Draft of Drafts

[tpmazembe]

I will try to be back when the teams are finished to give you my final opinion. Good luck to all!

Astute analysis overall DP – and not just because you see the Team C philosophy. Where have you been? We were disappointed not to get you on a team (tried PM a couple of times), but welcome you thoughts whenever possible.

Been reading bigsoccer for awhile now just decided to start posting. Anyways these thread has been awesome. Other than Pele, Maradona, Cryuff, never really knew about the history of the game. THis thread has changed that. Thanks for educating me on the history of the beautiful game. Can't wait till the next picks.

We were hoping this would be one of the by-products. Kudos for keeping up with it.

[tpmazembe]

Team E comme, Excape Goat, Merengue, lanman

Week 6

Pick 1 (Overall pick 26)

Roberto CarlosGreat pick.

Hoping to pick him this round.

RC is a force of nature -- his stamina, speed, and power is unmatched at the position. There are others who were more complete in terms of balance, but no LB has ever caused the opposition so much stress on the offensive end.

Sometime ago, Real Madrid did an analysis (I believe it was the year of the second Champions League win of the modern era) in which they claimed he was involved in 30% of the teams scoring (either scoring himself, final assist, or previous pass)!

And, he rarely misses a game.

[comme]

There is still a left-back available who I rate more highly, but Carlos gives something extra to that side of the team. As we intend to play Zidane on the left we want someone who will overlap in the wide areas.

[argentine soccer fan]

There is still a left-back available who I rate more highly, but Carlos gives something extra to that side of the team. As we intend to play Zidane on the left we want someone who will overlap in the wide areas.

If we rate defensive skills, I can think of a good number of players who rate higher than Roberto Carlos. But I like attacking football and I love RC as a player. He is a leader who pushes his team, gets in the opponents head, has great skill in joining the attack, and of course, a great player to have for his powerful free kicks. He is also an enforcer who will protect his teammates, although team E seems to have players who will stand up for themselves. But you always need tough guys and you want to protect Cruyff and Best. And RC will also complement Zidane, as Comme says.

[GunnersBT]

Team E comme, Excape Goat, Merengue, lanman

Week 6

Pick 1 (Overall pick 26)

Roberto Carlos




I love this pick. There are certainly other good left backs available, but there is no other player quite like Roberto Carlos in my humble opinion. You can't say that about too many players.

Now the question is whether you can find the players who will cover for RC defensively and give him the freedom to go on those long runs that can unbalance any opposing defense....

[Merengue]

I love this pick. There are certainly other good left backs available, but there is no other player quite like Roberto Carlos in my humble opinion. You can't say that about too many players.

Now the question is whether you can find the players who will cover for RC defensively and give him the freedom to go on those long runs that can unbalance any opposing defense....

Yes I think Roberto Carlos is the most unique left back in the history of the game. There are certainly better pure defenders out there but there has never been a left back who can dominate his side of the field like Roberto Carlos can. He'll keep the opposing team's right sided player pinned in his own defensive half. Until he missed a game this season with a leg injury Roberto Carlos had never missed a match due to injury in his 12 year professional career! That's an amazing statistic and a sign of his fitness and durability.

Oh yes Team E has more defensive options planned. Stay tuned. Say GunnersBT, are you the Gunners who posts at Soccer America Graffiti? If so, welcome aboard!

[GunnersBT]

Say GunnersBT, are you the Gunners who posts at Soccer America Graffiti? If so, welcome aboard!

Yep, it's me. I've lurked on this site for a while, but never really posted. The World Draft thread changed that. I'm a participant in that one, although I have to say that evaluating the picks in this draft is almost as much fun as actually drafting the players myself. :)

[Excape Goat]

If we rate defensive skills, I can think of a good number of players who rate higher than Roberto Carlos.

While there are many leftback who had better defensive skills than Roberto Carlos, Roberto Carlos' a defensive skills are underrated.

If he wanted to pin down the opposing right winger, the right winger has no chance on Roberto Carlos' turf. He is simply too fast and powerful..... no one can go past him. Sometimes, even the forwards are two or few steps in front of him, he can still catch up.

Of course, our team needs to address someone to cover him when he roams forward.

