World Cup Draft Discussion Thread

Mr. Guappa

I took van der Wiel in the last round eagleeye!

You are right though.. he is a top class pick:pac:

Peyton Manning

EE becomes the latest victim of the dreaded double pick.

I feel your pain

eagle eye

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

I took van der Wiel in the last round eagleeye!

You are right though.. he is a top class pick:pac:

Goddamn it, he is a great pick, how did I miss that, was sure he had slipped down to here. Ugh. I'm sick.

Bounty Hunter

might see if i can update that list i was doing of picks for Frisbee to once again move to the OP, havent done it for a few days and this is the 2nd (atleast) time this has happened.

Frisbee

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

might see if i can update that list i was doing of picks for Frisbee to once again move to the OP, havent done it for a few days and this is the 2nd (atleast) time this has happened.

If you look in the OP there's a slightly more updated that Necro did linked to if that's any help to you.

bamboozling

The lure of a fresh bbq has proved too much Bamboozling finally takes a few steps away from his laptop, out into the free world and some fresh air. Gotta keep my ladyfriend happy. Titan has a proxy for my pick while I'm gone.

Bounty Hunter

1. Necronomicon - Messi, Diego Forlan, Lahm, Keita, Cannavaro, Maxi Rodriquez, Zidane
2. SlickRic - Xavi, John Terry, Anelka, Alessandro Nesta, Krasic, Salcido, Maradona
3. Whatawaster - Ronaldo, Yoann Gourcuff, Evra, Darren Fletcher, Ozil, Juan, Puskas
4. Gillington - Villa, Dani Alves, Robinho, Michael Ballack, Ramos, Heinze, Cryuff
5. Frisbee - Rooney, Piqué, David Silva, Igor Akinfeev, Van der Vaart, Heitinga, Pele
6. MNG - Drogba, Carles Puyol, Walter Samuel, Andrei Arshavin, Lloris, Song, Beckenbauer
7. Mr. Guappa - Fabregas, Chiellini, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech, Van Bommel, Van der Wiel, Eusebio
8. Redzerdrog - Torres, Schweinsteiger, Per Mertesacker, Ronaldinho, Veron, Clichy, Platini
9. Xavi - Lampard, Lucio, Diego Milito, Shay Given, Di Maria, Vidal, Maldini
10. Voltwad - Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Alex, Howard, Gervinho, Shearer
11. Minto - Van Persie, Gianluigi Buffon, Joe Cole, David Beckham, Donovan, Zambrotta, Bobby Moore
12. BigBenRoeth - Palacios, Nemanja Vidic, Miroslav Klose, Luka Modric, Bastos, Sagna, Stanley Matthews
13. Mitch Connor - Sneijder, Danielle De Rossi, Di Natale, Paul Scholes, King, Sanchez, Mata, Gerd Muller
14. Curry-muff - Julio Cesar, Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Rio Ferdinand, Sanchez, Busquets, Marco van Basten
15. LuckyLloyd - Kaka, Mascherano, Ricardo Carvalho, Javier Zanetti, Stankovic, Park Ji Sung, Franco Baresi
16. Titan18 - Fabiano, Maicon, Marek Hamsik, Edin Dzeko, Capdevilla, Toulalan, Garrincha
17. Bamboozling - Eto'o, Ribery, Pepe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Glen Johnson, De Jong, Lothar Mattaus
18. Bounty Hunter - Casillas, Higuain, Gattuso, Riquelme, Ivanovic, Henry, Dennis Bergkamp
19. Archimedes - Robben, Pirlo, Malouda, Michael Essien, Agger, Kjaer, Roberto Baggio
20. Eagle eye - Alonso, Tevez, Pepe Reina, Esteban Cambiasso, Podolski, Albidal, Romario,

Peyton Manning

I'll be back to make my selection before the Spain match.

Edit: N/M, got it made.

Cannot believe Marquez was not picked before now.

Bounty Hunter

hmm had Marquez in mind after doing up that list as i was surprised he hadnt gone yet too. ill get my pick up soon though then pm Titan who is acting as Bamboozlings proxy

Frisbee

Marquez is good value for such a late round.

I'd been considering picking him but his lack of game time and injury proneness kinda put me off.

Solid pick though.

Bounty Hunter

im pretty sure ill regret not picking a defender but my attack/midfield is finished.

Team so far

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Iker Casillas

???

