Topic: PL 11 clubs draft Semi Finals

[Linudden]

Lastrador vs Hazell

Lastrador



Hazell



Tubby_pls vs Sarge

Tubby_pls



Sarge

[Crosby Nick]

Hazell beat the best team in this draft so I have to vote for him. Sarge pips the other one.

[Lastrador]

Hazell beat the best team in this draft so I have to vote for him. Sarge pips the other one.

You're voting for Rooney against Mo, don't you have any shame?

[Crosby Nick]

You're voting for Rooney against Mo, don't you have any shame?

No, I’m voting for Henderson over Stam.

[Drinks Sangria]

Lastro and Tubz.

Lastrador’s team is nicely balanced and has an awesome front 3. It’s easy to forget just how good Hazard was at Chelsea, he could be frightening. RVP probably doesn’t get the respect he deserves but he’s probably top 10 striker to ever play in the league?

Sarge’s attack is second tier and I don’t like the balance of the midfield, even if his defence is probably better.

[Sarge]

Sarge’s attack is second tier and I don’t like the balance of the midfield, even if his defence is probably better.

Yeah ok, Look at the all time PL top scorers that Andy Cole was shite

A midfield of Scholes, Makelele, Overmars and David Silva has no balance.

Ok.

[Crosby Nick]

Yeah ok, Look at the all time PL top scorers that Andy Cole was shite

A midfield of Scholes, Makelele, Overmars and David Silva has no balance.

Ok.

To be fair you yourself were trying to figure out how to fit them into a formation. Ok.

[Sarge]

To be fair you yourself were trying to figure out how to fit them into a formation. Ok.

And i did. But second tier forwards?

[Crosby Nick]

And i did. But second tier forwards?

Cole scored a ton, and was incredible at Newcastle but never quite lived down being bought by United and then missing loads of chances and Blackburn won the league. A lack of England caps in an era of very decent strikers suggest that Sangria’a view is hardly controversial.

Jimmy Floyd was great though, and nice to my brother so he’s a vote winner.

[Sarge]

Certainly not a lack of goals in that front two so its a bit disingenuous

[Lastrador]

Not to take anything away from Haz side, he has a nice midfield which probably tops mine by a pinch, but imagine thinking that a defence containing Kolo Toure, Rudiger, Baines and Gary Kelly can survive an attack of Salah, Hazard, and van Persie, with Bernardo Silva and Gary McAllister providing the invention. While my defence has to worry about Shaqiri, a decent player with no pace playing on the wing, Ginola (who scored 22 goals in all of his PL career) and Rooney. I mean is Rooney, a player who only twice in his long PL career (for a team that dominated) scored over 20 goals, supposed to be the source of all the goals? And regardless, Jaap Stam would eat the granny shagger for breakfast.

[Hazell]

I do like your attack Lastrador, even if it has Pie Boy Hazard, permacrock Van Persie and, well I can't find anything bad to say about Salah to be fair. And yeah, I focussed on my midfield which has left me short in other areas, and heaven knows why I picked Rooney, don't know what I was thinking there!

[Lastrador]

I do like your attack Lastrador, even if it has Pie Boy Hazard, permacrock Van Persie and, well I can't find anything bad to say about Salah to be fair. And yeah, I focussed on my midfield which has left me short in other areas, and heaven knows why I picked Rooney, don't know what I was thinking there!

Maybe you were on a granny porn wormhole and wanted someone who could relate? 

[Hazell]

Maybe you were on a granny porn wormhole and wanted someone who could relate? 

It really was an odd thing to do.

[Linudden]

PL appearances:

Lastrador 2,859
Hazell 3,328

Hazell holds potential tiebreaker.

Tubby_pls 2,828
Sarge 3,121

Sarge holds potential tiebreaker.

In other words, both that are one vote down will need at least two new votes to win.

[Drinks Sangria]

I never said Cole was shite, in fact I think he was excellent, just not as good as a lot of other striker's available. I'm probably a touch biased in that due to my age, my main memory of Cole is sitting on the bench in his final year at Utd and then being crap for Blackburn and Man City. He was behind Shearer, Sheringham, Owen, Ferdinand, Sheringham, Wright, Fowler, Heskey etc in the England pecking order (less caps than all of those players) and took 6 years to get 15 caps. I think he was good, but second tier was my comment and I stand by it.

