Premier League Draft Match 3: G.K. v Eathrin

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 sentence is fine. But don't vote until the competitors have had a chance to outline their teams.

Eathrin

Good luck to G.K. first of all

Defence
I feel I have a very solid centre. This is essential against the likes of RVN.
Walker and Fabio offer me excellent defensive options going forward to help out on the wings.
However, I feel Fabio may be slightly vulnerable against top wingers, though I think he'll be able to deal with Pablo handy enough.
Schneiderlin will be on duty to nullify Anderson's playmaker threat.

Midfield
As mentioned before, Schneiderlin is in place to add extra cover to the defensive line. Also may be used sparingly in attacks as he has shown he is capable of.
Getting the ball to Lampard will be important. He has a brilliant passing range and can take advantage of Valencia bombing forward or Sigurdsson moving forward in front of him.

Attack
Gaston is a very dangerous player, though Sagna is a good full back.
The strategy here is to use Gaston and Sigurdsson to attack the relatively vulnerable centre backs, in Caulker's inexperience and Chico's clumsiness.
Valencia will battle it out with Cole on the right wing, one of few players that can match him for pace, using Walker on the overlap.
Gaston and Sigurdsson will frustrate the defensive playing balls through to Ba all day, Ba with his finishing ability, I'd expect to notch a couple goals on his own.

G.K.

Eathrin

Good luck to you, Eathrin!

I believe I have a well balanced team which combines passing ability, directness, work rate and physicality in a nice balance. The team will be looking to dominate possession, but not at the expense of creating chances.


The Team

As much as possible, I’ve tried to draft players of high calibre who are in good form.

In goal I have Simon Mignolet, Sunderland’s keeper, who has been in excellent form this season. Sunderland haven’t been great but he’s been imperious, and I can only think of one bad mistake all season (Though he may well have made more).

While I won’t claim my defence is the best in the draft, I certainly think it is up there. This is largely down to my full backs who I believe are the best in the league in their respective positions (Although they are both run close by others, Sagna especially). Caulker and Chico are not ‘stellar’ names but when you are looking for reliable defenders, skilled with the ball at their feet, there aren’t too many better than them.

My midfield selection had several criteria – form, but also the ability to pass and the ability to run with the ball. Anderson’s got an excellent football brain, he can pick a pass, run with the ball, he’s in as good shape as he’s ever been and his form is fantastic. Joe Allen is a fantastic metronome, with top class distribution, and a great ability to run with the ball and take people on. His relative lack of physical strength is more than made up for by this aggressive defending and the extreme physicality of his partners. His recent performances, not up to his previous standard, are explained by his being overworked. Then there’s Alex Tettey. I’ve liked him a lot since I first saw him play for Norway. He’s got great physicality, he distributes the ball simply but effectively and his defensive positioning is top notch.

In attack Van Nistelrooy speaks for himself. Pienaar and Pablo have this season played very well. Both are direct, good with the ball at their feet and have a big work rate. They will have licence to roam, and swap but will be expected to get into the box a lot.
Of course, this isn’t to say my team doesn’t have its weaknesses (Because it does) but I’ll be doing my best to get round them.

I’ll post specific things about the matchup with Eathrin soon.

eugeneious

Eathrin

Really like both times. Very unlucky to have come up against each other. G.K just sneaks this one for me though as I think he has a slightly better balance in midfield. Not much to separate the two teams with though.

eh i dunno

Has to be Eathrin for me. Has 5 players capable of scoring goals. Take RVP out of GK's team and they would struggle for goals. Adams and Jags would look after RVP. Eathrins defence looks stronger to me too

Morzadec

Eathrin

G.K - RVN factor is huge, and he has quality out wide to supply him in both the full backs and the wingers.

GLaDOS

Voted for Eathrin, really solid defence, and think he has enough to nick the goal

IncognitoMan

Eathrin

G.K

Ruud up front is going to be banging in the goals here. Two excellent full backs and wide players to supply the dutch man.

