Draft of Drafts

[comme]

Oh dear. Team D have just thrown all their good work away.

Are you going to play Cruyff at centre forward? I know that was nominally his postion but he is almost always put just behind a front two with the freedom to roam.

I hope it was you arguing against this pick DS.

[Spartak]

Oh dear. Team D have just thrown all their good work away.

Are you going to play Cruyff at centre forward? I know that was nominally his postion but he is almost always put just behind a front two with the freedom to roam.

I hope it was you arguing against this pick DS.
Well comme, if you notice we still have one pick left so our team is not complete. And no, Cruyff will not be used as a center forward. It is up to you to guess which position we will fill next ;) But I think you have to admit our midfield is dynamite on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field. I think we clearly have the best back 4 and having a midfield that has players who were great defensively only re-enforces this teams' mentality. Our midfield will break you :D

[tpmazembe]

TEAM D
Dark Savante - captain, Spartak, Real Ray, Mobile

Round: 10 (Week 10)
Selection: 3
48th overall pick

Player: Wolfgang Overath
Born: Siegburg, Germany, 29 Sep 1943
Position: Left Mifield, LWB, Mid

Decision: 2:2TEAM D : Cryuff, Baresi, Dj.Santos, Maldini, Zico, Gullit, Neeskens, Krol, Banks, Overath

Forget my whole post below, Team D...I just realized we are only on our 10th pick (work is not healthy for the mind...)

You still can get a center forward. So why the massive debate about a midfield pick? A good player, but doesn't elevate your team nor restrict your next (undoubtedly offensive) pick.

[Spartak]

TEAM D : Cryuff, Baresi, Dj.Santos, Maldini, Zico, Gullit, Neeskens, Krol, Banks, Overath

Yes....this pick does determine Team D's destiny ( I will not doubt you again DS)....but how did you guys come to this?

You now must play Gullit as center forward (or Cryuff as comme mentioned). Yeah, in a pinch Ruud will do, but would you not have faired better with and out and out professional goal scorer?

To be fair,
--------------Gullit------------------
------Cryuff-----------Zico----------

..is a dynamic and interchangeable trio; but there is no offensive anchor in the box. Is this the reincarnation of Total Football, or a 3/5 oversion 0f the "5 No. 10's" Bra'70?

A team with no true center forward....a noble experiment for sure.
Again, I will repeat. We still have one pick left. Although, if we get one more solid centerback I think we can shutout every team in the draft. Scoring goals migt be a problem though. But theres always PKs ;) :D

[Dark Savante]

I am not going to inflame an already intense situation further. I'll keep my mouth shut on this one until our first 11 is done and dusted.

[Dark Savante]

We'll try not to delay the draft again :D

I did say try...

[Excape Goat]

I am surprise with this pick.

I do not really know Overrath very much. Was he a defensive midfielder? If not, you might need another enforcer in the midfield. I want to know who was the other choice. A center forward? A midfielder?

Anyway, he becomes the 6th member of the 1974 West German team drafted. I can think of another one who can be drafted. And yet only one 1970 Brazilian is drafted.

[comme]

Well comme, if you notice we still have one pick left so our team is not complete. And no, Cruyff will not be used as a center forward. It is up to you to guess which position we will fill next ;) But I think you have to admit our midfield is dynamite on both the offensive and defensive sides of the field. I think we clearly have the best back 4 and having a midfield that has players who were great defensively only re-enforces this teams' mentality. Our midfield will break you :D

Well if you don't play Cruyff at centre forward then what are you going to do?

You have three players Gullit, Cruyff and Zico who all want to be the playmaker, each one of those is a creator who scored goals rather than an out and out goal machine. You could play Zico at forward, his goals record is superb, but that isn't quite right. Gullit cannot play centre forward. Your problem is that you have three players who had teams built round them. Gullit, Zico and Cruyff will get in each others way. I can see that you wanted more stability but if I had been in your shoes I would have played Gullit in that role and got two strikers.