[Spartak]

Team D - Dark Savante (captain), Real Ray, Mobile, Spartak

Round 6(Overall pick 27)

Ruud Gullit

http://lancenet.ig.com.br/galeria/times/milan/gullit.jpg

Nation: The Netherlands

Career span: 1980s/90s

Clubs Haarlem, Feyenoord, PSV, Milan, Sampdoria, Chelsea,

Major honours:
3 x Dutch Championship : 1983-1984, 1985-1986, 1986-1987
1 x Dutch Cup : 1983-84
3 x Serie A Championship : 1987-1988, 1991-1992, 1992-1993
1 x Italian Cup : 1993-94
2 x European Cup : 1988-1989, 1989-1990
2 x European Super Cup : 1989, 1990
2 x Intercontinental Cup : 1989, 1990
1 x FA Cup : 1996-1997
1 x European Championship : 1988
1 x European Footballer of the Year : 1987
2 x World Soccer Player of the Year : 1987, 1989

International caps: 66 goals: 17

Ruud Gullit arrived at Milan from PSV in 1987 for a then record fee of $6 million. He teamed up with Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard to form the great Dutch trio that would dominated Italy and the rest of the world in the late 80s/early 90s. Gullit was an explosive player due to his athleticism and skill that helped him earn the 1988 European Player of the Year award. Gullit won 3 scudetti, two European Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, two European Supercups, and three Italian Supercups with Milan. Gullit’s career was hampered by several knee operations, but this still couldn’t stop him from being a dominant player. In 1993, Gullit moved to Sampdoria, briefly returning to Milan the following season, then back to Sampdoria and finally Chelsea. He became a successful player-coach of Chelsea, then moving to Newcastle.

[Dark Savante]

Hey fellow team D members, thank you for filling for me on posting duties in this thread during my absence..I'm back now so I can join the discussions again. Two great picks! and i'm glad we got Gullit. The lord of multi positional play! heh, we now have one of the only players in history that could play any of the 10 outfield positions...which is amazing in itself..Our team is shaping up nicely.

[tpmazembe]

Team D - Dark Savante (captain), Real Ray, Mobile, Spartak

Round 6(Overall pick 27)

Ruud Gullit

http://lancenet.ig.com.br/galeria/times/milan/gullit.jpg

At his very best he was one of the most physically dominant players I ever saw. The flair of those Milan years.

He started off as a Libero, so his positional flexibility is great (I see you guys are jumping on the Team C drafting philosophy) ;)

Like Cryuff, he screwed his teammates on eve of a WC -- walking out on them before WC 1994.

Spartak loves picking those AC Milan players...

[Dark Savante]

Spartak loves picking those AC Milan players...



Are you suggesting he wasn't in your plans?

[tpmazembe]

Are you suggesting he wasn't in your plans?
He has not been mentioned to date in our deliberations, but he's been in the back of my mind for the position we will be picking tomorrow (although I never submitted to the team for consideration). I'll elaborate after we pick tomorrow.

[Dark Savante]

He has not been mentioned to date in our deliberations, but he's been in the back of my mind for the position we will be picking tomorrow (although I never submitted to the team for consideration). I'll elaborate after we pick tomorrow.

:) one to discuss tomorrow then! I see Gullit as almost infallable to be honest sans his sh!tty attitude of course. His ability to play anywhere at anytime and do a sublime job wherever it is means all around him are freer in their movement.

[Dark Savante]

Roberto Carlos is a player I rate very highly (so highly that I took him as my first pick in the World Draft) and I can definitely see why he was taken. I'll be interested to see what other teams propose to do to stop R.Carlos! Especially if an older era player is chosen as his opposing flanker... Power for power and speed for speed there isn't anyone who has played out wide in the history of the game who is going to shut down Carlos offensively - in a direct confrontation, so there is going to be a lot of risks taken to try and contain him methinks...attacking him and trying to push him back is a deadly game of cat and mouse...his counter attacking speed is absurd and even when seemingly pushed back he's a threat a big threat.

Fortunately for us (team D) we have Djalma Santos and possibly Gullit for Carlos to get past, but in a direct confrontation with Carlos neither would come out as the victor.he's just too fast and has too much stamina. The latter would really come into play after about 70minutes of a game. I feel our proposal for stopping Carlos is going to be a lot better then what any other team in the draft will be able to offer. It's going to take guile, stamina, speed and power to stop this guy and by todays standard bearers for speed many if not all of the old school wide men stand no chance at all in that aspect so i'm curious to see what teams are going to do to counter the R.Carlos threat. He's a problem that just can't be ignored and one that'll be buzzing around with intent when others are begging to subbed out..Game on fellas..

