World Cup Draft Match Four: Frisbee v whatawaster

The Volt

Again, apologies for putting this up late. Best of luck to ye.

whatawaster

Firstly, my team:

David James – 53 Caps
Geremi – 116 Caps
Patrice Evra – 32 Caps
Juan – 79 Caps
Joseph Yobo – 69 Caps
Darren Fletcher – 47 Caps (Captain)
Tiago Mendes – 55 Caps
Mesut Ozil – 15 Caps
Yoann Gourcuff – 22 Caps
Cristiano Ronaldo – 76 Caps
Ferenc Puskas – 85 Caps

That’s an average of 59 caps per player. In short, a hugely experienced side both at club level, international level and at World Cups.

Defensively

What immediately jumps out is how experienced the defensive unit is:

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James

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Geremi

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Juan

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Yobo

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Evra

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Fletcher

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Tiago

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Darren Fletcher is the least experienced with 47 caps, and even he has captained his country many times.
Juan and Yobo are both excellent in the air, and are a very athletic pairing. Both full backs are solid defensively, and both are champions league winners.
A Key to my defense will be the work of Fletcher and Tiago in front of them. Tiago is a very disciplined player, one who thrived in his first season in the PL under Mourinho. He’ll sit deep when not in possession, make blocks and interceptions. Fletcher is more energetic, so it’ll be his job to chase and hassle, and help the full backs.
David James was one of England’s few performers at this world cup. He’s got better with age, and mistakes from him are now far less likely. He’s an outstanding shot-stopper and a commanding presence.

Offensively

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Tiago

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Geremi

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Fletcher

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Gourcuff

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Evra

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Ozil

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Ronaldo

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Puskas

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Tiago will sit deep for the most part, receiving the ball from the back four and looking to start attacks, by feeding the full-backs and the attacking players in front of him.
Fletcher will get up and down the pitch all day, and run forever. When needed, he can also drop behind Evra and give him some insurance when he’s roaming forward.
The movement and interaction between Ozil, Ronaldo and Gourcuff will be central to my team’s success. Vital to this is their versatility. All three are capable of playing right/left/central, making them difficult to pick up.
Up front I’ve arguably the most lethal striker in International football history. Puskas has 84 goals in 85 internationals for Hungary, and with the creativity behind him in my team I think he’ll do serious damage.

Vs Frisbee (apologies if i misrepresent your team/formation here)

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Akinfeev

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Eboue

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Heitinga

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Pique

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Van Bronkhurst

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Meireles

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Muntari

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Van der Vaart

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Silva

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Rooney

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Pele

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1. I think Pique is a hugely over-rated defender and went much too soon in this draft. Great on the ball, but I don’t rate him highly otherwise. He’s been very poor this worldcup, showing his recklessness by giving away a stupid penalty against Paraguay. In fact, I don’t think any of his defenders are particularly strong defensively apart from Heitinga. You could certainly see Puskas at least continuing his goal a game average, if not bettering it against that defense. Ronaldo, Ozil and Gourcuff’s movement will also be too much for them imo. I can see myself putting Ronaldo on the right more often to expose Van Bronkhurst for pace.

2. Admittedly, his team is very strong in attack. But again, I think my attack does well in comparison to his
Pele vs Puskas – obviously Pele is more well known, but Puskas has a better Goalscoring record in international football in less games. He also performed at the highest level in Europe in club football.
Rooney vs Ronaldo – similar records in International football, but Rooney plays more as a striker. Both relative disappointments at World Cups compared to expectations. Ronaldo definitely better at club level
VDV/Silva vs Ozil/Gourcuff – relatively similar I’d say, more experience on your end, but only Ozil has made a real contribution to this world cup, and it’s been a major contribution at that.

3. Midfield will be a tough battle, but I think my midfield has more balance. Tiago’s passing, Fletchers tackling.

In conclusion: I think it will be a close, high-scoring game, with two stellar attacks, which I’ll get the better of 3-1/3-2.

Frisbee

Pick 1: Wayne Rooney
Pick 2: Gerard Piqué
Pick 3: David Silva
Pick 4: Igor Akinfeev
Pick 5: Rafael van der Vaart
Pick 6: John Heitinga
Pick 7: Pelé
Pick 8: Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Pick 9: Raul Meireles
Pick 10: Emmanuel Eboué
Pick 11: Sulley Muntari


Team Line-up:

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Akinfeev

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Eboué

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Heitinga

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Piqué

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van Bronckhorst (C)

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Meireles

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Muntari

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van der Vaart

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Silva----

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Pelé

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Rooney

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My team is based on being compact, working well as a unit across the whole pitch and getting attacks started from the back with direct play and counter attacking football.

Akinfeev is a top keeper who will help keep me in games by himself, he has brilliant reactions and is well capable of spotting the right ball and launching my team onto the front foot with a quick kick out or long throw.

Piqué and Heitinga are a centre back pairing that I think is going to work very well together. Piqué will play in the more sweeper role, using his intelligence and reading of the game to mop up any balls that are put through over the top or inside the full backs to an overlapping attacker and he also has the pace, height and strength to go head-to-head with any striker and use these attributes to win the ball back. Heitinga on the other hand will be the 'attacker' of this pairing, man marking the opposition centre forward and using his strength and leap to match them in the air or on the ground. If the other team is playing two centra forwards Piqué is perfectly capable of stepping forward from the 'sweeper' position and man marking the other centre forward.

