First, thanks to RHE for running this - it was a lot of fun researching and drafting the players.
I am going to use this post to explain why, dice be damned, this team would win this tournament in real life.
Tactics/Formation
I came into the draft with a specific tactic in mind, and tried to fit all my picks into this formation. There were a number of MFers that ended up drafted shortly before my picks in the early rounds, but I think I got guys who will fill in nicely by the end.
This is a tactic/formation that I have been working on over a few years in FM, and it seems to be effective against all styles of teams. Technically, it is a 4-1-2-3 line-up, but practically, it is a 4-3-3. It is possession-based, but a little more direct than Barca's Tiki-Taka, maybe closer to the original total football concept. We will be building up play from the defense, and the width will come primarily from the fullbacks. The three mid-fielders are the engine, and all three positions require mids who can transition from defending to attacking quickly. We will be playing a high line, with pressure on the ball, particularly opposing defenders. We will work the ball into the box more than lob a bunch of crosses. And, while possession-based tactics tend to be defensive in nature, we will play with an attacking mentality - with or without the lead - which means we will always be looking to win the ball back and push the ball forward quickly.
G. Muller
Neymar Raul
De Rossi Modric
Busquets
Maldini Cannavaro Ramos Zanetti
Cech
Bench: Drogba, Sanchez, De Bruyne, Riquelme, Srna, Vertonghen, Saul
Manager: Pochettino
Defense
I did not start the draft thinking I would build from the defense, it just sort of fell that way. The two CBs, Cannavaro and Ramos anchor the back four. Cannavaro is obviously one of the best defenders of all time, and his ability to read the game is critical in playing a high line. Ramos is a strong player who excels in the air, and is a strong tackler. They complement each others skills, and allows them to have a slight stagger in the line. Significantly, they each can play the fullback position, which brings additional versatility to the line-up. Both will be assigned a CB role, with defensive responsibility. Upon winning the ball, Ramos will have the freedom to search out a longer pass, while Cannavaro will primarily look to make short passes to Busquets or Maldini.
The Fullbacks will play basically in line with the CBs, but they each will have slight variations on the wing-backs instructions. Maldini will play a wingback, with support duty. This means he is primarily staying a bit deeper, and will provide support in the attacking end from midfield to about the box. Maldini is the best defensive LB in the world, so we will take advantage and have him shut down the opposing RW. Keeping Maldini a little deeper in the attacking end accomplishes two goals, it gives room to Neymar to work the outside, and more importantly, helps the defense maintain its shape, even in a counter-attack - with the three deeper defenders, and Busquets capable of spreading out to cover the field. Zanneti will play the wingback on the right side, with an attack duty, meaning he will provide width for the entire touchline. Zanetti earned the nickname El Tractor for his stamina and tireless runs up and down the wings to aid both attack and defense. Zanetti was a quick, strong, and physically fit player in his prime, with outstanding physical attributes, excellent ball control, dribbling, technical ability, and acceleration. Defensively, he excelled at reading the game, and he was a good ball-winner and man-marker, although he was also effective at distributing the ball to team-mates, due to his passing range and vision. A two-way and two-footed player, he excelled at playing on either flank, where he was capable of advancing into more offensive positions to cross balls for team-mates. Zanetti started his career as a winger, and like Maldini is capable of playing multiple positions on the back line - in keeping with the versatility theme.
Goalkeeper - Petr Cech We will be playing the ball out of the defense, so distribution will be primarily to the back 4 and Busquets.
Defensive subs - We generally do not make defensive subs. The back 4 are extremely fit, and would only need to come off in the event of an injury. On the bench we have Jan Vertonghen, CB for Spurs, but LB for Belgium, and Darijo Srna, an attacking RB. Injuries to Maldini, Cannavaro or Ramos would bring Vertonghen into the game - if Ramos went out, Maldini would shift inside, and Vertonghen would play LB. Srna would be a like-for-like replacement for Zanetti.
Summary: Best defensive unit in the tournament. Players are versatile and all are long-time captains of their respective club and national teams.
Midfield
The engine room. Every good midfield needs to do several things: Shield the back line, win the ball, move the ball from the defense to the attack, and provide support for the attackers. We will get all of that done with our three players. We will line up with a DM, a ball-winning MF, and an advanced playmaker. My favorite position on the field is the deep-lying playmaker - because I fancy that is where I would have been best used had we used that position back in my playing days. Within these tactics, the best player in the world at that position is Sergio Busquets. There are better destroyer-types who play DM, and there are a few better pure deep-lying playmakers, but none who can contribute to both aspects as well as Busquets. Busquets will have relatively little freedom in this role. He is a deep-lying playmaker with defensive responsibilities - meaning he will hold his position just in front, and between, the two CBs. Because we have a high line, he will be involved in the attack, offering an option to recycle the ball and switch flanks. He will be the primary focus point for our defenders when they win the ball, and for Cech's distribution. Because we play a little more direct than Tiki-Taka, he will have the option to look for more direct passes to Neymar, Raul, and Muller - or to one of the FBS making a run up the flanks. Defensively, he will be tasked with holding his position, slowing down the opposition play, and steering the opposition to the flanks.
Daniele De Rossi will be our Ball Winning Midfielder. He is a strong tackler, who also has an eye for a pass. Defensively, we will press, and hunt in packs, with De Rossi leading the charge - where other players will contain the play, de Rossi will go in for the tackle. On attack, de Rossi has the ability to sit behind the attackers and provide service, and also can make the late run into the box for a goal scoring opportunity.
