I agree with that actually, with all of that. You loose his scoring ability inside the box though, which makes the job for my centerbacks a lot easier.
Yeah, that's exactly what I expected, but I can't see how you could put pressure on Verón then. You need Keane deep in your team and I can't see how Fabregas or Rooney do that job and it's not like the rest of my players are mugs on the ball. Nedved dropping deep to receive the ball will help a lot as well. You can't push me into playing an open game without exposing your defense.
They have rarely faced giggs and ronaldo in their prime either but I will wait until you come back before discussing your team.
Sagnol played against prime Giggs (the early 00s one who was halfway between wing wizard and cerebral playmaker) and Abidal played against the United Ronaldo you are using.
Neither Giggs nor Ronaldo made any significant impact in those games. Sure, you can say they were off games and it wasn't necessarily the individual battle but the overall team performances, yadda yadda. What you can't say is these fullbacks didn't face your wingers in their prime. They did, and nothing happened there.
They played at top teams for many, many years, both are CL winners and played a worldcup final. What exactly do you mean by 'they rarely faced players of this caliber'? And how can you be that successful without facing the best players in the world? I doubt you'll find a Barca fan with a single bad word about Abidal, he was outstanding for them. Same goes for Sagnol at Bayern.
Yeah, but you can hardly ignore my attacking threat on the wing either? Nedved and del Piero are clearly on the same level as Giggs? I have no problem to admit that my fullbacks on their own have an incredible difficult job here and that Cole is the best fullback on the pitch (well, he's actually 2nd best, but the best fullback plays centerback
). The idea that Giggs is roasting Sagnol here while Cole nullifies Nedved is a massive exaggeration though, it's plain wrong. Nedved's peak was arguably even higher than Giggs and I'd much rather have Thuram there covering for his teammate in case he got beat than Marquez covering for Cole.Of course, it depends on the situation. I said, he'll keep an eye on him. If Rooney is dropping deep, the defense will shift accordingly. Thuram on Shearer, Cannavaro covering Abidal out wide and all 3 of my midfield shielding the defense is of course possible as well. It really depends on the situation and Rooney's movement is crucial to the situation. I trust my defensive unit to react accordingly. I also think you're underrating Verón at his peak if you think that Rooney could take him out of the game. I'd agree that he can limit his influence to a certain degree, but definitely not in a similar way to Simeone against Fabregas here, which gives me a lot of control in midfield.
Sounds great, if only I'd push forward all the time, so that he could actually expose my defense on the counter. If you want to play counterattacking football, you need a strong enough defensive set-up to soak up pressure, United clearly had that in '06 - '09. MJJ here doesn't.
Well his passing range is probably not bettered by any other defender in the draft. And he's got the best of the best covering for him. And he'd be a great fit for a team like Barcelona today. But having him and Sagna in the same back line though is a concern. I think prime Del Piero against Sagna is the greatest mismatch on the park.
Not a bad shout. However, I'd say he was a bit under-rated, especially when you weigh in his body at work at Atletico, Inter, Lazio and 110+ caps for a strong Argentina. And that me and Anto getting vocal about his qualities in recent draft tournaments has restored his reputation to where, IMO, it should be.
Yeah, he struggled with the pace of the game in the league, I agree with that. He did quite good for United in Europe though. Don't think we play this game on Premier League pace and it's not like I'm totally dependent on him. Nedved dropping deep is an option, Davids and Abidal can pass the ball to del Piero as well, Simeone can carry the ball. Italian club sides always sucked the pace out of the game and played it their way, annoying feckers. Good though, that I'm managing the team, that is based on Italian club football this time
.Yeah, I agree. I think Crespo is a bit underrated because of his time at Chelsea, but at his best he was outstanding. He's another reason, why I didn't go all out on Ronaldo in the last round. It was too early to replace him and I like him so much in my team. It feels so familiar to see him in there, connecting with Verón, Simeone and Nedved again.
I guess then it was good that MJJ bid on him as I was planning to play him in a diamond.
But then I hardly have a clue of how things work around here.Yeah, but you can hardly ignore my attacking threat on the wing either? Nedved and del Piero are clearly on the same level as Giggs? I have no problem to admit that my fullbacks on their own have an incredible difficult job here and that Cole is the best fullback on the pitch (well, he's actually 2nd best, but the best fullback plays centerback
Are you serious about that? I really can't say, if you honestly believe that or if you're making stuff up to sell your team?
