Boards.ie Football Dreft; First Round Game 4; Eugenious vs Blatter

bamboozling

Presenting Game 4 of the Boards.ie soccer forum Football Draft.

Poll will stay up for 96 hours, anyone may vote, however only votes attached with reasoning on thread will be counted.

Eugenious vs Blatter, submit your teams and counter argue and the very best of luck.

eugeneious

Blatter

Robo

Corluka
Vemaelen
Carragher
Baines

Mikel
Lamps
Scholes

Duff
Ibrahimovic
Gervinho




Goalkeeper: I think Paul Robinson is one of the best in the league. Very good shot-stopper and has a great presence in his goal, also vitally he has a wealth of experience which imo is crucial for a 'keeper. Imo there are no obvious weaknesses in his game and had he not made that 1 mistake against Croatia he would still be in contention for that number 1 jersey for England and after all they don't just hand out 41 international caps to just anyone.

Defence:
Firstly, I think my centre backs are very strong picks, both have experience playing at the highest level and both complement each other well imo. As much as it pains me to say, Carragher has been one of the best cb's in the league over the last 10 years and is still a regular in one of the best teams in the country. He's strong physically has a decent arial presence and is a master in the art of tackling. The one obvious weakness is his lack of pace which isn't a major problem with TV alongside him.

Carragher's fellow cb will be Tomas Vermaelen who despite having troubles with injuries has shown he is far and away the best cb at Arsenal and one of the best in the league. Vermealen like Carra has a strong physical presence and is very good in the air. Unlike Carra however, he is good and the ball and what Carragher lacks in pace TV makes up for it. Again, imo he hasn't got many major flaws with the only obvious one being his proneness to injury.

The right back I chose was Vedran Corluka who despite not being a guaranteed starter for 'Spurs has shown during his time in England that he is a very good RB. A very imposing figure, he is strong defensively and can comfortably fill in at cb and is no slouch going foreword. He, like TV is also a big threat from set pieces which is important in any team.

The left back I chose was Leighton Baines. Imo there is no better left back in the league right now. One of the best full backs defensively in the league and imo the beat full back going foreword. I don't think you will find a player with a better delivery in the league both from open play and dead ball situations. His threat from set pieces will be vital to suppling people such as TV, Corluka and Ibra.

Midfield:
The anchor man in my midfield will be John Obi Mikel. Not a spectacular player but a player who does his job extremely efficiently and well. With Corluka and in particular Baines intended to be used as attacking full backs, Mikel will be vital to help cover the spaces they will be leaving. I honestly cannot think of a more suited player in the league to play this role.

My legend pick was the ginger prince himself, Paul Scholes, one of the best players to grace a football field in the last 20 years. I have not seen a player who has been so good at playing two almost completely different roles in his career. Starting off as a goalscoring midfielder playing off he striker, he eventually adapted to a more deep-lying playmaker role which is essentially the role he will be taking in my team. Supplying my front 3 and Frank Lampard's foreword runs, Scholes will be the player who makes my team tick and tbh I couldn't think of better man to do just that.

The main attacking threat coming from my midfield will be coming from Frank Lampard. When I think of goal scoring midfielders I immediately think of this man. 119 league goals in 350 league games for Chelsea from midfield and 22 goals in 88 for his country. The main man in the Chelsea team during their most successful period in their history. I think he will be a fantastic foil for a player like Ibra and they should work well together.

Attack:
on the right side of my front three will be Gervinho who in his short time in England has already proved a handful for defenders. Again, he hasn't got many major flaws in his game and can easily adapt to playing anywhere along that front 3. He has pace, strength and importantly he has a good end product both in terms of goalscoring and the creation of goals.

On the other side will be Damien Duff who has been a fixture as one of the most consistent wingers in the league ever since breaking on to the scene with Blackburn. A lot more direct then Gervinho, his main strengths will be his ability to take on players and supply a good delivery for the likes of Ibra and Lampard.

The main man in my attack will be Zlatan Ibrahimovic who imo is one of the best players in the league. A fantastic goalscorer, he's strong physically and is a great finisher and has a fantastic long range strike on him. However he is also great at linking up with the other attacking players and supplying them with ammunition. He is the perfect striker to play in my formation/system and has shown all through out his career he is on the top of his game playing as the main man in the middle by himself.

