The Road Trip Draft R1: Michaelf7777777 vs Moby

Who will win this match based on all the players at their peaks?

  • Total voters
    24
  • Poll closed .

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
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Michaelf7(7) ----------------------VS----------------------------- Moby----------------​

Michaelf7(7) tactics

My team is playing a 4-3-3 that is looking to get the best out of Ferenc Puskas. The best version of Puskas was when he was with Honved and Hungary in the early to mid 1950's. My formation strives to keep many of the elements that made that team so successful while being more solid defensively. One of these elements that I didn't know about until reading a compilation of posts that were originally posted by someone who was a Honved, Hungary and Real Madrid scout in the 1950's is that they had two players operating as linking players with the two strikers (link: https://www.xtratime.org/forum/9019376-post19.html). These roles will be filled in my team by Modric and Bozsik being the linkers with Puskas and Rooney being linked to. Nedved will play a deeper role starting on the left but with freedom to cut inside. Rooney will be starting further forward on the right hand side cutting inside to provide a further goal threat particularly as Blanc isn't the quickest. My fullbacks are both good going forward and will provide additional width to that provided by Nedved and Rooney.

Apart from Ferenc Puskas, the biggest strength of my side is the midfield. Bozsik was a top quality playmaker who was also very good defensively. Indeed according to the same Honved, Hungary and Real Madrid scout that I mentioned earlier, he was as good as Franz Beckenbauer (link: https://www.xtratime.org/forum/9024953-post87.html). In addition I have Luka Modric, player of the tournament at the most recent World Cup and a key part of the recent great Real Madrid teams who is also a great playmaker. My midfield trio is anchored by Romeo Benetti who was highly consistent, strong and had high levels of stamina. In addition Benetti was also capable on the ball and had a good long range shot.

Moby tactics

Formation: 4-3-3
Super solid defense with complimentary partnerships and no slouches at the back with a rolls royce of a ball playing defender and a cohesive midfield oozing with creativity and control providing the swash buckling attack full of pace, tricks, dribbling and goals, with the GOAT goalscorer having chances out for him on a plate.

The team has been built to get the best out of Ronaldo, providing him a massive array of service and workrate all over the park and making sure that he does what is the most important thing in a football match - score goals. In this setup, it is impossible to stop him.

Defense
In Bergomi and Blanc, we have a world class partnership of a stopper and a ball playing CB, with Bergomi doing bulk of the covering and providing the physicality, aerial ability and 1v1 shield, with Blanc being elite at reading the game, bringing in quality anticipation and exemplary class on the ball bringing it out with ease.

He has his trusted lieutenant from the incredible defense that won the 1998 WC in Lizarazu on the left, who is a tank on the flank, closing all the gates at the back and having the guile and stamina to constantly support the attack. Lastly, 'The Lion', the Belgian legend, European Cup winning captain at PSV and the tireless presence of Eric Gerets will complete the defense on the right. Supreme mental tenacity and grit with a never say die presence in defense, and a constant dedication to join the attack and overlap with intent.


Midfield
At the base of the midfield shielding the defense is Uli Stielike, the German great and an absolute shoe in for this position, be it anchoring the midfield, dropping into defense if and when Blanc wants to charge forward and provide the impenetrable platform for the attack to shine.

He's partnering Luis Suarez Miramontes, the Ballon D'or winning midfield general, playing in his peak incarnation here as the absolute cerebrum of the team, being the heart and orchestrating every move, controlling the tempo of the team and charging forward in buildups with intent and devastating creativity. He couldn't have dreamt of having a better partner in crime than Andres Iniesta, who would be expected to re-form the kind of telepathic partnership he had with Xavi and combine together for some sensational one touch passing, footwork, midfield control and the ability to unlock any defense.

It's a dream partnership as far as creative duos go, and both would absolutely revel in each other's presence. There is no way their creative influence can be curbed, and the two of them will take the game by the scruff of it's neck and churn chance after chance.