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Ivanovic

---

???

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???

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Gattuso

---

Riquelme

Camronesi

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Bergkamp

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Henry

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Gonzalo Higuain

Peyton Manning

BH, I really think you would have been much better off putting Riquleme where you've put Bergkamp, and picking someone like Keane, McGrath, Makelele for the midfield role alongside Gattuso. Riquelme is wasted there.

Minto

Decided to change my formation:

Bounty Hunter

Archimedes wrote: »

BH, I really think you would have been much better off putting Riquleme where you've put Bergkamp, and picking someone like Keane, McGrath, Makelele for the midfield role alongside Gattuso. Riquelme is wasted there.

you probably have a point in retrospect and i am kinda annoyed at myself as defensivley it woulda been better to have one of those mentioned but I still think he can do a very good job in the Alonso/Pirlo role as Gattuso does the dogs body work in midfield while he focusses on setting the attacks into motion. I guess thats one of the reasons why i picked Camronesi as he is less of an all out attacker like the others in the AM roles and will be needed to help out in midfield defensivley aswell as on the wing. Hopefully i can get a surprise top pick for defense that has slipped under the radar next rd and combinesed with Casillas in goal actually be formidable in that department too but although i have a few in mind i doubt they will last the 30+ picks to get back to me ... a well tis all good fun anyway

titan18

My team so far

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???

Maicon

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Lugano

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???

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Capdevilla

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Toulalon

Garrincha

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Hamsik

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???

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Luis Fabiano

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Dzeko

Peyton Manning

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

you probably have a point in retrospect and i am kinda annoyed at myself as defensivley it woulda been better to have one of those mentioned but I still think he can do a very good job in the Alonso/Pirlo role as Gattuso does the dogs body work in midfield while he focusses on setting the attacks into motion. I guess thats one of the reasons why i picked Camronesi as he is less of an all out attacker like the others in the AM roles and will be needed to help out in midfield defensivley aswell as on the wing. Hopefully i can get a surprise top pick for defense that has slipped under the radar next rd and combinesed with Casillas in goal actually be formidable in that department too but although i have a few in mind i doubt they will last the 30+ picks to get back to me ... a well tis all good fun anyway

Tell me about it. I have one player in mind who I'd love to get, but there's such a slim chance of him still being available

LuckyLloyd

Frei is a perfectly acceptable striker this late as far as I'm concerned. Captain of his national side with a sick scoring record at this level over the years. He has consistently found the net throughout his club career as well.

Team Thus Far:

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X

---

---

Baresi (C)

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Carvalho

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Zanetti

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X

---

Mascherano

---

Park Ji Sung

---

X

---

Stankovic

---

Kaka

---

---

Frei

---

Very happy with how things are shaping up. May move Stankovic infield depending on who is available over the next couple of rounds...

LuckyLloyd

Franco "The Steel Man" Baresi



Before I begin, and given that Baresi would have played his last matches at the top level while a lot of us were kids or young teenagers, I would invite you to watch this short video so as to get a flavour of what type of player Baresi was.

Impressive huh?

Let's begin with the simple facts:

- capped 81 times for an Italian side that won a world cup and reached a world cup final (with Baresi as captain);
- captained AC Milan to successive European Cup triumphs;
- marshaled an AC Milan backline widely considered to be the best in club football at that time to six Seria A titles;

Late in the Legends round, I was faced with the choice of taking a relatively lessor attacking talent, or cementing the best defense through selecting arguably the greatest central defender ever to play the game.

What am I getting with Baresi? First and foremost, despite his lean and somewhat underwhelming figure, I am getting a brave and tough tackling player capable of carrying out the most basic of defensive duties with ease. On top of that, I am getting an extraordinary football mind - a peerless reader of the game with an unrivaled sense of anticipation and timing. Then, enhancing his abilities without the ball - I have a player with great technique and a fabulous range of passing. A player unafraid to gamble up the pitch when the opportunity is there, and one willing to take responsibility for starting attacks rather than merely clearing the ball away. Finally, I know have an inspirational leader and model professional, one who will push and cajole my other players through both word and deed.



Football is not solely about attack and scoring goals. Are gifted attackers fun to watch? Yes. Are they the only way to win football matches? No. There is an art to defending at the highest levels, and few players have espoused that art in the manner with which Franco Baresi went about his business as a professional footballer.

