Draft Quaterfinal 1: Morzadec vs Knex

Bounty Hunter

more than half way through now so you know how this works. Nobody posts until both guys can do their write ups at which point (post away) ill add a poll and everyone can vote on who you think would win the match and go on to the semi final.

Morzadec

knex

First of all, good luck to Knex, who has put together a really strong team.

I've tweaked my team a little bit for this game, but it's basically the same idea and same style. Pires has moved over to the left where he was probably at his best for Arsenal and Laudrup will move to the right, where I'm hoping the quality he and Cafu possess can hurt Knex's left side. But again, Laudrup, Maradona and Pires will all be fluid and are all capable of functioning on the left, right or centrally as play dictates.

I also took note of a comment in the discussion thread saying that it may come down to who has the prettiest shirt, so I've spruced up the team kit a little.



A bit about my players:

Buffon: A lot of players think they have the best GK in the draw and I guess I'll just have to add my name to that list! Imo I have never seen anyone like Buffon. Incredibly solid and consistent, capable of pulling off unbelievable saves, and maybe most importantly a strong voice and leader to marshall my back-line.

Costacurta: You don't play 20 years at the top level at a club renown for it's great defences without being a top player. Playing until he did, Costacurta showed he was an incredibly intelligent defender, and an expert in reading the game. 7 Serie As, 5 Champions Leagues and very experienced at International level too.

Thuram: My 2nd centre back - athletic, composed, strong, fast, he will combine well with Costacurta. In the team of the WC in both 98 and 06, one of the 20 most capped International's ever, Thuram was a fantastic defender.

Cafu: Amybe the greatest right-back of all time. Fast, with incessan overlapping runs, Cafu never seemed to tire. He had such a strong engine that he could get forward and get back round to defend with ease. Won the WC twice, once as the captain.

Lizarazu: What Cafu does on the right, Lizarazu can do almost as well on the left. Solid defensively but with the speed and stamina to work well at both ends of the pitch. Lizarazu won everything important to win in the game, a mainstay of the best International and club side at one point.

Alonso: Has already won it all. Astute defensively and capable of picking out almost any pass you could wish for. Alonso will playmake from deep, picking out either fullback of playing it short through the middle.

Schweinsteiger: The complete midfielder and the best centre-mid in the world at the moment. Schweinsteiger can do it all - tackle, pass, shoot, get up and down the pitch. The central cog to the best club side in the world right now.

Michael Laudrup: If you don't know much about this guy, I suggest watching some Youtube videos because there are few players more enjoyable to watch than this genius. Laudrup went to Barca, won everything, switched to Madrid and then Madrid became dominant. No coincidence. Every striker who played with Laudrup said it was a dream. Amazing dribbling ability and ability to beat a man, and quite simply the greatest through-ball ability I've seen from any player. Incredible vision, creativity and execution.

Pires: Scored a huge amount of goals from midfield, and has the versatility to drift central, play wide as a traditional winger or come left, which is important for my team. He's got a lot of pace, ability to finish and also creativity. World Cup and European Cup winner and a really important part of Arsenal's greatest ever side.

Maradona (C): For many the greatest ever player. Don't need to write much here - they guy was a genius and impossible to stop in full flow. An easy choice as my captain - he will inspire everyone with his ability and attitude.

Van Nistelrooy: An absolute goal machine. Only Messi can boast a better scoring rate in the Champions League. Easily exceeded a goal every 2 games for United and Madrid. Amazing positioning, timing of runs, and finishing.. He will thrive in this team.


Game Plan and Strengths

I think my team are all really comfortable on the ball so I think I should dominate possession. Both full-backs will push on to create width. Alonso will predominantly sit, with Shweinsteiger allowed to be a box-to-box midfielder.

Laudrup will have the freedom to drift infield and join up with Alonso and Shweinsteiger. He can play deadly throughballs from this area, or otherwise go wide and take on his man one on one, or look for Cafu's overlapping runs.

Maradona will be given freedom to do what he wants as this is what he does best. I imagine he will drift right quite a lot as he likes to do, in which case Laudrup can come central, an area he is very adept at functioning in. I want Laudrup, Maradona and Pires to be really fluid and all of them should be able to interchange positions without problems.