Attack
On the right is the GOAT winger, Luis Figo. His physical prime that made him an electric, relentless and devastating presence on the wing in very similar setups is the one that will grace the field here. His tandem of creativity, crossing and goalscoring would be a proposition not many can contend with, being able to combine with the midfield and pass through a defense, or cross it to the waiting heads of Seeler and Ronaldo, or smash in curlers from the edge of the box. Uncontrollable influence at the very heart of the game.

The no. 9 of the team is Uwe Seeler, the incredible all round forward who brought a wide diverse range of qualities at the very biggest of stages. His aerial ability and extreme determination and workrate in and around the box would allow him to constantly hassle defenders and have the ball in dangerous areas, either for knockdowns for Ronaldo or to go for goal himself. His ability on the ground is even better, allowing him to facilitate Ronaldo in a similar fashion Benzema does at Madrid and get the best out of him. As well as able to combine with the rest of the creative unit.

Lastly, there is Cristiano Ronaldo. The supreme goalscoring machine, in his peak machine incarnation. The only way he has ever been kept off the scoresheet is by having the midfield service cut off, but here we have a vast array of players intending to get him in on the act in Lizarazu, Blanc, Suarez, Iniesta, Seeler and Figo. That's a massive supporting cast and in a setup like that, he is going to prowl across the defense and smash a few in.

1.-Cristiano-Ronaldos-Champions-League-Goals-By-Season_180412_114013.png


Cristiano Ronaldo's Honours and achievements

Club
As of 26 May 2018
Sporting CP

Manchester United[557][558]

Real Madrid[558]

International
Portugal

Individual
Awards
Performances
Orders
Records
As of 24 September 2018
World
Continental
Spain
  • Most hat-tricks in La Liga history: 34[605]
  • Most goals scored from penalty kicks in La Liga history: 61[606]
  • Fastest La Liga player to score 150 league goals (140 games)[607]
Portugal
Real Madrid


Good luck @Michaelf7777777 @Moby
 
I would've played Puskas-Rooney-Nedved.
 
Thought MichaelF was right to go to Eastern Europe when he did, but perhaps missed an opportunity to nab Puskas > Dzajic > Kocsis as his first three picks and then either spin north or south from there (or via Bulgaria for Stoickhov).
 
Michaels team looks like a reasonably good one if there were block restrictions in place
 
Gio said:
Thought MichaelF was right to go to Eastern Europe when he did, but perhaps missed an opportunity to nab Puskas > Dzajic > Kocsis as his first three picks and then either spin north or south from there (or via Bulgaria for Stoickhov).
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This is exactly what I thought he would do when he went Puskas first

Puskas > Dzajic > Koscis > Vidic > Modric and then to Italy
 
Rooney shouldn't be anywhere other than CF or SS. At his peak, he had the worst game I've remembered playing from the right.
 
Indnyc said:
This is exactly what I thought he would do when he went Puskas first

Puskas > Dzajic > Koscis > Vidic > Modric and then to Italy
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I rate Bozsik higher than Koscis though. Where I went wrong, in retrospect, I think was not starting with Figueroa and then jumping to Europe with the 2nd pick to take either Puskas or Laudrup.
 
Michaelf7777777 said:
I rate Bozsik higher than Koscis though. Where I went wrong, in retrospect, I think was not starting with Figueroa and then jumping to Europe with the 2nd pick to take either Puskas or Laudrup.
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Maybe but Puskas - Koscis is a set and forget strike force. Having played together there is great synergy as well
 
Tactics for my team are largely explained in the OP. Would like to hear what others think of it.

Meanwhile, a bit more on some of my players on the pitch below.
 
Luis Suarez Miramontes

Date Of Birth: 2 May, 1935

Place Of Birth: A Coruna, Galicia, Spain

Height: 1.75m

Playing Position: Deep lying playmaker

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Regarded as one of Spain’s greatest ever players, Luisito was noted for his graceful and elegant style of play. He was an excellent passer of the ball and also had explosive shooting skills. He started his playing career for Deportivo La Coruna but soon was transferred to FC Barcelona in 1955. Despite averaging a goal every two games, Luis Suarez was not a striker. He was a playmaker. The nickname “El Arquitecto” was given to Suarez because of his excellent vision and ability to direct play. It was said that Suarez knew where he wanted to put the ball even before he received it. Reminds you of anyone?

