Boards.ie World XI - Middle of the Park

Morzadec · 03-07-2009 1:18pm #1

Apologies about the previous fiasco! This is the proper thread for the centre of the park....

Voting for Left Back closes tomorrow.

So far our team looks like this.

Casillas

Maicon--Vidic--Ferdinand---(Left Back)

Next category up is the 2 in the middle, the 2 of the 4-2-3-1 formation. I debated breaking this category up into two categories, one for DMFs and one for CMFs, but I thought it would complicate things a bit as some players are difficult to classify as one or the other. Plus it gives people the option to choose a more attack minded, or defence minded midfield if they want.

So they're all lumped in together and it will be a similar situation to the CB slot - pick your pairing (vote for 2 players) and the two highest will get in. Taking team balance into account is something I would encourage. Thats not to say that you can't vote for a midfield partnership of, say, Fabregas and Lampard that would be very attack-minded. But it might be worth bearing in mind that there are 4 attack-minded slots ahead of these two to fill.

I'm anticipating some of the complaints in advance, all I can say again is that I've done my best and that the winners are clearly amongst the list provided. The list is as objective as I could make it, its not neccessarily my opinion but what I would think an objective opinion would be.

Also some players (such as Iniesta and Lampard) people may feel should have been included in the next category (The attacking-mid/winger category). I've put them in here as they have played the majority of their games in a predominantly centre-mid role. However, if there are loads of complaints about it I'll break the trend and include them in the next category if they don't make it here.

Eire-Dearg · 03-07-2009 1:23pm

Xavi and Essien.

Mitch Connor · 03-07-2009 1:23pm

for the two spots in the middle of a 4231 system, can't look past Essien and Xavi imo. fabregas is close, but the experience of Xavi puts him over, and I don't think anyone comes close to Essien at all. I think the two of them together would be amazing.

Mr Maroon · 03-07-2009 1:29pm

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Xavi and Essien.

Mitch Connor wrote: »

for the two spots in the middle of a 4231 system, can't look past Essien and Xavi imo. fabregas is close, but the experience of Xavi puts him over, and I don't think anyone comes close to Essien at all. I think the two of them together would be amazing.

Yep, I picked those two too.

gustavo · 03-07-2009 1:34pm

Xavi and Iniesta

Eire-Dearg · 03-07-2009 1:36pm

gustavo wrote: »

Xavi and Iniesta

I was tempted to go for this pair as well, but a Xavi/Essien partnership was too good to let down. Essien is one of the best in the world, he can attack well but has amazing defensive qualities too. Tbh he had Gerrard in his pocket for one game last season. Xavi is a no brainer, really.

PHB · 03-07-2009 1:37pm

Essien and Xavi for me

Mitch Connor · 03-07-2009 1:37pm

gustavo wrote: »

Xavi and Iniesta

For me, in a 4231, Xavi and Iniesta wouldn't be strong enough defensively to cover for the 4 forward players.

ShaneU · 03-07-2009 1:43pm

I voted Cambiasso and Essien, two best defensive midfielders at the moment imo.

gimmick · 03-07-2009 1:47pm

Xavi and Iniesta. They have proven how good they are together in the past 12 months to monumental effect.

people will say it is too attack minded, but people underestimate Xavis defensive qualities. Not to mention you don't need to defend when you have the ball, These two do not give the ball away.

Paparazzo · 03-07-2009 1:52pm

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Xavi and Essien.

I went for these 2 aswell.

JPA · 03-07-2009 1:56pm

For me, Lampard, Ireland and Iniesta don't belong in this category.

LuckyLloyd · 03-07-2009 1:59pm

I took Essien and Iniesta.

kida · 03-07-2009 2:07pm

Some of these belong further up that formation, Fabregas,Iniesta and Ireland

ShooterSF · 03-07-2009 2:09pm

I have a team in my head so Essien and Iniesta. I would have went with Xavi if I was going to put Iniesta in the behind the striker role but I a have certain ex- World player of the year to go in there. So Iniesta ahead of Xavi in the team.

Bounty Hunter · 03-07-2009 2:13pm

i picked Xavi, Iniesta and Essien... im a big fat cheatere who doesent like hard choices

Pro. F · 03-07-2009 2:18pm

Essien and Xavi for me too.
Essien is the best combative cm around imo.
Xavi is the best creative cm.

