UEFA Euros Draft SF- Isotope vs Gio

Who would win this match based on Euros performances?

  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .

2mufc0

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Dragon of Dojima
Players should be judged on Euros performances only

Team Isotope

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VS

Team Gio

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Isotope Writeup/tactics

A compact defense led by legendary Euro GOAT defenders, supported by defensively skilled players like Voronin and Bonhof. The midfield is flooded with dynamic player capable of contributing from the back (Beckenbauer), and versatile midfielders and attackers. The attack combines playmaking and strength of Rummenigge, with exceptional pace and trickery of Henry and Griezmann.

Player Highlights:

· Antoine Griezmann: Named Player of the Tournament at Euro 2016. He scored the second-most goals in a single UEFA Euro tournament, only behind Michel Platini.



· Thierry Henry: Delivered one of the most memorable performances in Euro 2000 as an attacker, particularly against Italy. He dominated a defense that featured legends like Cannavaro, Nesta, and Maldini. In today's game, the Italians might have received multiple red and yellow cards just trying to stop him. Alongside Poborsky, Henry still holds the record for the most Man of the Match awards in a single Euro tournament.

· Rui Costa: Served as the creative force behind Portugal's fast, flowing attacks. He was included in the Team of the Tournament twice, in 1996 and 2000.

· Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: A highly versatile forward who led Germany to victory in Euro 1980. Following this, he won the Ballon d'Or in both 1980 and 1981.

· Impeccable Defense: The defense was anchored by complementary defenders. Der Kaiser led Germany to two Euro finals, winning one in 1972. He was included twice on the Team of the Tournament, in 1972 and 1976. Joining him at the back were defenders GOAT Nesta and Gentile.

Gio Writeup/tactics

TACTICAL POINTS
  • Luis Figo joins the midfield unit. On the opposite flank to Pavel Nedved, the partnership will look to overload their opposing full-backs Briegel and Gentile. They will have the support of Facchetti and Thuram who joins to provide bulletproof flank partnerships.
  • There is a complementary blend at the back. Frank Rijkaard was flawless in a more defensive role at Euro 88 and with his physicality and aggression he's a perfect foil for Moore whilst also being extremely comfortable on the ball. Thuram's experience centrally enables him to tuck in which allows Facchetti to push on.
  • Extremely high levels of work-rate and energy throughout the team. Nedved / Schuster / Rooney / Figo are infectious pressing off-the ball and should give the opposition midfield no space to breath in the middle of the park.
  • With Nedved, Figo and Schuster bursting from midfield, Rooney's Euro 04 surging runs, and the galloping counter-attacker Facchetti, we will aim to be deadly in the transition. When our high-quality defence wins back possession, we will aim to counter quickly and smartly.
  • The offensive balance in the team should provide a strong platform for Van Basten and Rooney. There should be a mix of incisive line-breaking service through the middle as well as more traditional wing play down the flanks

FERNANDO TOLDO
Toldo played just the one international tournament - but what a tournament it was. A massive presence behind one of the greatest defences, his finest hour arguably come in fending off the Dutch onslaught in the semi-final, saving 3 penalties over normal and shootout time.

GIACINTO FACCHETTI
Gran Capitano of Italy's winning Euro-68 side. Aged 25, Facchetti was in his physical prime, wore the no10 shirt while helping to keep 2 clean sheets in 3 matches. Selected in the Team of the Tournament.

BOBBY MOORE
Selected in the Team of the Tournament. Moore was particularly outstanding against USSR where he was flawless defensively and controlled the game with his passing range and technique in possession. Aged 26.

FRANK RIJKAARD
The outstanding stopper of Euro 1988 when, aged 25, he produced a series of dynamic and commanding displays. He had the highest number of tackles per game (5.4) of any player in the tournament. Selected in the official team of the tournament and was Sofascore's second highest rated player of the tournament behind Van Basten.

LILLIAN THURAM
Selected in the Euro 2000 team of the tournament as France dominated a high-class affair. Thuram was at his physical peak from right back, excelling defensively (most duels and interceptions of any defender in the tournament) and offensively with his trademark runs from deep.

RODRI
Player of the Tournament at Euro 2024. Now widely regarded as the best central midfielder in the world, Rodri was the midfield architect behind Spain's Euro 2024 winning campaign.

BERND SCHUSTER
Schuster electrified Euro 1980 by dominating the Netherlands and Belgium in the semi-final and final respectively. A tigerish and talismanic presence from his right-sided central-midfield role. He created or scored 4 out of the 5 goals that West Germany netted in those two decisive games. Runner up in the Ballon d'Or later that year.

