International Break Final (please vote)

[aRdja]

3 hours ago, John102 said:

I actually had him left mid, still not his greatest position, with Houghton on the right, and a three man defence. ARdja convinced me to put him at right back though. 

Luis Enrique and Philip Cocu are probably two players off the top of my head where you could put in a number of positions and you’d go “oh yeah, he’d do a solid job there”... Oh, and James Milner too obv.

[John102]

9 hours ago, Tony Moanero said:

Jim Leighton

Oh aye, yeah. 

 

Good spot Tony. 

 

But apart from him.... 

[Guest Alex_K]

John102

• Unequivocally the best forward line
• Good midfield but Robson / Houghton not world-beaters (Utd. fans may say otherwise)
• 3 outstanding defenders then an attacking wide midfielder in a position I don't think he ever played in 500 odd professional games so it just leaks a bit.
• Leighton fine.

No2

• Very good team but I don't think any single player has a claim to top-of-the-pile in their position. Memory must be playing tricks because I thought Mendieta was a central-mid in the classic Spanish creative mold but apparently played right so fair.
• Defence probably 3rd worst picked, keeper aside (it is a big aside)

aRdja

• Balanced side; I like Vialli popping up in these games. Probably 2 best wingers of their time; great goal-keeper and then 1 peak WC mid & 1 peak WC defender (perhaps I'm doing Lizarazu a disservice by not calling WC .. he was a very good player but possibly not spectacular)

Elite

• Some great, arguably best-in-class picks (Kahn; Baggio) but probably just a few too many relative journeymen compared to others competing in their position (Petrov; Hughes; Angloma; McCalister; Agger)

Lifey

• Best back 4 picked, which spares Paul Jones' blushes. To be honest he was a perfectly fine 'keeper (would love an equivalent on our bench over Adrian now). Considered the same plan of putting him behind a great back 4 to disguise myself.
• Gullit & Laudrup spectacular. McStay & Petrov the weakest midfield in the game comparatively. Duff was a "good" PL winger but never in the class of others chosen in the position. Owen is divisive but clearly an excellent striker for a 5 year period.

Remmie

• 2nd best forward line in game (they give John's a real run for money). 2nd best defence in game (it may even be 1st depending on how the importance of GKers are ranked). The midfield is just a little bit off but Wales were horrible for picks so I understand shoehorning Bellamy in there. Very competitive though because the front & back of the side are both arguably the best picked.

Stig

• A lot of good players but also a lot of second-rung players for their nation. Guardiola, Hassler, Waddle all very good but don't merit mention with the greatest their nation produced; Costacurta similarly. Bergkamp not on the level of Baggio / Zidane. So it is a consistent side throughout but I think lacking those over-the-top picks.

Alex K

• 3 greatest of all time position players (Zidane; Matthaus; Rijkaard). Raul the best Spanish player of that generation (stylistically probably a Robbie Fowler type?).
• Nicol while did play LB is out of best position to accomodate Helveg, otherwise team fairly well positioned. Campbell / Cannavaro complement each others skills / deficiencies.
• Given was a 'good' keeper but never a great one. Contrary to other probably views Berbatov was a great striker: knocked us out of the Champions League in 2002 & was still going strong at the highest level almost 15 years later. 50 goals in 80 internationals; over 300 professional goals. Top player.

 

Good game!

[Remmie]

I voted for Alex with John as my second pick. Big respect to those who put in proper explanations and reviews of each team, will try to do so myself when I get a second. 

 

Has Klinsmann not been picked? 

[lifetime fan]

I’ve only picked one side, and it won’t let me go back and pick a second. 
 

So Stig needs to add a pick for Remmie. 

[Bjornebye]

8 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:

I’ve only picked one side, and it won’t let me go back and pick a second. 
 

So Stig needs to add a pick for Remmie. 

Read back. I fucked up and forgot multiple choices so everyones just picked their favourite 1 side. 

[aRdja]

Some real good teams. Picked Alex because of his elite midfield. The main weaknesses are lack pace and Shay Given but he was a decent PL goalkeeper I think he could get away with it. 

 

Some observations:

- Not much to say about John102’s team. I really like the forward line especially. 
- No2, I like the midfield. Effenberg and Vieira CM partnership is real tasty. The full backs I had never heard of before this Draft. I googled them managed to find Ratcliffe, but not “Boyd”... who did he play for?

- As usual a real balanced side from Elite... but perhaps has the same issue as my team, in that it’s perhaps less star-studded than other teams

- Lifetime, real good team, with the exception of the centre mids. I’d probably swap Laudrup and Gullit around based on what I’ve read about them.

- Remmie, a lovely team... great attack and 3 of the back 5 are genuine world class players. Midfield perhaps a bit of a weakness compared to others.

- Stig, some fantastic players... I think the midfield and attack contain too many playmakers though. Hassled is ?best as no 10, Cantona likes drop to play between the lines, and you have Bergkamp there too doing the same thing. 

[Tony Moanero]

18 hours ago, aRdja said:

Some real good teams. Picked Alex because of his elite midfield. The main weaknesses are lack pace and Shay Given but he was a decent PL goalkeeper I think he could get away with it. 

 

Some observations:

- Not much to say about John102’s team. I really like the forward line especially. 
- No2, I like the midfield. Effenberg and Vieira CM partnership is real tasty. The full backs I had never heard of before this Draft. I googled them managed to find Ratcliffe, but not “Boyd”... who did he play for?

- As usual a real balanced side from Elite... but perhaps has the same issue as my team, in that it’s perhaps less star-studded than other teams

- Lifetime, real good team, with the exception of the centre mids. I’d probably swap Laudrup and Gullit around based on what I’ve read about them.

- Remmie, a lovely team... great attack and 3 of the back 5 are genuine world class players. Midfield perhaps a bit of a weakness compared to others.

- Stig, some fantastic players... I think the midfield and attack contain too many playmakers though. Hassled is ?best as no 10, Cantona likes drop to play between the lines, and you have Bergkamp there too doing the same thing. 

Tom Boyd, Motherwell and Celtic.