Luka Modric was not my first choice, but he has the skill set to play the advanced playmaker role. He is a prototypical playmaker with good creativity, passing an dribbling skills. His role will be to sit a little deeper than a typical AP, and he will have some defensive responsibilities, notably getting back and helping to contain play, and pressing opposing defenders. He is not being asked to play a typical #10 role, so we are not looking for goals - we are looking for Modric to set up goals, and to provide outlets to the attackers, before moving the ball on. Modric will have the most freedom of the midfielders to both roam from position and to pick out quick attacking opportunities.
Midfield subs - out of the 3 subs, we are likely to make 1 or 2 subs in the midfield, depending on game situations. If we are protecting a lead, we will bring in Saul for Modric to play the DM/deep-lying playmaker role, and move Busquets up to the CM/advanced playmaker role. This will give us a bit more defensive bite, while utilizing Busquets further up the pitch to continue to support attacks - even with the lead will will maintain an attacking mentality. If we are chasing a goal, we will pull de Rossi for Riquelme, and shift Modric to the slightly more defensive ball-winning MF role - giving us two primary creative MF playmakers behind the attack. In the event of a Busquets injury, we would bring in Riquelme, and move Modric back to the DM role, which is where he played at Real Madrid.
Summary - very much a blue-collar Midfield with players fitting into specific roles rather than being individual superstars. Collectively, we think they fill those roles as well as anyone, and that the total output greatly exceeds the sum of the parts.
Attack
This is what the people come to see, and we think we have the best chance for scoring goals in this competition based on individual players and the tactics they play. Gerd Muller will lead the line, Neymar will start on the left and Raul will start on the right - both will be playing inverted wingers. Neymar and Raul will swap from time to time in the match.
Neymar will start on the left, and stay further outside. His role will be to attack defenses directly via the dribble. We expect that Neymar will beat his defender easily one v. one, so multiple defenders will be used to close him down. That shift in defense will open up opportunities for Muller and/or Raul and also for the CMs trailing the play. Maldini and De Rossi will be the primary short outlets for Neymar - who can dribble, pass, or cross depending on how the defense reacts.
Raul will start on the right, but will drift in behind Muller to allow Zanetti to have the flank on overlapping runs. Raul is a natural striker, and this position really sets up as a second striker role, allowing Raul to come in from the right and use his strong left foot to get shots away. Raul will look for service from the flanks, or from Modric playing behind.
Gerd Muller is the not-so-secret weapon of the team - specifically for this format. Muller will lead the line, playing a poacher role. When you bring together teams of the quality of the teams in this tournament, goals are tough to come by. Defenses are good and well organized, and many traditional strikers struggle to maintain their scoring prowess on the international scene. They are not bad strikers, just not as well suited to this format as a great poacher - and there is no better fox-in-a-box than Gerd Muller. Goals will be scored based on the tiniest errors, and the ability to get a toe, knee, shin, head (in Gators team - hand) on a loose ball is invaluable. Of all the great forwards in this tournament, only Sandor Kocsis can match Muller's 1.1 goals per game in international competitions. Compare Messi and Ronaldo at less than 0.5 goals per game. Muller will be helped by low crosses in from the flanks, Neymar drawing defenders out of position, Raul cutting in behind, and drawing a defender, and passes from Modric, Busquets, and de Rossi. These won't be highlight reel goals (except all goals in this tournament will make the highlight reels), but they count just the same.
Attack Subs - Drogba, with his 10 goals in 10 finals, will be one option at any of the three positions, Hugo Sanchez will be an option at striker, and Kevin De Bruyne will be the primary option at either attacking flank - depending on who is getting fatigued.
Stadium
The greatest home-field advantage - Estadio Azteca. We chose to play our home matches at Azteca for a few reasons. First, the atmosphere - it is the 2nd largest stadium, but has much more rabid fan support than Camp Nou. We also wanted to train and play at altitude. We have a very fit squad, and a manager who emphasizes fitness. By training in Mexico City, we will ensure that we are the fittest team in any game. When teams come to Azteca, they will not be prepared to handle the thin atmosphere, and will be gasping for air before halftime. Conversely, when we travel for road matches, our lungs will be even fuller, and more capable of running teams into the ground. We fully intend to out-work teams in this tournament.
Manager
Mauricio Pochettino - a surprise pick perhaps (perhaps not). We were drawn to Pochettino for the obvious reasons - Spurs. But beyond that, we drafted a team to fit into a specific tactic, so we were looking for someone with a similar style - high press, high line, attacking. This is Poch's philosophy, and even though he appears to utilize the more popular 4231 formation, in reality, he uses Dier deeper and Demeble pushed further up, so it is much closer to the 4-1-2-3 (433) set up we will be using. Second, Pochettino is renowned for his fitness regiment - continually turning out teams that are more fit than the opposition, and that out-run the opposition all game long. And, significantly, his players avoid the kind of soft-tissue injuries that you can see from over-worked players - so he keeps them fit and injury-free. Finally, this is a tournament of all-stars. They don't need a lot of individual coaching - but what they need is great man-management, and there is no better manager in the game when it comes to man management. His players will literally walk on hot coals for this man, and even his former players still talk about his loyalty to them, and their loyalty to him. If there is one man I want in the dressing room preparing my team - its Mauricio Pochettino.
