La Liga Draft Group A

[Lee909]

Just now, Tony Moanero said:

It’s all about opinions. For example, you could argue that Di Stefano isn’t being played in his best position. I showed my dad Lee’s team, as Di Stefano is one of his all-time favourite players. He thinks Di Stefano should be played as an out and out centre forward.

Initially I was planning to have him as a pair up top. When I was looking at 3-5-2 with a sweeper and wingback. But as the draft went on I decided to drop him just off the front man. 

 

It's difficult when mixing older and newer players at times as formations have gone out of favour. The old line ups with 424 even 325 that Real used with wingers and inside forwards. 

 

I dropped him off as that's how he played with Puskas. As Di Stefano dropped back Puskas went through the middle

[3 Stacks]

6 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Stoichkov was a second striker, similar to Beardsley. He could play wide or through the front. He often led the line for Bulgaria. You'd have got far more votes going

 

---------Schuster----Toure

Stoichkov---Kempes----Silva

-----------------Falcao

It's not that big of a deal but you've pretty much just made one change there which is Kempes behind Falcao. Silva is on the left, Stoichkov on the right and Schuster and Touré are still in a midfield 2. I doubt that one small change suddenly makes my team one of the best.

[Lee909]

But that explains the formation far better. That's the way it goes in the drafts. 

[John102]

43 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

John

Not a great defence. 

U wot m8?

 

3 class defenders and a young world cup winner who has just got his big move.

 

Balderdash

[Elite]

Tony 

 

Great front 3 which would function well together. Solid defence but I agree about the Ortega shout, I don't think he's suited to playing in a 3 man midfield especially when you have Ronaldinho already taking up the attacking midfield space.

 

John 

 

Can't really comment on your front line bar Messi, great midfield. Defense isn't as strong as others in this draft but De Gea is obviously a great keeper.

 

Stig

 

Great attack but I think it's too attacking and could leave you short in midfield, despite that Busquets and Makelele are a great pairing. Defense is pretty weak.

 

Dim

 

Well balanced side, I agree with Lee about the Ronaldo's, not quite sure they'd work well together.

 

3 Stacks

 

Great defence and calibre of players further forward but I agree with the sentiments that it's a dysfunctional and unbalanced set-up, 

 

Dynamite

 

Unspectacular defence and not a massive fan of Claudio Lopez but otherwise well balanced and solid.

 

I've gone for Dim and Stig to win every game 5-4.

 

 

[Bjornebye]

1 minute ago, John102 said:

U wot m8?

 

3 class defenders and a young world cup winner who has just got his big move.

 

Balderdash

Its all about opinions John. Thats all. Don't have a cow man....

 

Nah its not bad actually. 

[Tony Moanero]

Difficult, this. So many players that I’m just not familiar with.

[Sugar Ape]

Loads of good teams in both groups so I might have to nitpick a little bit to differentiate.

 

Tony

 

Great fullback pairing and I like the attack, Raul could play a similar role to Del Piero as a foil for Trezeguet. As others have alluded to though, Ortega is out of position.  He was either a winger or a 10 and you don't seem to be playing him in either position. I think if you had Ortega right wing, Ronaldinho left wing and Raul behind Trezeguet your side would look much better.

 

John

 

As others have said it's almost impossible to rate Zarra as the era he was playing in was barely professional football as we know it. If someone picked Dixie Dean in a draft, or Elisha Scott as Ardja did, then I find it hard to view the player positively. I think the midfield would have been better served without Laudrup as it leaves the side too open and Deschamps and Guardiola, good as they were, are both pretty slow players. I like the defence though, Iuliano was a good player though I always preferred Montero from that era Juve team as he was a hard, dirty bastard.

 

Dim

 

Think Sosa is a weak pick and kind of take some of the shine off the two Ronaldos, Midfield is nice and I think they'd complement each other, only slight criticism would be it's quite a slow midfield. Hard to judge the keeper but I like the rest of the back four, even if I think Marchena is a step down in quality to the others. Think it's a bit mad you got Carboni as an eight round pick when Aurellio went in the fourth round as Carboni was a much better player imo and kept Aurellio out of the side to a large extent.

 

Stig

 

Possibly the best attack in the draft but a weak core to the defence. I think the midfield two don't really compliment each other as they are both pretty much out and out DMs and either would have looked better with someone like Alonso, Guardiola, Albertini, that type of player alongside them. Very good fullback pair but not a fan of the centre back pairing and the keeper is probably the worst in the draft.

 

3 Stacks

 

I was never a fan of Chilavert, more of a show pony than a keeper but otherwise a pretty good back four. The formation is set up too weirdly for my liking but either way I think the midfield would be too open. Both Schuster and Toure were best as box-to-box midfielders and you haven't really got a holding player there. Plenty of attacking talent there but, again, not set up how I'd like them.

 

Dynamite

 

A bit like Dim with Ruben Sosa, I think Claudio Lopez takes the shine off the two others who were excellent. Midfield is really strong, got a bit of everything there, silk and steel. Keeper is hard to judge as even though he's known as a world class keeper, the level he played at for his club for most of his career was subpar. Demichellis and Iraola are pretty weak picks in comparison to the other teams in the draft.

