Hi guys, when you have drafted your team, post your line-up and tactics in this thread. You can create a formation using www.footballuser.com/post, www.this11.com/boards/editor or www.sharemytactics.com. Please do not discuss the line-ups in this thread.
Bench Greizmann Kramer Van Buyten Uchida Boruc 4-2-1-3 formation with a very solid defense. Lloris is one of the best goalkeepers in the world with extremely good decision making and quick thinking Subotic and Laporte will make a solid partnership with Subotic being the more experienced player. Laporte is one of the best defenders in La Liga, probably the best under 23. Bilbao's defensive record of only 39 goals conceded compared to the previous seasons 65 goals conceded is no coincidence as Laporte played his first full season last year. De Sciglio is a bright young full back playing for AC Milan. He was on the Serie A team of the year in his first full season at the club. He is also comfortable playing at left back. Vertonghen needs no introduction. He is sought after by Barcelona as the successor of Puyol and is comfortable playing at Center Back or Left Back. De Rossi is an extremely important member of the team, there are few better midfield destroyers playing right now and if the players in front of him lose possession of the ball it'll be up to him to regain it. Modric is the playmaker of the team and is arguably the most important member of my team. He makes the team tick, he won't get as many goals or assists as the others in front of him but he will pull the strings and is the heartbeat of the team. Mata is the Central attacking mid, Mata and Modric will make a very dangerous partnership. He will drift out to the left occasionally swapping positions with Isco. Muller brings danger from the wings but can comfortably play the false 9 role should Falcao come off. Falcao is probably the best out and out center forward playing right now, he will get a lot of goals with the team behind him. On the bench I have Boruc as back up keeper. 13 clean sheets last season is pretty good and he was an integral part of the team when the Saints went on their fantastic defensive run. Uchida is a great back up defender, Bundesliga team of the season 12-13 too. Van Buyten is another excellent back up option, he brings bags of experience and is a Champions League winner. His performances at the world cup indicate he still has plenty to offer. Kramer is a one for the future, when Schweinstieger finally takes a step back from the national team this lad will probably take his place. Greizmann is a dangerous player from the bench, Very creative with bags of speed. I can also put this team out for more defensive games Greizmann Falcao Muller Modric De Rossi Kramer Vertonghen Laporte Subotic De Scgilio Lloris Hit teams on the break
FORMATION 4-2-3-1 Sergio AGÜERO Marco REUS - - - - - James RODRÍGUEZ - - - - Ángel DI MARÍA Arturo VIDAL - - - - - - - - - TIAGO Leighton BAINES - - - - - - - DANTE - - - - - - - - - - ALEX - - - - - - - - Daniel CARVAJAL Roman WEIDENFELLER Substitutes Christian ABBIATI - - - - Carlos GURPEGI - - - - - XAVI Hernández- - - - - Tomáš ROSICKÝ- - - - - Claudio PIZARRO TACTICS The lethal counter-attacking axis of doom Marco Reus, James Rodríguez and Ángel di María complete a lethal creative/attacking trio. Marco Reus had an explosive season last season scoring 21 goals and 15 assists. He is an inverted winger who will cut in to his right foot set-up one of his teammates or score for fun. James Rodríguez is the world's most exciting #10 on the planet. James was the best player at the World Cup, winning the Golden Boot too. James was prolific with AS Monaco last season with 15 goals and 14 assists. Rodríguez then completed his €80 million move to Real Madrid - he now has the world at his feet. Ángel di María is one of my favourite clutch performers. Last season (including both La Liga, Champions League and Argentina) di María scored 9 goals and made a staggering 22 assists, his mazy runs and left foot is deadly. Sergio Agüero will be rubbing his hands to have such 3 magnificent footballers behind him. Agüero is one of the most clinical strikers I've seen. His strength, potent finishing, speed and knack for scoring an important goal at the needed time is legendary. My counter-attacking quartet has bags of pace, power, skill, goals and assists - each of them