David-tottivillarossi v prolifik You have until Friday 10pm 01/08/2014 to make any changes to your line-up/tactics. I will then add a poll to begin the voting (open for 48 hours).
Is the voting hidden or are the results shown? I know we can't vote our own games. Is there any type of discussion or anything for a game thread?
David/TVR subs: Mandanda, Ivanović, Valero, de Bruyne, Kruse Prolifik subs: López, Matip, Motta, Hernanes, Giroud
Very tough to call and could go either way. I do think however that if I had to pick a winner, it would be prolifik. His wingers will create chances and I think he'll score from one of these. I vote for prolifik
I voted draw. Genuinely couldn't pick between them. Ronaldo might have been the difference, but then I was not convinced by Tevez as a target man. I think that david/totti would dominate the midfield with more physical players but that prolifik's CBs are better. So I couldn't pick between them! PG's Score 2-2
Just to point out, Tevez isn't supposed to be a conventional target man. His movement and work-rate is what makes him a good complement for Ronaldo IMO (similar to Benzema for example). I have Giroud to offer that option on the bench.
lol tvr you've been writing essays in our thread yet neglected your own team! I'm a big fan of both teams. David/tvr's team had the slight edge with their impressive central triangle but Giroud came on & scored a late headed equalizer.
David-tottivillarossi v prolifik Key Battles Central midfield axis balance (David-tottivillarossi WINS) The exploitation of pace (prolifik WINS) The movement of the ball (changes of tempo) (prolifik WINS) Physical match-ups during quick transitions (David-tottivillarossi WINS) Prediction 1-1 (Lewandowski - Ronaldo)
The only area I'm even remotely concerned about for Prolifik's team is Ronaldo. Other than that, I think we have the beating of him. We'd be defending deep, restricting the space in behind us and our midfield would be deep so there would be little space between the lines. We could drop Busquets deeper and put Matic and Fabregas ahead of him to form a more solid midfield three and play with three up top. Between them, Busquets and Pepe would have Piszczek with Ronaldo. If Pepe was to move over to that side, Busquets is intelligent enough to step into his position; if Busquets moved over, Pepe and Castan would step out if they needed to. Turan puts in a good defensive shift, so this would allow us to leave Lewandowski and Cerci higher up the pitch for counter attacks. If Prolifik is pressing high up the pitch, we'd defend in numbers and pick him off on the counter. If he's defending deep, Matic, Fabregas, Busquets, Cerci and Turan would have too much guile between them for him to keep us out. Lewandowski and Cerci are both deadly finishers and would only need a half chance. Tevez is a good player, but Pepe and Castan would have enough to handle him. He wouldn't provide any aerial threat or any danger in behind, and Busquets is far too solid defensively to allow him any time on the ball if he comes deeper. Aubameyang is a speed merchant and little else. If we're defending deep, what does he really offer? Silva and Moutinho are quality players, but I'd still fancy Matic and Busquets to have the beating of them. There's little between our full backs. Alaba is better than Rojo, but I don't think Sagna is all that and certainly not superior to Piszczek. Fabregas is one of the most crafty midfielders around. Schneiderlin is good, but not good enough to keep him quiet for the whole game. Vidic and Hummels are both great penalty box defenders and good at stepping out, but they are both incredibly liable to anything in behind them. With the pace of Cerci, Lewandowski and Turan, and Fabregas and Matic feeding balls through to them, I think they would get caught out at least once and once is all it takes for Lewa and Cerci to score. If we needed to see the game out, we could bring off Turan for Valero and switch to our alternative formation: His left side is deadly. We probably wouldn't keep Ronaldo out for the whole 90, but I think our pace on the break and quick transitions would prove too effective in the end. Matic is brilliant at breaking up play, beating the first man and then launching a counter with a pass. He'd be the MOTM. 2-1 to us. Lewadowski, Cerci; Ronaldo
Don't think this would be a very high-scoring affair. My attack is set up to hit teams on the break and my centre-backs aren't exactly rapid, so both teams would be sitting deep. Lewandowski is mainly a penalty-box player like Vidic and Hummels so that threat is mitigated somewhat. Turan and Cerci are both very clever players but aren't that pacey (Turan specifically - Cerci is quicker but Alaba is no slouch himself) so I'd like to think that Sagna and Alaba could handle them without disrupting the team shape too much. Busquets and Matic I'd leave to their own devices - both very neat distributors of the ball but neither one of them is going to unlock a deep-lying defence. The key would be containing Fabregas, so Moutinho might have to drop back and help Schneiderlin here. I really like my chances with Ronaldo and Alaba teaming up against Piszczek. This one would probably be decided by a quick counter and I think my front 3 (with Silva and Moutinho capable of springing them) is more threatening in this regard. Could go either way though, I really like TVR's team.