Iniesta and Xavi would suffer if they had to play without a ball winner behind them. Both for spain and Barca they are supported by a combative cm.

Iniesta, Lampard and Ireland really should be in the poll for the AM slot as well. Otherwise it could only end up looking like a fantasy football team.

ziggy · 03-07-2009 2:20pm

This post has been deleted.

Bubs101 · 03-07-2009 2:21pm

Essien and De Rossi

JPA · 03-07-2009 2:21pm

It was all going so well, but if a team has for example Xavi and Iniesta along with an attacking midfielder like Kaka it's very unbalanced.
Iniesta is Barca's equivalent of Kaka, same for Stephen Ireland and Lampard.

I think Fabregas is fine in this category though, he's not really a dribbler/forward runner.

Morzadec · 03-07-2009 2:26pm

JPA wrote: »

It was all going so well, but if a team has for example Xavi and Iniesta along with an attacking midfielder like Kaka it's very unbalanced.
Iniesta is Barca's equivalent of Kaka, same for Stephen Ireland and Lampard.

I think Fabregas is fine in this category though, he's not really a dribbler/forward runner.

We'll see what the results of this poll are and if needs be we can include some of these players in the next category.

Nalz · 03-07-2009 2:26pm

Essien and Iniesta

Warper · 03-07-2009 2:27pm

Its very hard not to pick Xavi and Iniesta together as the 2 of them compliment each other. Picking one and not the other seems wrong.

The only real contender to them is Essien. I really want all 3 in my team.

BTW I think Gerrard should be up for this position.

JPA · 03-07-2009 2:29pm

Morzadec wrote: »

We'll see what the results of this poll are and if needs be we can include some of these players in the next category.

Ya Good idea.

yerayeah · 03-07-2009 2:36pm

Essien and Iniesta, even the names go well together:)

paulcorr · 03-07-2009 2:41pm

yerayeah wrote: »

Essien and Iniesta, even the names go well together:)

Same here looks like 2 horse race.

Pro. F · 03-07-2009 2:47pm

Warper wrote: »

Its very hard not to pick Xavi and Iniesta together as the 2 of them compliment each other. Picking one and not the other seems wrong.

The only real contender to them is Essien. I really want all 3 in my team.

check out Morzadec's post above. I want all 3 too and it will probably be possible if some get re-entered in the next poll.

~Rebel~ · 03-07-2009 2:47pm

Didnt look at any of the posts before I chose, went for Essien and Xavi as well.

Such a nice balance there

Dickerty · 03-07-2009 2:48pm

Just to buck the trend, I went for Mascherano and Fabregas. Two team captains (international and club), young yet mature. Mascherano is better than Essien at that purely defensive role IMO, and would provide a great foil for Cesc to be a little more creative. Could easily have gone for Essien, but I wanted a sitter, and that's Masc for me...

Morzadec · 03-07-2009 2:51pm

Its going to be a tight one I think.

Dickerty · 03-07-2009 2:53pm

Pro. F wrote: »

check out Morzadec's post above. I want all 3 too and it will probably be possible if some get re-entered in the next poll.

I think Iniesta and Lampard should both be in the attacking 3, though I already have my 3 in mind...

Mr Alan · 03-07-2009 2:56pm

Mascherano & Iniesta.

eddiehead · 03-07-2009 2:57pm

Morzadec wrote: »

Its going to be a tight one I think.

I think its more a question of which of Xavi or Iniesta doesn't make it. I went for Iniesta but judging by some of the comment's it seem's Xavi will be picked.
For me Essien is a given, I'd probably have picked him in any/all of the positions if given the opportunity.

Dickerty · 03-07-2009 2:59pm

eddiehead wrote: »

For me Essien is a given, I'd probably have picked him in any/all of the positions if given the opportunity.

He has a good engine, but not sure he could play in every position at once!

_blank_ · 03-07-2009 2:59pm

Essien and Iniesta.

Also.

Ireland?

lol

I was going to vote for Cambiasso, in memory of our fallen brother.

God Speed Estie, God Speed

:(

ShooterSF · 03-07-2009 3:08pm

Gonna be tight between Xavi and Iniesta for the other spot. I think the one that misses out will miss out on a place in the team completely. I don't see them getting a spot in the next 3 places.

titan18 · 03-07-2009 3:12pm

Went for Xavi and Essien.

