Draft Knockout match 3: Moneymaker vs Blatter

Bounty Hunter

First off both Moneymaker & Blatter will get to reply showing us their teams and tactics for this fixture. Only after that will a poll be added for voting purposes. Please if you aren't competing here don't post until their have done their write ups too

You are to vote on which team you think would win in a straight Vs match up. What constitutes a team more likely to win is totaly up to each voters own discretion but perhaps you can be swayed by either posters write ups especially if you are not 100% familiar with a player in their team because after all any player from any era was eligible to be drafted in this draft so nobody is expected to recognize nor rate every single name.

In previous drafts only those taking part had their votes counted when cast...This is not the case this time, all votes from boards.ie posters will be counted once the polls are added. However in the case of a tied vote only those votes from people who explained why they voted in such a way on thread will count.

people dont have to agree with each others opinions and the draftee's are bound to defend their teams chances but lets try and not go round in circles arguing people and try and keep it civil. Once the two draftees have posted their sides and the write ups to go with them I (or another mod)will add the Polls and 48hrs for voting will begin.

Good luck fellas and have at it!

Blatter

First of all best of luck to Moneymaker, I think it's fair to say he's picked an excellent team.

Anyway, my side:



van der Sar: Not much needs to be said about him, everyone will know about him. Just an incredibly consistent goalkeeper with no real weaknesses.

Ashley Cole: The best left back in the world for as number of years in his prime. Quick, solid defender and very good going forward. He'll help give the team more natural width.

Thiago Silva: Again, most people would be aware of him today. IMO the best defender in the world over the last couple of years. Strong, fast, good in the air, intelligent and superb with the ball at his feet.

Paul McGrath: Ian Rush once said ''People talk about the lack of goals I scored against Man Utd and the reason for that was Paul McGrath, he was just too good.'' That's everything you need to know about the man.

Denis Irwin: As solid as a rock and two great feet. An outstanding fullback that is equally comfortable on either side.

Fernando Redondo: Excellent passer with incredible vision and very good in the tackle. His sense of positioning was as good as it comes. Deceptively quick and strong.

Johan Neeskens: One of the all time great central midfield players. His role in the great Dutch team of the 70s is very much appreciated. He is well regarded as a complete CM player, great both defensively and offensively. Miguel Delaney of the Independent rates him as the 19th greatest ever player.

Zidane: Three time world player of the year, he was just a magician. Not much needs to be said as most will know all about him.

Rivaldo: Apart from a right foot, Rivaldo had everything. His wiry strength allowed him to bounce off defenders, he was an outstanding dribbler, and he had a left foot that was both educated and thuggish, subtle and a sledgehammer.

Dennis Bergkamp: Think Dimitar Berbatov but just an awful lot better. A brilliant link up player and had one of the deftest touches the footballing world has ever seen.

Radamel Falcao: One of the greatest finishers I've ever seen. As most will know, he can score from almost any position and no matter how difficult it seems. One of the most prolific number 9s in the world over the last few years.




An overview: All of my defence has great technical ability and it is quite pacey overall, so this will enable them to play a high line. Irwin and Cole will provide good width.

Zidane will drift in from the left and be the instigator of the team. Rivaldo will mostly cut inside to use his wand of a left foot. Neeskens and Redondo will both provide very good protection to the back 4 as well as giving excellent supply to Zidane/Bergkamp/Rivaldo.

Bergkamp will link up with all those around him and run in behind Falcao on the odd occasion. Falcao himself will absolutely thrive on all the service as well as being able to link up very well himself.

Bounty Hunter

waited extra long before adding the poll to this one, hopefully Moneymaker can still get his write up done soon though so as to give him a chance in this vote but anyway tis open now.

Moneymaker

Sorry the delay, mental few days in work.

First off, best of luck Blatter.

Here goes;

Team:



Chilavert: Arguably the best keeper ever to come out of S.America
Alves: Has attacked to great effect for almost 10 years now with Sevilla and Barca. He can defend very well too.
Ayala: Best CB Valencia have ever had and one of the best La Liga has ever seen.
Puyol: Lion of a man. He's been Barca and Spains leader while they've won every trophy possible.
Evra: As good as any LB in his pomp.
Makelele: It's called 'the Makelele role' for a reason. Nuff said.
Busquets: Outstanding. He is so good at filling spaces and protecting his defence. Great positional awareness and reading of the game. He can play too.
Xavi: Arguably the best Spanish player ever and a contender for best midfielder to ever play the game.
Di Stefano: Crown jewel of the most successful club team ever. 484 goals in 660 games.
Stoichkov: Greatest Bulgarian player of all time and has legendary status in Barcelona. This guy had pace unrivaled even by todays standards.
Batistuta: One of the finest strikers i've ever seen. I used to grow up watching Serie A on Sunday and this guy made a mockery out of some of the best defenders to ever come out of Italy every week.