Unlucky Eathrin but the greater fire power has swung this for me

eagle eye

Gotta go with Eathrin and only just. I think GK doesn't deliver the supply for Ruud to do his thing. Very tight game and I think Eathrin sneaks it by a goal.

lordgoat

Eathrin

GK for me, much more balanced team, Eathrin's team has the most unbalanced midfield i've seen. Pienaar and Sagna would run riot against Fabio.

He's also got a much better strike force.

GK 3/4-1.

G.K.

Eathrin

Will first address what Eathrin said.

Eathrin wrote: »

Good luck to G.K. first of all

Thanks.

Eathrin wrote: »

Defence
I feel I have a very solid centre. This is essential against the likes of RVN.
Walker and Fabio offer me excellent defensive options going forward to help out on the wings.
However, I feel Fabio may be slightly vulnerable against top wingers, though I think he'll be able to deal with Pablo handy enough.
Schneiderlin will be on duty to nullify Anderson's playmaker threat.

I think, while you have a good CB pairing, your FB's are not so strong. I don't think Walker's the best defender in the world, so Pablo will give him a hard time with his intelligence. Fabio is out of form and out of the team, as much as I rate the guy. He isn't playing well at the moment and Pienaar/Pablo (Although mostly the former) can give him a lot of trouble.

Eathrin wrote: »

Midfield
As mentioned before, Schneiderlin is in place to add extra cover to the defensive line. Also may be used sparingly in attacks as he has shown he is capable of.
Getting the ball to Lampard will be important. He has a brilliant passing range and can take advantage of Valencia bombing forward or Sigurdsson moving forward in front of him.

You've got two strong players in there. Where I think I have the edge is that Lampard doesn't have the legs that he used to, while all three of my midfielders (Allen and Anderson especially) have excellent movement with the ball.

Eathrin wrote: »

Attack
Gaston is a very dangerous player, though Sagna is a good full back.
The strategy here is to use Gaston and Sigurdsson to attack the relatively vulnerable centre backs, in Caulker's inexperience and Chico's clumsiness.
Valencia will battle it out with Cole on the right wing, one of few players that can match him for pace, using Walker on the overlap.
Gaston and Sigurdsson will frustrate the defensive playing balls through to Ba all day, Ba with his finishing ability, I'd expect to notch a couple goals on his own.

Valencia usually gets the better of Cole, I will freely admit, but at the moment he is in dire form. Walker will be a problem but as long as Pablo keeps to him and we stay compact his influence can be limited.

With Ramirez cutting inside, Sagna can tuck inside more, making the area more congested and giving Ramirez less space to do his thing. If he goes on the outside he's more limited and I would expect Sagna to be the victor there. Fabio, not in good form, can probably be shackeld by Pienaar, and it is important to note that he can't offer extra width because he is right footed. As such, he's need to cut inside too, into an even more congested area, where his usefulness would be curtailed.

Sigurdsson is in shocking form at the moment and Tettey is in imperious form. While Sig would undoubtedly beat him at some points on the night I think it's clear that Tettey would be the victor more often than not.

I think you are being overly critical of my centre backs. Caulker is far from inexperienced, though he isn't the most experienced, while Chico has slotted straight in at Swansea. They would provide Ba with a decent challenge.

G.K.

Eathrin

eh i dunno wrote: »

Has to be Eathrin for me. Has 5 players capable of scoring goals. Take RVP out of GK's team and they would struggle for goals. Adams and Jags would look after RVP. Eathrins defence looks stronger to me too

I want to take issue with this. My players have 6 EPL goals this season, while Eathrin's have 15. 8 of his goals are Ba's, while my centre forward Van Nistelrooy isn't included due to his being a legend (His EPL games-per-goal ratio is 1.58, and if we extrapolate that for 14 games, he would have, on average, 8.87 goals at this point of the season). That leaves the rest of Eathrin's team on 7 goals compared to my 6 - 2 of Lampard's goals were penalties, and my goals are spread out more among the team. Both of my attackers who aren't RVN have scored, but in Eathrin's team, only Ramirez of his AM three has scored. Lampard also won't be moving up towards goal as much, just look at Eathrin's own post.

eagle eye wrote: »

Gotta go with Eathrin and only just. I think GK doesn't deliver the supply for Ruud to do his thing. Very tight game and I think Eathrin sneaks it by a goal.