In choosing a player who built his career through shutting down the type of talents drafted thus far, I feel that I am giving myself the best possibility of having the best team drafting from this position.

As such, it seems fitting that I have a man well able to lift a trophy or two:

curry-muff

Picked and PM'd, Feel diiiiiiirty picking another Pool player :pac:

Mr.Nice Guy

BigBenRoeth, King was picked already by Mitch I think?

Mr. Guappa

I admire the Spurs love Ben but Deadly Ledley is gone already!

curry-muff

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

BigBenRoeth, King was picked already by Mitch I think?

Yeah I pm'd him already, lets hope he gets it before signing off

BigBenRoeth

****e,so sorry lads,will sort it out now!

BigBenRoeth

I think i picked an available player this time :P
Sorry again!

Minto

Pick made and PM'd! Am probably taking a bit of a chance on Arbeloa, but I think his versatility will help my lacking defense.

Mr.Nice Guy

Minto wrote: »

Pick made and PM'd! Am probably taking a bit of a chance on Arbeloa, but I think his versatility will help my lacking defense.

Yeah great pick because he can play either side.

eagle eye

Lol @ Michael Bradley being picked. I wouldn't even consider him with the last pick in the 11th round, he is a very average footballer.

SlickRic

eagle eye wrote: »

Lol @ Michael Bradley being picked. I wouldn't even consider him with the last pick in the 11th round, he is a very average footballer.

he's played more games in the World Cup than Pepe Reina.

Xavi6

eagle eye wrote: »

Lol @ Michael Bradley being picked. I wouldn't even consider him with the last pick in the 11th round, he is a very average footballer.

In your opinion of course.

EDIT: I suppose it's only right I defend the pick.

You don't attract attention from top clubs by being 'average'. You don't earn 50 caps in a highly ranked side by the age of 23 by being 'average'. You don't become an inspirational figure to your peers by being 'average'*.

Bradley is a very good footballer with a solid future ahead of him.


* http://www.tribalfootball.com/everton-keeper-howard-michael-bradley-inspired-us-all-917801

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has revealed how USA teammate Michael Bradley took charge at halftime of their 2-2 draw with Slovenia.

The US went into the break 2-0 down, but rallied to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Howard says it was midfielder Bradley who inspired his teammates at halftime.

He said: “That’s Michael. I think he was pretty energized at halftime, as a lot of us were.

"He wanted all the talk to stop and for us to put our money where our mouth was and in the second half I think he did a good job of being that example. He was the one taking the fight to them, being all over the place, kicking and scratching and biting.

"He was taking a lot of chances in the way of getting himself in the box. I could see when I was playing it long to Jozy and Clint, I could see him taking risks getting himself forward. It paid off.”

The bit in bold is what I want in my box to box midfielder. Fits the system perfectly.

BigBenRoeth

SlickRic wrote: »

he's played more games in the World Cup than Pepe Reina.

Quality over quantity

Smegball

I've always liked Bradley, vastly underrated and never spoken of, would place him in the Darren Fletcher mould and think he would do a job for a big club in the centre of midfield.

eagle eye

SlickRic wrote: »

he's played more games in the World Cup than Pepe Reina.

I said he is a very average footballer as the standard goes in this thing. Imo he is not good enough to be the last pick in the 11th round.

Xavi6

eagle eye wrote: »

I said he is a very average footballer as the standard goes in this thing. Imo he is not good enough to be the last pick in the 11th round.

Why?

I explained the reasons for him, what are those against?

The Volt

Given the role he'll play in Xavi's team I think he's a solid pick.

eagle eye

Xavi6 wrote: »

Why?

I explained the reasons for him, what are those against?

Well you seem to suggest that there is talk of him being the target of big clubs which is untrue for a start.
He goes missing for large chunks of games, he was horrendous in the first half the other night against Slovenia but did play well in the second half, he is very temperamental, he lacks vision and as a result makes bad passes.

I honestly don't think he would be starting for his country if his father was not in charge. Torres got taken off the other night at half-time and he wasn't nearly as bad as Bradley had been.

redzerdrog

pick made and happy with how my team is coming along

Mr.Nice Guy

redzerdrog wrote: »

pick made and happy with how my team is coming along

Good pick. Looks like you have your attack sorted out and it looks very impressive.