PAVEL NEDVED
Boasts an impressive portfolio of Euros performances. Runner-up at Euro 1996, Kicker's Highest Rated Player at Euro 2000, and semi-finalist at Euro 2004. It is the '04 version of Nedved that takes his place in the team here when he was the reigning Ballon D'Or winner and at his swashbuckling and talismanic best. The Czechs surged to the semi-finals and it was no coincidence that Nedved's injury during that game was a fatal blow to their attacking game that they were unable to recover from.

LUIS FIGO
In his Ballon D'Or winning pomp at Euro 2000, Figo was a chance-creating machine throughout his 3 Euros tournaments between 1996 and 2004. At Euro 2000 he provided 3 assists, created 4 chances per game (higher than anyone else), and averaged 3.5 dribbles per game. Two times selected to the Team of the Tournament.

WAYNE ROONEY


MARCO VAN BASTEN
 
Physiocrat said:
@Isotope Why did you choose Kalle as F9 rather than Griezmann?
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That was my initial thought. THen thought it over again, while being creative, Kale has the strength of center forward; which suit both Henry and Grezmann. And in Euro, Kale played a lot more central then the other two who are more dynamic.
 
Isotope said:
That was my initial thought. THen thought it over again, while being creative, Kale has the strength of center forward; which suit both Henry and Grezmann. And in Euro, Kale played a lot more central then the other two who are more dynamic.
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Fair enough,I just think Griezmann is much better centrally
 
Again, both played the theme so well, with one obvious EURO standout (MvB, Beckenbauer) per team even at that level. Beyond that, I personally love Nedved, Nesta and Rijkaard the most for their performances. Any chinks in someone's armour?

Bonhof instructed to try that 1974 winning goal run over & over.
 
Thought about this a lot, went with Gio in the end, the combination of almost perfect complimentary pieces all over the field swung it.

Two quality teams though.
 
Synco said:
Again, both played the theme so well, with one obvious EURO standout (MvB, Beckenbauer) per team even at that level. Beyond that, I personally love Nedved, Nesta and Rijkaard the most for their performances. Any chinks in someone's armour?

Bonhof instructed to try that 1974 winning goal run over & over.
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That midfield is too attacking against a team with midfield three and floating 9.5 attackers. Schuster will be limited to stay deep protecting defence. As good as Rodri is, he's not GOAT (yet)
 
Isotope said:
That midfield is too attacking against a team with midfield three and floating 9.5 attackers. Schuster will be limited to stay deep protecting defence. As good as Rodri is, he's not GOAT (yet)
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Sure you might have chances in transition, but that front 6 are very hard working and Rooney will drop into the hole so it will end up as kind of a Three in the organised defensive phase. Whether Schuster and Rodri are good enough defensively here though is another question but I don't buy the 3 vs 2.
 
Isotope said:
That midfield is too attacking against a team with midfield three and floating 9.5 attackers. Schuster will be limited to stay deep protecting defence. As good as Rodri is, he's not GOAT (yet)
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Have a different view on this, with one possible exception.

I think Gio's 3rd bullet point (on workrate) largely adresses this problem, and imo, with Rooney and these wingers, a 442 should work well against the ball.

Tactics aren't fully clarified in the OP, but given the repeated mention of transition/counters and the makeup of the backline, I assume a somewhat cautious/compact general approach, which should help.

Schuster may be the one point, as this is the more expansive 1980 version, not the Real DLP one. But I think there's a video of him playing libero already for Köln, and afaik his workshare with Maradona at Barca already had him act as a genuine CM. So he probably had it in him early on. If age/version doesn't factor in negatively, him and Rodri would be fine imo, but maybe others know more.
 
Synco said:
Have a different view on this, with one possible exception.

I think Gio's 3rd bullet point (on workrate) largely adresses this problem, and imo, with Rooney and these wingers, a 442 should work well against the ball.

Tactics aren't fully clarified in the OP, but given the repeated mention of transition/counters and the makeup of the backline, I assume a somewhat cautious/compact general approach, which should help.

Schuster may be the one point, as this is the more expansive 1980 version, not the Real DLP one. But I think there's a video of him playing libero already for Köln, and afaik his workshare with Maradona at Barca already had him act as a genuine CM. So he probably had it in him early on. If age/version doesn't factor in negatively, him and Rodri would be fine imo, but maybe others know more.
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Only EURO performances count, so if Schuster didn't play CM in those tournaments it's something to consider.
 