Van Nistelrooy has so many ways to score - Laudrup will be setting him up with numerous chances in behind (not to mention Schweinsteiger and Alonso), Maradona will attract so much attention that things should really open up for him. Cafu and Lizarazu should be putting plenty of balls in for him around the 6 yard-box where he is lethal.

At the back I believe both fullbacks are really solid and can get back round. Alonso will sit as insurance and Schweinsteiger has a great engine as well.

Don't be fooled by a lack of a traditional 'Ballwinner' - Alonso and Schweinsteiger both averaged out more than 3 tackles per game last season, which is a very high total for a centre-mid, not to mention a very high Interception rate. Both players are strong on and off the ball, so I don't need a specialist who is just there to break up play - between them they can more can cover this role.

Where I can hurt Knex

I think Stewart Pearce is a possible weak link. Not a bad player but at this very high level will he be good enough? He'll have to cope with Michael Laudrup and the tireless Cafu making overlapping runs, and I don't imagine Ronaldinho will be helping him too much. Maradona likes to drift to the right a lot as well. I think I have a really strong right side and this is where one of Knex's weaknesses may be. I won't be neglecting the left where I have quality, but I think this could be a weak spot in the opposition.

There is also a possible lack of pace with Terry at centre-back, which Laudrup will test out with his pinpoint though-balls.

Knex has a strong defensive midfield, but I wonder does he have much guile in his midfield 3? Rijkaard and Effenberg are both defense-minded players, and Gerrard can't be relied upon to control a game through passing, or consistently create chances through quality passes to the extent someone like Laudrup can. He can be a bit hit and miss at times. Obviously there is quality and invention out wide in Ronaldinho and Nedved, but I'm hoping my pretty strong defence can keep them quiet. Thuram will certainly need to help out with Ronaldinho (who I think is by far Knex's greatest attacking threat), so I will predominately leave Costacurta to take care of Ruminigge.

Like I said Knex has a very strong team and I wouldn't expect this to be easy for my team. However, I think if you look at the full XI of both teams there are arguably more question marks over Knex's team, particularly on the left-hand side of his defence. Add this to the quality and game-changing ability of Maradona and I think I should edge it.

Knex*

Best of luck Morzadec!

Brief

Firstly, I think not only does my side have the best defence right now in the draft, but also it is perhaps the side possessing the most leadership and character.

A team of born winners and captains, ultimately my side is solid and hard to beat 1st, while also possessing quality, clinicalness and a certain amount of flair up front.

Do not underestimate my defenders and the protective blanket provided by both Rijkaard and Effenberg when assessing Morzadec's attack, they are formidable players who will not be easily beaten.
In my eyes, whatever about winning the match, my team will not be beaten regardless of the opposition. But when you have the likes of Ronaldinho, Gerrard and Rummenigge as a focal point for attacks, the opportunity to win the game will always be there.


Edit: Removed details on players as most of them are well known and the names speak for themselves and have decided to add in my later posts in this thread here instead.

Hopefully by doing this it'll have more a chance of being read

Some quick analysis/tactics

Terry is the perfect partner for Beckenbauer when you look at how he complimented Carvalho, a progressive ball playing CB, when they were both at their peak in Europe. In Beckenbauer however he has possibly the greatest defender to ever play the game, and when you put Rijkaard and Effenberg in front of that again, it really is a solid backline, which will more than compensate for Stuart Pearce, who was renowned for his defensive abilities and footballing attitude, so he certainly won't be the player who would let me down.

Midfield

Here I think I win this hands down and as we all know, if you win the midfield battle you're well on the way to winning the game. Alonso does not have the dynamism required to win this battle, especially when paired with the similar Schweinsteiger, who also needs a DM battler alongside him in order to perform.

The fact that one of them, if not both, will need to sit deep and follow the likes of Ronalidinho, Gerrard and Nedved, who will all interchange, will mean that there will be serious pressure facing Morzadec's defence.

This is a problem that I will face a lot less when you consider the two anchors in my midfield.