Blatter

This is a side with a good blend of experience and youth, which has very nice balance and good energy about it. It is composed of extremely hard working and determined players complimented with plenty of technical ability and skill. They will play with the modern, fluid 4-3-3 formation, which has been hugely successful for several teams in recent years.

Goalkeeper: Anders Lindegaard will be my man between the sticks. He's a 6'4'' Danish international who won the goalkeeper's award in the Norwegian league and was also awarded with the title of Danish goalkeeper of the year, both in 2010. He is currently battling David de Gea for the number one spot at Manchester United and has impressed in both the Champions League(v Benfica away) and in the PL (v Norwich) this season. He has no noticeable goalkeeping weaknesses and is generally very competent.

Central Defense: Desailly and Alex are a centre back partnership that will compliment each other very well. Desailly is recognized as one of the most accomplished defenders to play the game having won virtually every major team award in club football picking up 116 caps for France along the way. He was also named in the PL foreign team of the decade in 2002. He was a master at reading the game and an excellent ball playing central defender. He will snuff out many attacks before they start.

Alex, who has 18 international caps for Brazil, will be the attacking centre back that will get much closer to the opposition centre forward and match him for strength and ability in the air. He also takes a rasping free kick from long range. Overall, himself and Desailly are a very good partnership.

Fullbacks: Gibbs and Walker are two young, very promising players. They have pace to burn, are very good on the ball and reliable defensively. Gibbs has plenty of Champions League experience for Arsenal and Walker is looking every bit the part for Spurs this season. They will both be given plenty of license to get forward to compliment my attack as my Defensive midfielder (Owen Hargreaves) and box to box player (Darren Fletcher) will provide more than adequate enough cover for them. They will also get plenty of help from my two wingers, Adam Johnson and Park Ji Sung, who should also compliment them well in attack.


Central Midfield: Wesley Sneijder will be the key man here. He is a set piece specialist who will be the primary play maker and will make the team tick. He has fantastic vision, passing and shooting along with good physical attributes and a high work rate. He is the perfect link from midfield to compliment my wingers and centre forward.

Owen Hargreaves will be my defensive midfielder who will sweep up everything on front of my back four. But he's not your typical 'destroyer' as he offers so much more than that. He's an excellent passer of the ball who will expertly link the play from defense to midfield. He had been out injured for a long time but he made a very successful comeback for Man City a couple of weeks ago. He scored a peach of a goal and had a 92% pass completion rate. Although he looked fresh and mobile in that match, he may have lost some of his previously very high physical attributes, but has evidently not lost any of his natural fooballing ability. I believe he is an excellent asset for one off games, which bodes well for my team in this competition as there is only a handful of potential games.

Completing my three man midfield will be Darren Fletcher. He has become a key player for Manchester United over the past few years and is a very good, consistent box to box player. He has excellent stamina, strength and work rate, is useful in the air and is also technically competent. I believe my midfield has an excellent balance with a defensive midfielder, box to box player and play maker and should be more than a match for any other midfield.


Wingers: Both my wingers are versatile enough to play on either wing. Which wing they will play on depends on the opposition. For example, if I came up against a team with Messi playing RW, I would definitely have Park Ji Sung on that side of the pitch. He is a superb defensive winger with work rate that you wouldn't believe. He has excellent stamina, is tactically very aware and has brilliant discipline. But he is not just a work horse, he is also very assured technichally, makes very intelligent forward runs and is notorious for scoring important goals in big games.

Adam Johnson is my other winger. He is a very talented player who also has good work rate. His link up play and vision are excellent. He also whips in a nice cross and you always know he has a goal or an assist in his locker.


Forward: Robin van Persie will lead my line as he does brilliantly for both Holland and Arsenal. He has not had a major injury in almost a year now and has flourished. He matched the Premier League record for goals scored between January 1 and the end of a season, netting 18 times in 19 appearances. What's more, he set a new record for scoring in 9 consecutive away matches. van Persie's quality has never been in doubt. He is an expert goal-taker and goal-maker with a penchant for free-kicks.


Captain - M. Desailly

Corner kicks - Sneijder and van Persie

Free kicks - Sneijder, van Persie, Hargreaves and Alex

Penalties - van Persie

eugeneious

Blatter

I think for your vote to count you may need to post your reasons...

G.K.

