Boards.ie Football Draft; Second Round playoff Game 1; redzerdrog v DOC09UNAM

Blatter

Presenting the second round playoff 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.

redzerdrog and DOC09UNAM, submit your teams and counter argue and the very best of luck.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

I will just put up my general team for now

Pick 1 - Luis Suarez - with aguero and rooney gone he was an easy pick

Pick 2 - David luiz - wanted a quality CB and this guy oozes class

Pick 3 - Nigel De Jong - The best DM in the league and immense value in round 3

Pick 4 - Zola - didnt think he would make it past the 1st 5 pick let alone down to 15th great value for this round

Pick 5 - Jose enrique - One of the best lb last year and has kicked on this year prob the most in form lb in the league

Pick 6 - Jose Bosingwa - likewise prob the most in form RB in the league and great value in round 6 considering some of the rb picked ahead of him

Pick 7 - Joey Barton - fit perfect for my midfield can do everything from tackle to score

Pick 8 - Scott Dann - Powerfull defender and the perfect foil for luiz

Pick 9 - Andres Iniesta - never dreamed he would make it out of the top 3 so delighted to complete my midfield with the best midfielder in the world

Pick 10 - Gabriel Agbonlahor - The gamble paid off to wait for him, he is in terrific form this year and super value as a 10th round pick

Pick 11 - Tim Krul - Gamble to leave gk till last paid off and got the best young keeper in the league in great form this year also



Overall I feel my team is well balance, has pace, power, guile and guts in abundance aswell as undoubted ability throughout.

Defense is strong with luiz and dann the perfect partnership with luiz ball playing abilty and dann no nonsense 100% commitment defending. My two full back are prob the 2 most in form fb in the league this year they have pace and power and can defend well but also provide width in attack

midfield in anchored by DeJong who will provide ample protection for my back 4 particularly if either fb is attacking. Barton will play box to box and has the attribute to do what ever is called of him weather its provide protection to the defense or assists to the forwards. Iniesta will have a free role and will dictate the game he also has the licence to pop up on the wing or the edge of the box.

Zola and agbonlahor provide a great mix of pace and power with guile and vision they both have licence to pop up anywhere in the forward line. Suarez will in general lead the line and this guy can do the lot he is a class act and wont give the opposition a moments rest.

my team has many leaders but the captain will be zola who will be a great leader.

frees/corner: iniesta/barton
pens:Zola

DOC09UNAM

Why should this team win?

To Put it simply, the team is made of up fantastic performers, right from the back to the forwards, between them they have a staggering

1 European Cup
1 World Cup
19 Domestic Leagues.
3 Champions Leagues.

And several domestic cups aswell.


Defence

Fairly Strong Defence in my opinion with one of the top goalkeepers in the world, Pepé Reina between the sticks, the key to any great team, is a great goalkeeper, and I believe I have that.

Ryan Taylor, A very solid left back with great free kick potential, fantastic asset to have in the team.

CB Pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Lescott, Rio Ferdinand, on his day, one of the best defenders in the world, and his ability to read the game is second to none, partnered with Lescott, a great ball winner with a good left foot who should compliment Ferdinand very well.

Smalling, has been fantastic at RB playing for United this season when asked to do so, seems to have a great defensive brain, and is also very good getting forward.


Midfield

The midfield, starts with the defenseive legend that is Makelele, possibly one of the best in this position to ever grace the game, fantastic on the ball, glorious player to watch, linked with a young but exciting player like Javier Pastore, this kind of midfield would certainly be both adequate going forward, and defending, Pastore so far this season has 5 goals in 7 games in the league, not bad for a midfielder!

The wingplay has the potential to be astonishing, both N'Zogbia and Ben Arfa are exciting wingers, Ben Arfa had a terrific start with Newcastle until his injury ruled him out, but I have no doubt he will be destined for success there, and N'Zogbia, another threat from free kicks, has an absolutely wicked left foot with pinpoint accuracy and lots of power when needed.


Strikers

The Striker partnership, is an interesting one, a highly skillful and entertaining player in Balotelli, a bit crazy and arrogant, but certainly has the ability to score some fantastic goals, and Defoe, a t'riffic finisher, should benefit from having a great supply from midfield, and working up top with such a quality striker like Balotelli, both strikers currently in form, and balotelli playing brilliantly at the moment.