 

Overall I think I'm going to go for Stig and Dim.

[The Golden Eel]

I knew Sosa wouldn't be an especially popular pick up but he was shit hot in the early days of Football Italia when he played for Inter - his peak. I think he'd be great on the right side of that team, using his pace and coming inside to bang them in with his bullet of a left foot. Also let's not forget he was an 11th pick and, pound for pound, he's miles better than some of the players who have been picked. I could have tried to pick someone "better" or more popular and tried to get away with it - say, playing Pires on the right or picking a 10 like Aimar and playing the two Ronaldos up front but it didn't feel right. And I suppose as well, how good does your third forward really need to be when you've got two of the bona fide all time greats already?

 

[The Golden Eel]

Anyway, it's Dynamite for me and the second one is between Stig and Tony - I guess it comes down to whether or not Ortega's odd positioning is more of an issue than Stig's poor CB/keeper combo... 

[Tony Moanero]

1 hour ago, Sugar Ape said:

Loads of good teams in both groups so I might have to nitpick a little bit to differentiate.

 

Tony

 

Great fullback pairing and I like the attack, Raul could play a similar role to Del Piero as a foil for Trezeguet. As others have alluded to though, Ortega is out of position.  He was either a winger or a 10 and you don't seem to be playing him in either position. I think if you had Ortega right wing, Ronaldinho left wing and Raul behind Trezeguet your side would look much better.

 

See, I think Ortega was an attacking midfielder or number 10, not a winger.  I originally wanted Ronaldinho left wing, Johnny Rep right wing and Raul behind Trezeguet. Lee picked Rep, so I changed it and selected Ortega.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

I'm tempted to vote for Dynamite on the basis of the Oviedo badge alone.

[The Golden Eel]

19 minutes ago, Tony Moanero said:

See, I think Ortega was an attacking midfielder or number 10, not a winger.  I originally wanted Ronaldinho left wing, Johnny Rep right wing and Raul behind Trezeguet. Lee picked Rep, so I changed it and selected Ortega.

I would say that he's a luxury player, a playmaker, a number 10/attacking mid, a forward rather than a midfielder, someone who's not going to do work as part of a midfield 3. He should be playing where Ronaldinho is, ideally. For me anyway.  

[3 Stacks]

Can't go too in depth because I haven't seen 3/4's of the players but here goes. I'll just say what I perceive to be the teams' weak points and the two which have the fewest, I'll go with. 

 

Tony: Midfield seems weak and would get countered. Kroos, as good as he is, is slow and putting a #10 with no workrate or physicality next to him doesn't seem the best choice

 

John: Too many old players. You've picked the easy choices, I feel. Can't vote for a guy who played in the 40's and another who played in the 50's and mid 60's. Just not possible, no one's seen them play. 

 

Dim: One player who is out of place in your attack. I don't know why you didn't go with Pires on the left with Cristiano from his Manchester United days on the right. Also, the defense are one dimensional. Not much technique in that back four, from my point of view. 

 

Stig: Central defense and keeper are below standard.

 

Dynamite: Defense isn't great. Iraola not good enough. 

 

I'll go with Tony and Dim as they have the fewest weak players. Just one for both, really. 

[The Golden Eel]

4 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

Dim: One player who is out of place in your attack. I don't know why you didn't go with Pires in the left with Cristiano from his Manchester United days on the right. Also, the defense are one dimensional. Not much technique in that back four, from my point of view. 

It's because C Ronaldo, at his best, plays on the left side IMO. I'm not keen on compromising my best players (a first pick) by playing them in what i consider to be a secondary position. 

[Bjornebye]

19 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

Can't go too in depth because I haven't seen 3/4's of the players but here goes. I'll just say what I perceive to be the teams' weak points and the two which have the fewest, I'll go with. 

 

Tony: Midfield seems weak and would get countered. Kroos, as good as he is, is slow and putting a #10 with no workrate or physicality next to him doesn't seem the best choice

 

John: Too many old players. You've picked the easy choices, I feel. Can't vote for a guy who played in the 40's and another who played in the 50's and mid 60's. Just not possible, no one's seen them play. 

 

Dim: One player who is out of place in your attack. I don't know why you didn't go with Pires on the left with Cristiano from his Manchester United days on the right. Also, the defense are one dimensional. Not much technique in that back four, from my point of view. 

 

Stig: Central defense and keeper are below standard.

 

Dynamite: Defense isn't great. Iraola not good enough. 

 

I'll go with Tony and Dim as they have the fewest weak players. Just one for both, really. 

Fuck you man 

[Allan]

49 minutes ago, AngryofTuebrook said:

I'm tempted to vote for Dynamite on the basis of the Oviedo badge alone.

Lived/worked in Aviles, Asturias for 6 months, so Oviedo was down the road.

 

The footballuser site doesn't have Real Aviles as a kit option, so I plumped for Oviedo over Sporting Gijon because the kit and the badge look better.

 

Really wish I'd bought some shares in Oviedo when they were available.