I voted Blatter. Why? Something about his team impressed me more. I think it's Carragher, Corluka and Gervinho - Carra is too slow now, Corluka never quite made it and Gervinho as Arsenal fans will tell you has little end product. Not as impressed by Lindegaard as Blatter has been but overall I think he shades it.

flahavaj

Blatter by a whisker, a very well balanced and hard worling team with no shortage of skill and flair. Eugenious is unlucky to come up agsinst him.

Carragher at the back is a big minus for him.

Edit: Pols should've been kept anonymous for added intrigue.

LuckyCharms

Tightest game of the 5 imo.

A bold attacking team set up by eugeneious so props for that.

Sadly i think he came up against the team that countered his gameplan.

I think Lampard was a risk to far for that team. The added bonus of having another midfielder like Essien or Makelele would have changed the outlook entirely.

Considering Scholes is to be considered as a player in his pomp, i feel he should have been utilised in lampards role

Both teams have liabilities in their sides, namely Robinson and Hargreaves and i would probably put this down as a draw if i could.

Fletcher has been quite poor recently and Hargreaves has no form at all to consider apart from that Cup game so i think that the midfield battle would be won by Scholes and Mikel.

Gonna wait to see how the debate turns out before making a final decision.

Mitch Connor

Went for Blatter - cause he threatened to expose by bribing if I went against him.....no, wait, other Blatter.

Still went for Blatter. I think the defensive side of both sides is very similar overall, and I do love Paul Scholes, but I just think overall Blatter's midfield is better with Hargreaves, Fletcher and Sneijder. there are issues I would pick with Fletcher and Hargreaves, but overall I think they are a very good 3 and Park/Johson/van Persie is a better front three.

CSF

Blatter

Just about gave it to Eugenious based on the stronger defence. Two poor teams compared to what I've seen so far though in the other ones.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Of the three of these threads I've been in these 2 teams are the strongest. Unlucky to be meeting each other at this stage.

For me Blatter shades it, he has a very balanced team and his CB pair look rock solid. Would definitely make for a cracking game between the two.

redzerdrog

I cant make up my mind at the minute definetly the closest match so far. Both teams have some weaknesses imo. I think hargreaves is a terrible pick as we are judging on current ability yet we havent a clue how much of his ability he retains. But I still think that blatters team will just shade it with his front 4 being better imo

NoelJ

Two great team but I have to go with blatter. His core defence is better and he has as stronger midfield. I think these two would have beaten anyone else so far.

Blatter

I don't think there's anyone in my back line that you could say is particularly dodgy.

However, I wouldn't say the same for eugenious, I just think Carragher sticks out like a sore thumb. He's been declining for quite some time now and I think the vast majority of Liverpool fans recognise he's a liability. He can be fine in tight games when he's not really tested. But I think eugenious' side is fairly attacking with an emphasis on his full backs getting forward, has Lampard and Scholes in midfield and has Gervinho on the right wing(who isn't known for his defensive capabilities). I think there'll be periods where the game will get stretched and I think van Persie, with Adam Johnson running in behind will punish Carragher's severe lack of pace.

I would also dispute eugenious' claim that Baines is the best left back in the league. While Baines is quite good, I think Ashley Cole is streets ahead of him.

I think Lampard is the stand out weak point in your midfield. Yes, he's still capable of scoring goals but his general influence in midfield has gone downhill big time, which is natural for a 33 year old. Will he start for England at the Euros? I'd be very surprised.

I really like Scholes but as LuckyCharms pointed out, in his prime, he was a similar enough player to Lampard. (The standout attribute of both was to arrive late into the box and score goals.) But in fairness to you, the Scholes of 2006-2009ish played a more deeper role and was superb, so he probably would have worked well with Lampard.

Although I think Mikel has been a little underwhelming when you evaluate his whole Chelsea career, I actually think he's played quite well recently. However, I think that overall, Hargreaves-Fletcher-Sneijder just shades your three man midfield, mainly down to Sneijder being a far superior player than the Lampard of today.

On Gervinho, I just can't agree with this part of your assessment of him

he has a good end product both in terms of goalscoring and the creation of goals.

I think his end product has been his biggest problem at Arsenal so far. If I was to say it has been inconsistent, I think I'd be far too kind to him.

I think Duff, although still relatively effective in fairness, is no doubt past his best. I think he was one of your last picks so I wouldn't really knock you for selecting him but probably one of the more noticeable weaker players in your side.

