World Cup Draft Match Three: Gillington v Mr. Nice Guy

The Volt

Here we are lads.

Mr.Nice Guy

Déjà vu moment! OK here goes...

My opponent Gillington's final team (according to the picks thread):

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Stekelenburg

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Dani Alves

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Sergio Ramos

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Upson

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Heinze

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Milner

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Ballack

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Navas

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Cruyff

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Robinho

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David Villa

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My team:



Quick overview:

My belief, which I noted early in the game, was that most teams would end up with impressive firepower in their teams, but that not all would have the defence capable to withstand it. That is why I decided on a sweeper system, basing my number two and three picks on my central defence where I went for committed, combative CBs in Puyol and Samuel, with my legends pick used on Beckenbauer, to act as the elegant sweeper behind to clean up any damage. This I feel is the major strength of my team and as I think I said previously, I want to use my defence to win the game.

As regards my opponent, I respect his team which indeed boasts plenty of firepower but like I touched on above, I believe this is an example of a team with considerable attacking power but without the defence to withstand it. Let's look at the key areas of the two teams:


Defence

I feel without a doubt this is Gillington's biggest problem, particularly in the centre of his defence. A central partnership involving Sergio Ramos and Matthew Upson would be in deep trouble in this game. Sergio Ramos is dangerous as an attacking right-back but defensively there are question marks over him. Putting him at centre-back seems crazy to me. I know he used to play in that position but that was many years ago and surely he would have been better utilised as a right-back? Having him in the centre of defence takes away his attacking ability and makes him solely reliant on his defensive ability - which I think is a dangerous policy. Upson imo is not a good enough pick in this game. He had an average to good season at West Ham and at the World Cup was horribly exposed against Germany via a routine route one attack. Considering Didier Drogba would be even more dangerous in this kind of situation, I would be confident Gillington would be in major trouble. (Drogba actually bagged 2 goals against West Ham this past season)

At full-back Gillington is strong, but I think he would still have problems. Heinze's best years I think are behind him. I do rate Dani Alves but his strength is going forward and I reckon he can be got at defensively. Consider my play will be based on counter-attacking so I would strongly fancy Andrei Arshavin to cause plenty of problems for Dani Alves and Sergio Ramos. Assuming he can create space for himself, which it's fair to say he can, then he can be in on goal himself, or feed in Drogba leaving Gillington's team in real danger.

My defence, in contrast, I think is the stronger. That central triumvirate of Puyol and Samuel, two of the best centre-backs in Europe today, with arguably the best defender ever in Beckenbauer behind them is going to prove extremely tough for Gillington to break down. I think his best chance would be to target my right-back but I'll get to how I'd deal with that in the midfield section below.

Midfield

Again I think it's a similar story for Gillington in midfield. His strength is on the flanks, but I think he has a big weakness in the centre. I think to a large extent Ballack's legs are gone along with his best years. He has Ballack in his current form so when it comes to defensive duties I think he'll struggle. Milner I like a lot but not quite for his defensive ability. Bear in mind I will be giving Beckenbauer license to roam forward when my team have the ball so it's asking a lot to expect Milner and Ballack to snuff out this danger. I've Song who I think is the best defensive midfielder of the two teams and who can also pick out a pass, and with Elano's own vision and passing ability, along with Beckenbauer's propensity to get forward, as well as Gillington's weaknesses at centre back already mentioned, I really feel it would all be like a hot knife cutting through butter.

On the wings is where he is dangerous with a man that would worry any team - Johan Cruyff. It would be suicide to allow Lichtsteiner, a solid if unspectacular right-back, to deal with one of the greatest players ever. That is the beauty of my system however. Firstly I would be instructing Song and Elano to starve Cruyff of service as much as possible. If Cruyff nonetheless manages to get into a dangerous area, and gets the better of my right-back (which I won't deny is a possibility), he will then also have Beckenbauer to deal with (which I think would be far harder for him). It effectively means I can do a 2-on-1 defensive job on the great Dutchman. I would try and make it so that Cruyff will come inside mostly because I intend most of the game to play narrow and in the centre where I feel I can hurt him most. As for Navas, I am a fan of him in La Liga though I think in this Draft he is let down by few caps and an average at best World Cup. I would be confident in Kolarov and my system's strengths noted already, to handle him.