“Architect of Spain’s maiden European triumph”
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Luis Suarez was the star performer for the triumphant Spanish side when they won the European Nation’s Cup in 1964, a tournament they hosted. Since there were only 4 teams participating in the final round, the tournament directly began from the semifinals. Spain’s first match was against Hungary at the Santiago Bernabeu. Orchestrated by the brilliant Luis Suarez, Spain overcame a Hungary side brimming with their own talent to reach the final on its home soil. El Arquitecto assisted Jose Maria Pereda for the opening goal. However, Hungary managed to find an equalizer in the 84th minute but Luis Suarez’s experience came in handy as he directed his younger compatriots to find the winner. Their efforts were rewarded when the skilful Amancio Amaro scored in the 112th minute to send Spain into the final.

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El Arquitecto taking a freekick in the final

Spain faced previous winners USSR in the final and once again Luis Suarez didn’t disappoint with his performance. A wise head among young players, Suarez was the eldest member of the Spanish squad. A sublime pass from Luisito found Jose Maria Pereda whose skilful finish left the “Black Spider” Yashin helpless. Spain were in the lead in the 6th minute in front of 100,000 spectators at the Bernabeu with General Francisco Franco among them. However, the Russian side equalised within two minutes of conceding and it took some heroics from Spanish goalkeeper Jose Angel Iribar to keep the scores level. Luis Suarez’s calming presence made the difference when he spread the play to the right and the ball was crossed in from there to find Marcelino Martinez who beat Yashin for the second time in the game with a headed effort. Spain clinched their first European Nation’s Cup on their home soil. Luis Suarez Miramontes’ ability to dictate play and orchestrate attacks highlighted him as the mastermind behind Spain’s victory. Again, reminds of someone?

“Honours”​
Suarez also enjoyed a successful club career as he went on to win the league, Copa and Fairs Cups twice with Barcelona and three Serie A titles, two European and Intercontinental Cups for Inter. To date he remains the only Spanish player to win the coveted European Footballer of the Year, also known as Ballon d’Or, in 1960. He has to his credit the most expensive transfer fee of his time when Barcelona sold him to Inter for £142,000.

Thanks to Joja and harms for the compilations.





 
Moby said:
Tactics for my team are largely explained in the OP. Would like to hear what others think of it.

Meanwhile, a bit more on some of my players on the pitch below.
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brilliant team, looking at yours and team from harms i honestly dont see an upgrade that would be as good as the current one. Seeler is a great fit for both Figo and Ronaldo, midfield is insane, defence is great as well....

Didnt post anything as i was hoping for another one page moby.
 
Šjor Bepo said:
brilliant team, looking at yours and team from harms i honestly dont see an upgrade that would be as good as the current one. Seeler is a great fit for both Figo and Ronaldo, midfield is insane, defence is great as well....

Didnt post anything as i was hoping for another one page moby.
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:lol: Thanks for the kind words, Sjor. Yea, it all came together nicely in the end.
 
BIXENTE LIZARAZU

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Bixente Lizarazu was born in 1969 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a town which lies in the French Basque Country. In 1987, Lizarazu made his professional debut for Bordeaux, starting out as a left-sided midfielder before making the switch to left-back. Lizarazu captained Bordeaux in the 2-legged final to the 1996 UEFA Cup against Bayern Munich. Bordeaux lost both fixtures though the side did feature such talents as Zinedine Zidane and Christophe Dugarry for the second leg.