I think Iso's midfield will dominate this game and having a lot of the ball means Kaiser will able to do his thing and get really involved in the game.

Though i agree Gio's frontline is hardworking and dangerous so can nick some goals, although i like Nesta and Gentile sweeping up for Kaiser.
 
Isotope said:
That midfield is too attacking against a team with midfield three and floating 9.5 attackers. Schuster will be limited to stay deep protecting defence. As good as Rodri is, he's not GOAT (yet)
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Shape is fine IMO. It's how most elite teams set up off the ball even today. And more important than that we've got 11 workers. We've also good some high-energy box-to-box runners there too who are specialists in off the ball work. And in mitigating the 9.5 threat, we've got guys who were very good at shutting down the space between the lines in Rodri and Rijkaard in particular.
 
Bernd Schuster

In the Euro 1980 final against Belgium, Bernd Schuster won 8 out of 11 duels, the most of any midfielder on the park.

In the Euro 1980 semi-final against Holland, Bernd Schuster won 18 out of 26 duels, the most of any player on the park and by some margin.

He did all that whilst providing loads of game-deciding impact: a complete midfield performance.

And to illustrate his position, here is a heatmap from the final:

heatmap.png


Pretty much in line with where he is on the park here
 
The score line is surprising and I thought it would be really close. I think Griezman on the right is my only concern with Iso's team and that's a very minor nitpick.
 
Physiocrat said:
Sure you might have chances in transition, but that front 6 are very hard working and Rooney will drop into the hole so it will end up as kind of a Three in the organised defensive phase. Whether Schuster and Rodri are good enough defensively here though is another question but I don't buy the 3 vs 2.
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Got the sense that Van Basten isn't a very hardworking striker. And Rooney in that Euro didn't drop deep for playmaking as he did with United. He was just 19 y.o. and hadn't developed that trait yet.

But I do agree the rest are hardworkers.
 
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Gio said:
Bernd Schuster

In the Euro 1980 final against Belgium, Bernd Schuster won 8 out of 11 duels, the most of any midfielder on the park.

In the Euro 1980 semi-final against Holland, Bernd Schuster won 18 out of 26 duels, the most of any player on the park and by some margin.

He did all that whilst providing loads of game-deciding impact: a complete midfield performance.

And to illustrate his position, here is a heatmap from the final:

heatmap.png


Pretty much in line with where he is on the park here
Click to expand...

It's nitpicking, but Schuster in that Euro was often running forward. Of which he's more limited on your formation due to my 2-3 floating 9.5 forwards possibly occupying that defence - midfield gap.

ANyway, that's very impressive stats for him as a creative player.
 
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Isotope said:
Got the sense that Van Basten isn't a very hardworking striker. And Rooney in that Euro didn't drop deep for playmaking as he did with United. He was just 19 y.o. and hadn't developed that trait yet.

But I do agree the rest are hardworkers.
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Rooney played on a tip of a diamond for England early in his career under Sven, not sure if it was on or before 2004 though.
 
Could have been the final really.

You could have a poll in itself as to what combination of front 3 Isotope should have chosen, so many options

Henry-Kalle-Greizmann
Henry-Greizmann-Kalle
Griezmann-Henry-Kalle

Personally, I would have gone with the central role for Griezmann.

Bonhof-Kalle on the right gives similar vibes as Breitnigge.
 
GodShaveTheQueen said:
Could have been the final really.

You could have a poll in itself as to what combination of front 3 Isotope should have chosen, so many options

Henry-Kalle-Greizmann
Henry-Greizmann-Kalle
Griezmann-Henry-Kalle

Personally, I would have gone with the central role for Griezmann.

Bonhof-Kalle on the right gives similar vibes as Breitnigge.
Click to expand...

It's just a starting formation. In actual game, that front 3 will be dynamic. They're not staying rigidly on their position. I have Henry-Kalle-Griezmann, but in game, Henry can be in center, Griezmann on left, and Kalle drifting right.

None of those front three is one dimensional player.

 
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Isotope said:
It's just a starting formation. In actual game, that front 3 will be dynamic. They're not staying rigidly on their position. I have Henry-Kalle-Griezmann, but in game, Henry can be in center, Griezmann on left, and Kalle drifting right.

None of those front three is one dimensional player.

Click to expand...


Yea that's fair.
 
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