[Guest Alex_K]

Lots of good teams here; in some ways difficult but other ways easy to split. Comments below:

 

Tony

Good team - Trezeguet was a decent squad player for France, but he's certainly not on the same planet of Ronaldo/C. Ronaldo/Maradonna who are popping up in other teams in this section. Ortega I associate more with the position Ronaldinho is occupying -- agree with other comments earlier in thread re: this team getting countered. Really good team - the top players just aren't as top as the other teams so they don't win in a 1-off game of football.

 

John

Zarra was a totally unnecessary pick - not sure why you made it & so early on. What should be the strength of your team with Messi & Puskas in there too instead becomes a bit alienating. The midfield is top draw: Deschamps was a really good 'Other' pick and hes definitely under-rated on here because he was the engine room of various all-conquering sides. Arguably more to his game than Makelele; just as many medals. Makelele was 25 when '98 was on and 27 when EURO '02 came around. He was in his prime as an athlete but did not even make the squad. Tells you what you need to know about Deschamps. The defence is very average -- it would get lit up by any other attack in this. 

 

Dim

Pick 2. The two Ronaldos. Functional defence. Very hard to beat in a game of football. Criticism of this team is that none of the midfield or defence ascended to greatest-position-players in their own time except probably Puyol. There's probably a half dozen DMs in this better than Simeone; likewise creative midfielders in that Xabi role. Fabregas was a good PL player but never became one of the best in Europe even in his own days. That midfield therefore can definitely be beaten. Behind it again, a bunch of good Valencia defenders who made some CL finals .. but never really took that last step. There were always a good 6+ players probably around their own time who were better than them.

 

Stig

Pick 1. Came down to Stig/Dim/Dynamite for me. Maradonna is the clincher here. Bale & Neymar both World Class; Aguero will go down in history as a top 3 Argentina striker. Busquets & Makelele world class. R. Carlos world class. Just class all throughout this team. Azpicueta was a really savvy pick as he's been consistently one of the top PL full backs. The CBs are a bit weak but I don't think they're significantly weaker than Dynamite's to merit losing out here so pick goes to you.

 

3 Stacks

The generic white kit & rigid formation have probably hurt perception here. I know I had to take a double-take on it. It's actually a really solid team but there are too many players here who get edged out in the "best of all time" stakes. Falcao, Silva, Toure, Filipe Luis .. all solid domestic perfomers but these aren't popping up on anyone GOAT lists for their position. More to the point there is no genius in this team (i.e. C. Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Maradonna). Can't see how it wins in a 1-off game of football.

 

Dynamite

Was between this team & Stig/Dim for the pick. Midfield 3 really nice. The problem is I can't really get significantly behind any of the other players displacing Dim/Stigs in their position. Henry over Ronaldo, nope? Henry over Aguero? Yes probably - but pretty close. Bale at his peak was better than Figo at his peak. Neymar/C. Ronaldo are both levels above C. Lopez. Midfield 3 are probably the best but Stig's 3 are definitely competitive there. Then the defence .. Marcelo doesn't best R. Carlos although he's world class in his own right. The CBs are probably better than Stig's but neither have CBs worth shouting about. On that basis it had to be Stig & Dim in this one.

 

 

 

[Sugar Ape]

Figo is a weird player really. Thought of as the best winger in the world at the time, he doesn’t get much credit nowadays. Same as say, Donadoni, who was a great player at the time but is pretty much forgotten now. 

 

I think it’s down to the role they play now being occupied by players at the top level who score tons of goals. Salah, Messi, Mane etc... and they had poor goal scoring records. Figo never even reached 15 goals in a season for either Barca or Real. 

[Guest Alex_K]

I think that just as this generation has been pretty poor in the defenders stakes (how many CBs of the past 5 years for example make any 'greatest..' lists?), it has been all-conquering in the wide player stakes. Peak Bale was an absolute machine: Figo was a classy player but Bale at peak performance with some of the goals he was scoring was just on another level -- be they mad driving runs or insane bicycle kicks/swerving free kicks etc. 

[aRdja]

20 minutes ago, Alex_K said:

I think that just as this generation has been pretty poor in the defenders stakes (how many CBs of the past 5 years for example make any 'greatest..' lists?), 

Van Dijk, Kompany, Ramos, Pique, Chiellini, Hummels, Thiago Silva.

[Tony Moanero]

Top 10 best ever defenders (excluding full backs)?

[aRdja]

2 minutes ago, Tony Moanero said:

Top 10 best ever defenders (excluding full backs)?

Does Beckenbauer count? He played in the same era as Netzer afterall

[Tony Moanero]

5 minutes ago, viRdjil said:

Does Beckenbauer count? He played in the same era as Netzer afterall

Of course. Probably the best defender of all time.

 

In my opinion, the top 3 are

 

Beckenbauer

Moore

Baresi

[aRdja]

3 minutes ago, Tony Moanero said:

Of course, quite probably the best defender of all time.

Beckenbauer

Koeman

Baresi

Sammer

Nesta

Cannavaro

Kohler

 

Maybe Maldini, Thuram and Rijkaard could be eligible too although they excelled in other positions.