Overall

The team should have great fluidity, confident on the ball from back to front, and should have the defensive and offensive capabilities to breakdown any team around, while still mainting a solid backline.


Consistency

Questions have been raised over the consistency of some of these players, but even hoing on having watched alot of their games this season, balotelli and defoe are playing quite well, N'Zogbia is almost guaranteed to put in a very good shift, and depending on the mood can be an excellent player.

Pastore has been fantastic so far this season aswell, scoring a good few goals and getting some good assists.

Makelele, is Makelele, you always know what you're going to get from him.

As for the back line, Smalling, Taylor and Lescott have all been solid at the back, conceding very few goals between them, Ferdinand, when he has a good partner has looked assured, aswell as having a few dodgy performances, but that's to be expected when the backline is constantly shuffled and the injury's that have hit him, he is as always an exceptional reader of the game, and when playing to the best of his ability, he is a fantastic defender.

DOC09UNAM

Meant to change the backline but forgot...


Smalling - rb
Ferdinand - rcb
Lescott - lcb
Taylor - lb

Think DOC has the best team here. As much as you can say redzer's backline looks impressive (and it does) There is a severe lack of protection to it and while there are no better set of wing backs in the competition they are far too attacking for a team with David Luis in defense and only 1 midfielder who's ever going to consistently track back. Agbonlahor and Zola aren't going to support them and it would be creaky as hell imo.

eagle eye

DOC09UNAM

Liam O wrote: »

Think DOC has the best team here. As much as you can say redzer's backline looks impressive (and it does) There is a severe lack of protection to it and while there are no better set of wing backs in the competition they are far too attacking for a team with David Luis in defense and only 1 midfielder who's ever going to consistently track back. Agbonlahor and Zola aren't going to support them and it would be creaky as hell imo.

Le King

I think DOC takes the back 6 in this every time. I think the attacking full backs and wingers match each other out. I think the other 5 players is a closer battle. For me DOC takes this. His back line is better but Iniesta and Suarez make this a much harder decision but I think DOC's team would win.

De Jong can't cover both wings and the middle at once though, there is realistically going to be times when it's 5 on 4 or 4 on 3 when DOC's on the attack imo.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

I am actually shocked people say my back 4 have no protection when I have the best dm in league in front of them not to mention barton who is more than capable in that area and also the best midfielder in the world whos positional sense is just as good as his passing ability.

My denfence beats him in 3/4 positions

Bosingwa > smalling
Luiz > ferdinand
Dann < lescott
Enrique > tayler

Also barton, iniesta, agbonlahor, zola, and suarez are so far ahead of pastore ben arfa, n'zogbia, balatelli and defoe who are anything but consistant.

I can see the right side of your team in particular getting destroyed your gona have enrique, iniesta and zola, 3 quality players all good on the ball playing rings around smalling who will get little help from ben arfa.

I just dont see how I can lose here I have a better defence, better midfield and a better attack. Not much more a team can do!

Anyway prob wont be on for today as am away and have very little coverage

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

I am actually shocked people say my back 4 have no protection when I have the best dm in league in front of them not to mention barton who is more than capable in that area and also the best midfielder in the world whos positional sense is just as good as his passing ability.

My denfence beats him in 3/4 positions

Bosingwa > smalling
Luiz > ferdinand
Dann < lescott
Enrique > tayler

Also barton, iniesta, agbonlahor, zola, and suarez are so far ahead of pastore ben arfa, n'zogbia, balatelli and defoe who are anything but consistant.

I can see the right side of your team in particular getting destroyed your gona have enrique, iniesta and zola, 3 quality players all good on the ball playing rings around smalling who will get little help from ben arfa.

I just dont see how I can lose here I have a better defence, better midfield and a better attack. Not much more a team can do!

Anyway prob wont be on for today as am away and have very little coverage

G.K.

DOC09UNAM

Liam O wrote: »

De Jong can't cover both wings and the middle at once though, there is realistically going to be times when it's 5 on 4 or 4 on 3 when DOC's on the attack imo.

And it will be exactly the same when Red attacks DOC - who only has 1 body back.

