Euro 2012 Draft Match 8: Bounty Hunter vs bUILDERtHEbOB

G.K.

This match is Bounty Hunter vs bUILDERtHEbOB. The match will last for 48 hours, in which time the participants will need to outline their team, basic strategy, and strategy against their opponent.

Also, the voting will take place during this 48 hour period. There will be a poll but only votes with answers developed in a post will be taken into consideration. This development doesn't have to be paragraphs long, even a single sentance is fine. But don't vote until the competitors have had a chance to outline their teams.

Guys, whenever you are ready, begin.

bUILDERtHEbOB

Right, I'll try to keep this short enough, my team will start something like:



I think my back five are pretty solid. Sirigu is an excellent shot stopper and good with one on ones, but is fairly weak in dealing with crosses. My centre half partnership is good, Vidic will win pretty much everything in the air and Moore was a great reader of the game and will mop up everything. Strinic is a solid defender who has proven to be difficult to beat in the Euros and he has a good physical presence as well. Johnson on the other side isn't that bad at defending(IMO), he just has poor concentration, but I think with the leadership of Moore and Vidic inside him hey would keep him awake.

In midfield I've basically got M'Villa sitting in the holding role, three playmakers who will do whatever they want when in possession and Konplyanka who will work of the sideline. Iniesta, Cazorla and Nasri are all capable of playing pretty much anywhere in relatively advanced midfield roles, from being central midfield playmakers to doing it out wide, so on the ball they will provide a lot of fluidity and movement. Konoplyanka will be the outlet if things get tight and if he gets space he is lightning quick when he dribbles. Strinic and more so Johnson will also provide width from the full back positions.

Negredo is a good player to have for the lone striker role, he's quite strong and has a good touch so can hold up the ball well, and he's also fairly quick and has a decent scoring record in Spain.

Bounty Hunter

bUILDERtHEbOB

GK - in Lyons no.1 ive also got Frances captain and starting goalkeeper ahead of other players deemed worthy to draft such as Mandana. He is a Worlds class GK and would be avery good influence on my Defenders and a very hard man to beat between the sticks.

Def - Although not drafted early my defense consists of no weak links imo and in Olsson and Corluka ive two solid WBs who (Olsson in particular) could offer me some much needed width going forward. Heitinga & Howedes are two very solid CBs who imo are somewhat underated also. I'd actually rate Howedes as Germany's 2nd best CB but importantly both the CBs and WBs would be given a lot of help by quality in the DM and GK positions and should be more than capable of dealing with what my opponent has in store for them with players like Negredo.

DM - Despite what people associate with Jack Wilshere he is not an AM (ask Arsenal fans) and alongside De Rossi who imo is one the very best CMs in the world they will offer the defense a lot of security. De Rossi has only served to highlight this fact thus far in Euro 2012 by playing CB for Italy (a nation always talked about for their quality defenders) due to Barzagli's injury). These two would also make it very difficult for my opponents AMs but in him and Wilshere I also have two of the best passers going and players who creatively would be ideal for moving defense into attack and setting my talented attacking midfielders off into attacks.

AM - Zidane is perhaps the only man drafted in this game that people have spoken of alongside Pele, Maradona etc as the best they have ever seen play the game. His quality really cannot be understated and the former WC & EC winner taken at his prime is bound to be one hell of a creative influence for his team, while also being a goal threat for his team in big match situations (2 WC final goals can speak to this).

Sneijder - His season with Inter & now Holland may not have been his best but there is no doubting how good the man who was voted the 2nd best player at the last WC where he was also joint top scorer really is. Nor how much of an attacking threat the dutch dead ball specialist would be.

Gerrard - A man often described as a game changer who takes games by the scruff of the neck as captain of Liverpool, Gerrard is again a goal threat and a great creative outlet from AM. Most would agree his best position is in AM playing behind a frontman and his best time in this position was behind a certain Fernando Torres with whom he had great a great understanding which just might get replicated here.

Gerrard is also very versatile and this trio of AMs could interchage positionally throuhout games and cause havoc for defenders. The fact that there are 3 players of such high quality in this position would also mean that none of them would be likely to be man marked and as a result each man is likely to get more space and if you give any of these guys space they can punish wether thats in the form of goals or by threading the ball through for my CF

CF - El Niño Fernando Torres provides great movement upfront and crativity upfront. As Chelsea fans know his game is more than just about goals and he has been playing fairly good but thankfully (not for us) as he showed against Ireland (2 goals) he still knows how to score. Coming back into form and guaranteed to play the full 90mins in a team built around him with his friend Gerrard as well as Sneijder & Zidane supplying him with chances Torres would certainly get opportunities on goal here and if the real Fernando Torres stands up this attack could take some stopping.