LuckyLloyd

eagle eye wrote: »

Lol @ Michael Bradley being picked. I wouldn't even consider him with the last pick in the 11th round, he is a very average footballer.

eagle eye wrote: »

I said he is a very average footballer as the standard goes in this thing. Imo he is not good enough to be the last pick in the 11th round.

eagle eye wrote: »

Well you seem to suggest that there is talk of him being the target of big clubs which is untrue for a start.
He goes missing for large chunks of games, he was horrendous in the first half the other night against Slovenia but did play well in the second half, he is very temperamental, he lacks vision and as a result makes bad passes.

I honestly don't think he would be starting for his country if his father was not in charge. Torres got taken off the other night at half-time and he wasn't nearly as bad as Bradley had been.

Why do you insist on talking uninformed crap about the US national team and its players at every given opportunity? The assertion that Bradley isn't worthy of being one of the 180 current players picked by the end of this process is ludicrous.

Xavi - ignore him. He's been spouting rubbish about the US squad for a number of weeks now.

Mr. Guappa

Pick made and PM sent. Bruno Alves completes my mean defence!!

Kuyt is a great pick at this stage and Bradley is a nice compliment to Lampard.

Frisbee

I had my eye on Alves, good pick at this stage.

Mr. Guappa

Frisbee wrote: »

I had my eye on Alves, good pick at this stage.

Cheers He was totally off my radar until I did an extra bit of research today.

Frisbee

Only one of the four picks I wanted this round is left now.

If MNG takes him I'll go postal.

SlickRic

i've three i'd be happy with for my next two picks.

if they're taken, i've no idea what i'm doing.

eagle eye

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Why do you insist on talking uninformed crap about the US national team and its players at every given opportunity? The assertion that Bradley isn't worthy of being one of the 180 current players picked by the end of this process is ludicrous.

Xavi - ignore him. He's been spouting rubbish about the US squad for a number of weeks now.

This post is a waste of space. You really don't have any info so you try to mask it by accusing the poster of being irrational which is untrue.

Xavi6

eagle eye wrote: »

Well you seem to suggest that there is talk of him being the target of big clubs which is untrue for a start.

I would class Everton as a top club myself

http://project2010.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/michael-bradley-linked-with-everton/

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2008/01/29/everton-prepared-to-play-waiting-game-for-transfer-target-michael-bradley-64375-20407883/

http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Michael_Bradley_%28soccer%29

Bradley has been linked to a move to the Premier League. Clubs who have scouted him include Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Manchester City, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Sunderland.[1]

eagle eye

Xavi6 wrote: »

I would class Everton as a top club myself

http://project2010.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/michael-bradley-linked-with-everton/

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2008/01/29/everton-prepared-to-play-waiting-game-for-transfer-target-michael-bradley-64375-20407883/

http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Michael_Bradley_%28soccer%29

Lol that stuff is all ancient. And there is not one decent source there either.

And here is a quote from one of them.

USA midfielder Michael Bradley is on the verge of signing with English club Everton, according to The New Football Pools. The site claims that Aston Villa are also interested in the American yellow card machine.

Xavi6

eagle eye wrote: »

Lol that stuff is all ancient.

Less than a year is not ancient, though I apologise that today's paper has no mention of a move for him. I expect his stock will only go up after the World Cup.

I said he was linked to big clubs. You said he wasn't, yet I've provided evidence that he has been. It's funny how you get proven incorrect yet still can't admit it.

And here is a quote from one of them.

He gets stuck in. Lovely.

Nigel De Jong is also a yellow card machine and I'd say the vast majority of people here would have had him in their side if possible.

eagle eye

Xavi6 wrote: »

Less than a year is not ancient, though I apologise that today's paper has no mention of a move for him. I expect his stock will only go up after the World Cup.

I said he was linked to big clubs. You said he wasn't, yet I've provided evidence that he has been. It's funny how you get proven incorrect yet still can't admit it.

There is no proof that he was in fact ever a target for Premier League club and the fact that the ended up at Monchengladbach means its highly unlikely that those clubs were ever interested.

eagle eye

I thought Elano was already gone but a good pick in this round.

Xavi6

eagle eye wrote: »

There is no proof that he was in fact ever a target for Premier League club and the fact that the ended up at Monchengladbach means its highly unlikely that those clubs were ever interested.

Ok cool. I can see a circle starting to form.

You are wrong about Bradley however so we'll leave it at that as they say and let the judging happen at the appropriate time.