Stuart Pearce

In my eyes, because I can see a good few people mentioning it now, Pearce was as good defensively as both of Morzadec's full backs, Lizarazu and Cafu.

Where he falls down is that he wasn't as complete a player as those, especially not technically, but he made up for it with his work ethic and attitude.

I think because of that people are taking the easy option by signalling him as a weak link tbh. I don't need him to be the complete attacking full back as I have plenty of other attacking weapons.

For me he just needs to be solid defensively, which IMO he definitely is.

So yeah, I'll agree Morzadec's full backs are better overall players, but if you peg Pearce down as a defensive weak link, that logic could also be applied to Lizarazu and Cafu in my eyes.

Jax Teller

knex

Interesting changes to the guys teams . Pires swapped with Laudrup for Morzadec & Knex changing the positions of each of his 3 AMs .

PhlegmyMoses

knex

Toughest draw yet. I'd have been inclined to go with Morzadec but Knex has made a good argument for his midfield being superior. Will come back to this.

Junior D

knex

Think Morzadec has this one.

In my own opinion, I think Pearce is a weak-link there, whilst both Terry and Gerrard, even in their prime were over-rated.

It'd be close, but Morzadec would sneak it

Bounty Hunter

knex

people say this a lot but for me this is the hardest one to choose between the two teams and as of now im still on the fence atm and do think the formation change from Knex has helped him here cos otherwise id say I'd be leaning towards Morzadec but now they match up much better and if anything im wondring would the lack of an outright DM hurt Morzadec where previously I would have been thinking Knex's formation would have left his central area too defensive

Morzadec

knex

Just a note on the midfield battle - I don't go along with Knex winning this hands down as he claims.

Firstly, I think he is really underrating the defensive qualities of Alonso and Schweinsteiger in midfield.

Schweinsteiger averaged out 3.1 tackles per game last year and Alonso 3.2. That is a high average number. To get an idea, higher than the likes of Busquets, Khedira, Mascherano, Song, Dembele, Fellaini, Gerrard, Carrick to name just some big names in Europe who are either considered specialist defensive midfielders or are considered strong physical players.

Between them Alonso and Schweinsteiger would get through much more defensive work than one specialist 'destroyer' with a playmaking midfielder who doesn't like to tackle beside him.

But I will admit that Knex has 2 very strong defensive midfielders in his team, that would probably better the defensive contribution of my 2 centre-mids, despite them also being strong in this area.

However, a 'midfield battle' is not solely about ball-winning, tackling, defending etc... Largely the midfield is won through superior passing, touch, movement and confidence on the ball. I don't believe Knex's team gets near mine in this regard, especially when we look beyond the 2 centre-mids.

Firstly, you would struggle to find a better centre-mid combination in this draft in terms of comfort on the ball. Then I have Laudrup who will help out in this area. Even Maradona can control a game from midfield, he's not just about dribbling and goals.

For me the problem with Knex's team is that there is little to connect his strong defense to his attack. I notice he moved Gerrard out right (perhaps in response to me saying he can't control a game from midfield) which in a way could be a good move - Gerrard played some of his best football from a wide right position. But then we have Ronaldinho in the centre. Is Ronaldinho going to be involved in this midfield battle? If so, Knex's attack is stunted as he's by far the most dangerous player. But I don;t think he will get involved in the battle as he's not really a midfielder and generally does all his best work in the final third.

So that means we have mainly 2 DM's (Effenberg and Rijkaard) attempting to control the game from midfield. Yes they will make things much harder for the likes of Maradona, Laudrup and Pires when I have the ball, but I'm not sure if they alone can use the ball anywhere nearly as well as my midfield.

That's why I think I would edge the midfield battle, probably have more possession and generally control the game more.

And when Knex is in attack his players would be very foolish to expect an easy time of it from Alonso and Schweinsteiger who are far better off the ball than they are being given credit, despite neither of the being a natural 'destroyer'.

Knex*

Both Effenberg and Rijkaard were fantastic on the ball. I highlighted their defensive side and combative sides as I think that would be of huge prominence in a game like this, but they are well able to get on the ball and set the tempo.

