The Redcafe Champions League Draft

I'm going to sleep now NM so you're good till the morning.

It must be around 4am in Sweden so there is feck all chance of EDogen coming on at this time.

Edit - :lol: What you talking about NM?!
 
AldoRaine18 said:
I think he means having 5 non CL players in the team with the current rule so that it is easy later on to pick off players from the losing teams. Makes sense.
Click to expand...

antohan said:
No, my point is people going for five just to leave room for one of those being replaced by a CL winner. Ozil is a case in point himself. If you came across a cracking AM/winger surely he would be the one out in that trio? But that could require a further sub...

Same reason it was best not to pick many big nations in key roles in the all-time one. I actually drafted a First XI with no Argies or Brazilians and Effenberg at CM hoping Matthaus/Beckenbauer would be a like for like replacement. It served me well that, ended up being able to bring on Beckenbauer, Pelé and Maradona without much hassle.

I'm just noticing a lack of that sort of forward planning from some players and reckon the game would be better if that sort of thing is flagged now and doesn't show up when they are in a straightjacket (e.g. Cutch's RB and pair of German keepers).
Click to expand...


It all depends on what's available. No point in planning for round 2 if you can't win your first match. There are also 4 picks left for everyone. Who knows what people are thinking. Maybe they just wanted to secure the CL winners that are available as those are generally the better players.
 
antohan said:
Forlán would have been very good getting a run of games in our post-RVN frontline. He just always seemed to be parachuted every other month or so into the RvN role, with no significant tactical switch and he simply wasn't that sort of player.
Click to expand...

I find Forlan nearly impossible to assess in terms of quality. Looked utterly hopeless for not insignificant stretches of his career yet at his best he was mesmerising. Prolific, with a capacity for scoring incredible goals, and he looked like an excellent playmaker at times for Uruguay as well.
 
Pat_Mustard said:
I find Forlan nearly impossible to assess in terms of quality. Looked utterly hopeless for not insignificant stretches of his career yet at his best he was mesmerising. Prolific, with a capacity for scoring incredible goals, and he looked like an excellent playmaker at times for Uruguay as well.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't build a team around him like we did with RvN. At the same time, one of his main assets was he didn't really need that. He just needed contiuity, space and off the ball movement from his teammates upfront. It also helped to be played in a position that used his strengths: support striker/inside left.

The only major constraint he places is having no one else who just keeps trying from long range, you CAN have too many of those.
 
Snow said:
It all depends on what's available. No point in planning for round 2 if you can't win your first match. There are also 4 picks left for everyone. Who knows what people are thinking. Maybe they just wanted to secure the CL winners that are available as those are generally the better players.
Click to expand...

I think it was the right idea to secure the non CL winners early. That way, you get players that are absolutely top drawer anyway early and aren't restricted with your later picks when the team really has to take shape.

Batistuta, Thuram and Ayala could easily have been my 1st 3 picks even if they had won a CL medal...
 
Precisely. Non CL winners you would happily take all the way to the final should be early priorities. There aren't tonnes of them, but enough to provide a proper spine and future proof your side.
 
Bearing that in mind, would you have gone for Messi or Brazilian Ronaldo if you could pick first?
 
Brazilian Ronaldo, but I would be in pain not to go with the most popular pick.

Mind, you start one vote down with Messi.
 
antohan said:
All-time PL draft, a 4-4-2 with Giggs and Becks, how could that possibly be a bad idea?
Click to expand...


I had Giggs-Vieira-Carrick-Beckham in that draft and I got knocked out in the group stage, losing to Theon, who then took my wingers and proceeded to get knocked out as well. So you could say width is overrated, but then as you say yourself, you lost a final because of a lack of quality wingers to exploit weak opposing fullbacks. That's kind of the problem with these drafts; people are generally idiots and don't vote for the team which would likely win the match, but the one with more players they like, regardless of ability. That's why it's usually a bad idea to pick players like McManaman.