G.K.

DOC09UNAM

To me, red has the superior team. His strikeforce is top class and his defense is the best in the draft.

DOC's front 5 screams inconsistent at you. Red's screams consistent. Those players are easily capable of beating DOC's defense. That's why I went for red.

Mitch Connor

DOC09UNAM

got to go with redzer on this one - I think people are vastly underrating the work Barton does, and Iniesta is not slacker when it comes to defensive work.

Talking about a lack of protection for Redzers defence when DOC as a midfield pair of Makalele and Pastore? De Jong will match Makalele for defensive work, imo, while Pastore will do feck all defending. Pastore is an awesome player, but he simply doesn't defend - needs to be played in a free role to get the best out of him. Ben Afra isn't great defensively either, imo, so I think DOC's defence is far more likely to be exposed than Redzers. I would also take Suarez/zola/Agbonlahor over Defore/Baloteli. Defore is a quality goal scorer at his best, but offers little in build up play and has struggeled at times in the prem. Baloteli is a fantastic talent, no doubt, but it is only in recent weeks that he has performed well and with some consistency - last season he was consistently quite average for the most part (with some good performances and quality goals thrown in). I think Redzers forward line is more likely to do well.

DOC09UNAM

Honestly I wouldn't luiz higher than ferdinand, smalling is on a par with bosingwa, and probably better defensively.

Taylor again is better defensively but not as good getting forward.

Suarez couldn't finish his dinner at the moment, I don't rate agbonlahor and zola was never really a prolific striker, de jong and barton don't offer much going forward with just iniesta going forward, although he can pay beautiful formal, but in that team I wouldn't imagine.

Ben arfa is being criminally underrated defensively tbh.


I county think it would be easy, but fairly confident my team would win this.

You say my attack is inconsistent, but their performances and stats speak for themselves.

whatawaster

DOC09UNAM

Redzer to win by a few goals imo.

His midfield is far too good for DOC's extremely lightweight front 6. Doc's front 4 cannot be relied upon to give consistent performances, Pastore will be overrun by Iniesa and Barton. Taylor and Lescott are, for me, not the best full-backs. Enrique and Bosingwa will get a lot of joy here.

PHB

I think Doc's defence and overall balance takes it

whatawaster

whatawaster wrote: »

Redzer to win by a few goals imo.

His midfield is far too good for DOC's extremely lightweight front 6. Doc's front 4 cannot be relied upon to give consistent performances, Pastore will be overrun by Iniesa and Barton. Taylor and Lescott are, for me, not the best full-backs. Enrique and Bosingwa will get a lot of joy here.

while they may not be the best full backs, they wont have to do much covering on the wings imo with Zola not going to be getting too wide and Agbonlahor cutting inside too. They just have to be good at covering centrally. The width of DOC's attack takes it imo. redzer's team would just be too stretched

SlickRic

DOC09UNAM

redzer, and sorry DOC, but IMO, it's not even that close.

Gabby and Iniesta are very adept at providing the width some are saying isn't there; and the Zola/Suarez partnership sounds fúcking jizztastic.

redzer is just far too solid in midfield, and IMO, no matter how much DOC goes on about stats, that attacking lineup of N'Zog (who has been all kinds of meh this year), Ben Arfa (moody as fúck), and Balotelli (batshít crazy) just could not be relied upon at all.

also, Makelele is left doing an awful lot of defensive work.

redzer all the way.

whatawaster

DOC09UNAM

Liam O wrote: »

while they may not be the best full backs, they wont have to do much covering on the wings imo with Zola not going to be getting too wide and Agbonlahor cutting inside too. They just have to be good at covering centrally. The width of DOC's attack takes it imo. redzer's team would just be too stretched

I think his full backs will get no cover from Makelele, who will be overwhelmed in midfield.
Enrique vs Taylor is a mismatch imo, as is Bosingwa vs Lescott (though less so)

Also I just don't think there is a reliable player in his front 4. All might be good on their day, but you just never know when that day will be.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

DOC09UNAM wrote: »

Honestly I wouldn't luiz higher than ferdinand, smalling is on a par with bosingwa, and probably better defensively.

Taylor again is better defensively but not as good getting forward.

