Euro 2012 Draft Final: Coletrickle88 vs LuckyLloyd

G.K.

So here we are. It's been slightly delayed for several reasons, but this is the final of the draft.

LuckyLloyd and Coletrickle88 are the two who have made it, wo I'd like to congratulate them and wish them the best of luck.

As usual, 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

LuckyLloyd

So, the big show. One plays two in the draft order. Good luck to Cole and thanks again to G.K for setting this thing up.

First, I'll repost the general introduction to my team:

Team:

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Valdes

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Arbeloa--Barzagli--Agger--Cole

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Khedira

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Rosicky

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Ronaldo

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Hagi

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Bale

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Shevchenko

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General:

The big thing here is obviously the attacking midfield trio of Ronaldo, Bale and Hagi. Simply put, these three on the pitch within this 11 will cause multiple problems for any opposition.

Hagi in his prime was an exquisite player with unparalleled vision. He will provide a fulcrum to unlock the heart of any defense in this competition. He will find space for himself or create it for others, and Ronaldo and Bale are capable of coming of their wings to get on the end of moves through the center. In this sense, while Rosicky and Shevchenko aren't the best players picked in the process, they will fit perfectly here. Shevchenko provides excellent movement and positioning off the ball and is still capable of linking play to runnefrs beyond him, while Rosicky is a great passer with great technique and has the ability to pop up on the end of passing moves through the center of a defense.

But, if that isn't working, then Bale and Ronaldo have the pace and physicality to stretch a defense out wide, beat fullbacks and create havoc from a different angle. Also Ronaldo is a potent threat in the air if left one on one with a fullback on the back post. At times where teams get men behind the ball against us, any of our players will have the ability to deliver a threatening ball from an angle to take advantage of that.

Ultimately, I see a lot of goals in this lineup. The variety on show here should stretch any team, as there are plenty of available playing patterns that can hurt.

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Defensively, I feel like I have an excellent goalkeeper, a really well balanced and gifted back four, and a top notch defensive shield sitting infront of them. Agger and Barzagli is a complimentary partenership, and Cole and Arbeloa on either side (Cole particularly) will stand toe to toe with any attacking wingers in this draft. Khedira and Valdes infront and behind are players of the highest pedigree and have spent the last few seasons operating at the business end of the footballing spectrum.

A big problem for my opponents will be the threat I pose on the break. Bale and Ronaldo are luxuries in this regard. They have the pace and ability to stretch a pushed up back line in a split second, and Hagi was supreme in his ability to pick the decisive pass in an instant.

LuckyLloyd

Cole's team is good, there's no denying that. He's easily the toughest looking matchup I've faced thus far. There is nothing like the obvious weaknesses that marred my previous two opponent's chances.

That said, I have a pretty decent team myself.

Boateng and Alba with Arshavin and Dzagoev as the widest front players is a bad match up for Cole given my Bale / Ronaldo awesomeness. They will have the opportunity to cause problems here. Needless to say, Cole is very strong through the middle, but Hagi / Rosicky / Khedira will be the toughest test they've faced thus far. Hagi will have his toughest test here, but Cole's center halves and defensive midfielders are going to be occupied somewhat by Ronaldo and Bale raping down both flanks - and he only needs a moment to work his limitless magic.

Defensively, I'm confident Barzagli and Agger can match the Hunter. Cole and Arbeloa will be invaluable in this tie, as they defend as well as any fullbacks in the competition, and Khedira will be particularly well equipped to limit Ozil.

Wouldn't be an easy tie by any stretch of the imagination, but while Cole has a great squad I'm not sure that he can effectively lock up my strongest aspects, and Bale and Ronaldo are more than capable of winning any game if they have the freedom to make things happen down either flank.

Jax Teller

LuckyLloyd

My formation is 4-2-3-1 .

Goalkeeper
Rui Patrício has been Sportings number 1 keeper for the last 5 years and he is only 24 years old . One of the top up and coming goalkeepers in europe at the moment .

Defence
Arguably the strongest in the draft
Boateng a cb at trade but more than capable of playing rb as he has shown for Germany many times .
Hummels and Kompany are without doubt 2 of the best cbs around right now . No need to explain these picks at all
Jordi Alba only made his debut for Spain last october but they would no doubt be worse off without him in the team .

Midfield
My midfield Deschamps & Cabaye, has 2 hard working players both solid in the tackle .
Deschamps a World cup and Europen championship winning captain kept Makelele out of the french team for years proves how good he was.
A player once described as a water carrier by Eric Cantona . Basically his job is to protect the back 4 and give them attacking players the ball to play with .

Cabaye
An all round box to box midfielder . Solid defensively and decent enough going forward a very good set piece taker whether its corners ,free kicks or penalties .
It is no coincidence that when he left Lille their forunes changed for the worse and Newcastle changed for the better .

Attacking Midfielders

Alan Dzagoev , Andrei Arshavin & Mesut Özil .

My 3 attacking midfielder can all find themselves anywhere cross the pitch . Here i have 3 very tricky clever footballers .
People will say they are too similar but good players can adapt there games to play with other good players and these are very good .


