Makelele
BD/NM: 1. Vieira 2. Figo 3. Vidic 4. Drogba

I'll PM Stobs there now.
 
nahealai said:
I've figured I need a good defensive midfielder to complement Ballack and Xavi and I've gone for one whom is tactically and technically imperious. Sergio Busquets has been a revelation for Barcelona and Spain since he's been promoted to their respective senior sides. His game is far from just "keeping it simple" as he is superb at passing through the midfield lines to his front men, as well as linking with lightning sharp one-twos with his midfield partners. I think he'll complement Xavi and Ballack superbly, as well as providing excellent cover to his defence.

Also, if I need him to do a man-marking job on a rival's attacking midfielder, he's more than capable of nullying the opposition, i.e. his man-marking job on a Balon D'Or-chasing Wesley Sneijder in the World Cup 2010 was one of the all-time great defensive midfield performances. Sneijder didn't kick a ball. Busquets can also slip back to a central defence role beside his centre-backs, make it a back three and allow the full-backs licence to roam forward.

I think he's a valuable pick and one which gives me some options.

Sergio+Busquets+Barcelona+v+Real+Madrid+Supercopa+7m6ZGZD29gGl.jpg





Something I'm thinking about at the moment:

Busquets​
​
Xavi ---------- Ballack​
​
​
RAM/Raúl ------------------------------ LAM/Raúl​
​
van Nistelrooy​


Or just with Raúl playing slightly off van Nistelrooy in a second-striker role. I haven't decided which may be most effective yet.
Click to expand...

That midfield looks brilliant but I'd now be concerned about how to line up with Raul, for me he definitely has to be playing just off RVN, out wide isn't so good IMO.
 
nahealai said:
I've figured I need a good defensive midfielder to complement Ballack and Xavi and I've gone for one whom is tactically and technically imperious. Sergio Busquets has been a revelation for Barcelona and Spain since he's been promoted to their respective senior sides. His game is far from just "keeping it simple" as he is superb at passing through the midfield lines to his front men, as well as linking with lightning sharp one-twos with his midfield partners. I think he'll complement Xavi and Ballack superbly, as well as providing excellent cover to his defence.

Also, if I need him to do a man-marking job on a rival's attacking midfielder, he's more than capable of nullying the opposition, i.e. his man-marking job on a Balon D'Or-chasing Wesley Sneijder in the World Cup 2010 was one of the all-time great defensive midfield performances. Sneijder didn't kick a ball. Busquets can also slip back to a central defence role beside his centre-backs, make it a back three and allow the full-backs licence to roam forward.

I think he's a valuable pick and one which gives me some options.

Sergio+Busquets+Barcelona+v+Real+Madrid+Supercopa+7m6ZGZD29gGl.jpg





Something I'm thinking about at the moment:

Busquets​
​
Xavi ---------- Ballack​
​
​
RAM/Raúl --------------------- LAM/Raúl​
​
van Nistelrooy​


Or just with Raúl playing slightly off van Nistelrooy in a second-striker role. I haven't decided which may be most effective yet.
Click to expand...


Raul is NOT a wide player. He is played behind/alongside RVN.
 
NM said:
Raul is NOT a wide player. He is played behind/alongside RVN.
Click to expand...

He's played well there in the past, but yes, that was when he was on the wane and his strengths lie through the middle.
 
Fergus' son said:
That midfield looks brilliant but I'd now be concerned about how to line up with Raul, for me he definitely has to be playing just off RVN, out wide isn't so good IMO.
Click to expand...

I agree, that's where I'd place him ideally, too. I have a formation in mind (and personnel to fulfil it) but it'll all depend on whether I can get the players that I want. Everyone is in the same boat though, I suppose.
 
nahealai said:
I agree, that's where I'd place him ideally, too. I have a formation in mind (and personnel to fulfil it) but it'll all depend on whether I can get the players that I want. Everyone is in the same boat though, I suppose.
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Let me guess, you want a very specific pair of full backs...?
 