Suarez couldn't finish his dinner at the moment, I don't rate agbonlahor and zola was never really a prolific striker, de jong and barton don't offer much going forward with just iniesta going forward, although he can pay beautiful formal, but in that team I wouldn't imagine.

Ben arfa is being criminally underrated defensively tbh.


I county think it would be easy, but fairly confident my team would win this.

You say my attack is inconsistent, but their performances and stats speak for themselves.

I know and you know ya dont actually believe a word of this!

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

DOC09UNAM

red for me. I think he has the better overall team, especially from midf on.

neil.p.b

Docs team for me, just. Mainly down to balance. And I just can't see

---

Reina

---

Smalling - Ferdinand - Lescott - Taylor

---

Makelele

---

shipping many goals despite redzers frontline. I think Iniesta is what really makes redzers team stand out and. He, along with Zola and Enrique are the only ones that i think would make it into Docs team for Ben Arfa, Defoe and Taylor.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

neil.p.b wrote: »

Docs team for me, just. Mainly down to balance. And I just can't see

---

Reina

---

Smalling - Ferdinand - Lescott - Taylor

---

Makelele

---

shipping many goals despite redzers frontline. I think Iniesta is what really makes redzers team stand out and. He, along with Zola and Enrique are the only ones that i think would make it into Docs team for Ben Arfa, Defoe and Taylor.

Balance! If anything my team is very well balanced!

Docs team is top heavy with cm the only midfielder capable of tackling not to mention a centre half playing at right back and ben arfa playing rm when he is best in the hole and thats not even including tayler!

how is my team not balanced?

DOC09UNAM

redzerdrog wrote: »

neil.p.b wrote: »

Docs team for me, just. Mainly down to balance. And I just can't see

---

Reina

---

Smalling - Ferdinand - Lescott - Taylor

---

Makelele

---

shipping many goals despite redzers frontline. I think Iniesta is what really makes redzers team stand out and. He, along with Zola and Enrique are the only ones that i think would make it into Docs team for Ben Arfa, Defoe and Taylor.

Balance! If anything my team is very well balanced!

Docs team is top heavy with cm the only midfielder capable of tackling not to mention a centre half playing at right back and ben arfa playing rm when he is best in the hole and thats not even including tayler!

how is my team not balanced?

Smalling has been incredible at Rb, and taylor is more than capable of playing left back.

G.K.

DOC09UNAM

That is disputable.

neil.p.b

redzerdrog wrote: »

Balance! If anything my team is very well balanced!

Docs team is top heavy with cm the only midfielder capable of tackling not to mention a centre half playing at right back and ben arfa playing rm when he is best in the hole and thats not even including tayler!

how is my team not balanced?

Sorry, i should say better balanced. You've a very balanced team, its just his backline for me, especially Makelele, the lad was immense. Smalling has been great at right back this year. Yeah Taylor is probably the weakest point in the team, Enrique trumps him.

G.K.

DOC09UNAM

Ferdinad, while good, is beginnign his way down. Lescott is prone to madness.

smokedeels

DOC for me.

I don't think Bosingwa is good defender and has a poor assist record for an attack minded RB. Luiz reminds me of Gabriel Heinze when defending, it's all arms and unrefined tackling, it's endearing to fans because it looks like he's "up for it" but he's always liable to get sent off and/or coincide penalties.

And, simply, imho there's not enough goals in Redzerdrog's team.

neil.p.b

G.K. wrote: »

Ferdinad, while good, is beginnign his way down. Lescott is prone to madness.

I agree that Ferdinand hasn't been the same this season. But due to some of the players in both teams no longer playing: makalele, zola; i think its unfair to judge ferdinand on the last few games. He's been one of the best centre backs in the world for the last 5 years. Lescott has rarely put a foot wrong in the last year with City.

smokedeels wrote: »

DOC for me.

And, simply, imho there's not enough goals in Redzerdrog's team.

I agree. Zola and Suarez are better footballers but balotelli and Defoe know where the net is.

G.K.

DOC09UNAM

Read the rules. We judge current players on current ability. Retired players on whole career.

neil.p.b

Didn't realise. But still doesn't change my overall decision, if anything only reaffirms it.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

neil.p.b wrote: »

Didn't realise. But still doesn't change my overall decision, if anything only reaffirms it.