After the 1995-96 season, Lizarazu moved to Spain to play for Athletic Bilbao, a side with a strong Basque identity. The sense of Basque nationalism is so strong at the club that they do not recruit non-Basque players. Lizarazu became the first French-born Basque to join the club upon signing. Rumours of disagreements with manager Luis Fernandez meant that Lizarazu only played in 16 league matches for Bilbao before moving to Germany with giants Bayern Munich.

Lizarazu states that joining Bayern Munich was certainly a career highlight for him.

“The best choice I ever made was going to Bayern Munich. I admit that I didn’t make a real effort to learn German. The reason for that was because there a number of South Americans in the squad, so we spoke Spanish. After that, everyone spoke English. I could speak a fourth language and, looking back, I regret it a bit.”

It could be argued that the player initially planned on ending his career in France. This seemed to be the consensus when he returned to France with Olympique de Marseille. His time there was not successful, with only 14 league matches played over the course of the season, again amidst rumours of misunderstandings with coach Philippe Troussier. Lizarazu finally made the move back to Bayern Munich for one season before officially announcing his retirement in April 2006.

An impressive club career in Germany earned him six Bundesliga titles, five DFB Cups, five German League Cups, one Champions League and one Intercontinental Cup. This was added to the Ligue 2 title he won in his spell with Bordeaux.

Bixente Lizarazu was also successful at international level with France. He earned a total of 97 caps and helped the country to the World Cup in 1998 as well as the European Championship in 2000. He also won two Confederations Cups with France. Interestingly, Lizarazu also made one appearance for the Basque national selection. Though not recognised by FIFA, they are eligible to play in non-competitive matches. Controversy struck in 2000 when he was contacted by Basque nationalist group ETA over a “revolutionary tax”.

Even in spite of his retirement, Lizarazu has remained active in the world of sports. In 2009, he won the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship for his category and is also a keen surfer. On top of this, Lizarazu has served as a pundit on TV and radio as well as commentating on games featuring the French national side. During the World Cup in 2010, he gave some frank and honest views on the debacle of the French side in a live televised interview with Raymond Domenech and Franck Ribéry in which he was very critical with how the squad dealt with the media and fans.

Bixente Lizarazu is deserving of his place in the French Football Weekly Hall of Fame. His no-nonsense attitude as a pundit always makes for entertaining viewing and his trophy haul in Germany with Bayern Munich is certainly of note.
 
Indnyc said:
Maybe Vasovic?
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It's close and depends on what you actually want from a defender. Vidic was a better tackler, more aggressive, superior in the air. I would say Vasovic had better positioning and far better passing ability. He could also influence the game further up the pitch.
Both fantastic leaders. Think they would be a great pairing actually.

Moby said:
Tactics for my team are largely explained in the OP. Would like to hear what others think of it.
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Defense is very good, but that midfield and attack are just brilliant. The best set-up for Ronaldo that I've seen so far.
 
Jim Beam said:
Defense is very good, but that midfield and attack are just brilliant. The best set-up for Ronaldo that I've seen so far.
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Cheers, yeah that was the priority from the give go. When you have that kind of a scoring weapon at your disposal it's best to get the best out of him and make him fire with full power.
 
"Le President"
Laurent Blanc
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French central defender Laurent Blanc is recognised as one of the finest players in his position in the later years of the twentieth century. He enjoyed a long and distinguished club career lasting twenty years, and won nearly 100 caps for his country in an equally successful international career.

Blanc started his club career at Montpellier in 1983, when the club was in the Franch Second Division, and helped them to reach the top flight four years later. During his stay at the club, Montpellier became contenders for major honours and Blanc won the first trophy of his career in the French Cup in 1990, the year in which he was named French Footballer of the Year.

In 1991, Blanc moved to Italy to play for Napoli, but failed to settle in Serie A and a year later returned to France and signed for Nîmes after playing for France in the 1992 European Championship. After moving on to Saint Étienne in 1993, it was a transfer to AJ Auxerre in 1995 that brought about the most successful season of Blanc's career in 1995-96. He played a crucial part in helping to achieve a league and cup double in his only season at the club.