[tpmazembe]

Efernandez9, maczebus, martin cutler, tpmazembe

Round 6 (week 6)
Selection 3
28thrd overall pick

Player: Ronaldo Luis Nazario da Lima, aka Fenomeno
Born: Sept 22, 1976 Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Position: Forward
Career Span: 1979-Present
Nationality: Brasilian
Club Teams: Sao Cristovao, Cruzeiro, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid
National Team: 66 Caps / 45 goals (these numbers are outdated)
Career Highlights:
1 Spanish Liga Championship
1 Copa del Rey
1 Dutch Cup
1 EUFA Cup
1 European Cup Winners Cup
2 Copa Americas
2 World Cups (one as a non-playing substitute), and 1 second place
1 WC MVP
Top Scorer WC 2002
Top Scorer La Liga
Top Scorer Dutch League
3 x World Footballer of the Year
2 x European Footballer of the Year

Arguably the best striker of his generation.
The saga of Ronaldo Nazario Lima is one of a child from humble origins reaching prolific heights as a footballer; seemingly losing it all, first with a physical/emotional collapse before the biggest game of his career (at the time), followed by two career threatening knee surgeries (the second blow-out occurring in front of the world on his comeback from the first); only to return to the pinnacle again as WC top scorer and leading the attack of the world’s most storied club team. It’s a story made for Hollywood being played out in front of the world….a story whose final chapters have yet to written.

That story would be of little interest without the talent underlying the player:

Pace – pre-injury he was a danger over 60 meters. Post injury a danger over 30 meters.
Precision – Scores numerous goals from chances with little margin for error [personal editorial: may have the best put away / attempt of any modern striker]
Power – extremely difficult to shoulder off the ball
Dribbling – equally effective in tight spaces or running with the ball
Passing – one of the best goal-scoring passers in the modern game
Heading – his weakness
Against the vaunted defenses of Serie A his scoring record was 49 goals in 68 games ~ an imposing .72 goals/game (includes injury years). Previous to his Italian adventure he scored 34 goals in 37 games for Barcelona. His prodigious scoring run at the end of last season won La Liga for Real Madrid.

Our selection: Majority

Our team so far: DiStefano, Garrincha, Platini, Facchetti, Mattaus, Ronaldo

http://www.soccer-europe.com/Profiles/Ronaldo.html (http://www.soccer-europe.com/Profiles/Ronaldo.html)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/special_events/sports_personality_2002/2556663.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/special_events/sports_personality_2002/2556663.stm)
http://www.goldfootball.com/Videos/Ronaldo.php (http://www.goldfootball.com/Videos/Ronaldo.php)

[Ombak]

An interesting choice this early. Certainly a favorite of mine - he's my age basically, I've seen him star since I was 15 years old and still living in Rio. I don't think he would have been picked up early by anyone else which is why I think that even though he probably should be in this "top 55" list.

Ronaldo is probably the best striker since 95/96 I guess. Before that the title can be claimed by some guys who haven't been picked yet until you go back, only a few years, to Van Basten.

[comme]

The man is a true legend, he was one of my 4 possibles for our pick on Friday.
I think that by the end of his career he wil be a top 5/6 of all timer.

[tpmazembe]

An interesting choice this early.
I could see him going anywhere from 11th pick to the 55th. Barring another major injury, I agree with comme's prediction of his final place in history.

Ronaldo seems to be a polarizing figure on these boards, because he is so damn good. He plays on a team of superstars, but his presence is what makes the difference on a defensively suspect team. True stars can be measured by whether or not they stand out among other stars, not on a team of also-rans. He clearly stands out in Madrid.

We are very happy with this pick. At number 28 it’s a steal of a selection. With Garrincha et al doing the set-ups he’ll bag plenty of goals. Additionally, he can create his own shot, and set-up Platini to bag quite a few himself.

[Dark Savante]

:(

You took my boy! The best striker ever and the most unstoppable one to boot. I believe he is the only striker whose ever played who cannot be marked out of a game. Every other no9 if the right defender is put on him can be contained but Ronaldo is something else. At full fitness he'll cut a swathe thru any defence put in front of him. I'm saddened at this moment in time.

*sniff..