There's also some favouritism, with people voting for certain posters regardless of who they are up against or what their team looks like.

It's still great fun though.
 
You know, I've seen a lot of Messi v Ronaldo debates over the years but I've never thought about Messi v Ronaldo, version 1.0 debate. Messi is the greater talent between the two, but I'd pick Ronaldo v 1.0 for United first.
 
Why? Ronaldo was injury prone, inconsistent, and 'only' a striker (albeit one of all time best, for a period of time). Messi has played 50+ games in the last 5 seasons, consistently excellent every season, and he can score and assist.
 
Saying he was inconsistent is quite harsh on him, he suffered injuries but kept coming back even stronger till he finally let himself go. At his peak (96-98) he was absolutely untouchable and that season was Barca is easily as devastating as it can get. The biggest appreciation he can get is the fact that he absolutely destroyed some of the best defenders of our generation when playing in Serie A. The likes of Nesta, Cannavaro and Thuram at their prime had no answer to him. He raped that Parma team in particular.

With regards to him v Messi, he has the International achievements in his favour, performing on the biggest stage for Brazil, but on the club level Messi's beaten him quite a while ago. Though it's still quite tough to separate their peaks.
 
Sorry I was planning for watching the NHL and doing this but that did not happen... But now I pick Patrice Evra! Very happy with him behind Giggs.
 
Think Aldo summed it up quite nicely there. Ronaldo also got his redemption in 2002 after whatever happened in '98 (does anyone actually know?) top scorer with 8 goals including the winner in the semi-finals and both goals in the two-nil win over Germany. All this by the age of 25 which is Messi's age now. Even when he was ...carrying a bit of weight, he was scoring against la liga teams. Done it in any team he's played no matter the set up.

Messi's done what he's done for Barca - where the whole team is built and suited to him, with players he's grown up with and share the same philosophy. So when he's in a draft like this there's a chance of seeing the Argentina Messi and not the Barca one. Still amazing but not the guy who's won all these WPOTY titles.

That plus the non-CL winners medal are reasons I'd pick Ronaldo over Messi in this draft
 
An Argentinian partner for Crespo

aguero.t1larg.jpg
 
We'll take Gilberto Silva as a perfect compliment to Viera who Arsenal have struggled massively to replace since he left.

And Maicon, best RB in the world at one point.
 
Can't believe David Villa went so late. Absolutely brilliant striker.
 
That's why I didn't want Anto to mention Evra in his post. Balls.
 
The Game: 1. Zidane 2. Seedorf 3. Shevchenko 4. Frank De Boer 5. Pires 6. Cocu 7. Ze Roberto
JakeC: 1. Messi 2. Cantona 3. Buffon 4. Roberto Carlos 5. Xabi Alonso 6. Puyol 7. Mascherano
kps88: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Kohler 3. Davids 4. Vieri 5. Riquelme 6. Costacurta 7. Cambiasso
Thisistheone: 1. Ronaldo 2. Desailly 3. Rui Costa 4. Blanc 5. Essien 6. Dani Alves 7. Rooney
Ralaks: 1. Keane 2. Del Piero 3. Effenberg 4. Beckham 5. Overmars 6. Ramos 7. Trezeguet
nahealai: 1. Xavi 2. Raúl 3. van Nistelrooy 4. Ballack 5. Busquets 6. Lizarazu 7. Irwin
Stobzilla: 1. Henry 2. Stam 3. Totti 4. Gerrard 5. Veron 6. Mata 7. G. Neville
Feeky: 1. Maldini 2. Scholes 3. Bergkamp 4. Deschamps 5. Ibrahimovic 6. Y. Touré 7. David Silva
akash02: 1. Romario 2. Cannavaro 3. Hagi 4. Guardiola 5. Lahm 6. McManaman 7. Petit
Gio: 1. Rivaldo 2. Nedved 3. Ferdinand 4. Zanetti 5. Fabregas 6. Zambrotta 7. Montero
Snow: 1. Ronaldinho 2. Kaka 3. Mendieta 4. Terry 5. Carvalho 6. A. Cole 7. Ozil
Isotope: 1. Redondo 2. Ribery 3. Eto'o 4. Albertini 5. Campbell 6. Boban 7. Forlan
EDogen: 1. Nesta 2. Giggs 3. Hierro 4. Van Persie 5. Enrique 6. Robben 7.Evra
Theon: 1. Iniesta 2. Pirlo 3. Cafu 4. Gattuso 5. De Rossi 6. Crespo 7. Aguero
Fergus'son: 1. Batistuta 2. Thuram 3. Ayala 4. Makelele 5. Schweinsteiger 6. Möller 7. Villa
BD/NM: 1. Vieira 2. Figo 3. Vidic 4. Drogba 5.Lampard 6. Popescu 7. Maicon 8. Gilberto
 