After playing in his second European Championship in 1996, Blanc moved to Spain where he won a Spanish Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup in one season with Barcelona. Moving to Olympique de Marseille in 1997, he played a major part in France's World Cup winning squad of 1998. After scoring the World Cup's first ever golden goal against Paraguay, Blanc missed out on the final through suspension but still claimed a winner's medal.

Returning to Italy to play for Internazionale in 1999, Blanc enjoyed more international success in the 2000 European Championship as France added that title to the World Cup, bringing the curtain down on his international career. In 2001, he made the final move of his club career when he signed for Manchester United, winning a Premier League title in 2003 before ending his playing career. In 2007, Blanc embarked on a coaching career when he took charge of Girondins de Bordeaux.
 
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@Moby it’ll be interesting to see how you upgrade

Think the team is very well balanced as it stands
 
Moby said:
Tactics for my team are largely explained in the OP. Would like to hear what others think of it.

Meanwhile, a bit more on some of my players on the pitch below.
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I think it's quite straightforward in the best way possible — everyone has a specific role that suits them to a T.
 
van basten, Pele or Ronaldo up front would certainly an upgrade.
 
Isotope said:
van basten, Pele or Ronaldo up front would certainly an upgrade.
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Neither are available. Van Basten? Probably, but I'm sure that Cristiano would've preferred Seeler.
 
I have voted for the 3 players I had picked in my 2 last drafts.

Kaltz :drool:
 
harms said:
Neither are available. Van Basten? Probably, but I'm sure that Cristiano would've preferred Seeler.
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Yeah felt that Seeler's selfless yet impactful and effective presence would be a great foil for Cristiano. Maybe Benzema on steroids, as @Gio might say. :D
 
harms said:
Neither are available. Van Basten? Probably, but I'm sure that Cristiano would've preferred Seeler.
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Yeh maybe. I'm not that familiar with Seeler. I saw him more as a battering ram poacher that move a lot, but not that fast and skillful.
 
Needed............Modric
.....Benetti...Bozsik......

In a narrow 4-4-2 would be perfect for Michael. Both will help in middle and it'd be a outstanding midfield, esp with Rooney there too. Better fullbacks and this would be lot closer.

As to Moby, stellar team as usual. I'm not convinced on Suarez-Iniesta midfield. Suarez-Xavi would be perfect as I see Suarez very similarto Iniesta as better on left side.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
I see Suarez very similarto Iniesta as better on left side.
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That's weird. He really struggled in 1964 Euros final with all those right wing runs. His slight preference to the left side in Inter (nothing like Davids, for example) was due to Inter's asymmetric formation.
 
harms said:
That's weird. He really struggled in 1964 Euros final with all those right wing runs. His slight preference to the left side in Inter (nothing like Davids, for example) was due to Inter's asymmetric formation.
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I agree with @Edgar Allan Pillow though that Suarez was really good at shimmying inside onto his right - like Iniesta - which was particularly suited to the inside-left channel. Off the ball yes, he's not that well suited to tracking out wide. Still no issues with how it's presented, Suarez can do either/or and it's a fine trio.

To be honest I'd fancy @Michaelf7777777's midfield to nullify @Moby's here - it's a really nice trio and with it's deeper base is well suited to quelling a slick technical unit.
 
Gio said:
I agree with @Edgar Allan Pillow though that Suarez was really good at shimmying inside onto his right - like Iniesta - which was particularly suited to the inside-left channel. Off the ball yes, he's not that well suited to tracking out wide. Still no issues with how it's presented, Suarez can do either/or and it's a fine trio.

To be honest I'd fancy @Michaelf7777777's midfield to nullify @Moby's here - it's a really nice trio and with it's deeper base is well suited to quelling a slick technical unit.
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Depends on how you view Bozsik. On the ball he's obviously a brilliant playmaker from deep, off the ball though I've read various accounts ranging from decent awareness and support act similar to a Xabi Alonso to complete domination of the opposition with his tackling, interceptions and reading of play similar to what you'd get from a peak Redondo.
 
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