I also don't think the midfield has balance. Silva is a phenomenal playmaker but not one who will put in a defensive shift, he is more of an additional attacker. Overmars too - a winger, not a true wide midfielder, which in effect makes the formation 4-2-2-2. Makelele a quality destroyer but there would just be so much space in front of him to cover, which increases Scholes' chance of a red card. Scholes was a great distributor, I'd just be interested to see how much control he'd maintain with Makelele alongside him who himself was an average passer and not gifted in possession (Kante actually a far more round player than Makelele ever was) when he's got Sanchez and Bellamy buzzing round him - two of the most awkward, persistent forwards to have graced the Premier League.

I just like Tubby's balance far more - Zola's movement behind a top predatory striker, with two non-stop wide players flanking him, Alonso and Kante being perhaps one of the greatest bases any side could hope to build off of. It's just nicely balanced.

[Sheer Magnetism]

Lastrador for the first, Sarge for the second. Hazell's midfield is stronger but they haven't got near enough goals in that team - Lastrador's is simply better balanced. Similarly, Overmars and Silva complement each other enough to overcome any doubts about a flat 4-4-2. Tubby's midfield is too lightweight and he has four attackers up front, I'm never a fan of 4-2-4's in this.

[Sheer Magnetism]

Sarge’s attack is second tier and I don’t like the balance of the midfield, even if his defence is probably better.

To be fair, Sarge's attack has three golden boots to Tubby's one.

[Drinks Sangria]

Lastrador for the first, Sarge for the second. Hazell's midfield is stronger but they haven't got near enough goals in that team - Lastrador's is simply better balanced. Similarly, Overmars and Silva complement each other enough to overcome any doubts about a flat 4-4-2. Tubby's midfield is too lightweight and he has four attackers up front, I'm never a fan of 4-2-4's in this.

Always thought Sanchez and Bellamy were both phenomenal pressers, I think they actually have a better base for defensive output from the midfield than the team they're up against.

In the other one, Hazell's midfield is clearly better but I really like the balance of Lastrador's, who also has a far better attack and probably a better defence, though Henning Berg sticks out like a sore thumb, was he even a full back? I remember him mainly for dropping to Utd's bench when Stam arrived.

[El Lobo]

Think Lastrador probably just about has the best team in the draft, and then went for Sarge in the other just because why not.

All pretty much of a muchness though, it kind of got wrecked before it even started with people selecting based on 'How good they were for the team you selected them for' and then just randomly changing 3 picks in, and then the draft organiser doing one We'll have to draft Elzar back in to run the next one, and maybe try and limit the influence Lewis Hamiltons #1 Fan has on proceedings!

[Drinks Sangria]

Does anyone know what's happened to Tremenderson?

[Lastrador]

Always thought Sanchez and Bellamy were both phenomenal pressers, I think they actually have a better base for defensive output from the midfield than the team they're up against.

In the other one, Hazell's midfield is clearly better but I really like the balance of Lastrador's, who also has a far better attack and probably a better defence, though Henning Berg sticks out like a sore thumb, was he even a full back? I remember him mainly for dropping to Utd's bench when Stam arrived.

At Blackburn, he mainly played as a fullback, and even won the PL with them paying there. He was versatile enough to play at CB, but he was an extremely solid right back with a very good right foot and technique. Not the most offensive one, but he could ping a ball from deep to cause some trouble. I thought he was a great pick at the stage I picked him, but it could be that people just forget about him.

[Drinks Sangria]

At Blackburn, he mainly played as a fullback, and even won the PL with them paying there. He was versatile enough to play at CB, but he was an extremely solid right back with a very good right foot and technique. Not the most offensive one, but he could ping a ball from deep to cause some trouble. I thought he was a great pick at the stage I picked him, but it could be that people just forget about him.

Fair enough - Age of drafters is always going to play into the voting process. 1995 was a bit before my time, I was still a toddler, so I remember him sat on Utd's bench then being average for Blackburn after that, before going to Scotland and looking past it. He was clearly decent to have played for Utd in that era and got 100 caps for Norway.

[Lastrador]

Fair enough - Age of drafters is always going to play into the voting process. 1995 was a bit before my time, I was still a toddler, so I remember him sat on Utd's bench then being average for Blackburn after that, before going to Scotland and looking past it. He was clearly decent to have played for Utd in that era and got 100 caps for Norway.

Yep, I figure that some people might remember from his later days. He was still a solid and reliable defender, but he wasn't a fullback anymore. My other options included Trippier and the likes, but I figure I had enough offence with my front three and midfield, so wanted someone a bit more solid.