Neither Eboué or Gio are the most attacking of full backs but they both give me solidity and dependability. Eboué is the more attacking of the two, having often been utilised at right wing for Arsenal when defending a lead to give them more defensive cover. He has pace, power and stamina and will take on board any instructions given to him and stick to them. He will have licence to get forward when the opportunity presents itself, thus allowing van der Vaart to step slightly more central and closer to Pelé and allow them to use their skill in there.
van Bronckhorst will have less attacking licence than Eboue mainly as I want a minimum of three at the back at alll times. Gio is an experienced campaigner and someone of his experience will be a brilliant calming influence on my team and he will reprise the captains armband he holds at both Feyenoord and with the Dutch national team here again. He also scores cracking 30 yard stunners in World Cup semi-finals.

Meireles and Muntari were two players I was hapy with for the position I got them in the draw as both can do the job I require of them very well and both are established midfielders. Neither will be playing as the typical anchorman style of defensive midfielder, but rather they will be used to chase and hassle any opposition players on the ball and once again both have very high levels of physical fitness to keep this up throughout an entire game. Muntari is all about pace and power, has a good tackle and is not afraid to get stuck in. Meireles also gives me an outlet in front of Pique for ball distribution, he is a very good passer of the ball and can easily spray balls forward for the onrushing wingers and forwards.

In my two wide men I will be getting different styles of play. van der Vaart on the right will be playing as less of an out and out winger, rather cutting inside more onto his left foot to have a pop, in turn this space he leaves will be open for Eboué to make an overlapping run into. The idea of playing left footers on the right wing and vice versa allows for more shots on goal and getting van der Vaart to cut inside anywhere inside 25m of the goal can easily have disastrous effects for the other team.
Silva will be operating as a slightly more standard wide man, using his pace and trickery to go past his man and deliver quality service into the box, something he is undoubtedly capable of doing. There is also the unpredictability value when it comes to Silva too, if a defender is sick of seeing him go past him down the line constantly he may try and block the line off in which case allowing Silva to cut inside where he is equally dangerous either shooting or supplying Pelé.

Pelé. To be honest I dont think there's a whole lot I can do to describe this one for you. Recognised the world over ans one of the greatest players of all time and by FIFA as joint best player of all time this guy is going to bring something really different to my team. 1087 goals in 1120 games for his hometown club Santos is a crazy scoring record and that was not even him playing as an out and out striker, but rather playing in the hole behind the frontman which is the same role he will be occupying in my team. A player of his skill is certainly someone who needs to be rigourously marked for an entire game and by my than one player. IF anyone does try and do this it leaves more time and space for the likes of Rooney, VDV and Silva which is something no team wants to be doing. Operating between the opposition midfield and defence is going to see him get a lot of the ball with time to turn at it and drive straight at the heart of the opposition defence which is where he can really hurt a team.

Rooney has the ability to be a match winner all of his own and will cause trouble for any defence in this competition. He's not had a great World Cup but he's just had his best ever season with United and with a fantastic goal return too, however Rooney brings so much more than goals to a team. His willingness to chase down every lost cause and not give any opposition defenders any time whatsoever on the ball as putting defenders under pressure will often lead to you regaining possession in some shape or form. Lethal in the air, running at defenders and inside and outside the box Rooney is the complete forward and brings a workrate that is second to none to my team also. His intelligence in making runs will also be a huge factor to the success of my team, if he chooses to drop deep he will drag a defender out of position and leave space for Pelé to drift into or even VDV or Silva to cut in from the flank and drive at the exposed gap in an oppositions defence. He also has the pace to match any defender in reaching a ball played over the top.


Corners Left: Silva
Corners Right: van der Vaart
Free Kicks Left: Meireles, van der Vaart
Free Kicks Right: van der Vaart, Silva
Penalties: Pelé, Rooney



vs. whatawaster

At the back I think I have enough to deal with what whatawaster can throw at me. Puskas is always going to be a threat certainly and will be a very hard player to contain but I'm confident that my CB pairing of Piqué and Heitinga can do it. Ronaldo and Ozil coming in off the flanks is something I'd be more worried about, having them end up one on one with my fullbacks, which is exactly why I chose the types of midfielders I did, Meireles and Muntari will drop deep when the other team has the ball and one can easily move out to a wider position to help the full backs double up on one of these players whaen they have the ball while the other holds the centre until VDV/Silva can drop back into a defensive position.

The midfield is certainly going to be a tough battle and is actually one I wouldn't mind seeing take place. Meireles and Tiago are very similair players, both strong athletic CM's with good defensive abilities but who can spread the ball around nicely. Fletcher is better on the ball than Muntari alright but Muntaris athleticism and competitiveness more than makes up for it imo and Muntari can easily keep an eye on Fletcher throughout the game.

Silva will have a field day against Geremi who just isn't at all the player he used to be, he has lost a lot of his pace and I think Silva won't be at all troubled by him, and certainly won't have to worry too much about keeping a defensive eye on Geremi.
On the other side VDV is going to have a much sterner task against Evra, who is arguably one of the better LB's in the world. I feel VDV can do well against him and cause damage down that side and following Evra's poor WC and disastrous reign as captain I feel he is there for the taking. That will be a closely fought battle offensively, however as Evra likes to get forward himself I'm happy I have VDV out there as he will put in the defensive shift in order to nullify Evra's attacking presence.

Centrally is where I feel I can really hurt him. Rooney and Pelé have the potential to win a game by themselves and against that CB pairing I think it is very possible they will bang in a few goals. Yobo is a strong, fast defender, but he's had a very poor domestic season and his reading of the game isn't great, Rooneys intelligent movement and skill will bamboozle Yobo and often drag him out of position. Juan I feel is a better defender and can read the game better than Yobo but if put up against the likes of Pelé he will be shown up to be what he is, a solid but limited defender who really needs a more gifted player alongside him, which Yobo certainly isn't.


With Puskas, Ronaldo and Ozil in his team he is certainly going to have a chance to get goals and I certianly think he'll get one, maybe even two, but I think my foward line is going to be too much for his defence and will knock 3 or 4 past it.