I think having both Nedved and Gerrard on the fringes of the midfield is something that can't be overlooked in terms of support to the central players and having the ability to retain possession, but also supply the attack with the ammo they need.

Both Ronaldinho and Rummenigge were renowned for their ability to create something out of nothing, and I'm very happy to leave them up as a focal point to my attacks and have Nedved and Gerrard float behind them. Both of my wide players are well able to provide decent delivery into the box if attacking though the middle becomes and issue and Rummenigge is fantastic at getting his head, or even a flying boot, to a ball and has scored some spectacular goals from crosses in his career.

Exploiting the right flank

I don't like Laudrup out right either. I know Cafu will bomb forward but I think that only plays into my hands more as Nedved and Ronaldinho will exploit that space and penetrate your defence, such is their quality. Laudrup certainly will not be tracking back to fill the void that Cafu will leave.

This is where Alonso and Schweinsteiger fall short as they are not mobile enough to cover the ground or space quickly. They can make the tackles through the center, as you've highlighted, but both of them need the more athletic defensive midfield to track runs and cover ground.

This will be huge when you consider my attacking options and that space that will open up inevitable to the right of your defence.

Winston Payne

Alonso is going to have an awful time of it trying to keep with the movement of Knex's attacking midfielders. Someone running past a deep-lying playmaker is usually trouble. He'll have to sit very deep or foul.

Morte

I've gone for Knex. Which is a surprise as I thought Morzadec had the best team after voting in the round 1 matches. The one place I could see an issue was the lack of energy and mobility in midfield. I think the team would have benefitted from dropping Alonso for a more Gattuso type. And now he's come up against a team packed with energy. Knex has 4(!) midfielders who'll be better than his at disrupting the other team. I don't think the playmaking is going to make up for that. Pearce is notably the worst player on the pitch but for this match I see him mainly just holding back to defend against Laudrup and Maradonna drifting out there. That role will suit him fine. It's if he was asked to provide width that the trouble would be.

Morzadec

knex

Winston Payne wrote: »

Alonso is going to have an awful time of it trying to keep with the movement of Knex's attacking midfielders. Someone running past a deep-lying playmaker is usually trouble. He'll have to sit very deep or foul.

Again I think you're really underrating Alonso's ability off the ball. Would you be saying the same if it was Busquets or Masherano in my team, both of whom Alonso and Schweinsteiger out-tackled last year?

Morte wrote: »

I've gone for Knex. Which is a surprise as I thought Morzadec had the best team after voting in the round 1 matches. The one place I could see an issue was the lack of energy and mobility in midfield. I think the team would have benefitted from dropping Alonso for a more Gattuso type. And now he's come up against a team packed with energy. Knex has 4(!) midfielders who'll be better than his at disrupting the other team. I don't think the playmaking is going to make up for that. Pearce is notably the worst player on the pitch but for this match I see him mainly just holding back to defend against Laudrup and Maradonna drifting out there. That role will suit him fine. It's if he was asked to provide width that the trouble would be.

Who are these 4 midfielders?

I hope Gerrard is not being considered better than Schweinsteiger or Alonso at disrupting the other team because that's simply not true. And I can't think who the 4th is. Nedved? Clearly Schweinsteiger is a much more complete midfielder, despite Nedved being great going forward.

I could've gone for a true 'destroyer' in my team like Gattuso or Tardelli, but personally I don't think a team needs one of these to be successful. Alonso is far better than someone like Gattuso on the ball and only marginally less effective off it.

carlop

knex

This would have the potential to be a bit of a cracker I think. Morzadec is possibly a little weak in the middle defensively, but Alonso is a very astute player positionally and Schweinsteiger has quite the engine on him too.

I think Costacurta is possibly a weak link too. His stats are impressive in terms of trophies won, but I think he benefited from the team he was in. At no point would he have been ever considered one of the best in the world in his position, and that is the requisite level for this draft.

Having said all that I still voted for Morzadec. He just has too much quality and with Laudrup and Alonso looking to pick out the runs of Maradona, Pires and the full backs they will get change out of Knex's defence. Knex has a solid spine, but a lack of pace at the back could hurt him. The other problem is even if his team manage to shut down the space in the middle, the Maradona factor means that Morzadec's team can easily pull something out of nothing.