I don't need to say much about this side. We all know who they are and what they're capable of. Two of the best full backs and centre halves of recent times, 2 legendary midfielders and one of the most lethal attacks of the entire draft imo, with a combined total of 1098 goals.

I'll be honest though, looking through the teams before the draw, Blatter has one of the sides I was looking to avoid, his side is truly formidable. Can my side win? Absolutely. Here's how;

Tactics:

So let's look at Blatters side; Two excellent fullbacks, a legendary centre half and one of the best centre halves around today. His midfield is glorious, Redondo was one of my favourite players as kid and well the rest of the team speaks for itself. However his selection and formation will cause him problems against my side.

Alves and Evra are going to be encouraged to attack as much as possible, Cole and Irwin will be pinned back as they will get minimal protection from the players ahead of them. Without them overlapping, his team has no natural width. Bergkamp, Rivaldo and Zidane will all be occupying similar positions, this makes them perfect for Makelele and Busquets to shackle. The middle of the pitch will be congested and this plays into my hands perfectly. I'm going to have a lot more space on the attack then Blatter will. There's no way with the sheer amount of firepower at my disposal his defence can keep them all out. My defence will have much better protection and Falcao even at his red hot best has been totally anonymous anytime he's come up against Puyol. And that's a Puyol past his prime. With Ayala beside him, I can't see Falcao getting any change whatsoever.

Basically, my side will have more space to attack and with more goals in my side, I believe I have a narrow advantage in the end.

Oranage2

I vote for MM, I think his team has better balance, his team has a lot of attacking options like a player on the wing with pace to get in behind.

Blatters teams has a lot of number 'tens' too many in my opinion and with Mm having mak and busquets I don't think they'll get much change,
lucky though as MM's defense is very weak at best players to have played the game level.

redzerdrog

one of the most difficult games to judge i cant make my mind up yet

ITT-Pat

Moneymaker for me. There's barely anything between the two defences, with Moneymaker's defence having the edge going foward, and Blatter's having an edge at defending. Moneymaker has come in for a bit of flak fr having Makelele and Busquets in the same team, but I think it will work out wonderfully for him here as it will go a long way in stifling Zidane, Rivaldo and Bergkamp. Also, Moneymaker's front three is delicious, especially with Xavi supplying them.

I am pie

I actually though Blatter's defence a little weaker, I don't believe Mcgrath played against the cream of the crop regularly enough to be considered an international great. Ferguson didn't fancy him either and moved him on to build his all conquering side. We love him in Ireland but he is wasn't at the level we think he is. I also would take Evra over Irwin.

Still can't decide tho.

Ferris_Bueller

Even though I think Blatter has the better team, in this particular match up I think Moneymaker comes out the winner. Blatter has excellent players on his team but think he will be very narrow with the amount of central attacking midfielders he has, this could work against some teams, but it plays into MMs hands due to him having two brilliant defensive midfield players in his team. Was probably the tightest game of the round so far IMO.

Winston Payne

The tightest match to call of the first round. I've gone for Moneymaker. I feel that his midfield has just enough to eke out an advantage in that area. I worry a little about Neeskens chasing the ball and leaving space in behind him. Makelele and Busquets will form a slightly more solid unit and Xavi will link with his midfield better than Bergkamp will. I also feel that Stoichkov means width for Moneymaker that Blatter lacks, Moneymaker's attacks will have a more balanced distribution. Both sets of full backs are evenly matched so any slight advantage in a wider area is pivotal.

Blatter's array of creative talent is formidable but Moneymaker has solid protection so while he likely won't keep a clean sheet he won't concede a huge amount of chances either, with Batistuta well served by a creative presence near him and crossing service from wide. 2-1 to Moneymaker.

Morzadec

Both have great teams unlucky to face each other at this early stage, but with one glaring weakness in each teamimo.

Moneymaker's weakness is having both Makelele and Busquests stepping on each other's toes. I've never seen Xavi play as the '1' as part of a '2-1' centre-midfield. De Stefano will have to drift central a lot to help out building moves.