How does it "reaffirms" it? Ferdinand has been in shocking form and will shortly find himself 4th choice cb for utd.

neil.p.b

redzerdrog wrote: »

How does it "reaffirms" it? Ferdinand has been in shocking form and will shortly find himself 4th choice cb for utd.

Shocking form is such an exaggeration. Mightn't be his old self, but even though he's had a couple of bad games he's still firmly 2nd choice CB. Choice was reaffirmed by looking at current form of all players on both teams. Some went up in my opinion, some went down. But overall i still think Docs team edges it. Good luck.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

sorry was away for a few days with very little coverage and also slightly drunk for the majority

I still think my team wins this match prob 8 out of 10 times.

player for player my team is much stronger and the players are in far better form.

Reina is quality but hasnt been in great form

smalling is a cb and you have him playing rb if he is so good a rb why isnt he 1st choice there for his club

ferdinand has been playing so bad he was even dropped today

lescott is a player i like

ryan tayler is very average

makelele was no doubt quality but he is only judged on his time in the premiership. He was 30 when he came and spend the majority in a 3 man midfield i just dont see him having the legs to cover the ground he will have to in this team.

pastore is quality but again at his best in a 3 man midfield and offers very little in defence

ben arfa has scored the total of goal in english football he has only made 7 appearences and not only this he is being played out of position by doc as he is at his best as an attacking midfielder or even on the left wing but rightmidfielder would be the weakest of his positions

n-zogbia is vastly over rated by some. Docs wants to talk about stats well n-zogbia has played every game for villa this year and has the grand total of zero goals and 1 assist compared to say a simular player in my team like agbonlahor who has 4 goals and 4 assists.

balatelli is a player i like and we cant really hold it against him that he is not 1st choice for city.

defoe hasnt got a whole pile to his game he is an ok finisher but thats about it and again cant even get a game at spurs.

overall i feel there is far too many holes in what looks like a flash team but the truth is very few of these deliver on a consistant basis and the stats prove this

*NB plenty have voted but not given a reason and the vote doesnt count without you also writing it in the thread

G.K.

DOC09UNAM

redzerdrog wrote: »

sorry was away for a few days with very little coverage and also slightly drunk for the majority

I still think my team wins this match prob 8 out of 10 times.

player for player my team is much stronger and the players are in far better form.

Reina is quality but hasnt been in great form

smalling is a cb and you have him playing rb if he is so good a rb why isnt he 1st choice there for his club

ferdinand has been playing so bad he was even dropped today

lescott is a player i like

ryan tayler is very average

makelele was no doubt quality but he is only judged on his time in the premiership. He was 30 when he came and spend the majority in a 3 man midfield i just dont see him having the legs to cover the ground he will have to in this team.

pastore is quality but again at his best in a 3 man midfield and offers very little in defence

ben arfa has scored the total of goal in english football he has only made 7 appearences and not only this he is being played out of position by doc as he is at his best as an attacking midfielder or even on the left wing but rightmidfielder would be the weakest of his positions

n-zogbia is vastly over rated by some. Docs wants to talk about stats well n-zogbia has played every game for villa this year and has the grand total of zero goals and 1 assist compared to say a simular player in my team like agbonlahor who has 4 goals and 4 assists.

balatelli is a player i like and we cant really hold it against him that he is not 1st choice for city.

defoe hasnt got a whole pile to his game he is an ok finisher but thats about it and again cant even get a game at spurs.

overall i feel there is far too many holes in what looks like a flash team but the truth is very few of these deliver on a consistant basis and the stats prove this

*NB plenty have voted but not given a reason and the vote doesnt count without you also writing it in the thread

I agree with you mostly, but Smalling has been 1st choice RB. If not he's been playing at CB.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

G.K. wrote: »

I agree with you mostly, but Smalling has been 1st choice RB. If not he's been playing at CB.

was he suspended today?

G.K.

DOC09UNAM

Injured. He's out for a month.

redzerdrog

DOC09UNAM

G.K. wrote: »

Injured. He's out for a month.

didnt know that. cheers

he is still at his best at cb though;)

Blatter

DOC09UNAM

Redzer for me, more balance in midfield imo