CeilingVitaly-Shane v mrwatfordfc 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).
And a formation clash..which makes it easier to see that hardly any of CV/Shane's team would get in mine.
You'll have to explain that one to me then. Buffon > Casillas - Buffon remains one of the best keepers around, Casillas never plays and is rapidly becoming a laughing stock when he does. Juanfran > Rafael - Best RB in Europe last season vs a perma-crock who can't defend. Chiellini > Luiz - Can't dispute this. Albiol > Martinez - Martinez is promising but isn't as good as Albiol. Fixture at CB for the third best defence in Italy and nearly 50 caps for Spain. Alba > Schmelzer - Schmelzer is better defensively but I'll give it to Alba who is much better going forward. Matuidi > Sahin - No explanation needed. Toure > Marchisio - Definitely no explanation needed. Robben > Shaqiri - No explanation needed. Valbuena > Sneijder - Wouldn't have been a debate even 3-4 years ago but Sneijder is now a complete shadow of his former self. Sterling > Oscar (on the left) - Oscar is out of position. Dzeko > Negredo - Dzeko scores more goals, all round play is better, you wanted him in the draft but were outbid so had to settle for Negredo. Your midfield is incredibly lightweight and would be eaten alive by Matuidi and Toure. Marchisio is too deep and Oscar never plays on the left. Sneijder is about five years past his best and Shaqiri barely plays for his club. Neither of your full backs are great defensively and would struggle against the trickery of Robben and Sterling (as they have done before). Martinez would struggle against the aerial ability of Dzeko, Martinez isn't even 6ft while Dzeko is 6'4 and phenomenal aerially. This contrasts to Negredo whose main weapon is his physical presence..but Luiz and Albiol are both beasts as well and would have no problem dealing with him.
I'd like an explanation as to how Matuidi is better than Sahin. He was the hub of a very young team winning a much more challenging title than P$G's. Also Oscar was Brazil's second best player at the world cup playing on the left, so I'm not sure about your assertion that he's out of position. He'll move about plenty anyway since our AM 3 are very flexible. I fancied Negredo above Dzeko tbh, but his recent drought has masked the fact that he's a better player so we bid for Dzeko initially because we knew Negredo's drought would be in people's minds. I dunno how you can say Dzeko's all-round play is better, he has the touch of a rapist. Sneijder has been very productive in Turkey, and would probably still be at Inter if not for the contract hoo-ha . Let's not forget the links with Man United before he moved too. He was integral in the 3rd place side in the World Cup too.
On first look mrwatford's team is better overall but CV/Shane have a better defence. Still, I don't know how I'm gonna vote on this one cos there's no one in mrwatford's defence to carry Sideshow Bob. A disaster waiting to happen. 50/50 for me atm.
That was a long time ago now. Since then he's flopped at Real Madrid and Liverpool. He isn't good enough defensively to be playing that position without someone to do the tackling for him a la Sven Bender. Marchisio is too attacking to be playing that role, he's another one who isn't first choice for his club as well. Oscar was not Brazil's second best player at the World Cup, he was good in the first game but did nothing else the remainder of the tournament. I don't agree that the 3 are flexible, when do you ever see Sneijder moving out wide? Of course you did . Every name under the sun has been linked with Manchester United, he hasn't exactly been linked heavily either. He'd only still be at Inter because they are shit at the moment and have no one better. I disagree that he was integral, he was one of the poorer Dutch players in the World Cup. If you want an integral Dutch player you only have to look at my right winger.
Yeah, not a huge fan of Albiol either. On the other hand Buffon is clearly better than Casillas at this point. Midfield and attack definitely go to mrwatfordfc.
Raul Albiol? Luiz has shockers every now and then but generally its only when he faces top quality attacking players. He's won everything there is possible to win in club football at 27 years old. Midfield is where games are generally won and lost and Matuidi and Toure vs their midfield would be an annihilation.
Ah yeah, talking of disasters waiting to happen he's another so I guess both teams have their liabilities. I don't think he's that good mate tbh but I like your pace on the wings & central midfield, a bit of everything there.
What? Marchisio is box to box. Him and Sahin are perfect together. Also I'm sure Marchisio will have something to say about being 'lite weight'. He's hard in the tackle. I also don't care what Casillas done at the World Cup. He was let down by the shambles of a defence infront of him tbh and this draft was about winning next years CL. Not sure if you remember but Casillas captained rm to CL glory last season with some outstanding performances so I'll take him. When fit Negredo>>>>Dzeko. Said it last season. Injury ruin his season last year. Dzeko can score a lot of poachers goals and he does it well but to say his all round game is better than negredos is pretty laughable. Some of negredos touches were sublime last year and Dzeko couldn't beat a corpse let alone Giorgio Cheillini. Also, snieder moves out wide all the time and played there for holland. Oscar is very affective on the left or in the hole as is Wesley. Rafael spent a lot of time injured last season yes but the season before he was easily th pl best RB and statistically one of Europes best so I'm happy with him. You've also put sterling above Oscar? Lol. Oscar pulls strings. Like I said, I'd probably take 3 of yours at most.
Marchisio and Sahin are lightweight compared to Matuidi and Toure. Marchisio can't even get in the Juventus side these days and Sahin couldn't get in a Liverpool side that finished 7th in the league. I remember Casillas captaining Madrid to the CL and I also remember his calamity in the final that almost cost them the tournament. He is a joke these days. Why did you bid for Dzeko over Negredo then if he's so much worse? Don't give me the rubbish about Negredo's drought being fresh in people's minds Sneijder did not play on the left for Holland. He is too slow to play there. Rafael the best RB in the Prem?! give me strength. Juanfran is 10x the player. Oscar's out of position, he never plays on the left so that's why Sterling is better there. You can't put square pegs in round holes, it ruins the balance of the team.
He'd won the lot at club level by the time he was 26. Laurent Blanc knew a thing or two about defending and he made Luiz the most expensive defender of all time. One awful game and suddenly he's one of the worst CBs ever to play for a top team?! No one would have said that pre-Brazil vs Germany. No one would have said that when he was keeping out a dominant Bayern in the CL final in 2012.
He won the Champions League, Europa League, Portuguese League, FA Cup and Confederations Cup playing as a centre back.