Blatter's weakness imo is Falcao. This is a player I have seen a lot of and who I would just not quite class a legend in terms of either ability or achievements. He hasn't played a WC or a CL and his first touch can often be poor. I think Ayala and Puyol would easily have the beating of him.

Evra could be seen as a slight weakness in MM's team, but with a left-footed Rivaldo on the right and Dennis Irwin as the attacking full-back I think MM would have this threat negated.

Blatter has a wonderful midfield and I believe it would control the ball more. But the possible downfall for Blatter's team is that it does not have as much potency, and MM's team is well set up against central attacks.

I think that MM's team has much more cutting edge and firepower, and while they may not dominate they will have more about them in the final third, so I'll go for a narrow MM win.

G.K.

Morzadec wrote: »

Both have great teams unlucky to face each other at this early stage, but with one glaring weakness in each teamimo.

Moneymaker's weakness is having both Makelele and Busquests stepping on each other's toes. I've never seen Xavi play as the '1' as part of a '2-1' centre-midfield. De Stefano will have to drift central a lot to help out building moves.

Blatter's weakness imo is Falcao. This is a player I have seen a lot of and who I would just not quite class a legend in terms of either ability or achievements. He hasn't played a WC or a CL and his first touch can often be poor. I think Ayala and Puyol would easily have the beating of him.

Evra could be seen as a slight weakness in MM's team, but with a left-footed Rivaldo on the right and Dennis Irwin as the attacking full-back I think MM would have this threat negated.

Blatter has a wonderful midfield and I believe it would control the ball more. But the possible downfall for Blatter's team is that it does not have as much potency, and MM's team is well set up against central attacks.

I think that MM's team has much more cutting edge and firepower, and while they may not dominate they will have more about them in the final third, so I'll go for a narrow MM win.

Does it for Spain.

Moneymaker

Morzadec wrote: »

Both have great teams unlucky to face each other at this early stage, but with one glaring weakness in each teamimo.

Moneymaker's weakness is having both Makelele and Busquests stepping on each other's toes. I've never seen Xavi play as the '1' as part of a '2-1' centre-midfield. De Stefano will have to drift central a lot to help out building moves.

Blatter's weakness imo is Falcao. This is a player I have seen a lot of and who I would just not quite class a legend in terms of either ability or achievements. He hasn't played a WC or a CL and his first touch can often be poor. I think Ayala and Puyol would easily have the beating of him.

Evra could be seen as a slight weakness in MM's team, but with a left-footed Rivaldo on the right and Dennis Irwin as the attacking full-back I think MM would have this threat negated.

Blatter has a wonderful midfield and I believe it would control the ball more. But the possible downfall for Blatter's team is that it does not have as much potency, and MM's team is well set up against central attacks.

I think that MM's team has much more cutting edge and firepower, and while they may not dominate they will have more about them in the final third, so I'll go for a narrow MM win.

He plays there for Spain with Alonso and Busquets behind him and has played there for Barcelona many times, during the 11/12 season he scored 15 goals from that position with Busquets and Thiago as the '2'. He was often the most advanced player actually as Messi loves to drop deep and attack from there.

Morzadec

G.K. wrote: »

Does it for Spain.

As in:

Busquets---Alonso

---

Xavi

---

YEah fair enough, but Alonso is mobile and versatile enough to come forward and make it a kind of 1-2 if needs be, whereas Busquests and Makelele are holding players and really nothing else. They would both be sitting. Perhaps Busquests has the ability and intelligence to move forward, Makelele certainly not.

I do still believe there is a slight problem with the balance in that midfield, with 2 immobile players, 2 'sitting' specialists in the same team.

Moneymaker

Morzadec wrote: »

As in:

Busquets---Alonso

---

Xavi

---

YEah fair enough, but Alonso is mobile and versatile enough to come forward and make it a kind of 1-2 if needs be, whereas Busquests and Makelele are holding players and really nothing else. They would both be sitting. Perhaps Busquests has the ability and intelligence to move forward, Makelele certainly not.

I do still believe there is a slight problem with the balance in that midfield, with 2 immobile players, 2 'sitting' specialists in the same team.

Alonso is not mobile at all. I'd say his biggest weakness is his lack of pace and he's been exposed in high profile games for that lack of mobility before. The 5-0 defeat at the Nou Camp and the defeat away to Dortmund this season are standout examples. He couldn't live with the pace of Messi/Iniesta/Xavi and Gotze/Reus

But that's neither here nor there when it comes to this particular matchup.

Fact is Xavi will have 3 mobile and quick attackers and 2 pacy attacking fullbacks all moving and benefiting from his pinpoint passing.

