Formation on the ball: 4-3-3
- Capable of interchanging positions with either Jovetic behind Halilhodzic, and Pandev and Scholl shifting out in the wide areas, or Pandev supporting Halilhodzic and Jovetic taking the wide position. In any case it creates multiple possibilities.
Overall the side has balance,creativity,flair, intelligence off and on the ball, and able to dictate the tempo in midfield, provide goal-scoring threats in different parts of the pitch . Subotic and Kovac with a towering presence and reading of the game, reliable,consistent, along with Baltas and Refik's no nonsense defending, and ability to stay disciplined and defensively organized, and comfortable on the ball.
Pjanic one of the better midfielders of his generation along with Sahin who was another key clog of the Klopp machine whilst at Dortmund's peak, both good at passing and distributing the ball, Sahin with good position for interceptions and tackles. Pjanic also offers threat from free-kicks as he's known to score from there. Both doing all the work they need to, to give Scholl the platform to do what he does best. His ability to score goals from his position, cause problems with his dribbling and creativity, the perfect midfield balance you could possible want, from one of Bayern's greatest players ever. Collectively this is one of the best midfield's in the draft.
Pandev who showed during Mourinho's tenure at Inter, that he can play anywhere asked of him, on the wing and doing everything he needs defensively while still contributing offensively, and making the runs , with Jovetic on the opposite side who while injury plagued has always possessed the ability and talent to be a dangerous player on the pitch. Up top, Vaha leading the way with his poaching instincts and ability to score goals at a high rate.
Defensively : 4-4-1-1
GK - Antonios Nikopolidis: Greece's greatest keeper and integral part of the Euro 04 success,kept 3 cleansheets in the knock out stages of Euro 04, and was voted keeper of the tournament. Won 11 league titles total with Olympiakos and Panathiakos, and 9 league cups as well. Has been selected as GK of the year in Greece, a record 8 times. Reliable,consistent,dependable, everything you want in a goalkeeper along with being a good shot stopper, and having good reflexes
RB - Refik Sabanadzovic: Integral part of Red Star's back four during their European success, defensively good in all areas, could play as right-back,centerback and defensive holding midfielder. Famously did a number on maradona, when Yugoslavia played Argentina in the World Cup, unfairly sent off, but he was fairly young at the time and did a marvelous job. Was in a coma for a period of time after a head-on collision on the pitch, but came back from that incident and had a successful career, that tells you all about his toughness and determination. An eternal hero for the Red Star faithful. After winning everything with Red Star, went on to continued success for AEK Athens and Olympiacos. Proper leader,fighter, and technically gifted.
CB - Robert Kovac: Made his major breakthrough with Bayer Leverkusen during Bayer's best period in the last 20 years,performing well enough to earn a move to Bayern Munich in 2001, where he spent 4 seasons and helped win two Bundesliga titles and Pokal's, a reliable and consistent defender, on who Croatia relied upon for four different international tournaments in a 10 year span.
CB - Neven Subotic: Subotic having migrated with his family to Germany and US during the conflict in the Balkans, impressed scouts whilst playing in Florida which earned him a chance to join Mainz, during Klopp's reign and ultimately becoming one of Klopp's main players in the defensive phase. As soon as Klopp took over Dortmund, he brought in Subotic and rightfully so, strong in the air, strong in the tackle, good recovering pace, good reading of the ball, became a rock alongside Hummels during Dortmund's and Klopp's successive period, winning 2 Bundesliga titles, and getting to a Champions League final, whilst helping eliminate Real Madrid emphatically. He's not Van Dijk, but there's no shame in that, he's been a key defender for Kloppo during his most successful period in Dortmund.
LB - Hakan Balta: Balta a left-back and centerback through out his career, has mad contributions to Gala's and Turkey's sucess through out the years. Having played ten years for Gala since his move in 2007, he established himself as a regular and in the process won 5 league titles and several league cups, which had earned him a consistent place in the Turkish national team, achieving high praise and sucess with the side during their best run in 2008 when they reached teh semi-finals. Solid,physical no-nonsense defender through out his lengthy career.