Regarding Jordan, one has to figure that he probably was banned, no? Maybe philanthropist was his second account or something, because both disappeared at the same time. And I guess mods don't like people with two accounts. 

[tubby]

Sangria talking a lot of sense in here.  Think Last probably has the best team in the draft and who am I to begrudge ol' Sarge his moment in the sun.  Even though he has Overmars on the wrong flank and no real depth up top with two strikers who are primarily finishers and not real creators.

[Sarge]

So nice of you tubby, I'll just add that to the other finals I've made,and some I've won

[Crosby Nick]

Last had a truly brilliant front three but it takes a strong stomach to vote for that gobshite Bernardo and apart from Stam his back four is only slightly above average (for this standard).

[Lastrador]

Last had a truly brilliant front three but it takes a strong stomach to vote for that gobshite Bernardo and apart from Stam his back four is only slightly above average (for this standard).

I've always thought Vertonghen was an excellent defender, and better than his more renowned partner Alderwield, with whom they spearhead the best defence in the league (under Poch) for a while. He made two PFL teams of the year, so I would say he was a bit better than slightly above average. Strong, mobile, excellent reading of the game and tackling, while also being technically very gifted for a defender. Think he is the closest thing we've seen to a fitish Daniel Agger, without the power strikes.

I already said my piece about Berg, but Bridge was also a pretty decent leftback. Made 36 caps for England, in a time where the best leftback of the PL era was a fixture for them, while also got to play in some pretty strong teams. He also made a PFL team of the year while at Soton.

[El Lobo]

Regarding Jordan, one has to figure that he probably was banned, no? Maybe philanthropist was his second account or something, because both disappeared at the same time. And I guess mods don't like people with two accounts. 

I dunno, its weird. I dont think either of them really do anything on RAWK apart from drafts so can't see what they'd be banned for.

Philanthropist has annoyed me anyway, that was gonna be the username I registered under when I get banned. I'll have to go with A) Philanthropist now.

[Lastrador]

I dunno, its weird. I dont think either of them really do anything on RAWK apart from drafts so can't see what they'd be banned for.

Philanthropist has annoyed me anyway, that was gonna be the username I registered under when I get banned. I'll have to go with A) Philanthropist now.

We've had plenty of those over the years, haven't we? Low posts users who seem to only be on rawk for drafting purposes, and then they dissapear. We bring some pretty shady characters over here it seems. 

[Crosby Nick]

I've always thought Vertonghen was an excellent defender, and better than his more renowned partner Alderwield, with whom they spearhead the best defence in the league (under Poch) for a while. He made two PFL teams of the year, so I would say he was a bit better than slightly above average. Strong, mobile, excellent reading of the game and tackling, while also being technically very gifted for a defender. Think he is the closest thing we've seen to a fitish Daniel Agger, without the power strikes.

I already said my piece about Berg, but Bridge was also a pretty decent leftback. Made 36 caps for England, in a time where the best leftback of the PL era was a fixture for them, while also got to play in some pretty strong teams. He also made a PFL team of the year while at Soton.

Fair comment. He was always quite elegant but also felt like you could get at him a bit. But alongside Stam they’d make a pretty good pairing that complement each other well.

[Lastrador]

Fair comment. He was always quite elegant but also felt like you could get at him a bit. But alongside Stam they’d make a pretty good pairing that complement each other well.

Think he lost a bit of mobility towards the end of his stint with Spurs, and that definitely made him more vulnerable to pacey forwards. But on his pomp think he was very solid, and yeah, I think he would complement Stam quite well.

[Hazell]

Last had a truly brilliant front three but it takes a strong stomach to vote for that gobshite Bernardo and apart from Stam his back four is only slightly above average (for this standard).

Didn't Stam call the Nevilles 'busy c*nts'? I think Last should go through just for that.

[Lastrador]

Didn't Stam call the Nevilles 'busy c*nts'? I think Last should go through just for that.

Yep, Jaap was a man of great eloquence and honesty indeed. 

[Hazell]

Yep, Jaap was a man of great eloquence and honesty indeed. 

And accuracy

[Hazell]

Well done mate

[tubby]

So nice of you tubby, I'll just add that to the other finals I've made,and some I've won

Congrats, chum.

[Lastrador]

Well done mate

Thanks buddy, well played. I thought you had me yesterday, but my eulogize of Henning Berg and Jan Vertonghen probably swayed a few votes. 

[Sarge]

Congrats, chum.

Cheers mate, well done Hazel and two very tight games.