Let me tell you about my plan of attack. Tettey will drop into the defense to liberate the fullbacks. RVN will be supplied by Pablo & Pienaar, who will be milling about in the box all around him, and also a fullback and one of Anderson or Allen will be considerably forward. Distribution from further back will be handled by Tettey and the other CM, all of whom pass well. All in all, I think RVN should get decent supply.

I ensure to keep 4/5 players back enough to nullify a counterattack, because I recognise that there's a big threat there from Eathrin.

Eathrin

Remember that RVN had better supply than is currently on offer from your team so that goals/game ratio is not quite accurate.

Sagna and Pienaar would give Fabio a hard time, but I think you're over estimating Pienaar's ability.

SirDelboy18

Eathrin

Few issues here.

Eathrin

Players aren't in great form. Walker has been very poor this year and Fabio hasn't impressed. Lampard has barely played and Sigurdsson has been complete cack. Even Valencia has gone to the dogs recently.

In terms of positioning, Ramirez has been effective recently when he has been behind Holt - you have him pushed out a bit to the left where I'm not sure he can be as effective.

I simply don't like the fact the midfield has been in poor form or not playing. So while the wings should help you penetrate, with Valencia playing like he is right now I don't think they will.

Obviously Ba is good up front, and Adams and Jag is a good partnership - and Adams should be able to get a performance out of some who have been poor just by his influence and leadership. Schwarzer is solid though and that helps

G.K

I have to agree that most of his team is in good form. One of, if not the best full back pairing in the league and I rate Caulker extremely highly. Chico has been solid with Swansea too.

Andersons inability to play an entire game, or his lack of games could cause problems. Too few starts in recent years and I think that could be a worry. Tettey has been playing reasonably well and Joe Allen has been Liverpool's best CM. That being said I think Anderson could end up having to make something happen centrally down the line and that could pose problems.

Out wide the wingers have been playing well. Pienaar is intelligent and Pablo has been very tricky - although I think there is a huge burden on RVN to get goals. Of course he can, he was immense - but United did have far better players supplying him and he also had Scholes playing him in centrally.

Game

Out wide G.K will do very very well against Eathrin and that will make the difference here. I can't see any way that Cole/Sagna/Pablo/Pienaar can be stopped by the out of form Fabio and Walker. Valencia does do well against Cole - so perhaps we could see him play better than he has recently, but it's a gamble. Adams and Jag can only do so much though.

Eathrin has too many players out of form for me, and that is something that I strongly feel should be taken into consideration - instead of seeing a collection of names and judging them on their reputation or what they have done 1/2 seasons ago. I'm taking this on the basis that the match would be tomorrow in all cases.

Anyway - G.K should take this relatively comfortably I'd think. 2-0 with him enjoying the most of the play.

eagle eye

G.K. wrote: »

Let me tell you about my plan of attack. Tettey will drop into the defense to liberate the fullbacks. RVN will be supplied by Pablo & Pienaar, who will be milling about in the box all around him, and also a fullback and one of Anderson or Allen will be considerably forward. Distribution from further back will be handled by Tettey and the other CM, all of whom pass well. All in all, I think RVN should get decent supply.

I ensure to keep 4/5 players back enough to nullify a counterattack, because I recognise that there's a big threat there from Eathrin.

If Cole is getting forward then you are in big trouble every time an attack breaks down because Valencia will destroy you.

I'm not at all gone on Tettey and I think he was a very poor pick.

Anderson is a very in and out performer and has more bad days than good. He has only had 24 starts in two and a half seasons which means for me that his current ability is pretty poor.

I really think you are going to get badly beaten in midfield and its why I don't think you are going to supply Ruud because I don't think there is very much ball getting through to him. I see Pienaar and Pablo getting dragged into the middle where you are very weak imo. I think that if you get those full backs forward you are getting destroyed on the counter too often.

