Post 90s Fantasy Draft - footballoholic vs ace

[Teritus]

Take your pick as per.

Team footballoholic:

My team will line up in a 4-2-3-1 and try and play a quick tempo, passing game relying on a solid defence with attacking full backs to provide width, and powerful all round midfielders providing the platform for my quick and versatile attackers. 
 
In goal,  I have Edwin Van Der Sar, one of the best goalkeepers that I've seen. Reliable with very little weakness.
 
In defense, legendary Brazilian Cafu features at right-back. He will be regularly bombing up the wing and should link up with Messi similar to what Dani Alves does for Barca.
My two centre backs, Stam and Puyol form a complementary pairing with very few weaknesses between them. 
The left-back slot is occupied by Bixente Lizarazu. Another full back who excelled equally in defence and attack, he will get forward and support the attack and provide width when C.Ronaldo moves infield.
 
Matthaus and Vieira in midfield provide the solid base giving my attackers freedom to roam. Matthaus is known as one the most complete midfielders of all time. A Ballon'd or winner and a man whom Deigo Maradona described as his "greatest rival".
Vieira is another imposing presence alongside him. His job will mainly be to break up opposition attacks and distribute the ball to the more creative players.
 
On the wings I have the two best players of this generation, Messi and C.Ronaldo. I should have no trouble in the goal scoring department with these two on the pitch. They will be cutting inside mostly but my front three will be quite flexible and switch throughout the match.
 
The main creative outlet is provided by Dennis Bergkamp who will play behind the striker, and was one of the best at finding teammates making runs. 
And the person who most enjoyed playing with him will be heading my attack and completing my fluid and interchanging front three. One of the greatest striker to play in the premier league, Theirry Henry. 
 
Overall, my team has no major weaknesses and possesses enough attacking talent to come out on top against any team.
 
Subs:
Arjen Robben, Deco : Giving me tactical flexibility to switch to a 4-3-3 or even a 4-4-2 depending on the match up.

 
 
 
 
Team ace:
 

 
Subs:
Beckham
Alonso
 
No tactics posted.
 
 

 

[Teritus]

This is quite an intriguing battle tactically.

Both teams lack any orthodox wingers (save Beckham) but both also have the right attacking full backs to provide width, though footballoholic's are far superior defensively. I imagine ace's cluster of central playmakers will end up getting in each other's way, and while Rui Costa's putting in a shift to cover Roberto Carlos, on the opposite flank Alves will have little such protection from Kaka, who's positioning as an inside right I quite frankly find a little bizarre. footballoholic's players are all more or less in their right positions, though it's a shame to put Messi in anywhere other than his favoured central position. Henry had a tendency to drift from left-of-centre while here that space is occupied by Ronaldo, one more thing to think about it.

While Stam is perhaps the best CB on the pitch I never particularly rated Puyol and Ronaldo was a phenomenal player in his prime; he's likely to bag one or two there. I just can't see past footballoholic's robust, energetic and dynamic midfield pairing in Matthaus and Vieira though; they have enough between them to go on and dominate this match. While Makelele is busy with Bergkamp Schweinsteiger will end up having to fight the midfield battle himself, as a good a player as he is he'll end up chasing shadows. It's a shame there's no true ball-playing defender in footballoholic's side to relieve the midfielders of pressure, whist ace has Carvalho for such a role. Ronaldo's best football came in a counter attacking setup and I fancy that's what ace is going for here, I'm just not sure he has the right players surrounding him.

Messi's an interesting one though; everyone picks him early on (rightly) as he's one of the best players, but then don't know where to fit him in their side. His best football came as the 'false nine' in Barca's current setup but that's not something one could conceivably replicate in a fantasy game, so he inevitably gets shifted out to the right. Here he's part of a fluid, interchanging trio so I don't see it being a great problem, but food for thought all the same.

I'll wait for both managers to chime in before I make my vote but I'm leaning towards footballoholic's side at the moment; better full backs, better midfield pairing, a balanced band of three and a much more cohesive side overall.

 

[Teritus]

Players allowed to vote for themselves BTW.

 

[ForeverCarefree]

I've gone for footballoholic, as good as Kaka, Ronaldinho and Rui Costa are they're all going to want to occupy the same space and for me there's a distinct lack of width to Ace's team.