The last time I totted up the numbers Team E had a combined total of international goals of 230 (the most of any team by a distance), about 100 more than your team. You may have a good backline but our team has the goal threat.

[kopiteinkc]

Ok I'm sick of talking in riddles, we all know it's Dino Zoff (it can't be a secret as to his identity- everybody here knows who he is!) and it was a close call. In the end we decided that when they did play head to head Maier was given greater recognition.

Ha ha, not Tommy Lawrence then? ;)

[argentine soccer fan]

It is a surprising pick. I like Overath, but you will have to explain the rationale for the decision, and how you plan to play. I realize your defenders and midfielders are very capable of joining the attack, but if you are planning to play with only one true forward he is going to have to be God, because while your defense is arguably tops, we all have great defenders. And as great as your defense is, I think that with the greatest fowards in the game we'll find a way to break through. If you are counting on your lateral defenders to provide much of the attack, we could exploit that.

But I guess Helenio Herrera would be proud. :D

[tpmazembe]

It is a surprising pick. I like Overath, but you will have to explain the rationale for the decision, and how you plan to play.:DYes. We need more explaintion, especially from the team members that pushed this through. With this being a 2:2 split decision, what was the deciding factor?

On another note, the Overath pick so upset a fellow BS poster that they rated the thread with 1 * star! Check it out, the thread was a 5 ***** with 6 votes a couple of days ago, now its a 4 **** thread on 7 votes........we have Team D to thank :)

[argentine soccer fan]

On another note, the Overath pick so upset a fellow BS poster that they rated the thread with 1 * star! Check it out, the thread was a 5 ***** with 6 votes a couple of days ago, now its a 4 **** thread on 7 votes........we have Team D to thank :)

You are jumping to conclusions. Maybe somebody was upset about the Sepp Maier pick.

:D

[Bauser]

TEAM B:

Members: Bauser, Auriaprottu

Round: 10 (Week 10)
Selection: 4
Total picks: 49

Player: Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri

Position: Central defender

Career Span: 1980-97
Nationality: Argentinian
Born: 26th January 1962
Caps/goals: 97 / 8
Clubs: Boca Juniors (1980-84), River Plate (1985-88), Logroñes (1988-89), Real Madrid (1989-90), Velez Sarsfield (1990-92), Ancona (1992), America (1992-93), San Lorenzo (1994-97), Lanus (1997).

Profile / Stats: [Argentina]: World Cup winner 1986, Copa America winner 1991 & 1993 [Club level] Intercontinental cup winner x 1, Copa Libertadores winner x 1, Spanish league champion x 1, Argentinian league champion x 3.

Ruggeri was a full-back who always gave his best, dominant in the air, committed and skillful and represented Argentina in three World Cups. When one speaks about the 1986 World Cup, most people think about Diego Maradona, but Oscar Ruggeri was also a key piece to Argentina's team that year. He was also the defensive cornerstone behind two successive Copa America titles in the early nineties when that tournament had great prestige. Ruggeri also won the Argentinian championship with three different clubs underlining his ability to be an achiever no matter where and when.

TEAM SO FAR: Maradona (M/F), Passarella (CD), G.Müller (F), Van Basten (F), Deschamps (DM), Breitner (L&RB/CM), Cafu (RB/RM), Tardelli (M), Yashin (GK), Ruggeri (CD).

[tpmazembe]

TEAM B:

Members: Bauser, Auriaprottu

Round: 10 (Week 10)
Selection: 4
Total picks: 49

Player: Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri

Position: Central defender

TEAM SO FAR: Maradona (M/F), Passarella (CD), G.Müller (F), Van Basten (F), Deschamps (DM), Breitner (L&RB/CM), Cafu (RB/RM), Tardelli (M), Yashin (GK), Ruggeri (CD).
Team B is consistent....they love those circa 1980s players.

Indeed a solid defender and great teammate, but there are so many stellar CB still available that I'm surprised by the pick. One could argue that pairing him with Passarella adds intangible value.