Darren Fletcher should be here:p

Max Power1 · 03-07-2009 3:14pm

JPA wrote: »

For me, Lampard, Ireland and Iniesta don't belong in this category.

FYP

Morzadec · 03-07-2009 3:25pm

Here's my suggestion round the problem, think it will make everyone happy.

-If something like Xavi/Essien or Fabregas/Masch combination wins out, I will put in a couple of players who missed out here (notably Iniesta) who are more forward thinking into the next category as options.

-If Xavi/Iniesta pairing gets in and say Essien (or another player who could play a defensive mid role) comes in a 3rd than I will put Essien in the next category as an option. Seems crazy but hear me out. You will be able to have the option then of picking Essien to fit in alongside Xavi and Iniesta, and then only have 2 of Ronaldo, Messi, Ribery, Gerrard, Kaka etc... in the team. So essentially by picking Essien in this scenario you will be voting for a slight shift to a more balanced formation. It will be almost like a formation change vote, pushing Iniesta further up the field with Essien slotting back, at the expense of one of Ronny, Messi, Kaka etc...

This way all of you who have been saying you would like to have Xavi, Iniesta and Essien all in the team will have the option, even if one misses out here.

Paparazzo · 03-07-2009 4:11pm

Most people are picking Essien. But how anyone can leave him out is beyond me.

GavRedKing · 03-07-2009 4:17pm

Xavi & Essien, perfect pairing if you want to go 4-2-3-1. Essien has the power and covering ability to fill the gaps and Xavi has the ability to keep the game ticking over picking up pockets of space to take the ball and start the attack.

ShooterSF · 03-07-2009 4:40pm

Paparazzo wrote: »

Most people are picking Essien. But how anyone can leave him out is beyond me.

To be fair he missed a huge chunk of the season. I would prob have put Gattuso in after him and a few years ago he would have been ahead of him for me.

gustavo · 03-07-2009 4:43pm

Mitch Connor wrote: »

For me, in a 4231, Xavi and Iniesta wouldn't be strong enough defensively to cover for the 4 forward players.

Good point but they're the best two players IMO there

If I was going for a balanced 2 I'd probably go for Xavi/Essien

Quazzie · 03-07-2009 4:48pm

I voted Yaya and Fabregas myself. It'd be my dream line up for the Gunners

gustavo · 03-07-2009 4:50pm

Quazzie wrote: »

I voted Yaya and Fabregas myself. It'd be my dream line up for the Gunners

I think them 2 will work together very well in the future

at Barcelona

Edit to say my post count is cool :pac:

Unearthly · 03-07-2009 4:54pm

gustavo wrote: »

Edit to say my post count is cool :pac:

Won't make sense next time you post

I went for xavi and Iniesta. Probably wouldn't help make a balanced team but if I was to make a world 11 I couldn't imagine leaving out one of them.

JPA · 03-07-2009 4:56pm

I've got a man crush on Iniesta but I'd pick someone like Kaka ahead of him.
Does the same role but scores more goals.
So I picked Xavi and Essien.

Smegball · 03-07-2009 4:58pm

Went for Essien and Fabregas.

Although Xavi is probably the superior player to Fabregas, I've always had a soft spot for him, and would prefer him in my team

I also think Fabregas has the potential to be better than Xavi eventually

Essien well what can you say about him thats not been said, hes a complete beast of a midfielder and is so much more than the other defensive minded midfielders here, one of the best all round centre mids about and could easily make up a two man midfield.

dyl10 · 03-07-2009 5:14pm

Although I was tempted to go for Xavi/Iniesta, Iniesta/Essien won out for me.

Considering a few of the more notable attacking midfielders are in here, I don't see how Gerrard doesn't apply to this category, when contrasted with say Lampard, who is included in the poll.

Bodhidharma · 03-07-2009 5:27pm

Essien and Fabregas for me

Morzadec · 03-07-2009 5:42pm

dyl10 wrote: »

Although I was tempted to go for Xavi/Iniesta, Iniesta/Essien won out for me.

Considering a few of the more notable attacking midfielders are in here, I don't see how Gerrard doesn't apply to this category, when contrasted with say Lampard, who is included in the poll.

Gerrard has played pretty much the whole of last season and the end of the season before playing as a support striker/free role behind Torres.

Lampard has played centre mid for Chelsea. He gets forward a lot but he also comes deep to start off their attacks. Ditto Fabregas. That's the difference here.

Boards.ie World XI - Middle of the Park

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