Attack

Gillington is very dangerous here no doubt but I believe my system can handle his threat. Villa has a fantastic record for club and country and is a formidable opponent. However, he is going up against Samuel and Puyol who are tough as nails and will do their utmost to make life difficult for him. Add in Beckenbauer behind and he is going to have limited chances and that's important when dealing with someone like Villa. Robinho has had mixed fortunes at club level but had a very impressive W.C. However he's going to find limited space in the centre like Villa. Song, Puyol and Samuel are not going to be giving him an easy time by any means and I think the lesson we've learned from Robinho in the Premiership is that he struggles with sides who are physcial and don't give him time, which is exactly what my players will be instructed to do.

As for my attackers, as noted already Drogba has bagged 2 goals against Upson this season and will be a major physical threat which both Ramos and Upson will hate dealing with. When on the counter Arshavin will have license to cut inside and I think would give both Dani Alves and Ramos plenty of headaches. Lee Chung-Yong showed for Bolton and South Korea his attacking potential and his workrate. He's only 21 and will give the 32-year-old Heinze plenty of problems. He likes to cut inside and is intelligent with his distribution so I think he can feed Drogba a lot.

We all know Drogba is ruthless at punishing defensive errors. I think it's fair to say Gillington's team is going to have defensive errors, especially at centre-back, and I feel his team will be really hurt by that.

Conclusion

To sum up I think my team merits this win because it has the greater balance in defence and attack. He is very strong in certain areas but looks very suspect in the centre of the park. With my team playing very narrow I think his players will struggle to get space in my half of the field. When they lose the ball I think they will be in danger of quick breaks with pacy players like Arshavin and Lee finding gaps, not to mention Beckenbauer's sporadic runs forward which I think will really do damage.

I think with a 4-4-2 like Gillington's, you need to be able to deal with players who will operate between the midfield and back line. I don't think Ballack or Milner are equipped to handle Beckenbauer when he comes into this area of the pitch, nor his central defenders. I think his team would become frustrated in my half and lose the ball, and then be picked off on the break in his own half.

When Beckenbauer would go forward, Song and Elano would be instructed to tuck inside so it would effectively become like a 4-2-3-1 in such situations, like so:



As I say I think this would wreak havoc on his defence and prove too much for his players in the centre to handle.

I'm not going to predict a scoreline for this but what I will say is I'd be very surprised if he scored more than 1 goal against my system, and I'd be equally as surprised if my team doesn't score at least 2 goals against his system. On that basis I hope I will merit your vote.

Gillington

MNG

I'll concede that my back four isn't the prettiest but I am confident that they could do the job.As I said in my a few of my picks posts,I think in the game today,verstility is a major part of any players and teams make up.With Alves bombing up and down that wing to support and even overlap Navas,Ramos can slip into right back,making a back 4 into a back 3 with both Ballack and Milner capable of sitting relatively in front of them to stave off the threat of Arshavin,Elano and Drogba.

But the beauty of my team is our attacking force.Milner can hit them,Ballack can still pick up a pass with those old legs of his,Navas with Alves bombing up the wing would scare the bejaysus out of any left back but the trident of Robinho,Cruyff and current WC joint top scorer Villa.Villa's record is awesome and he could score in a fish tank if he found himself there.Robinho showed his old self during this World Cup and even my beloved City want him back and Cruyff,theres not much I can say about him that hasnt been said before but lets just say MNG's RB will be Lich-ing his Steiner for most of the game.

To sum up,I think it would be a close game,I could see MNG's side scoring alright but our pace and creativity in the final third would over-run a less then pacey pack 4.

2-1 Gillington's team and your vote please