[argentine soccer fan]

I watched Ruggeri play quite a bit. A very solid player and like the bio said, very dominant in the air. He had strong leadership qualities and was a very intimidating player who was able to deal with big powerful forwards. If there's a weakness its that he had a bit of trouble defending speed, and that is where he was not above resorting to unsportmanlike tactics.

I mentioned him when we were considering central defenders, but I felt he was just a notch below some others that we were considering. Most of those others have been picked already, (Bergomi, Krol, Santamaria) so at this point I am not surprised with the selection. (Although there are still a couple of Italian defenders who I am surprised did not get picked).

Ruggeri is also a good pick for team B, because we know he played well with both Passarella and Maradona. With the national team, Ruggeri was flexible enough to let Passarella be the undisputed leader, but then he took on the role after Passarella was gone.

With Ruggeri and Passarella together we better have an ambulance nearby. Even the ballboys better wear shinguards. :D

[Spartak]

I am surprise with this pick.

I do not really know Overrath very much. Was he a defensive midfielder? If not, you might need another enforcer in the midfield. I want to know who was the other choice. A center forward? A midfielder?

Anyway, he becomes the 6th member of the 1974 West German team drafted. I can think of another one who can be drafted. And yet only one 1970 Brazilian is drafted.
If I could describe Overath it would be this. He had the offensive workrate of a Pavel Nedved and defensive workrate of Gennero Gattuso. He was a complete midfielder.

[Spartak]

Well if you don't play Cruyff at centre forward then what are you going to do?
You'll have to wait and find out ;)


You have three players Gullit, Cruyff and Zico who all want to be the playmaker, each one of those is a creator who scored goals rather than an out and out goal machine. You could play Zico at forward, his goals record is superb, but that isn't quite right. Gullit cannot play centre forward. Your problem is that you have three players who had teams built round them. Gullit, Zico and Cruyff will get in each others way. I can see that you wanted more stability but if I had been in your shoes I would have played Gullit in that role and got two strikers.
I think you are starting to get to the essence of our debate. It wasn't just about players. It was about what is the best way to utilize our players in a specific formation? And what would that formation be? As well as a whole myriad of other issues that popped up as the debate went on.


The last time I totted up the numbers Team E had a combined total of international goals of 230 (the most of any team by a distance), about 100 more than your team. You may have a good backline but our team has the goal threat.
You determine a goalscorers greatness by how many international goals they scored. Others may disagree because every case is different. E.g. Patrick Kluivert scored more international goals than Marco Van Basten. Does that make Kluivert better?

[Spartak]

Yes. We need more explaintion, especially from the team members that pushed this through. With this being a 2:2 split decision, what was the deciding factor?
This explanation could be a whole thread on it's own. You will find out everybody's position after all our picks are done.

On another note, the Overath pick so upset a fellow BS poster that they rated the thread with 1 * star! Check it out, the thread was a 5 ***** with 6 votes a couple of days ago, now its a 4 **** thread on 7 votes........we have Team D to thank
Where was this BS poster when Deschamps was picked ;) :D

[Bauser]

Team B is consistent....they love those circa 1980s players. Indeed a solid defender and great teammate, but there are so many stellar CB still available that I'm surprised by the pick. One could argue that pairing him with Passarella adds intangible value.

Ruggeri was one of about 7-8 other defenders in question. It was basically a toss up between him and some others. There are some quite good sweeper type defenders left that I could have picked, but I don't think any of them would have paired well with Passarella so we landed on "El Cabezon" instead.

As we now close in on completion, I might say that Team B practically has been Team Bauser. Auriaprottu came in from another team after 4-5 rounds and has put in some views, but other than that we have had nothing. None of the original members have contributed.

I like players from the "TV-age" that I have been able to watch so that might be the reason why I haven't included anyone based solely on reputation and written commentary (other than Yashin may be).

[tpmazembe]

Despite your difficulties, you have come through with a formidable squad Team B. I suspect that we all brought along our biases, and an excercise of the sort with selectors my father's age might not be as skewed towards post '74 players.