I'm a fan of Ibrahimovic and I think it's a close call for a lot of people on whether they'd prefer him or van Persie. Hand on heart, i'd pick van Persie. I honestly just think he's more reliable, you can almost always count on him to put a performance in. he doesn't just score buckets of goals, the way he drops deep and links up the play with runners in behind him is a joy to behold. He has the experience of linking up superbly with Sneijder and I think A. Johnson would work really well with him as he's exceptionally good at running in behind defenses and he's quite good at finishing too.

Blatter

LuckyCharms wrote: »

Tightest game of the 5 imo.

A bold attacking team set up by eugeneious so props for that.

Sadly i think he came up against the team that countered his gameplan.

I think Lampard was a risk to far for that team. The added bonus of having another midfielder like Essien or Makelele would have changed the outlook entirely.

Considering Scholes is to be considered as a player in his pomp, i feel he should have been utilised in lampards role

Both teams have liabilities in their sides, namely Robinson and Hargreaves and i would probably put this down as a draw if i could.

Fletcher has been quite poor recently and Hargreaves has no form at all to consider apart from that Cup game so i think that the midfield battle would be won by Scholes and Mikel.

Gonna wait to see how the debate turns out before making a final decision.

I disagree that Fletcher has been quite poor recently, I think that's incredibly harsh. I think he's done okay since he's come back. Not back to his best I'd agree with you, but definitely not poor. If he had been poor, Ferguson wouldn't have selected him to play at Anfield. He was quiet in that game, but he put in a fairly decent performance against Chelsea at OT and has played well for Scotland in the internationals.

redzerdrog wrote: »

I cant make up my mind at the minute definetly the closest match so far. Both teams have some weaknesses imo. I think hargreaves is a terrible pick as we are judging on current ability yet we havent a clue how much of his ability he retains. But I still think that blatters team will just shade it with his front 4 being better imo

Lads, Hargreaves was no doubt alone of the more controversial picks, but I think he was good value for the round I picked him in.

I don't think anybody should completely discount his comeback in that Carling Cup match. He was excellent in that match by all accounts and certainly showed he has retained a lot of his ability by going out there and performing.

Here is what the BBC journalist Sam Lyon had to say about that performance:

It was a terrific strike, too, latching on to a loose ball and lashing his shot like an arrow into the top corner from 22 yards out.

And that was not all Hargreaves contributed. He was busy, accurate with his passing and a constant menace to Birmingham at both ends of the pitch. Many more performances like this and calls for him to be not only a regular for Manchester City but also England will not be too far away.

Of course, I'm not saying we should take that game as the be all and end all. I'm fully aware the guy has plenty to prove, but that game at least tells us that Hargreaves still has his much of his ability. The big question mark against him is will he be able to play consistently without constantly picking up injuries. I don't know, but what he has proven is that he can at least play in one off games.

And lets face it, this draft allows for a maximum of 4 games per team so I think it's unfair to place too much weight on the concerns over Hargreaves' long term prospects when judging his inclusion in my team.

PARlance

Blatter

Went for eugeneious by a short head,
Couldn't split them at GK & back 4.
The more I look at it the more the winning distance between the two is, like the midfield 3 from euguenious, two dangers players out wide with top striker, me likes!
Very well balanced team

curry-muff

I'm not sure how this one is so close, I really think Blatters team is a fair bit better, if not the best team in the competition, that's just my opinion though, and different strokes for different folks and all that

Jax Teller

Went for blatter he's midfield is full of hard workers .
Eugenious centre halves are quite small for centre halves too

Bounty Hunter

Blatter's team is edging it for me in what would be imo the tightest of the match ups and according to the current vote it looks that way too. Heargreaves is the one pick in his team that really makes me question my vote though nut I think his side would just about win out here.

really tough on Eugenious though as I think he would progress if pitted against some others in the draft and he has a very strong side with only minor weakneses in it.

GavRedKing

Blatter

Very tough to call, my vote went to Eugenious. Both teams are so very close in terms of ability and what each team offers. At CB Blatter has two fine players that would stand up to Ibra but down the wings Eugenious team could cause so many problems for Blatters young FB's.

With Lamps and Scholes coming through midfield Blatters team could struggle to cope with them, it would be interesting battle in their with Fletcher adn Hargreaves.

Sneijder would be nearly impossible for Mikel to pick up all the teima nd could casue trouble in behind to Carragher if hes isolated against RVP.

Very interesting match up.

SlickRic

it's close because Fletcher and Hargreaves isn't a very inspiring midfield.

supplemented by the hard work of Park, the genius of Sneijder and VP further up the field, and the incisiveness of Johnson out wide, and Blatter shades it for me.