Mikeyt086

bUILDERtHEbOB

Very tough lads, really a close match.

bUILDER: Moore and Vidic? Wow. Also the 3 in front of M'Vila is delicious. I am not so sure on Negredo getting the job done and I don't see the role of Konoplyanka being effective.

BountyHunter: Howedes is the best of a weak back-line imo. Heitinga is very questionable. Blackburn's left back and hit and miss Corluka are a bit iffy. But Jesus H Christ that midfield. The attacking 3 are mouth-watering, but really, De Rossi and Wilshere helping out a potentially vulnerable back 4 are what is really key for me.

My vote goes to BH by an inch. The protection the 2 DM's offer the back 4 is enough to let the trio of geniuses work their magic and score if not provide Torres with glorious chances.

Well done lads.

Bounty Hunter

bUILDERtHEbOB

Not going to get into a back and forth trying to play down the abilities of my opponents players (g'luck by the way though not too much and cheers G.K for running this) cos I genuinly think that there werent really bad players drafted no matter the side. Having said that I guess I should talk about your team as well as my team at least once

bUILDERtHEbOB wrote: »

my team will start something like:

GK - Sirigu : I'd wonder how many people have seen him play that much and if this could hurt you here. He isnt first choice for Italy and unlike others like say Valdes who were drafted not all would be sure if hes as good as you say. I would think that Lloris would have the edge here

CB & DM - This is obviously a strong area for your team but I cant help but feel M'Vila will be a little overworked dealing with the attacking threat of Zidane, Sneijder & Gerrard without another defensive minded midfielder next to him.

WBs - again your WBs arent bad players but i'd again feel that the above point about M'Vila being overun defensively would only be heightened with Johnson at RB leaving space which could be exposed especially when combined with Carzola at RW who i doubt would offer much defensively in the tactical role hes been given.

AM - For me it looks like Iniesta will be playing a little deep and considering how good he is I personally dont mind this (again perhaps with a more defensive minded CM instead of Nasri and Iniesta pushed up your team might of had more balance imo). With only Negredo upfront I think a lot will be asked of Nasri as a creative force and he may struggle with my DMs putting him under a lot of pressure.

Wings - I'm not sure if Cazorla is a winger in the formation your playing but I do think he will have ato cover a lot of ground for it to be an effective one. This might hamper his ability to threaten goal and limit him to trying to create for others. Meanwhile your most forward midfielder is FC Dnipro Yevhen Konoplianka whom again id wonder do many really know if hes that good. thankfully my more defensive WB (Corluka) is his side. Considering who he plays for most would probably have only seen him in this EC and although his play obviously isnt based just off goals as your most attacking midfielder the fact that he didnt score in the tournament might not help you either.

CF - Negredo is a good player but 3rd choice Spanish striker, if they even decide to play a striker whos only competitive goals for Spain in the past 3years were vs Liechenstein. He has a good record for scoring at club level though but in a side where goals from midfield may not be a certainty id admit to feeling a little relieved that its only Negredo as the lone man upfront for you

Overall id think that your defense is quality but that my defense would still be more likely to handle you attack, especially with 2 defensive minded CMs, than yours would be to contain the attacking creativity of the likes of Zidane, Gerrard & Sneijder. The fact that your GK and most attacking midfielders ability may not be a given for all could hurt you and your formation could ask a lot of certain players of yours such as M'Vila & Cazorla.

but of course I would say that :pac:

bUILDERtHEbOB

Best of luck to yourself too, clearly it's a great team, I'll try not to go through individuals, can't really sit here and call Zidane useless, but anyway, here goes...

I think you're over estimating the amount of work to be placed on my defense, your attacking midfield 3 are all going to be operating around the same area in that there wont exactly be a lot of width, and Gerrard and Sneijder IMO are not the type of players who will get involved in quick short passing to get out of those situations. Sneijder will turn inside every time he gets the ball out wide, which will help Johnson out a lot. Now with the flexibility of your side you could move Zidane out there, but I'd rather him on the wing than in the middle. I don't think Gerrard would get much change out of Strinic if he went out there either, he's not gonna out pace him and I think Strinic could match his strength/power. So with your play coming through the centre mostly, I'd be expecting my midfielders to form a shape something like...