are a game-winner, and more importantly they all work hard for the team, pressing from the front. The weapons of mass destruction My midfield pivot is Arturo Vidal and Tiago. They will supply the platform and for my Reus-James-di María-Agüero to attack with freedom, and provide protection for my back four. Arturo Vidal is the most complete midifelder in the world. With 18 goals for Juve last season, proves how effective he is as both ends of the pitch. A dynamic box-to-box midfield, he is a tenacious destroyer, intelligent conductor and powerful goalscorer all rolled in one. Alongside Tiago he will forge a solid partnership. One half of the best central midfield partnership in both La Liga and Europe last year, Tiago Mendes is a tenacious all-round defensive midfielder who'll combine perfectly with Arturo Vidal to create a complete midfield pivot. Strong tackling and defensive covering, intelligent positioning, excellent passing and relentless workrate made him a very important player to hold Atlético Madrid's team together alongside Gabi. Leighton Baines has been the most consistent left back in the Premier League for many years now. A solid defender and a source for many assists and goals. Statistically, Baines has been proven to be one of the most creative players in Europe. He will overlap Marco Reus, when Reus cuts in. My central defence partnership consists of Alex and Dante. Alex is known as 'The Tank', a physically dominant stopper, who is a Ligue 1 Champion, conceding only 23 goals, the best defence in Ligue 1. Dante is another formidable centreback whose stature has rose very fast in the past few years. In the past 24 months, Dante's broken nearly every Bundesliga/Bayern defensive record. Dante is a Bundesliga Champion, conceding only 23 goals, Bayern had the best defence in the Bundesliga last season. At right back is Daniel Carvajal. Carvajal has established himself as Real Madrid's first choice right-back, ending the season with an emphatic Champions League victory. After a season defining season with Bayer Leverkusen two years ago, Madrid brought the highly talented Carvajal back to La Liga. Roman Weidenfeller is Borussia's vice-captain, a goalkeeper with great presence and leadership. One of the best shot-stoppers in the Bundesliga, Weidenfeller has won over many fans and respect for his reflexes, loud vocal command and experience. Substitute tactical variations Xavi Hernández - is still one of the best midfield architect's in world football. No one nears his passing accuracy stats and his ability to control the tempo of the game. If I need to change from my deadly counter-attack tactics and need to control possession I will play Xavi alongside Vidal and Tiago. Claudio Pizarro - The Peruvian striker is the top foreign scorer in German football history - a consistent goalscorer even at the age 35 with 11 goals in 26 games in Bayern's successful campaign last season. For Bayern München, Claudio Pizarro is Pep Guardiola's Plan B - and now mine. A prolific goalscorer in the air (Reus, di María and James Rodríguez will supply him all the crosses he needs), Pizarro has always proven to be a goal threat and important for the team. Tomáš Rosický - Arsène Wenger's clutch playmaker, who can make a great impact from off the bench. Wenger on Rosický: "I think he is maybe one of the players who plays the game of give and move. He is a great accelerator of the game. When the ball comes to him it is ‘Boof! It is second gear now' and that is something I admire in him. He always makes things happen, not with individual dribbling but with individual acceleration of his passing and of his runs. I think when he arrived here he was less a tactical player and more the Mozart from Prague and he was purely a creative, offensive player. Today he is a real organiser on the pitch as well. I like to have him in the team because he gives a real structure.” Carlos Gurpegi - Athletic Bilbao's fearless and experienced captain led his team to an impressive Top Four finish in La Liga last season. Carlos Gurpegi is a solid all-round centreback (Bielsa converted Gurpegi from a defensive midfielder to a central defender) now playing in the heart of Athletic Bilbao's defence. He'll provide good cover for Dante and Alex. Christian Abbiati - AC Milan's #1 keeper. Even at the age of 37 years, his reflexes remain as sharp as ever.
