I propose this thread as an exercise of imagination. A workshop on tactics never executed, or a feasible (?) experiment on non-conventional football schemes. Many times I've wondered if a well-trained team only of forwards coudn't all of a sudden shatter the present (& eternal) correlation defense-midfield-attack: specially if made out of the big ones in the game. A team which, although 100% devoted to the attack (since totally formed by forwards) has to on one way or another try not to accept more goals that they score, and so fulfill its main objective which is...to win. Be it against the most 'balanced' teams of the world (i.e., teams which would perfectly distribute its defensive, midfield and offensive players around the field - as it's normally seen as the ideal - or even against 100% defensive teams, i.e. teams only with defenders (and that why not could be theme for another thread, let's call it 'The All-Time Only Defenders Fantasy XI' thread). The intention would be to offensive wise so formidably choke those 'well-balanced' or 'totally defensive' teams that it would break with any attempt of the traditional arsenal of tactics to overcome such irresistible (?) attacking formations. Even if that's just utopia. There goes my All-Time Only Forwards Fantasy team (with no defenders at all or typical defensive mids, please): Pelé Di Stéfano-Bobby Charlton Maradona-Zico-Platini Garrincha-Best-Leônidas da Silva-Puskas-Rivelino PS: My goalie would also...play. (OBS: contemporary 'only forwards XIs' - from 1990 on - would also be wellcome)
Could also form a team with just free kick specialists: Rogério Ceni Nelinho-R. Carlos Maradona-Beckham-J. Pernambucano-Riquelme Garrincha-Pelé-Zico-Rivelino In that case games victories would even be easier, since the adversary would by all means avoid tackling around the box.
Can I include Jorge Campos from Mexico or Rene Higuita as a GK? I'm not sure about Gullit's inclusion because he actually played in defence early in his career. My Forwards Only XI: ----------------------- Campos ----------------------- Gullit ----------- Di Stefano ------- Charles ---------- Cryuff ----------- B Charlton Garrincha ------------------------------ Gento ------ Van Basten ----Meazza ---- Puskas My Free-Kick Specialists XI: --------------- Chilavert --------------- R Koeman Kaltz ---------- Mihajlovic ------- R Carlos Beckham --- Juninho Pernambucano ---------------- Platini ------- Maradona ------------- Zico ---- Del Piero
Excellent teams. Gento was the incarnation of an offensive team. Meazza's presence up front surrounded by Van Basten & Puskas is awesome. Good remembering Chilavert, Mihajlovic & Koeman as a masterful freekickers too. In the goal I'd prefer Higuita to Campos as a 12th player though. I'd like to remind that those purely offensive teams can also be be formed by non-'classical' players. For instance, nowadays players. How would you form an exclusively offensive team like those in an age at least in theory devoted to defensive systems?...
My one would include Cruyff instead of Charlton, even his Orange being associated with not such offensive concepts (my excuses to Greaves-Dean-Bloomer-Lawton fellows): Pelé Cruyff-Platini Zico-Di Stéfano-Maradona Garrincha-Best-Leônidas-Puskas-Rivelino Bench: Valentino Mazzola Kopa-Charlton Moreno-Scarone-Zizinho Matthews-Van Basten-Müller-Eusébio-Romário
Mine is a 'mix' of yours, with some modifications... ----------------Pelé -----Charlton-----------Platini--------------Di Stéfano -------Zico-----Cruijff---Maradona Garrincha---Eusébio---Ronaldo---Puskas Reserves: Zizinho, Leônidas, Gerd Müller, Best, Kopa, Gento, Meazza, Kocsis, Masopust, F. Walter, Rivelino. ----------------Ronaldo ----Zidane----Stoitchkov----R. Baggio ----Rivaldo----Bergkamp----Ronaldinho Henry--Van Basten--Romário--Klinsmann
speaking of forwards, did higuita ever play up top? because campos did. i remember him playing forward for the national team once too, for some reason.
Mine would be one of the players, included Cruyff (think a prominent coaching role happens to be stealing shine from the real stars). A non-player could be Meisl or Sebes (have stressed my bias on Brazilian stuff, so no João Saldanha), at least for a non all-time only versatile midfielders. Menotti came to mind...
I personally prefer Higuita too but Campos actually played some matches as a striker so that's why I went for him.
Instead of Crujff as a coach I'd put his mentor Rinus Michel in order to teach all those forwards how to defend too. As technical assistant Menotti & João Saldanha as press advisor.
I'm sure there will be more hardcore defensive 'defenders' than them. Didi's & Platini's stuff was still to score goals (or at least to make them feasible).
Didn't know that, but the backwards 'scorpion' bicycle Higuita staged in a World Cup (!) was almost as a goal to me - and takes the prize. It would be beautiful see a goalie score a goal like that in a WC semifinal. To the despair of Teso.
Collectors of the ultimate prooves on offensiveness effectiveness, before secure investments were enough to brain-washing, would conjecture. The more "conservatively" positioned squads were the winners, also in 74. Maybe for struggling to score instead of bore (no, I'm not blaming the Clockwork individual brilliance)...
The winners in 74 (without wanting to lessen their conquest) played that final at their home - and that's a hell of an advantage.
your argument becomes boring...there will be allways a hosts of worldcups..the dutchs allready knew the possibilty to play germany in a final and the situation wasnt that the referee and linesman in the final was hostfriendly in some decisions.... your brasilian team will be host wc in 2014..so if brasil win 2014 the wc it with big help of your homeadvantage (your criteria)and if not your team cant deal with the pressure at home ???...if you praise the clockwork orange so please dont bring allways the homefactor excuse..german teams won wc and ec cups in other countries and dont need to play at all costs at home....and a sidenote is that in wc 1974 the dutch team had a big support of his fans in his first 6 games..the arenas was filled in majority with fans coming from netherland..how many supporters brasil,argentina,uruquay,sweden and bulgaria had against the dutch armada?? but anyway you have to deal with the situation..like it or not..
This is an important yet often overlooked point when people deal with Holland 1974. For all the tournament except the final game, Holland actually played like at home. If you watch the games, the stadia Holland played in were all packed with Dutch supporters, it was in fact a home game situation for them, however with the advantage that they did not have the pressure of factually playing "at home" and having to do well. They were stripped of their unpressured home field advantage in the final and look what happened (Germany had a much bigger pressure on them throughout the tournament and the final game being actual hosts).
So, to what conclusion should we get?... Mine is that the 6 games Holland played 'as if' were home must have resulted terribly harmful to them since they - for the 1st time in that Cup - played a game in a stadium packed with Germans, against Germany, in Germany. Their 'environment' all of a sudden anticlimatically changed from wine to water. An anaphylatic shock. I fear the same thing must have happened to Brazil in 1998. Heavenly 6 games just to face inferno in the final. Now, we all know that WC host countries do have a tremendous advantage - and I don't deny Brazil will have it in 2014. 80% of all hosts (even the underdogs) got at least to the semis. Brazil didn't win in 1950 but went to the final, and be sure that the home advantage considerably boosted them. They just lost because of overconfidence & a bad night of sleep in virtue of the idiotic commemorations in advance. Why FIFA spent 36 years to give a WC to South America? For me one of the hidden reasons is that they'd have ending up to give at least another one to Uruguay who would then have all the chances to tie Germany in the WC titles ranking (what a scandal!). Hosts winning finals? If that's 'boring', 621380, it's not my fault!...