RealGM

Round 1
Man of Steel 4:11 MaliBrah
Fury 3:10 edfmx86

Round 2
Ted Lasso 1:0 Fury
edfmx86 7:6 Man of Steel

Round 3
edfmx86 5:8 MaliBrah
Ted Lasso 6:2 Man of Steel

Round 4
Man of Steel 5:6 Fury
MaliBrah 1:0 Ted Lasso

Round 5
Ted Lasso 6:6 edfmx86
Fury 6:4 MaliBrah

--------------------------------------------------

Voting begins (Match kicks off) at 6PM CET every other day & lasts for 44 hours. Please submit lineups prior to kick-off.

formation #1 (default)

Subs: Moreno , Campbell , Ramos , Evans

Formation #2 (alternate)

Subs: Moreno , Campbell , Nasri , Aubameyang

variable formation that shifts according to play-style with 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 respectively



with gotze and di maria switching between left wing and the #10 role and ricardo rodriguez assisting on the left side

Subs: Hulk on for Rafinha on the right wing and Raul Garcia on for Villa @ 55-60 mins for their energy burst, Fazio on for Sahin if we're winning @ minute 75
idk why i wrote rafinha on one and r. alcantara on the other but they're the same player.

EdfmxFC
FORMATION : 4-2-3-1

SUBS : Remy Cabella, Iñigo Martinez, Frank Lampard, Giovani Dos Santos

That first match up is a pain to pick. I feel like with a slight tweak either way too bring a natural central player who's operating out wide would away me either way. Gunna have to ponder this one for a while

Mali has a sneaky good team, though i would switch Cazorla and Nasri's positions. There are aspects of Nasri's creativity which depend on wing action. That's not the case for Cazorla.

As for the other match-up, perhaps i shouldn't say this because i am in this group, but while edfmx86's team has ridiculous offensive talent, the central midfield would get run off the pitch against most modern sides. The wings are wildly offensive too.

Edit: Also, fwiw, Sakho and Laporte are left-footed.

In terms of making the value picks, edfmx probably did the best out of anyone. That said, I also think the central midfield is the biggest concern. Considering the offensive talents surrounding them, even having 2 DM's would have been better IMO. IIRC Sandro's not drafted, I would swap Lamps/Xavi for him. Hell Cattermole probably could do a job just because he likes to foul.

I really like Fury's front 6, but can't say I've seen much of the back 4.

Ted Lasso wrote:Mali has a sneaky good team, though i would switch Cazorla and Nasri's positions. There are aspects of Nasri's creativity which depend on wing action. That's not the case for Cazorla.

As for the other match-up, perhaps i shouldn't say this because i am in this group, but while edfmx86's team has ridiculous offensive talent, the central midfield would get run off the pitch against most modern sides. The wings are wildly offensive too.

Edit: Also, fwiw, Sakho is left-footed.

Cazorla was one of the guys on the wing who's better through the middle I was alluding to. Love that Vidal-Matic combo. Cavani is a workhorse up top and that back four is legit.

And those are my thoughts on edm's team. Especially cause fury has quite a midfield to go to war with against them.

yeah I probably should have put nasri on the side as he's better there but santi is pretty strong on the wings too. Most of his career has been out left and floating in no? played there for villareal and malaga and has spent half his time at arsenal there as well.

and yeah I probably should swap kos and sakho in the two man CB formation.

Cazorla can definitely play there. We're just saying it'd be easier to get the best out of them if you flipped them.

cgf wrote:Love that Vidal-Matic combo.

The combo & The fact that they're augmented by a passer in front of them & The balance with one drifter and one stretcher on the wings & The all-purpose striker up front

Very very good team.

Ted Lasso wrote:

cgf wrote:Love that Vidal-Matic combo.

The combo & The fact that they're augmented by a passer in front of them & The balance with one drifter and one stretcher on the wings & The all-purpose striker up front

Very very good team.

Yeah it's very balanced and stylistically diverse. I prefer to build around a specific playing style and ensuring that we are versatile within that style and can implement our strategies through many different tactics, but it's very hard to find fault with that lineup...beyond Aubameyang being much more limited than some other guys that you could've snagged to play in his place and the backline being just quite good and not beastly like some of other teams, but that last point is really nitpicking and with the players around him Aubameyang can play a more simplistic role scorching down one wing past everyone.

MaliBrah has defeated Man of Steel.

edfmx86 has defeated Fury.

Fury's biggest strength is his defensive midfield combination. It'd be very difficult to counter the length of the field against that duo because they won't indulge offensively and give you the room. It's best to avoid trying to break them down centrally in possession, and exploit areas the holders cannot cover by themselves.

The idea is to have Kroos combine with Hazard on the left as he likes to do, create an overload in that area and probe openings, give Muller the opportunity to get into the box off the ball, supply Negredo and Muller. Kroos and Muller's planned movement would give Fernandinho an offensive corridor as well. Additionally, press high and try to recover the ball early before it is delivered to the more secure unit. Fury's back four is very athletic, but susceptible to mental errors. I think set pieces are an avenue to exploit too with Ivanovic, Terry, Mangala, Fernando, Muller, and Negredo in fold and Kroos delivering.

Part of the reason it's important to retain control is Fury's quick front three. They lack a passer to launch them consistently, but could still terrorise a defence. So Azpilicueta and Ivanovic won't overcommit, especially not at the same time, and Fernando is firmly positioned behind Hazard and Kroos' area for cover after loss of possession.

My lineup for round two stays the same, Ill most likely be making changed next match though.

out of town + don't have my laptop so use the same lineup I guess

That's a great looking team Ted, given the criteria Negredo could be a weakness but nonetheless still a really good looking team. Nice balanced team and a lot of compliments throughout, has completely nothing to do with the Chelsea link (Must feel a bit dirty inside )

treiz wrote:That's a great looking team Ted, given the criteria Negredo could be a weakness but nonetheless still a really good looking team. Nice balanced team and a lot of compliments throughout, has completely nothing to do with the Chelsea link (Must feel a bit dirty inside )

Thanks. I've made my peace with the Chelsea influence. You gotta do what you gotta do in the dirty, dog-eat-dog world of forum drafts.

There will be a run-off between a Fury v Ted Lasso draw and a Ted Lasso win.

edfmx86 has defeated Man of Steel.