Morte

Morzadec wrote: »

Again I think you're really underrating Alonso's ability off the ball. Would you be saying the same if it was Busquets or Masherano in my team, both of whom Alonso and Schweinsteiger out-tackled last year?



Who are these 4 midfielders?

I hope Gerrard is not being considered better than Schweinsteiger or Alonso at disrupting the other team because that's simply not true. And I can't think who the 4th is. Nedved? Clearly Schweinsteiger is a much more complete midfielder, despite Nedved being great going forward.

I could've gone for a true 'destroyer' in my team like Gattuso or Tardelli, but personally I don't think a team needs one of these to be successful. Alonso is far better than someone like Gattuso on the ball and only marginally less effective off it.

I didn't say they were better defensively. I said they were more mobile and energetic. Alonso and Schweinsteger would have to play very defensively and would be reactive to what the opposition is doing. If they want to force the issue by going forward and hassling the opposition they'd be well out of their comfort zone. Alonso more so than Schweinsteger but Schweinsteger isn't going to make up for him on his own. You'd be particularly in trouble if you fell behind.

Donnielighto

attacks are pretty evenly matched and there are possible goals in both teams, knex has mnore grit in his defence and midfield though and no lack of guile, terry on ruud is a decent defensive matchup imo and there is plenty of guile in der kaiser, effenbery and rijkaard. Knex is pretty comfortable imo. basti is up against it here though alsono will prosper from ronaldinho not sitting on him

bucketybuck

knex

Too very similar teams made this a difficult choice. I went for Morzadec in the end, Laudrup and Maradona are better than Gerard and Ronaldinho. Knex might have the slightly better centre midfield, but there isnt much in it.

I also don't subscribe to idea that you need a dedicated defensive midfielder. Thats a load of modern tosh brought by people settling for limited footballers like Makelele or Carrick. Somebody like Makelele did a job alright, but if you have a choice between a holding midfielder who can just hold, or a box to box midfielder that can do everything, then its the latter you want.

The fact that Morzadecs midfielders can do more than just protect the defense is a benefit, not a weakness.

Both defences are also very solid. I see Pearce and Terry as the weak links there though, thats not saying they are bad players, just that relative to other players I dont rate them as highly.

Morzadec

knex

Unlucky Knex, I have to admit I had no idea who was going to take this one as comments on thread seemed very split, so thought the actual vote would be slightly closer than it ended up.

I did say to myself before the draw that yours was probably the team I'd least like to face, I'm sure most would have had it as easily one of the top 5 teams in the draft so unlucky not to make the semis at least.

Certainly looks as if persuading people of Alonso and Schweinsteiger's competence off the ball might be the biggest challenge for me in the matches ahead.

I fully agree with bucketybuck's opinion, but I'm not sure if others will agree.

Knex*

Congrats Morzadec and best of luck in the future round(s).

Enjoyed the little write up battle in this. Slightly disappointed that I didn't make it through as I still maintain that whatever about winning a game in 90 mins, mine wouldn't be beaten. But, we're bound to have bias towards our own teams aren't we

No doubting you have a great side however, and I genuinely can't begrudge you the win. Congrats again!

Morte

I just want to reply on Alonso and Schweinsteger as I don't think those who were criticising made ourselves clear. The pair are good positionally and will be good at sitting in front of the back 4 and screening the defence. They wouldn't be good at chasing after the ball all over the pitch. Nor would his attacking midfielders I would say. They would also be in trouble if they ventured up the pitch and then had someone like Gerrard surging past them on the counter attack. They would struggle to turn and keep up.

Knex has a midfield packed with mobility and work ethic. They should be excellent at pressing. If Alonso and Schweinsteger tried to go toe to toe with them I feel they'd be overrun. Far from controlling the match I think the best chance for the team would be to sit in front of the defence and then use their great long passing to launch swift counter attacks. This could work but they would have to let the other team play around as they wanted in front of them and then react when an attack is launched.

It may not be an issue in every round though. Not many teams would have so many combative midfielders.