Bench: Consigli, Sokratis, Nagamoto, Baier, Immobile My team is playing the 3-5-2 and I personally think that it is solid. I am playing the formation as I believe with the right players it can be the best formation possible, 3 central defenders, 5 in midfield and the attacking might of 2 strikers. My defence is the best part of my team in my opinion. In goal I have Enyeama who made 36 appearances, gaining 21 clean sheets last season. You cannot ask for a better record than that and he had a good World Cup as well, so I fully expect him to be just as good next season. At the back I have 2 incredibly mobile defenders in Silva and Ramos and they are both amongst the best in the world. If you asked someone to name who they think are world class defenders, both of these defenders will feature pretty much every time. Naldo is in the middle of these 2 and is the player I will look to dominate in the air at the height of 6'6”. He actually had a brilliant season last year to and would have been consider one of the best Bundesliga defenders last season. My midfield is also a great part of my team. Gerrard is playing as the deep-lying playmaker, where he played brilliantly last season and was a major part of Liverpool's success. Gabi and Fernandinho complete the central midfield. Gabi was instrumental in Atletico's success last year and I will look to him to conduct the play. Fernandinho also did good at Manchester City and was in my opinion one of the best buys of the Premier League last year. He will be playing as a box-to-box midfielder. To complete my midfield I have 2 players who are critical to how my team will play. I would almost argue that both the LWB and RWB are the most important roles in this formation. In my opinion both Cuadrado and Asamoah are the best wing-backs for this particular formation as they both have performed brilliantly in the past in these positions. Asamoah plays LWB for the Juventus side which is currently dominating the Serie A and Cuadrado had an exceptional season last year and is being looked at by a lot of top clubs. Upfront I have both Rooney and Mandzukic and I feel they'll work perfectly with each other. Rooney, what ever you say about him, has a great record and last season was a good season for him despite playing in a poor Manchester United side. Rooney made 29 league appearances scoring 17 and assisting 10, which is an excellent record. Mandzukic made 30 appearances last season, however it must be said that 9 of them he came off the bench, and scored 18 goals. Bench: Consigli, Sokratis, Nagatomo, Baier, Immobile I think my bench is fairly good. Consigli I would personally rate as one of the top 5 goalkeepers in the Serie A and is therefore a good backup. Sokratis is a defender with both pace and power and he had a good season last year and was a part of the Bundesliga team of the season. Nagatomo is an important player on the bench because of his versatility. He can play on either LWB and RWB with ease and do that quite well. Daniel Baier is a player which many of you may not have heard of but I rate him quite highly and I'll urge you to at least Google him. Immobile is the Serie A top goal scorer and therefore is a brilliant option of the bench. He has great pace and is therefore a different option to both Mandzukic and Rooney.
Draft Team Marcelo 22m, Robin Van Persie 65m, Per Mertesacker 16m, Jerome Boetang 33m, Kevin-Prince Boetang 14m, Paul Pogba 86m, Christian Zapata 5m, Zlatan Ibrahimovic 146m, Jackson Martinez 27m, Carlos Kameni 1m, Claudio Bravo 4m, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 15m, Rafinha 8m, Matthias Ginter 11m, Stephan El Shaarawy 18m, Mateo Kovacic 17m *PLEASE NOTE, I HAVE NOT FORFEITED ANY PICK AND HAVE KEPT WITHIN THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME, UNLIKE SOME I COULD MENTION!!!