Varela is on that side because Zebec is a better defender than Sagnol. I don‘t need a great right winger to go up against Zanetti when the plan is to break through with Bergkamp-Henry-Romario against his ill-fitted CBs. Just Sagnol as a presence on the right is enough to stop Zanetti from tucking inside and this gives me a big mismatch in the middle.
The Road Trip Draft QF: Don Alfredo vs. MJJ
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Varela is on that side because Zebec is a better defender than Sagnol. I don‘t need a great right winger to go up against Zanetti when the plan is to break through with Bergkamp-Henry-Romario against his ill-fitted CBs. Just Sagnol as a presence on the right is enough to stop Zanetti from tucking inside and this gives me a big mismatch in the middle.
From whatever I have read about Zebec, I'd be highly surprised if that's true. As versatile and athletic as he was in covering multiple positions, Sagnol while not being a fancy name was an absolutely stellar defender who did his job consistently for multiple seasons and formed a rock solid back 4 in the 2006 WC which conceded 1 goal in 3 group games and then 1 goal up till the final keeping clean sheets against Brazil and Portugal. A proper traditional fullback whose incredible delivery (one that almost got the winning assist in the WC final) never came at the cost of his defensive nous. As an out and out defensive presence I'd take him ahead of Zebec any day.
I am using the younger version of scholes as I do have andrade at the back and need a more box to box scholes here given the formation I am up against.
That was more to highlight that he can share the ball with another primary playmaker and still shine, not saying the two are alike.
Did you find out anything on zebec playing LB btw?
I don’t think football works that way. You can’t just decide to attack through the middle, restrict yourself to that area of the pitch, and then expect it work as you have some sort of ‘numerical advantage’.
When you constrict the space that you attack in then it becomes easier for the opposition defenders as they can play close together and playing through them becomes that much harder. I think a presence on the right would be needed to pull the defenders wider, which gives the likes of Romario more room to play in. As it is, I can see Romario struggling to find space here.
Thats exactly what I would imagine will happen. Krol is already tasked with marking garrincha so he is getting drawn out wide more often than not and I would back my zanetti/dzajic flank to overrun sagnol which means either nesta or varela goes outwide.
Since there's no counter offer in sight, we have a winner.
Small sample size but romario and ruggeri faced off twice, romario scored once which was due to a mistake by another defender(miskicked a ball directly into romario's feet) so not sure this is true.
Vierchowod was also one of the fastest defenders around and somebody who could keep tabs on henry so he is well suited to dealing with both too.
Zebec and Sagnol's primary job is to provide width in a 3-5-2. Zebec is the better attacker while Sagnol I don't think ever played a role comparable to an all time wingback as a sole attacker on one side of the pitch.
Zebec's attacking game with Varela's defensive is quite complimentary. So is Robson and Sagnol's both being very balanced in both attack and defense.
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My thoughts too especially with the lack of ball playing in his CBs. Tigana would have been a better choice than Makelele as he could have kept Scholes at DLP with Tigana box-to-box.
Congrats @MJJ and good luck going forward
The thought process over picking makelele was that scholes would get murdered against a GOAT ten.
Congrats @MJJ and good luck going forward
Not over yet mate, plenty of time left.
That makes sense but Scholes isn't that bad defensively as he's portrayed. Sjor's vids vs Barca show this well.