adding pictures for my team:

Gilberto Silva

21489-zoom.jpg



Maicon

images
 
My next pick is Brazilian lb or midfielder, Leonardo. Delighted to get him and Villa at this stage.

I think I know Theons pick but don't want to make it for him just in case he has changed his mind...
 
GK
Maicon Popescu Vidic LB

Gilberto Vieira

Figo/RW Lampard Figo/LW

Drogba

Thoughts?
I like my combos - Drog + Lamps, invincible midfield of Gilberto and Vieira and Vidic and Popescu complement each other naturally.
 
NM said:
GK
Maicon Popescu Vidic LB

Gilberto Vieira

Figo/RW Lampard Figo/LW

Drogba

Thoughts?
I like my combos - Drog + Lamps, invincible midfield of Gilberto and Vieira and Vidic and Popescu complement each other naturally.
Click to expand...


I would go a 4-5-1 like this instead, Lampard isn't an AM he was always best as a central midfielder running from deep. Ancelotti actually played him as an AM when he first took over at Chelsea and it didn't work very well.

Maicon--Popescu--Vidic--Left back
---------Gilberto Silva----------
------Lampard----Vieira------
Figo/RW-----------------Figo/LW
-----------Drogba------------
 
NM said:
That's why I didn't want Anto to mention Evra in his post. Balls.
Click to expand...

You didn't really think people would forget about Patrice Evra did you? I doubt Anto's post made any difference whatsoever.
 
Jayvin said:
You didn't really think people would forget about Patrice Evra did you? I doubt Anto's post made any difference whatsoever.
Click to expand...

To be honest, if people forgot David Villa until now, I thinkEvra (due to his sbstandard last few years) could definitely have slipped thru to us. That was a big blow.
 
Theon said:
I would go a 4-5-1 like this instead, Lampard isn't an AM he was always best as a central midfielder running from deep. Ancelotti actually played him as an AM when he first took over at Chelsea and it didn't work very well.

Maicon--Popescu--Vidic--Left back
---------Gilberto Silva----------
------Lampard----Vieira------
Figo/RW-----------------Figo/LW
-----------Drogba------------
Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't mean Lampard as an actual AM. Just that he would run in and support.


Cutch said:
BD/NM's side are definately not gonna get outmuscled!
Click to expand...


:D

But keep in mind that the likes of Vieira, Drogba and Maicon are more than just bruisers.

Vieira was elegant as feck. I hated hi when he played for Arsenal but can admire him now. Same with Drogba. His technique was amazing. Maicon was a great runner and crosser in his time.

All my players have a ferocious desire not to lose. Most of them were leaders on their team - I don't people to forget that either.
 
NM said:
To be honest, if people forgot David Villa until now, I thinkEvra (due to his sbstandard last few years) could definitely have slipped thru to us. That was a big blow.
Click to expand...

Don't think anyone forgot Villa, I suspect the CL rule is affecting people now.

But yeah, naming unpicked players, no matter how obvious is a bit of a no no, defeats the object.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.