* Defence All four CBs (including the sub) are big, powerful players who will easily deal with big target men. Mertesacker and J Boetang have played together for Germany and already have an understanding. J Boetang has played a lot of games at left back so is suited to the left side of a back three. Zapata is experienced and has played a few games at right back so should be able to cover the right side of a back three. Ginter would rotate mostly with Mertesacker in games where opponents have pacey forwards and with Zapata at other times. If it looked like either Zapata or Mertesacker were struggling with the pace of forwards then Ginter would be brought on earlier in a tactical substitution. The wing backs are both very attacking and would be encouraged to get forward as much as possible. If J Boetang or Zapata are forced out wide to cover then KP Boetang and Pogba will be asked to drop back and help out the defence. In emergency where we are holding on to a lead the team could adapt to one of the following: Bravo Zapata--Mertesacker--Ginter--Boetang Rafinha--Pogba--KP Boetang--Marcelo Chamberlain Ibrahimovic Bravo Rafinha--Zapata--Mertesacker--J Boetang Ginter Pogba--KP Boetang Chamberlain--------El Shaarawy Ibrahimovic Midfield Pogba and KP Boetang are both big physical midfielders who will look to get stuck in and will be instructed to close down opponents quickly. Both are equally good going forward and with three CBs behind them Pogba and KP Boetang should have lots of freedom to get forward and link to the attack. On the bench, Kovacic would rotate mostly with KP Boetang. Chamberlain and El Shaarawy give an injection of pace as a plan B from the bench (with plan A being the physical presence throughout the team and height in the box). Van Persie and Martinez would be asked to drop deep and help the midfield and also to pull out wide. Both would be given free roles behind Ibrahimovic who would be played as an out and out target man. Van Persie would occasionally push up and enable Ibrahimovic to drop deep and get more involved in the deeper (midfield) positions. When defensive stability is needed Ginter would replace either Pogba or KP Boetang in midfield (such as when we are holding on to a lead but don't want to change the formation). Attack Ibrahimovic is an out and out target man. He has the height and power to win most of the long balls played up to him and lay the ball off to Van Persie and Martinez. Whilst Van Persie will start on the right and Martinez on the left of a front three, both will have free roles. Martinez and El Shaarawy will be rotated so that often El Shaarawy starts on the left. If Ibrahimovic is unavailable then Van Persie starts as the target man with Martinez on the right and El Shaarawy on the left to give us more width. On occasion Van Persie will play 'in the hole' and Martinez and Ibrahimovic will play as a front two. Some examples of the front three: Ibrahimovic Martinez--------Van Persie Ibrahimovic El Shaarawy--------Van Persie Martinez--Ibrahimovic Van Persie Van Persie El Shaarawy--------Martinez In games where we really need a goal then Chamberlain would be brought on for Rafinha to give more pace from out wide and we could line up like this. El Shaarawy could also be brought on for either Marcelo or Martinez: Bravo Zapata--Mertesacker--J Boetang Chamberlain--Pogba--KP Boetang--AAAAAA Van Persie--Ibrahimovic--BBBBBB AAAAAA = Marcelo/El Shaarawy BBBBBB = Martinez/El Shaarawy From set pieces we will always be a threat with the height of Ibrahimovic, Pogba, the Boetangs, Mertesacker, Zapata and even RVP and Martinez. Equally we won't concede many from set pieces or long balls. The team For team spirit we have the two Colombians (Zapata and Martinez), the two Brazilian full backs, the Boetang brothers and the German core. Pogba would be mentored both on and off the pitch by KP Boetang. Similarly, Ginter would learn his trade from playing and learning alongside Mertesacker. The subs might not have much experience, but as youngsters have energy, enthusiasm and should be happy to be on the bench for a year or two whilst they develop. The overall height and physical nature of the squad make us the Pulis' Stoke City or Allardyce's Bolton of the competition - except all of my team can play too! There will be a mixture of long/direct balls and patient passing - so teams have no idea of what to expect! The only thing opponents can expect for sure is a physical battle!!!
Subs: López, Matip, Motta, Hernanes, Giroud Fairly standard 4-3-3 here. A well-balanced midfield 3: Schneiderlin is the destroyer, Moutinho the passer, and Silva the No. 10. Pace to burn on the counter with Ronaldo and the lightning-quick Aubameyang, and an adaptable, hardworking striker in Tevez (the type that usually works well with Ronaldo). Depending on the situation I can switch to a more possession-based setup by bringing Hernanes into midfield and pushing Silva into attack, or pair Giroud with Tevez and allow Silva to drift infield from a wide-right position in a 4-4-2.
