Team Enigma_87/Snow
Our team keeps the formation and shape in a 4-4-2 diamond or lopsided 3-5-2(transitioning into 4-3-3), depending on whether we have the ball or not.
Goalkeeper: A topic that we've beaten to death in the last couple of games so we have
VDS against
Chilavert, both legends of the game and one of the best keepers in the last 20 years. Of course both of them are not to their maximum level here. Both spent 2 seasons at their respective clubs and around the same amount of games and both were not at their peak at the time. While
VdS stay was hugely controversial he managed to keep only 47 goals conceded during that time while
Chilavert managed 52 goals conceded in his single second season at Zaragoza. I don't think the GK will make a difference here however as unarguably both were in similar shape of form during their respective stays in the leagues they represent.
Defence: We have a shift in the LB department with
Alaba coming in for
Marcelo manning that left flank. Having the ability to play in every position on the field(and he probably has even at his tender age), in any system and still give you stellar performances probably defines
Alaba as the most modern footballer in the world.
Alaba has the ability to read the game very well, excellent in one-on-one situations and is a solid tackler. Alaba knows when to make the tackle and when to just press, a quality that is rare. He has excellent passing capabilities, an incredible shot on him and is great at set pieces. His energy and pace often sees him beat players seamlessly. In both attaching and defending domains of the game, his intelligence is often displayed if one closely watches his positional sense.
Alaba is an excellent match against
Littbarski due to those qualities - extremely agile, tactically astute and of course - solid tackler who knows when to stand and when to go into it.
On the right flank Marcos Evangelista de Moraes(or simply put
Cafu) is rightly known as one of the greatest defenders to have graced the game, making the right-back spot his own, both domestically and for Brazil. At his peak
Cafu was phenomenon in the stamina department, probably the best pair of lungs in the game. That and his explosive movement and acceleration could let him man the whole flank for himself, while regaining position extremely quick.
Cafu up against
Nedved is nothing new that we haven't seen before and we trust him to do the job again like in the old times
:
Our CB pair starts with
Lucio who at his time at Germany amassed 3 Best defenders awards by Kicker (2 WC seasons), along with 4 best central defender awards (1 WC season as well), strong into tackle and in the air with excellent ball control who can start our attack and combine with
Hierro as well in front of him. Lucio physical presence, agility, positional sense and heading ability makes him pretty good match for
Ibra or
Littbarski if he cuts inside. His partner
Helmer is one of the best defenders in BuLi during his time at both Dortmund and Bayern winning 3 of them in the heart of Bayern's defence while coming awfully short at Dortmund the year he moved to Bayern(on level points with champions Stuttgart). Along the way
Helmer picked 4 personal accolades being the best libero according to Kicker in 1990 and best man marker in 95,96,97.
Pivot: Our new addition is
Fernando Hierro, arguably the top choice in linking up the defence and attack and also having the ability to drop back to cover space. We all know that Ibra drops deeper to receive the ball,
Hierro will be watching for that space if Ibra decides to attack it or if Ballack pushes up. Hierro will also link our defence with attack as he has excellent ball control and can distribute play from deep. He also has excellent passing range so he can look for openings in opposition formation while we are on a counter.
Midfield: our midfield combo is composed of
Davids in his best LCM position box to box, where he can impose himself physically, but also link up and with his excellent technique provide options for our forwards. Next to him is
Luka Modric whose playmaking skills will be of essence of us in the build up and also look for openings centrally and also combine with
Cafu on the right.
Modric tactic discipline and also effectiveness in both phases will be much needed in this game because we're up against no mugs in the central midfield. Up forward we have Kaka spearheading our midfield with his explosive pace, skills, and balance he will raid the opposition midfield and defence to create but also score by himself.
Attack: Our attack is
Villa/Sheva combo that compliment each other with their movement, excellent finishing abilities but also - technique, pace and most of all the ability to score from everywhere.
Villa has a pretty good record against Puyol's Barca and himself as well netting
5 goals in his first
6 games against them at Valencia. Our attack will receive plenty of support from
Kaka as well and his proven partnership with
Sheva will give us a little bit of extra edge there.
(apologies for the crap music- all videos experienced better muted)
Why we will win?
We're in the finals so it's hard to find loopholes in both teams, I can only see having a go at the GK department but having in mind both GK careers and as already said their level during their respective times I think it's fair to say we have a level field there.
In regards to Gio's team - it's like always - well build and constructed side that doesn't have obvious weaknesses so I expect to have a great match up ahead.
Our advantages:
Kaka vs Deschamps: not a mismatch by any means, but I expect
Kaka to give us a bit of extra edge and get the better of Deschamps especially on counter where we can exploit his pace and trickery when he's 1vs1 against him. His athleticism and sheer skill can help us create advantage near the box and with our mobile front line we can exploit it scoring the decisive goal.
Hierro: unquestionably excellent addition to our side apart from his defensive contribution and the ability to cover for both Ibra and Ballack in that space he can also provide us with extra playmaking option from deep which is an advantage over Deschamps and his similar role in the opposition team, while giving us some extra options from deep.
Attack: IMO we have the edge here with our more clinical attack with well oiled
Kaka/Sheva partnership with also our wide options in
Alaba/Cafu.
Creativity: I think here we can claim that we have a lot of options in every line - our full backs provide option on the wings,
Lucio in our CB pair is excellent on the ball,
Hierro adds more playmaking options from deep having in mind he'll have extra space with no #10 in Gio's side which will also take from the load of
Modric who is our main creative force in CM, with also
Kaka threading and running into channels and our both forwards are creative individuals as well.