There's far more to Busquets then a simple defensive midfielder too. The guy is a tremendous footballer and anyone who watches Barcelona and Spain regularly will agree he's a massive part of both sides;

Morte

Another vote for Moneymaker. Makelele and Busquets should be overkill but it's perfect for here against three players who all like to operate in the same zone. Plus Moneymaker's width is much better. Alves and Irwin are both supposed to provide width but there's no contest here. On the other flank Stoitchkov will keep Cole penned back and Evra is also great at getting forward.

Commisserations to Blatter who was unlucky enough to meet a team which could have been hand picked to play against his in the first round.

G.K.

These games will be won by the narrowest of narrow margins, and I'm afraid it's going to be the flanks that win it for Moneymaker, and even that will be incredibly close. Two excellent teams all in all, and no matchup could be closer.

Liam O

Blatter has a wonderful defense imo. Playing at their peak as is the criteria here I think they have the perfect balance. His attack in this matchup however would not be great in breaking down MM's weaknesses. Very tough to call but I feel with the two wing backs not being the greatest defenders for MM that Zidane and Rivaldo would adapt to take control of the game.

IncognitoMan

Such tight margins. But I'm going for blatter. The midfield duo of makelele and busquets has poor balance to it. Mak with xavi and a goal scoring midfielder and I may have been going for him. Tiny margins though

Blatter for me

bucketybuck

My random thoughts as I look at the teams.

Moneymaker:
- There were better picks available than Chilavert.
- Puyol may be a legend, but thats due to popularity, he wasn't the best defender imo.
- Ayala was also a good defender, but there were many better. Its a good central defensive unit, but is it better than some of the other teams?
- Makelele and Busquets is a waste of a pick. Must be the only legendary player that needed help in their position. Should have picked another midfielder to play ahead of Xavi.


Blatter:
- This is a legends game. Irwin might be able to do a fine job on the right for his club, but he needs to be at his very best in these games, and the fact is that he spent 90% of his career playing on the left. He is out of position and he has to mark Stoichkov, he can't afford time to get used to playing on the opposite side again.
- Paul McGrath gets an Irish bonus I guess. As somebody else said, the true legends like Baresi, Maldini or Breitner would never have been turfed out by Fergie, he would have kept them no matter what.
- The midfield pairing is yummy. I want it.
- Where is the width from deep? Another team using their fullbacks as attacking weapons, an insane plan with the type of attacking quality they are leaving space behind for.
- Zidane/Rivaldo/Bergkamp. Three great players, but you didn't need all three. Should have picked a winger ahead of Bergkamp, left Zidane and Rivaldo free roles ahead of him.
- Falcao is never a legend, but these teams only need somebody to stick the ball in the net, who the striker is hardly matters.


In my opinion, both these teams could be 20% better if they had made one change in the draft. Swap Busquets and Bergkamp out for a top quality midfielder and these teams would look a lot more dangerous. I think Blatter has the better team, but Moneymaker would win this particular game, so that has to be my vote.

Bounty Hunter

The vote in this game is very tight folks, even 1 or 2 votes either way could make a huge difference... aka Bump

Personally I went with Moneymaker, think his CBs arent the greatest nor is his GK and having two similar DMs could hurt him (later in the draft) but if anything he now plays a team who more than any other could suit having two such players whilst his attack which is top notch gives him the advantage in a very tight contest imo. If that he will get enough for an overall win though, who knows

dfx-

Blatter for me. Either Busquets or Makelele will get in each other's way, they're not especially versatile. Blatter has the team to exploit this confusion through the middle more than most. Busquets has the technique to interchange with Xavi going forward.

The vote is very tight...

Bounty Hunter

by 1 solitary Vote Blatter has sealed his place as the 4th quarter finalist, hard luck Moneymaker couldnt have been much close

Moneymaker

8-3 for me in people who actually posted, yet I lose.

Bull**** voting system is bull****.

Blatter

Jaysus was not expecting this, I had almost given up hope after the amount of people on thread that sided with MM. Thought the replies on thread would have been closer but I suppose most did say it was very close to call. I'm lucky enough that the voting rules changed for this.

Hard luck MM.

Quazzie

Moneymaker wrote: »

8-3 for me in people who actually posted, yet I lose.

Bull**** voting system is bull****.

No offense mate but you sound like a sore loser with posts like that.

Donnielighto

Quazzie wrote: »

No offense mate but you sound like a sore loser with posts like that.

Hardly anyone who read the cments would seen a single result.