GJ--BM--NV--IS

---

YMV

---

-SC---AI---YK-

---

SN

---

Basically Nasri stands on De Rossi and the rest flood the area between Nasri and M'Villa.

So assuming all of this works, Gerrard and Sneijder will become fairly ineffective, get frustrated and go into Hollywood mode, firing balls into Torres, who I think would get very little change from my defenders. Obviously there's the potential for Zizou to decide to skin 4 players and stick one in the top corner, nothing I can do about that.

Attack wise, I think my players are much better equipped to hold the ball for longer periods. Cazorla, Nasri and Iniesta are all playing as predominantly central players, with a lot of freedom when they have the ball. Thus there will be plenty of occasion when Iniesta will appear in more advanced positions and Nasri or Cazorla can drift into a deeper lying playmaker role, which they have done at times this season. Obviously this means there's a massive potential for you to counter attack, but it's a gamble I have to take.

On Konoplyanka, tbh I was taking a gamble on him in the hope that he'd have an unreal tournament, unfortunately that didn't happen, but I think with the pace and skill he has shown in the Euros, he could potentially just walk past Corluka every time he gets the ball. Negredo isn't a world class striker fair enough, but against your centre halves I think he'll get chances, and his record has proven that he'd take one or two.

So basically, I think both sides will try to play through the middle, an I think the type of player I have in my midfield will do a better job of it, therefore win, possibly, maybe...

Dickerty

bUILDERtHEbOB

Bounty Hunter all the way for me. I like btb's centre halves, but I think BH's front 4 is superb, too much to handle - maybe the best front 4 or any team so far...

Jax Teller

bUILDERtHEbOB

BH win for me . His midfield has much more balance to it than BTBs. M'villa will be left way to much work to do with imo . I do think Builders team will cause BH's defence problems though a back 4 Corluka Heitinga Howedes Olsson arent great tbh.

Bounter Hunter to win 2-1

redzerdrog

really cant split these at the moment

Rekop dog

bUILDERtHEbOB

Awful matchup really particularly from a tactical viewpoint. Can't see either progressing much further. BH just!

IncognitoMan

I might just go with bUILDERtHEbOB. Torres in his current form isnt going to do much aganist moore and vidic. Not sure BH full backs are going to offer enough going forward when hes mid 3 are tucked in. Cant rule out cazorla nasri or iniesta creating something esp against that defence

Ferris_Bueller

bUILDERtHEbOB

Good teams, but Bounty Hunter for me. His midfield/attack is world class, his defence is a bit suspect for me, but I don't think Negredo would cause enough problems for them, despite Bobthebuilder having a great centre back pairing, I think M'Vila will have too much on his plate with Zidane, Gerrard and Sneijder supplying balls to Torres.

eagle eye

Its Builder for me and quite easily too I think. Bounty Hunter has a nice looking attack but he is facing Moore and Vidic. Even then though I think Zizou and Wesley are going to get in each others way a lot and confuse things for that team. Bounty Hunter's defense is just awful though and he is going to concede a lot of goals. Martin Olsson is a terrible full back(excellent winger imo) and I'm not gone on Corluka either. Heitinga is just an average center back(much more suited to DM imo).

I just don't understand how people don't get this about his defense. Imo its tied worst defense or maybe on its own as the worst in this draft.

Moneymaker

BTB for me. Bounty Hunters team looks great, but in reality it has no real cohesive shape and his defence is very very dodgy. I think BTBs team will get enough chances to score.

Nailz

bUILDERtHEbOB

BH got my vote purely for attacking purposes, I wouldn't be too sure about his defence though. Apart from Gerrard it's a very deadly forward line, Gerrard is a very aimless player at the best of times and isn't a wide player, but fecking hell, having Zidane and Sneijder playing with each other in those type of areas will test any defence, even with the likes of Moore and Vidic minding the goal. BTB really does have great collection of players and I'm a massive fan of Negrado from his Almeria days, but I just think that BH has some great individuals in his side, so he just about gets it in a very very close tie.

yomtea98

Bob has a better shape and players so he gets my vote

G.K.

Unfortunately due to time constraints I'm unable to do my big writeup atm. I will write my developed answer for this game and post it in due course, but so as to get my vote in before the deadline my vote is for Bounty Hunter.

G.K.

The time has elapsed and Bounty Hunter has won this match, beating bUILDERtHEbOB by 7 votes to 4.

Congrats to Bounty Hunter, and good luck as you continue.

Commiserations to bUILDERtHEbOB.