Semifinal 1: Foye vs. sleepyPT
Foye
vs.
sleepyPTLine-up
Offensive & Defensive Mindset
Players' RolesNote: Red is for the offensive mindset, Green is for the defensive mindset, Blue is for both.Bravo (
Goalkeeper) – With 16 clean sheets and 3.40 saves per goal, the GK champion of La Liga and Copa del Rey is a wall between the posts and our first line of defense. He's also our captain.
Alaba - On offense, (
Full Back), he'll be providing extra width on the midfield and looking to cross or put in a through ball when the opportunity for each arises. On defense, (
Limited Full Back) he focuses predominantly on his defensive duties (71% successful take-ons, 1.37 interceptions and 1.47 clearances, per game).
Hummels (
Limited Defender) – His main job is to stop the opposing attacker (65% duels won per game), win the ball without giving away a free kick (0.6 fouls committed per game) and get it cleared safely up field in a no-nonsense manner. He’ll have a stopper duty, meaning that he’ll push ahead of the defensive line and close down players before they get to the area (83% successful take-ons per game).
Dijk (
Sweeper) – Drops behind the defensive line, aiming to sweep up through balls (7.79 clearances per game), pick up extra attackers (73% successful take-ons per game) and make goal saving tackles as well as blocks, covering for defensive errors and taking possession of loose balls from a deep position (2.82 interceptions per game).
Aurier - On offense, (
Wing Back) Aurier aims to overlap down the flank to provide wide support for attacks, run at his man and get crosses in from the byline. Has a more offensive approach than Alaba. On defense, (
Full Back) he should supplement his defensive responsibilities by overlapping the midfield and providing first time crosses into the area. (2.95 tackles won, 3.43 interceptions and clearances, per game)
Kanté – On offense, (
Anchor Man) his main duty is to sit in the hole between the defense and the midfield, intercepting moves (4.22 per game), winning the ball (3.38 tackles won per game) and laying off simple passes to his more creative teammates. On defense, (
Defensive Midfielder) he has the job to protect the defensive line from breaking attackers by closing down on them quickly, holding his ground and then recycling possession from a deep position.
Parejo - On offense, (
Box-to-Box Midfielder) he’ll push up to support the forwards, often surging late into the box to get on the end of crosses and pull backs as well as providing a threat from distance (1 shot per game and 4 goals outside the area).On defense, (
Ball-winning Midfielder) his role shifts to a somewhat related role, with the main function of closing down the opposition and winning the ball (60% successful take-ons per game), while also helping keep possession.
Calhanoglu – On offense (
Advanced Playmaker) Calhanoglu aims to drop into holes between the opposition’s midfield and defense, gaining his ground and looking to spray passes to support forwards (2.42 key passes and 2.58 chances created, per game, and 13 assists). He’ll focus in creating offense outside the box and be the first to get on the end of loose balls. On defense, (
Attacking Midfielder) he'll provide more defensive security in the middle by tracking back to help the midfield, while also being quick and astute enough to start a counter-attack when he wins back possession.
Lamela – On offense, (
Inside Forward) he aims to cut inside from the flanks with the options of shooting (12 goals), passing (2 key passes per game) or crossing (10 assists) as he moves into the final third. His movement should open up space for Aurier. On defense, (
Defensive Winger) he aims to press the opposing full backs (1.94 fouls committed and 1.59 tackles won, per game), win the ball high up the pitch (57% successful take-ons per game) and either hold it up for the rest of the team, drive to the byline or get in a quick cross or put in a through ball.
Eriksen – Being technically proficient as well as quick, on offense (
Winger) Eriksen aims to beat his man on the outside, ready to surge into space. When going forward, he’ll try and run at the defense in the final third, causing panic and indecision prior to shooting (9 goals) or attempting to make a through ball/cross to a teammate (2.89 key passes, 3.26 chances created, per game, and 16 assists). On defense, he'll play
Defensive Winger.
Griezmann – He possesses all the technical attributes of a Deep-Lying Forward, the goal scoring ability (32 goals) of a Poacher and the strength and power of a Target Man. He’s equally adept at playing with others (1.9 key passes, per game, and 8 assists), fashioning chances for himself and getting on the end of team’s moves. We feel that such player should simply be allowed to do his own thing and for that reason, he’ll be our
Complete Forward, offensively. On defense, he’ll shift to
Advanced Forward as it brings more contribution from him defensively.