Carragher and Corluka just doesn't inspire confidence.

Blatter's team is just too solid compared.

great match-up though.

whatawaster

Blatter

I went for Eugenious.

I think the teams are very evenly matched, but I'm sorry, but I consider Owen Hargreaves to be an absolute passenger at this stage in his career. He has barely played football in two years, and it's a massive negative against Blatter's team.

Blatter

whatawaster wrote: »

, but I'm sorry, but I consider Owen Hargreaves to be an absolute passenger at this stage in his career. He has barely played football in two years, and it's a massive negative against Blatter's team.

He got man of the match in his return game for City, albeit in the Carling Cup but a competitive game nonetheless. His passing ability, work rate, tenacity, tackling, running etc. were all there. He showed that he still possess his ability and also showed he can play a game of football.

City signed him. Spurs wanted him. They obviously thought that he had something left to offer at the highest level.

Fair enough if you think that his influence won't be a big as it was previously(I never claimed it would), but to label him an 'absolute passenger' ie. will actually contributing nothing to the team, is just absurd.

whatawaster

Blatter

Blatter wrote: »

He got man of the match in his return game for City, albeit in the Carling Cup but a competitive game nonetheless. His passing ability, work rate, tenacity, tackling, running etc. were all there. He showed that he still possess his ability and also showed he can play a game of football.

A game you made it fairly clear you didn't see in your post earlier in the thread, saying: "He was excellent in that match by all accounts."

City signed him. Spurs wanted him. They obviously thought that he had something left to offer at the highest level.

Fair enough if you think that his influence won't be a big as it was previously(I never claimed it would), but to label him an 'absolute passenger' ie. will actually contributing nothing to the team, is just absurd.

I have to judge a players current ability. There is one game of evidence to support Hargreaves still being a good defensive midfielder.
What I see is a player who is very very likely to break down in the middle of this match and who I haven't seen perform at the top level for years.

i don't think he'll contribute nothing, but I'm making a judgement that he is not going to be the player he was or anything near it, that there is a high probability he will get injured, and that there is absolutely no evidence that he is still even a premiership standard player.

I think he was a poor pick to be honest. There were plenty of central midfielders no picked at all, who i'd argue offer much better value - Jordan Henderson, James McCarthy, Mohamed Diame. Not all of them are DM's, I know, but my point remains. He was picked on reputation.

Your whole argument about Hargreaves imo rests on 2 things: his reputation and one appearance against a championship side. Not enough imo.

Jax Teller

Hargreaves played very well against villa when he came on Saturday .


Funny people judge on current ability but say nothing about desailly being retired years .

Blatter

whatawaster wrote: »

A game you made it fairly clear you didn't see in your post earlier in the thread, saying: "He was excellent in that match by all accounts."



I have to judge a players current ability. There is one game of evidence to support Hargreaves still being a good defensive midfielder.
What I see is a player who is very very likely to break down in the middle of this match and who I haven't seen perform at the top level for years.

i don't think he'll contribute nothing, but I'm making a judgement that he is not going to be the player he was or anything near it, that there is a high probability he will get injured, and that there is absolutely no evidence that he is still even a premiership standard player.

I think he was a poor pick to be honest. There were plenty of central midfielders no picked at all, who i'd argue offer much better value - Jordan Henderson, James McCarthy, Mohamed Diame. Not all of them are DM's, I know, but my point remains. He was picked on reputation.

Your whole argument about Hargreaves imo rests on 2 things: his reputation and one appearance against a championship side. Not enough imo.

I saw a highlights reel of the performance and he was excellent. If you still doubt that he didn't perform very well, I could pick out other reports from several journalists to back it up even further?


As I already said, the fact that City signed him and Spurs were interested shows that they are confident he is still a Premiership player, and a player that can still play at a relatively high level.

I didn't just pick him based on reputation, I picked him on ability, which he has shown he still has in his last game where he also displayed excellent form.


My whole argument doesn't rest on his reputation nor his CC performance.

The CC performance just backs up assertions that were already made by City and Spurs(who were very interested in him) that Hargreaves is still capable of playing to a very good level.

An assertion that I also made, hence the fact that I picked him.

I believe the main question mark over Hargreaves is can he play a sustained number of games over a long term period without picking up injuries. I've said that's a doubt all along but I've also said that this draft only involves a handful of games, so judging his long term prospects in football and heavily using those doubts against him as my pick in this draft is unfair.



