Premier League Draft Match 2: eugeneious v Ix Deadmau5

Blatter

This match will decide a place in the QFs and 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.

eugeneious

Goalkeeper:

For me Brad Friedel is still one of the best 'keepers around and has shown this already this season at Spurs with some incredible performances. It's testament to his ability that Hugo Lloris can't nail down the number 1 jersey because of Brad's form. Has everything a great 'keeper needs, great command of his area, of course wonderful reflexes, good distribution and great decision making. Also has a goal in him Anyway he will provide a very solid presence behind my back 4 and I don't think you could pick too many faults in Brad.

Defence:

With regards my full-backs O'Shea will give the side plenty of experience and is primarily there for his solid defensive ability, although that's not to say he can't be an attacking threat especially at set-pieces. Taylor on the other hand, while also very good defensively, provides a great attacking outlet on that left hand side and with Carrick in midfield to cover his position when he goes forward Taylor is the exact right type of player to have at left back and his form for Swansea last season and also Wales was consistently excellent.

In central defence Ferdinand and Vidic provide me with the perfect partnership. Obviously they have shown that they suit each others' games very well and I think while many on the draft have 2 good centre-backs, not many have two good-centre backs that balance each other out quite as well as Vidic and Rio do. Both of course possess a great threat from set piece situations. The most important thing about them is of course is their ability and imo Ferdinand has shown this season for Manchester United that he is still among the very best in the league and has even stood out as Utd's best player in some games (Liverpool away in particular comes to mind) and while I can understand people's reservations about Vidic due to his injury, he has also shown this season he is amongst the very best (imo along with Kompany the best) in the league and it was only this time last year when he was helping Utd on the way to 7 clean sheets in a row. Vital player and he is also my choice for captain of the side (just ahead of Vieira)

Midfield:

My midfield is, imo, the strongest area of my team and that is where I believe this team could win any game. First of all Carrick's job is to simply intercept any opposition passes and cover for the defence while also using his long range of passing to supply the likes of Johnson, Moses and Berbatov. People will say Carrick doesn't cope well when pressed by the opposition and this is one of the reasons why I felt it was important to pick two dynamic box-to-box midfielders like Ramires and Vieira who will help relive a lot of the pressure from Carrick. Everyone of course knows just how good Vieira is and imo he is the best player in this side and him and Ramires, who I think is second to only Yaya Toure as the league's best midfielder, will be the real engine of the team and will be immensely important in both defending and setting up attacking play and with their pace, especially that of Ramires', their ability on the counter attack with the pace of Moses as well is a very important strength that this team possesses.

Attack:

With Moses and Johnson either side of Berbatov I feel as though I have struck a perfect balance between the pace of Moses and the great technical ability of Johnson. Both of course are goal threats and imo both will work very well with Berbatov. Johnson also is a threat with set pieces with a very good technique in terms of his delivery from dead-balls. With regards Berbatov, he is just a class act. Only RVP has more goals/assists in the PL since 2008 and I think very little else needs to be said about his ability. Has had a very good goal record where ever he has been, PL golden boot winner and will of course be this team's main attacking threat and will be important in bringing the midfield and wide-men into play.

Professional Griefer

Good luck to eugeneious.

On my phone now so won't have a write up for a while. Ill put up my team regardless.

Lloris
Simpson vermaelen bassong bertrand
Garcia nzonzi
Ox zola kagawa
Hernandez

eugeneious

Good luck to you too Ix Deadmau5!

IncognitoMan

Ix Deadmau5

This is really close

The midfield trio are hard to argue against and will give eugeneious the edge here. He will have high amounts of possession and that I feel will hurt Ix Deadmau5's team in terms of getting the ball to his key players (the three behind Hernandez). eugeneious also has some real leaders in his team with the likes of Vidic, rio and vieira.

Its a shame because I really like the front players in Ix Deadmau5's team, but I feel the defence might not be enough to keep eugeneious side out enough

overall the superior defence and midfield have made me pick eugeneious

GavRedKing

Ix Deadmau5

Very little to separate both XI's IMO.

I went with eugeneious as I reckon his team has a better balance and his back 4 is exceptionally talented and should deal with just about everything Ix Deadmau5 can throw at him.

Wont be all one way traffic as I reckon Zola would be a game changer if he can see off the midfield of eugeneious but then he runs into that back 4 and solid keeper.

Eugeneious, just.

bucketybuck

Ix Deadmau5

It really is the midfield that decides this. I think Viera and Ramires will stomp all over Garcia and Nzonzi, and as a result Zola and Kawaga will find it quite difficult to just get involved in the game, never mind find a way past Rio and Vidic.

I'm not even that impressed by Johnson and Moses, but they would have enough to beat an average enough defense, so I have to vote Eugeneious.

Yurt

Ix Deadmau5

I really like the look of eugenious's midfield, and a centre back pairing of Rio and Vidic and an in form Berbatov up front i can't see any other result other than a eugenious win.

Liam O

I'm going against what everyone else has said and saying that it'd be Deadmau5. His attack would come together greatly and if eugeneious was to deal with it both Viera and Ramires would be forced deep and they are already not the most creative of players. I can see goals in Deadmau5's team that isn't quite there in eugeneious but that said Deadmau5 has a reasonably poor defence that would concede 1 or 2 but could see a 3-2 win for Deadmau5 in this.