Market Value FC Thibaut Courtois (£22m) Serge Aurier (£6m) ---------- Eliaquim Mangala (£21m) ---------- Gerard Piqué (£32m) ---------- Filipe Luís (£14m) Bastian Schweinsteiger (£36m) ---------- Axel Witsel (£31m) Theo Walcott (£25m) ---------- Thiago Alcántara (£27m) ---------- Neymar (£53m) Mario Balotelli (£27m) Jan Oblak (£15m) Nicolas Otamendi (£11m) William Carvalho (£11m) Samir Nasri (£20m) Fernando Llorente (£20m) Total: £371m £23.19m per player Subs: Oblak, Otamendi, W. Carvalho, Nasri, Llorente Looking to be hard to breakdown but deadly on the counter with the pace of my attacking players. Creative teams will hate playing against my deep, compact defence and Schweinstiger and Witsel won't be a pivot you'll walk through either! Plenty of talent off the bench too. Especially Nasri and Llorente who are very effective attacking options.
[/QUOTE] Salvatore Sirigu in goal Substitutes Guillermo Ochoa Sidney Sam Michu Enzo Pérez Adriano None of this tactics bullshit we will score lots and concede few.
Home formation Gustavo & Pirlo sit deep, Iniesta advanced playmaker, Ribery & Draxler inverted wingers. Bench: Totti: to unlock stubborn defences or grab a goal Navas: to run at tired defences with his blistering pace Cabaye: to shore the midfield up if we need to keep a lead or we need to create a goal Arbeloa: cover for LB, RB & CB Romero: could bring him on for pens Van Gaal style Away formation Pirlo is accompanied by two combative midfielders, to give the team good balance & making us hard to break down. Bench: Draxler, Navas, Totti, Arbeloa, Romero Did a break down of my squad as well which contains more info on how the team will play, I'd appreciate it if you watched it, thanks. x [video=youtube;tOPGMF1rJ2Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOPGMF1rJ2Y&feature=youtu.be[/video]
Bench: Samir Handanovic, Jeremy Mathieu, Ilkay Gundogan, Domenico Berardi, Alex Teixeira This is our team. It's the classic modern 4-2-3-1 with inverted wingers and overlapping fullbacks. It's fairly obvious what we're doing here. A Champions' League winning keeper and a central defensive partnership of a general and a young up-and-comer should be watertight. Two very attacking fullbacks including arguably the best left back in the world will cause all sorts of headaches for the opposition when they come forward. In midfield Nuri Sahin will pull the strings as he has done so well since a tender age, and partnering him is the more all-action Claudio Marchisio who will have license to roam. Ahead of them is a fluid attacking midfield 3, again combining youth and experience. Shaqiri will be eager to shake off that £100m price tag. Alvaro Negredo needs no introduction. The man with the cringiest chant in the Premier League will terrify opposing defenders with his blend of power and finesse. On the bench we have a goalkeeper who will nibble at Casillas' heels for the number 1 jersey in Handanovic, and a centreback who can consider himself unlucky not to start in Mathieu. Ilkay Gundogan should be back to full fitness in time to give us a further injection of flair and creativity for the knockout stages, and he is majestic in full flow. Domenico Berardi can play up front or out wide, and he has already proven his nerve having a sterling season banging in goals for a doomed Sassuolo. Alex Teixeira is a very productive attacking midfielder who could well oust Sneijder from the starting 11 in the fullness of time. I think we probably have the best balanced team in the draft again. fin.
Will most likely line up like.. Subs: Leno, Mustafi, dos Santos, Vela, Mertens or.. Subs: Leno, Mustafi, dos Santos, Henderson, Kiessling Not much to say as the lineups do the talking but they both offer plenty going forward while having a solid back 5, amongst the best in this draft. Srna and Rodriguez, two of the best attacking fullbacks in the world will provide width in the first formation. Strootman, Koke, Henderson, and Ramsey are coming off absolutely fantastic seasons and will only get better. In Rossi (who would've won last season's Serie A Golden Boot at a canter if fit), Kiessling, Vela, and Mertens - there are goals. 68 of em last season, to be accurate. Very well balanced team, in my (slighty biased) opinion.