CM - Miralem Pjanic: Since his breakthrough in Menz, Pjanic has consistently shown his ability in every side he's played for, in both France and Italy, and in European competitions, and for his country, he has improved every season since then and become a key player for every cub he's played for. Dictating the flow of the game, with good reading of the game, good football IQ, technical ability, movement,discipline, dribbling ability offensive and defensive he has become one of the supreme midfielders in world football. [also a very good free-kick taker and considering his position often as the deep lying play-maker, consistently contributes with goals but can play in every position in midfield]. Once called the Prince of Rome, now has become unrepeatable in the heart of Juve's midfield. Been selected for Serie A's team of the season for 3 consecutive seasons, along with the league success, he'll continue to be a linchpin of that midfield
CM - Nuri Sahin: I was absolutely over the moon when Rodgers managed to convince Sahin to join us all those years ago, and quickly was utterly dismayed by how he used him and so was Klopp. Sahin made his professional debut at the age of 16 for Dortmund and it didn't take long for him to become a star of the side and become a vital clog of Klopp's machine upon his arrival. Capable of playing as a DM,CM and AM, Sahin has similar attributes as Pjanic, great vision, great technique, defensive awareness,short and long passing,high football IQ, Sahin helped lead Klopp's Dortmund to his first league title. After being proclaimed as the best player of the Bundesliga he earned a move to Real Madrid, which in hindisgh he should have never taken as he was out of favor there, but quickly came back to Dortmund and once more played an important part in more Dortmund and Kloppo success. At his very best, he was a class midfielder
AM - Mehmet Scholl: One of Germany's greatest ever players, one of Bayern's greaest ever players [included in their all time starting XI, he could play on the left on the right, as an attacking midfielder, he had it all, the goal scoring ability, the dribbling the pace, the technique,vision and drive to win. 8 Bundesliga's, 1 CL, 1 UEFA Cup, countless Pokal's, also helped Germany win the Euro's in 1996, 129 goals scored in 530 appearances from midfield is a sensational return.
LW - Goran Pandev: ''Pandev is a quick, creative, and hard-working left-footed forward with good technique, who is capable both of creating and scoring goals, due to his opportunism and shooting accuracy, as well as his vision and passing ability. He is capable of playing in several offensive positions, either on the right or through the centre of the pitch, and he is usually deployed in a supporting role, as a winger, as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he has also been fielded as a striker or as a false-9'' While Mourinho is a moaning tart, Pandev did manage to gain his attention and become one of key parts of the treble winning Inter side. Despite being a consistent goal-scorer for Lazio prior to his move to Inter, Pandev made plenty of sacrifices for Mourinho and Inter defensively in a more restricted role, but played an important part non the less. Macedonia's player of the year on 5 different occasions, has helped Lazio and Napoli win league cups on 3 seperate ocassions.
LW - Stevan Jovetic: The Balkan Daniel Sturridge, ala cursed by extensive injuries, but possesses massive talen and ability, and when fit, is a joy to wach. When Jovetic was playing at his consistent best during his early days at Fiorentina, every top club was eager to sign him, including our own Liverpool football club and Rafa, and unfortunately we saw how good he was during our encounter with Fiorentina a decade ago. ''A quick, strong and versatile player, Jovetić is a well-rounded forward, who is capable of playing anywhere along the front-line, and has been deployed as a main striker, as a winger, in a supporting role, or as an attacking midfielder, due to his ability to link-up with midfielders, and either score or create goals. A creative and technically gifted striker, he is also known for his dribbling skills, mobility, and pace on the ball, as well as his ability to make attacking runs towards goal from deeper positions and strike well with both feet.'' Despite his terrible injury record, he's still managed to score 99 goals in 300 some appearances
CF - Vahid Halilhodzic : Halilhodzic, massively underrated player and probably not known by anyone on here but at least maybe I'll highlight what he did by picking him. He was often overlooked for the Yugoslav national side during his time, [he feels it was because of religious reasons biases ] its' hard to know but he was sensational for Nantes, he lead them to a league title in the 80's during the 5 years he spent there.
He was their leading goal-scorer in multiple seasons and also in the league, He was the top scorer with 27 goals when Nantes ran away with the title in 1982-83, and bettered his personal record to 28 goals in 1984-85 when the Canaries finished as runners-up. Overall, Halilhodzic netted 111 times in 192 appearances.