So in summation;


-Hargreaves has fantastic ability, everyone knows this and he showed that in his comeback game. Tottenham were interested him, and Man City signed him. They know what he can offer.

-The big question mark over Hargreaves is his ability to play football long term, there are not big question marks over his ability.

-Because the biggest doubts that exist with regards to Hargreaves are his prospects of playing football long term, and this draft allows for a maximum of only 4 games, those doubts should not be exercised too heavily when making judgment against his inclusion in my team.

redzerdrog

Coletrickle88 wrote: »

Hargreaves played very well against villa when he came on Saturday .


Funny people judge on current ability but say nothing about desailly being retired years .

eh do you not watch the masters football that is constantly on sky sports:rolleyes:

only messing we had a legends round who are judged on their abilty during their time in the premier league

Blatter

Coletrickle88 wrote: »

Hargreaves played very well against villa when he came on Saturday .

Thanks for that info, I didn't see the game nor the highlights.

Funny people judge on current ability but say nothing about desailly being retired years .

Everyone has a legend pick, who had to have been a retired PL footballer.

whatawaster

Blatter

Blatter wrote: »

I saw a highlights reel of the performance and he was excellent. If you still doubt that he didn't perform very well, I could pick out other reports from several journalists to back it up even further?


As I already said, the fact that City signed him and Spurs were interested shows that they are confident he is still a Premiership player, and a player that can still play at a relatively high level.

I didn't just pick him based on reputation, I picked him on ability, which he has shown he still has in his last game where he also displayed excellent form.


My whole argument doesn't rest on his reputation nor his CC performance.

The CC performance just backs up assertions that were already made by City and Spurs(who were very interested in him) that Hargreaves is still capable of playing to a very good level.

An assertion that I also made, hence the fact that I picked him.

I believe the main question mark over Hargreaves is can he play a sustained number of games over a long term period without picking up injuries. I've said that's a doubt all along but I've also said that this draft only involves a handful of games, so judging his long term prospects in football and heavily using those doubts against him as my pick in this draft is unfair.



So in summation;


-Hargreaves has fantastic ability, everyone knows this and he showed that in his comeback game. Tottenham were interested him, and Man City signed him. They know what he can offer.

-The big question mark over Hargreaves is his ability to play football long term, there are not big question marks over his ability.

-Because the biggest doubts that exist with regards to Hargreaves are his prospects of playing football long term, and this draft allows for a maximum of only 4 games, those doubts should not be exercised too heavily when making judgment against his inclusion in my team.

I think when it's one-off matches or a small series of matches, then you can't just assume he will be fit and everything will be ok.
If you think Hargreaves, for example, will only be fit for 50% of any given number of games, then you have to in my opinion penalise him when you are judging him and his team.
Same with a player who picks up a lot of suspensions. They will get docked marks too.

Just my opinion, I thought the rest of your team competed very well, but even if I considered Hargreaves a very good or an 8/10 PL midfielder (I really don't know if he is one) the fact that he will be likely to miss so many games means I may only judge him as a 4/10 midfielder when assessing your team.

The fact that it is a small number of games, in my mind doesn't make it any more likely he'll be available for selection.
There's no detailed guidelines on how to judge teams, but that's just how I'm doing it. Not just with Hargreaves, mind you.

ColeTrain

I like the look of Eugenious's team. The 4-3-3 is set up to attack. I just think it goes that bit too far. Scholes and Lampard like to go forward and I think it leaves Mikel on his own in there which isn't ideal given Blatter has Sneijder and co.
Blatter has just the better balance with two grafters in there, allowing his 3 attacking midfielders to go forward at will.

I wouldn't say there is much between either defence. Baines and Vermalen would match Walker and Desailly.

I'm going for Blatter but not by much at all.

dfx-

I would put Blatter's team to win by a decent margin. I'm not a huge fan of any team with Mikel in it, because I'm still not sure what it is he does or gives to a team.

Similarly I think that Eugenious' team needs a few more bodies under pressure rather than relying on Zlatan, Gervinho, Lampard and Scholes to do the donkeywork.

Blatter

whatawaster wrote: »

I think when it's one-off matches or a small series of matches, then you can't just assume he will be fit and everything will be ok.
If you think Hargreaves, for example, will only be fit for 50% of any given number of games, then you have to in my opinion penalise him when you are judging him and his team.
Same with a player who picks up a lot of suspensions. They will get docked marks too.