Subs:
Ricardo Pereira – Our backup full back is able to play on both sides of the wing, focusing the most of his abilities on his defensive responsibilities (2.96 interceptions, 3.62 clearances and 3.12 tackles won, per game).
Tolisso – Our second most balanced midfielder provides an industrious and versatile link between the defense and the attack. He will balance his attacking responsibilities (1 key pass, 1.15 chances created and 84% pass completion, per game) with his defensive ones (2.03 interceptions, 1.91 tackles won and 50% total duels, per game), by getting forward when necessary but mainly retaining position in the middle and attempting to thread passes to players in the final third.
Giroud – Our second striker was chosen not only to differ from the previous one but to complement him as well. He has the strength, aggression, jumping reach and aerial presence (52% aerial duels won, per game, and 11 headed goals) that make him a great Target Man to play alongside Jonas. His finishing (54% shot accuracy, per game, and 31 goals) first touch, passing ability (8 assists) and defensive contribution that make him a great Advanced Forward when playing alone.
Jonas - Our first striker pick has made a lot of success this past season putting up unbelievable numbers that got him a spot between the 5 top scorers of Europe. Playing as Poacher and using the best of his abilities, Jonas sits on the shoulder of the last defender looking to break the defensive line and run onto through balls, with the main focus of scoring goals and sniffing out opportunities in and around the box. It was with this approach that he successfully scored 37 goals while also assisting 20 times, being 3rd and tied with Ronaldo in the race for Europe’s Golden Shoe.
Set Pieces and winning/losing situationSet piece taker: Calhanoglu. Then Eriksen.
Penalty kick taker: Griezmann.
If winning: Sub on Tolisso and Ricardo for Calhanoglu as well as Parejo, adding more defensive minded players to the team. Switch to a 5-4-1 formation with Ricardo playing LB and Alaba playing CB.
If losing: Sub on Jonas for Calhanoglu, move Eriksen to LM and Lamela to RM playing both the Wide Midfielder role, have Jonas as a Poacher upfront and Griezmann behind him as an Advanced Forward.
ExplanationAs you can see, our focus on offense falls on exploiting the sides where we believe lies the biggest weakness of Foye's team.
Starting with our defense, Aurier is the only player who'll venture much forward, playing the Wing Back role and pairing up with Lamela's abilities to drift inside, as both create havoc on Foye's left side. Alaba on the other hand will focus on providing width on the midfield and setting up crosses/through balls when the opportunity arises. We've switched Hummels and Dijk since the first can handle more defensive responsibilities when Aurier goes up. Dijk is our last defender, sweeping up balls from behind the defensive line with his great concentration and strong intercepting ability. Our defense will have the advantage of the fact that Koke doesn't usually play on the right side so he won't be able to fully maximize his offense thus neutralizing what should have been a big offensive threat for Foye to a lesser one that will struggle against Eriksen's and Alaba's defense.
Regarding the midfield and following the same line of thinking, Kanté now plays on the right side. He'll be our first defender, standing in front of the defensive line and focusing on stopping counter attacks before they even begin while also pressuring opponents when they have possession of the ball. Parejo will think more defensively in both mindsets, he will focus on tightly marking Hamsik and stopping him from creating any offensive opportunities. Defensively, Calhanoglu will track back to help the midfield by filling in that 3rd spot while also being quick and astute enough to start a counter-attack. Plus with the help defensively of Eriksen and Lamela, we feel we have enough to stop Foye's attack.
On offense, and as mentioned above, Lamela, while pairing up with Aurier, will take advantage of Foye's weaker side, gaining his ground with his speed, pace and drifting inside as well as exploring the most of his goal scoring qualities in order to create offensive opportunities for himself or for his team mates. On the other side, Gaspar shouldn't be able to handle Eriksen on his own, so he will then need for Carvalho to slide over and help out defensively. This will end up creating space in the middle for both Calhanoglu and Griezmann to exploit. With the addition of Calhanoglu, our offense won't have any problems with creating deadly opportunities for our attacking players, and their pace should be able to overrun Foye's defense. This time around Calhanoglu is the man in the middle allowing Eriksen to create offense on the side, setting up Lamela with goal scoring chances or joining in on Griezmann's offensive firepower.
In conclusion, even though both teams are strong and very well balanced, we feel our team has the slight advantage in this match up considering that Foye's left side of his defense has a weakness that cannot be ignored and his team's performance will suffer because of it.