Gio said:
He's played well there in the past, but yes, that was when he was on the wane and his strengths lie through the middle.
Click to expand...


That's what I meant. Playing him there is really a waste.
 
nahealai said:
No, actually. I genuinely have about six in mind for each of right-back and left-back, and I'd be happy with any of them.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I think it will be quite Important that they will be ale to provide good attacking width for your team, if you intend to squeeze Ballack and Raul centrally.

Intrigued to see how it will end up.
 
Chaps, I just used that Worldfootball site that Theon posted earlier when it came to Riquelme. It added up to 20 appearances. I knew it was a close cut and I mentioned this to Theon as well in my PM. I didn't bother checking Transfermarket. For what it's worth, it does not include the Benfica away game, which he did in fact start.

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2005/matches/round=2201/match=1100305/index.html

However I understand most of you just checked Transfermarket which put you off. I'm open to disqualifying Riquelme and changing my pick if people think that's best. Take a call fast though, I don't want my back up pick going too!
 
nahealai said:
I've figured I need a good defensive midfielder to complement Ballack and Xavi and I've gone for one whom is tactically and technically imperious. Sergio Busquets has been a revelation for Barcelona and Spain since he's been promoted to their respective senior sides. His game is far from just "keeping it simple" as he is superb at passing through the midfield lines to his front men, as well as linking with lightning sharp one-twos with his midfield partners. I think he'll complement Xavi and Ballack superbly, as well as providing excellent cover to his defence.

Also, if I need him to do a man-marking job on a rival's attacking midfielder, he's more than capable of nullying the opposition, i.e. his man-marking job on a Balon D'Or-chasing Wesley Sneijder in the World Cup 2010 was one of the all-time great defensive midfield performances. Sneijder didn't kick a ball. Busquets can also slip back to a central defence role beside his centre-backs, make it a back three and allow the full-backs licence to roam forward.

I think he's a valuable pick and one which gives me some options.

Sergio+Busquets+Barcelona+v+Real+Madrid+Supercopa+7m6ZGZD29gGl.jpg





Something I'm thinking about at the moment:

Busquets​
​
Xavi ---------- Ballack​
​
​
RAM/Raúl --------------------- LAM/Raúl​
​
van Nistelrooy​


Or just with Raúl playing slightly off van Nistelrooy in a second-striker role. I haven't decided which may be most effective yet.
Click to expand...


Great pick I was wondering who you would use to complement those two (Ballack and Xavi) or if you would play a midfield two. I agree Raul from outwide won't work theres still quality out there for you though.
 
kps88 said:
Chaps, I just used that Worldfootball site that Theon posted earlier when it came to Riquelme. It added up to 20 appearances. I knew it was a close cut and I mentioned this to Theon as well in my PM. I didn't bother checking Transfermarket. For what it's worth, it does not include the Benfica away game, which he did in fact start.

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2005/matches/round=2201/match=1100305/index.html

However I understand most of you just checked Transfermarket which put you off. I'm open to disqualifying Riquelme and changing my pick if people think that's best. Take a call fast though, I don't want my back up pick going too!
Click to expand...


Nah man, you're perfectly entitled to him as far as i'm concerned. You did the necessary research and its only a bit of fun.
 
kps88 said:
Chaps, I just used that Worldfootball site that Theon posted earlier when it came to Riquelme. It added up to 20 appearances. I knew it was a close cut and I mentioned this to Theon as well in my PM. I didn't bother checking Transfermarket. For what it's worth, it does not include the Benfica away game, which he did in fact start.

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2005/matches/round=2201/match=1100305/index.html

However I understand most of you just checked Transfermarket which put you off. I'm open to disqualifying Riquelme and changing my pick if people think that's best. Take a call fast though, I don't want my back up pick going too!
Click to expand...

No, mate. Transfermarkt was wrong. You're good to go with Riquelme. Great pick.
 
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