Provisional Formations (as specified by the manager) Cotterill:49 Bench: Federico Marchetti (GK), Luisão, Nigel de Jong, Iker Muniain, David Villa
De Sanctis Nainggolan Goretzka Lavezzi Lukaku 4-2-3-1 formation with a solid back four, two very good holding midfielders and an amazing front four. ter Stegen proved himself to be one of the world's best, that is why Barcelona went in for him. World class goalkeeper with European and International experience. Benatia and Terry will make a very solid partnership with Terry having years of experience and Benatia being a good age at 27. Not only are they both world class defenders, but both have decent goalscoring records for central defenders. Benatia scoring 5 in 30 last year and Terry scoring almost 60 career goals. Last year Benatia was part of the Roma defence to concede just 25 league goals all season. Not bad.. Stephan Lichsteiner is a right wing-back who has been ever present for a very successful Juve side since 2011. At the age of 30 he has superb experience and is still in his prime. Moreno is only 22 years old, has caps for Spain and a Europa League winners medal. Liverpool currently after him and it's no surprise. Javi Martinez is just 25 years old. On his CV he already has 2 Bundesliga's, 2 DFB-Pokal's, a Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, World Cup and a European Championship. That's why Bayern spent almost £40m on him, because he is a crucial part of successful sides. He can also play centre back, meaning we could bring in one of our back up midfielders in for a defender and still have a fantastic team. Marco Verratti adds something extra to the team. He has a fantastic engine, 130 league games under his belt as well as 8 Italian caps. He has 3 league titles already and alongside Javi Martinez gives Fuzz and I a fantastic midfield pairing. These two are key to our side. Pedro doesn't need introducing. He has pace, skill and is just technically gifted. I don't need to talk you through his success. He's played at Barca and Spain, says it all. Rakitic, a key part in last year's Europa League winning Sevilla side, adds that touch of class to the attack. He may not be a Messi or Ronaldo but he goes about his business quietly and very very well. Thus why one of, if the THE, world's best clubs in the world took him off Sevilla's hands. Mesut Ozil, a World Cup winner, brings in calmness and class. He is very different to Pedro, Ozil will link with Rakitic and Sturridge and bring others into play. Also a set piece specialist. Daniel Sturridge is 24 and after struggling to get a spot in Man City and Chelsea' first team moved to Liverpool, where he hit the ground running scoring 31 in 43 games. 3 in 5 for England this year too. He has pace, knows where the goal is and as we saw at Liverpool can link up with anybody. A very good striker who will give us lots of goals. First up on the bench is Morgan de Sanctis. Almost 600 career appereances at clubs such as Juventus, Udinese, Napoli, Roma and brings in good competition for ter Stegen. Radja Nainggolan is a good back up to our two central midfielders. International experience and part of a very good Roma side last year. Leon Goretzka is still only 19, has almost 70 career appearances for club under his belt as well as a cap for Germany. Typical #8 and has a big future. Lavezzi needs no explanation. So unlucky to be on our bench but just shows the quality of our side. Brings experience, pace, skill and is a game changer. Lukaku allows us to change our style if need be. He holds it up well, is explosive and knows how to score. Could be a straight swap for Sturridge or we could even bring off a defender / midfielder and play him up top with Sturridge. Plan C will be a 4-3-2-1 with the pace out wide. ter Stegen Lichtsteiner Terry Benatia Moreno Martínez Verratti Goretzka Pedro Lavezzi Sturridge De Sanctis; Nainggolan; Rakitic; Ozil; Lukaku