Morzadec

Ix Deadmau5

Going to let Ix explain his team and how they are set up before voting on this one

bullvine

Ix Deadmau5

Deadmaus team is way to weak physically, Vieira would have an absolute field day against this team. Garcia is unproven, Nzonzi is average, the battle in midfield would be won comfortably it wouldn't be close.

eagle eye

Ix Deadmau5

I'll go for Eugenious even though I don't think he scores very often.

Bounty Hunter

Ix Deadmau5

I'm torn here, I think 1 team (Eugenious) lacks the creative force needed to supply Berbatov upfront but he does have what the other team lacks and that is a strong midield to guarantee posession for his team. Zola, Kagawa, Henandez and Oxo should make a top attacking force but I fear they will not see enough of the ball to make a real impact.

Viera MOTM & Eugenious to win 2-1

Ares

I think IxDeadmau5 shades this one. I prefer his team as a whole and particuarly like his forward players.

I don't see where the goals are going to come from for Eugenious. He has no midfield creativity, his wide players haven't done well this season and his full backs don't offer a lot going forward. Berba is Berba but he needs balls his way to score.

IxDeadmau5 to win this one.

dfx-

Goals win games and I think Ix Deadmau5 is more likely to get them, despite being up against a good defence.

Chucky the tree

Ix Deadmau5

Eugenious for me. He has an all round solid team and I think Deadmau5 loses in key departments, mainly midfield.

redzerdrog

IX deadmau5 for me in this one I quite like his attack and fancy them to do very well against eugeneious backline

hots

Ix Deadmau5

Eugeneious for me. A better overall balance and a very solid midfield and backline. Deadmau5 just looks too light in midfield with 4 fully attacking players and not the same solidness at the back to compensate. I could see Eugenious's team playing almost like an Everton side, generally very solid and building play up from midfield.

Eathrin

Ix Deadmau5

eugeneious for me.
Extremely well balanced midfield, complimented by a solid defensive pair will see the opposition enjoy little ball time.
Narrow win 2-1

Professional Griefer

FUUUU.

Just wrote up a thing and my friend closed the browser, so here I go again.

Sorry for the delay, haven't had much of a chance.

Anyways, I believe I have one of the best goalies in the draft, he hasn't started too much this season, but we know what he can do, as hes shown for Lyon and France for the past number of years. Amazing reflections, quick and has a good command of his area.

Think my 2 CBs could compliment each other quite well. Bassong is strong and quick, and Vermaelen is a very smart defender, think the 2 of them could work quite well together. On either side of them I have Simpson and Bertrand. 2 very quick players who like to get forward and are good on the ball.

Sitting in front of the defence I have N'Zonzi and Javi Garcia. N'Zonzi is a underrated player IMO, he was very good at the end of last season, hes very strong and has brilliant stamina, Garcia is a also quality defensively, solid on the ball as well as both of them being great threats from set pieces.

I'm very happy with my forward players, I really wanted a side which could pass quick,comfortably and move into the space. I'm really happy with what I got. Shinjis passing is something else to watch, hes got great vision, hes quick and has shown he can tackle this year as well when he was played further back. The Ox is a very talented young player, very quick, tidy dribbler, good passing as well.
Zola, not much to be said there, like the lads, very quick and even better feet on him. Having him just behind Hernandez could be amazing. Finally Hernandez, a player who shown what a great finisher in his first season, and has since massively improved his overall game. His passing is better, he holds the ball much better, and is developing into a serious player.

I like eugeneious teams alot, very tough game.

His midfield is the problem, but I think I have enough width to cause him problems with Simpson and Bertrand going forward. I think my players could get the ball out their, then up to one of the 4 attacking lads. Since his midfield is unreal, I would nearly move Shinji to in front of my 2 CDMS to link it a bit better. And his 2 cbs, even though are amazing defenders and have been for a long time, I think Hernandezs pace could cause massive problems for him, especially he doesn't really have much pace back their.

I think my defence will have enough to stop his attack quite well, but again problem is Eugeneious midfield is just so good.

I think my side has the ability to win this one, it'd be close though.

Again, sorry for the delay, and best of luck bud.

Morzadec

Ix Deadmau5

It really comes down to a great spine vs a great attack.

Goals win games as someone already said, but it could be just as easily argued that a solid spine makes you impossible to beat.

Eugenious' team dominates possession. Does he have enough in his team to score? There's not much in the way of creativity here or quality out wide.

However, Viera in midfield is huge and I feel ultimately alongside Carrick and Ramires, Ix's team won't get enough of the ball to utilise Zola, Kagawa and Hernandez. Perhaps with the likes of Bale or Walcott in the frontline we could argue for a case on the counter-attack but I feel that Kagawa and Zola starved of possession and Hernandez perhaps feeding on scraps means I give this to Eugenious.

One of the hardest to call yet though - both team have some very strong areas in their teams but also some weak spots.

Blatter

Ix Deadmau5

eugeneious, just. I think Deadmau's defence is far too weak.

Professional Griefer

Congrats to Eugeneious, all the best in the future rounds!

Blatter

Ix Deadmau5

Congrats eugeneious on a fairly comprehensive victory and commiserations to you Ix Deadmau5.

Eathrin

Ix Deadmau5

If it's any consolation I love the song Professional Griefers. :pac:
Congrats eugeneious.