Alves and Carlos are better going forward than they are defensively and I see Messi and Ronaldo and Henry having a lot of joy with exploiting space in the wide areas. 

 

[Charles Ryder]

footballoholic for me as well.

 

[ace]

Totally understandable. He's got a great team!

 

[Teritus]

I've gone for footballoholic, as good as Kaka, Ronaldinho and Rui Costa are they're all going to want to occupy the same space and for me there's a distinct lack of width to Ace's team.

Alves and Carlos are better going forward than they are defensively and I see Messi and Ronaldo and Henry having a lot of joy with exploiting space in the wide areas. 

IMO Messi and Ronaldo won't keep their width a great deal but they're certainly more capable of playing in those areas than Rui Costa or Kaka, even though Messi's best position is central. As I said earlier though, it's very tough with regards to fitting him in the team. I'd personally play him as a number 10, similar to what PloKoon did in the previous draft.

 

[Teritus]

I never particularly rated Puyol

In case anyone wanted me to justify this.

Some cite that he's been a stalwart in one of the greatest assembled sides in history, but Puyol is in there first and foremost because he's a "cule", not because he's a top class defender. He sums up what it is to be a Barcelona player in terms of the intangibles - genuine love for the club and the community. Real Madrid's early 00s team were known for Perez's "Zidanes and Pavones" method and I don't think Barca are too different here - Puyol is one of the Pavones. He's much better than Pavon, don't get me wrong, and he doesn't look out of place in a draft like this but if you put him in that France team instead of Desailly, for instance, they'd simply never have won the World Cup. Below that top tier of defenders for me.

 

[moi]

I have given my vote to ace because he chose Makalele and Carvalho. 

 

[Jonty]

This is a hard one, I'd say it looks like Ace's team has no width what so ever up the field but he's gone with possibly the two best attacking full-backs available in this draft. However when they're up against Ronaldo and Messi would they risk letting either of them get in behind? It would be risky to say the least.

I'd say the game would probably unfold with Messi's team with more possession however with Makelele to distribute the ball when they win it, Rui Costa able to act as the link man between him and the player ahead, and a peak Ronaldinho and Kaka behind the best striker in this draft, i'd probably give them the edge.

It's strange because initially I was going to vote for the first team, however given more thought i've voted for the second.

 

[Teritus]

I have given my vote to ace because he chose Makalele and Carvalho. 

A trifle of objectivity, moi!

This could be closer than it initially looked.

 

[Teritus]

This is a hard one, I'd say it looks like Ace's team has no width what so ever up the field but he's gone with possibly the two best attacking full-backs available in this draft. However when they're up against Ronaldo and Messi would they risk letting either of them get in behind? It would be risky to say the least.

I'd say the game would probably unfold with Messi's team with more possession however with Makelele to distribute the ball when they win it, Rui Costa able to act as the link man between him and the player ahead, and a peak Ronaldinho and Kaka behind the best striker in this draft, i'd probably give them the edge.

It's strange because initially I was going to vote for the first team, however given more thought i've voted for the second.

They might do but it's very difficult to curb the natural instincts of such players. In any case both of them are quite awful defensively compared to other fullbacks in the draft.

I tried my best to argue for ace's team but it just seems he'll be overrun in midfield. Matthaus is perhaps the greatest box to box midfielder of all time while Vieira was the crux of a title winning and record-breaking Arsenal side, also a very complete and robust player. Do Makelele and Schweini compare to that? Not quite for me.

 

[ace]

It's definitely one of the reasons I took both fullbacks, as well as why I took Makelele so high, trusting him to do his best breaking up the counterattacks, while also trying to pair him with a midfield partner who, while more offensively capable, still has a lot of defensive capability.  I originally imagined having more natural wingers, but I just kept finding value in the attacking midfield section, drawing inspiration from some of the great games of Mata, Hazard, and Oscar last season.

Do I think I drafted a great, fun team?  Yes.  Do I also think I am going against a great team? Yes.  Maybe the worst team for me in terms of opponent, but still one I think we could have a chance with.  

Thanks everyone for participating, regardless of who you vote for.

 

[Teritus]

Oop, just realised I spelt Matthaus' name incorrectly - ignore that.

 

[Teritus]

I think Beckham could have been great for ace to utilise here, offers more width and a different approach. Shame there's no stand-out header of the ball to get on the end of his crosses though.