Line up: Potential alternative: Our standard formation will be the 4-2-3-1, though, built around the double-pivot of Busquets and Matic, reverting into a 4-4-1-1 with two tight banks of four in the defensive phase. In the attacking phase we will move the ball very quickly from back to front, looking to win the ball back in our half before hitting on the break. The most important player is Sergio Busquets, the best defensive midfielder in the world. Our team will be built around him as his tactical and positional flexibilty allows us to switch between a number of different systems. He's the complete midfielder: phenomenally intelligent and technically fantastic, able to press aggressively high up the pitch or defend the space in his own half. His experience as a centre back means he can also drop back between Castan and Pepe to form a back three, so we can switch to a 3-5-2 formation and play with two pure forwards in Lewandowski and Cerci with Fabregas behind them, or switch to a 4-3-3 with him as the midfield lynchpin. Nemanja Matic is an excellent player and proved as such with a Man of the Match performance in his first start for Chelsea in their 1-0 victory over Man City. He and Busquets compliment each other perfectly; where Busquets focuses more on ball retention, Matic will provide key passes and assists and an unrivalled dribbling ability to bring the ball out from midfield to launch counter attacks. Although his stock fell slightly during his time at Barca, Fabregas is still one of the best midfielders in the world. He's brilliant on the ball and one of the best passers around, and with Busquets and Matic behind him, he will be given a free role and won't have to focus too much on defending. He'll be also helped by having one of the best strikers in the world, Lewandowski, ahead of him. He's the complete forward, able to hold the ball up as a target man, drop deep to link play, run in behind or work the channels across the pitch. His movement will help create space for the likes of Cerci, who's coming off the back of an excellent season at Torino, Turan and Fabregas to run into. Our wide players have contrasting styles, but will add a balance to our midfield. Turan is two-footed, creative and works very hard for the team defensively; Cerci is one footed, lethal in and around the box a-la Robben and tends to stay up high up the pitch to launch counter attacks. His 13 goals and 10 assists for a team that finished 8th in their league are nothing to be balked at. Turan had injury troubles last season, but his overall game is solid and is one of the finest defensive wingers around, which is exactly what we need with the more attack-minded Cerci on the other flank. We'll generally be defending deep; our midfield four of Turan, Busquets, Matic and, to a slightly less extent, Cerci, will all contribute a lot defensively. And, with our tactic of defending deep and tight in our own half, our centre backs Pepe and Castan will focus purely on defending the box. Rojo and Pisczek are typical modern day full-backs, comfortable defending and attacking and both have huge lungs. Busquets and Matic will generally sit deeper, allowing both full backs to push higher up the pitch to provide width and overlaps for our wingers to drift inside a bit more. Matia Perin was last season the best keeper in Serie A, and voted into the Team of the Season. His shot-stopping is great, but he is still slightly raw. If we need to, we can bring in the equally capable deputy Mandanda who is a more rounded, but perhaps less special, keeper. Our bench does what a bench should: allows us to switch between systems and styles of play. Ivanovic is capable enough to play anywhere across the defence, operating as a full back or a third centre-back. Borja Valero, another Serie A Team of the Season star, is a deep-lying playmaker who can dictate the play. Kevin de Bruyne, a versatile attacking midfielder, can play anywhere behind the strikers; if we wanted to drop Fabregas back deeper, he can come in as a good replacement. And in striker Max Kruse we have the signing of Bundesliga season, who contributed 12 goals and 9 assists in his first season for Borussia M.Gladbach.
Just wrote out a f*cking massive description of tactics/potential subs etc went to post it, forget I wasn't on my normal computer so therefore my session expired and it's all f*cking gone. Home Games: Subs: - Renia, Vermaelen, Song, Farfan, Ronaldinho Away Games: Subs: - Renia, Song, Farfan, Mkhitaryan, Rohaldinho Attacking, short-passing football. All of my starting players have a pass successful pass ratio of at least 85%, allowing me to string the ball around and play it out of the back. Didn't realise just how good Farfan was when I picked him, so bit gutted I couldn't fit him in. F*cked to write any more after earlier.