Forward
In Huntelaar i have prolific goal scorer for club and country with 31 in 56 for Holland and a 248 goals in 348 a club level so its safe to say he knows where the back of the net is.

i will have another post to follow shortly . Good luck to Lloyd also .

G.K.

This time I _will_ do an analytical writeup. On Monday evening I will actually have some time.

Jax Teller

LuckyLloyd

Lloyds teams is good alright better down the wings than through the middle imo .

Up against Lloyds team i think defending a litle bit deeper is a good move as to try not get beaten on the counter by Ronaldo & Bale as they're so quick . This will hopefully leseen his threat from the wings . Boateng kept Ronaldo quiet recently i would hope he could do the same with Bale. Alba is also a perfectly capable Lb

I think between my 2 cbs can comfortably keep Sheva quiet but i think Huntelaar can cause his 2 cbs a problem or 2 . I also don't think Rosicky is suited to the position Lloyd has him playing at all he's more suited to where Hagi is playing .


Close game good luck again Lloyd .

My minds gone totally blank here i may add more later if i can think of anything.

Jax Teller

LuckyLloyd

Come on lads start voting .

Bounty Hunter

(bump back to page 1) This is an incredibly close match up and since I got drawn vs Cole and had my first really good look at his team i've felt he would get to the final although if im honest I thought LL would be the overall winner. Despite that I oddly never matched these two up against each other in a game scenario in my head and now that I do im finding it very hard to lean either way.

The spine of Cole's team is argueably the strongest in the draft. Simply Great at CB & DM, Ozil creating and Huntelaar the goalscorer up top but if width is a driving force in this game its almost impossible to look past LL's side and players like Ronaldo, Cole & Bale and tbh considering his CBs are solid I think those players getting in behind Cole's WBs who look like they would be bombing forward at times partially to compensate for a lack of width from Arshavin & Dzagoev could just about give Lloyd the edge.

Cole to dominate possession and Ozil to set up Huntelaar for a goal but it wont be enough as Lloyd's side get two on the break.

machiavellianme

Went with Lloyd because I just think his attackers are too much for any defence. Including coletrickles as awesome as it is.

Copper_pipe

LuckyLloyd gets my vote, Loving his attack

Dickerty

Lloyd for me. Loving that left side with Agger, Cole and Bale, and generally a very varied attacking line...

DDC1990

Lloyd wins for me. Strength all over the field.

Love the CB pairing of Agger and Barzaghli, with Cole and Arbeloa well able to bomb forward.

Solid Midfield, and great creativity up front with Ronaldo, Hagi and Bale setting up Sheva all game.

I like Dzagoev and Ozil on Cole's team, but I think Arshavin and Huntlaar might struggle if push came to shove against Lloyds CB pairing.

Overall a very tight matchup, and there wouldn't be more then a Goal in it, but I think the Intellegence of Shevchenko, would put him in positions for Ronaldo and Bale to supply him with a goal or 2.

LuckyLloyd

Looks like interest in this petered out somewhat. Last call for a few votes?

GavRedKing

LuckyLloyd, just.

I think his overall team is just a shade better then coletrickle's.

LL down the wings is spectucalr and with Hagi playing behind Sheva the center isnt shappby either.

Hummels and Kompany are morethen capable at CB to deal with almost anything but I just feel LL's attacking 4 would over run coletrickles back four and eventually see LL get the win.

SlickRic

LuckyLloyd

i went for Coletrickle; i think his team is more solid down the middle, and I really don't quite trust Rosicky in the middle.

i can understand Ronaldo and Bale giving Lloyd the edge for a lot of people.

the luck of the draw served him well!

whatawaster

Shevchenko is a big weakness in Lloyds team but I think there are enough goals from Ronaldo, Bale and Hagi to see him through.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

LuckyLloyd

Went for Coletrickle myself, think his defence will swing it for him, I don't see Sheva getting much change from either Hummels or VC.

redzerdrog

lloyd for me arshavin and dzagoez would really struggle against lloyds fbs plus then you have ronaldo and bale who I think will be more successful against coletricks fbs even though they are quite strong aswell.

eagle eye

LuckyLloyd

I think the two best teams made the final and I think its very tight between them.

I think when it comes down to it Coletrickle has a better defense, and he needs to, but overall I think he has a better team of players who will work for each other. Lloyd is just too dependent on individual talent. Hagi isn't likely to get many opportunities in this game because he was the type of player who demanded the ball to his feet to do his thing, Ronaldo and Bale prefer to go at defenses.

At the other end of the field I'm not gone on Barzagli/Agger. I think Agger leaves a gap with his forward runs all too often and Barzagli is an average defender who will get caught out too often. I think Coletrickle's team is going to get more oppotunities against what looks a very average central defense. He has goalscorers up there in Huntelaar and Dzagoev and the creators in Ozil and Arshavin and I think he takes this one in a low scoring affair.

G.K.

Just finishing my own writeup, have been singing in Birmingham all day.

LuckyLloyd

Well I guess that's the end of that chapter.

gg to Cole, was a nice diversion over the past couple of weeks - thanks again to G.K for organising.

Jax Teller

LuckyLloyd

Well done Lloyd.

Bit disappointed with so little people voting on these tbh .

2nd isn't bad for my first time trying one of these .