Just my opinion, I thought the rest of your team competed very well, but even if I considered Hargreaves a very good or an 8/10 PL midfielder (I really don't know if he is one) the fact that he will be likely to miss so many games means I may only judge him as a 4/10 midfielder when assessing your team.

The fact that it is a small number of games, in my mind doesn't make it any more likely he'll be available for selection.
There's no detailed guidelines on how to judge teams, but that's just how I'm doing it. Not just with Hargreaves, mind you.

That's the important thing, everybody is going to judge differently as there are no set guidelines.

But I just think you're weighting your judgement too heavily on it, IMHO of course.

bucketybuck

I am going for Blatter for one reason, and that is I think Eugenious's team is horribly unbalanced. Lampard will just be getting in Scholes way, Gervino seems shoehorned in on the right, and Duff is the only one offering any width at all (apart from Baines coming from the back).

Mikel will be solid and nothing else, but even with the brilliant Scholes I don't think that team will function properly.

Not a massive fan of Blatters team either, but Van Persie is world class (better than Ibrahimovic), Johnson is better than Duff, and Hargreaves offers far more than Mikel. Weak team defensively, but should still take this match.

eugeneious

Blatter

bucketybuck wrote: »

I am going for Blatter for one reason, and that is I think Eugenious's team is horribly unbalanced. Lampard will just be getting in Scholes way, Gervino seems shoehorned in on the right, and Duff is the only one offering any width at all (apart from Baines coming from the back).

Mikel will be solid and nothing else, but even with the brilliant Scholes I don't think that team will function properly.

Not a massive fan of Blatters team either, but Van Persie is world class (better than Ibrahimovic), Johnson is better than Duff, and Hargreaves offers far more than Mikel. Weak team defensively, but should still take this match.

I don't understand this. Shoehorned in on the right? that's his best position, playin on the right of a front 3!

I would also disagree on VP being better then Ibra but that's your opinion fair enough. And I would also say that De Jong and maybe Tiote are the only players more effective than then Mikel in the anchor man position. Hargreaves isn't really the same kind of midfielder and IMHO is a strange choice for midfield as it's near impossible to judge his current ability.

Blatter

bucketybuck wrote: »

I am going for Blatter for one reason, and that is I think Eugenious's team is horribly unbalanced. Lampard will just be getting in Scholes way, Gervino seems shoehorned in on the right, and Duff is the only one offering any width at all (apart from Baines coming from the back).

Mikel will be solid and nothing else, but even with the brilliant Scholes I don't think that team will function properly.

Not a massive fan of Blatters team either, but Van Persie is world class (better than Ibrahimovic), Johnson is better than Duff, and Hargreaves offers far more than Mikel. Weak team defensively, but should still take this match.

Out of interest, out on earth is it a weak team defensively?

eugeneious wrote: »

I don't understand this. Shoehorned in on the right? that's his best position, playin on the right of a front 3!

I would also disagree on VP being better then Ibra but that's your opinion fair enough. And I would also say that De Jong and maybe Tiote are the only players more effective than then Mikel in the anchor man position. Hargreaves isn't really the same kind of midfielder and IMHO is a strange choice for midfield as it's near impossible to judge his current ability.

Agree that Gervinho isn't shoehorned out of position, not sure what bucketybuck is thinking there tbh.

With regards Hargreaves, see other posts in this thread. For the most part, his current ability clearly remains in tact, the question marks are over his long term fitness, which shouldn't really impact people's judgement on his selection here all that much.

bucketybuck

Blatter wrote: »

Out of interest, out on earth is it a weak team defensively?

Just speaking from the perspective of this type of competition. Its not a terrible defence as such, but relative to some of the other teams I don't think it is as strong. I don't rate Alex, and both Gibbs and Walker are unproven imo.

Plenty of club teams would be happy with that back four, but in later rounds I suspect it will be viewed as one of the weaker defences.

ynwa_17

Gone for Blatter - But not an easy decision by any stretch of the imagination. Think Alex and Desaily in defence coupled with Sneijder in midfield and RVP up top did it for me. Eugenious was very unlucky to face a side of this quality early on.

eugeneious

Blatter

Well done Blatter. You were one of the people i didn't want to come up against so early because you have one of the best teams in the draft. Anyway, well done and best of luck with the rest of the competition!