And just on Sagna, he has missed a lot of games over the last season and a half and for me I've thought that he has lost a step and doesn't look the same player he was.

bucketybuck

Eathrin

I think I am not really a fan of either team. To be honest I look at a few of the players and think, "Him? There was nobody better left then him?".

Anyway, I am giving this to GK simply because my impression of Eathrin's team is that it is terribly disjointed. From midfield forward I don't think they would gel at all, you would have six players doing their own thing and wondering where it went wrong.

I think GK is vastly over-rating his midfield central three, but his team has better balance which should give them the win.

Jax Teller

Eathrin

GK for me there's just too many out of form/favour players in eathrin's team.

Chucky the tree

Eathrin

GK for me. I think his midfield would control things quite easily and this would allow his team create plenty of chances.

Bounty Hunter

Eathrin

GK for me, his center midfield seems a little stronger to me and with RVN upfront the extra possession might just end up in goals

Knex*

Eathrin

G.K for me. His attack is quality and RVN in his prime being fed by Hernandez and Pienaar is a frightening prospect.

Granted, Eathrin has a good defence, Fabio aside, but I think its lack protection from a weak midfield. Also, Fabio will get very little support of Ramirez in that role and I think ultimately this is where Eathrin's team fails.

G.K.

Eathrin

Eathrin wrote: »

Remember that RVN had better supply than is currently on offer from your team so that goals/game ratio is not quite accurate.

That's a very fair point, but you can't deny he's a more prolific goalscorer than Ba.

Eathrin wrote: »

Sagna and Pienaar would give Fabio a hard time, but I think you're over estimating Pienaar's ability.

I may well be, but at this moment in time, considering the form of the players involved, Fabio will be in for a kicking imo.

eagle eye wrote: »

If Cole is getting forward then you are in big trouble every time an attack breaks down because Valencia will destroy you.

Cole doesn't have to go forward, but Valencia, it must be noted, is playing as bad as he ever did for MUFC at the moment. That has to be a factor.

eagle eye wrote: »

I'm not at all gone on Tettey and I think he was a very poor pick.

Fair enough. We'll agree to disagree. Playing damn well at the moment though - since he came into the starting XI Norwich have lost only one game out of nine - the first one he started in too, when he still was adapting. In those 8 wins/draws, they've only conceded 4 goals.

eagle eye wrote: »

Anderson is a very in and out performer and has more bad days than good. He has only had 24 starts in two and a half seasons which means for me that his current ability is pretty poor.

In this season, he's been excelllent. There is the issue, as delboy pointed out, of him lasting the whole game but I'm hoping we'd have the game won before that.

eagle eye wrote: »

I really think you are going to get badly beaten in midfield and its why I don't think you are going to supply Ruud because I don't think there is very much ball getting through to him. I see Pienaar and Pablo getting dragged into the middle where you are very weak imo. I think that if you get those full backs forward you are getting destroyed on the counter too often.

I'm afraid it'll have to be agree to disagree again, on the midfield. I know where you stand and you know where I stand.

eagle eye wrote: »

And just on Sagna, he has missed a lot of games over the last season and a half and for me I've thought that he has lost a step and doesn't look the same player he was.

I agree he's come back worse from his injury but considering the calibre he was at before, he's still a good RB and better than most of the others drafted.

eagle eye

G.K. wrote: »

In this season, he's been excelllent. There is the issue, as delboy pointed out, of him lasting the whole game but I'm hoping we'd have the game won before that.

It seems to be all 'agree to disagree' with you but on this one I'm afraid there is none of that. Anderson has only started twice in the EPL for United. He has 6 sub appearances for a total of 272 minutes played this season which is basically 3 full games to this point including his starts.

G.K.

Eathrin

I'd say to that ask the United fans how he's played when he has played, which is the more important thing.

That SAF has been making mistake after mistake with the CM selection this season is not Anderson's fault. The United fans have for weeks been calling on him to start games.

Blatter

Congrats to G.K. who wins by a few. Unlucky Eathrin.