[agoo101284]

I'll be keeping the updated tournament schedule here with links to the individual matches.

Please post your starting lineups in this thread.

For the sake of the tournament, we will assume all players to be healthy.

The Play in Match
Real Madrid v. AS Roma
Winner: Real Madrid 8-2

CURRENTLY BEING PLAYED
The Group Stage
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D

MATCHDAY 1: Wednesday (10/11) to Saturday (10/14)
Group A
Grasshopper FC v. Cruzeiro EC
Bayern Munich v. Stuttgarter Kickers
Group B
Deportivo Wanka v. Bolton Wanderers
Hechendorf All-Stars v. Arsenal
Group C
AC Milan v. Galatasaray
Olympique Lyonnais v. Tottenham Hotspur
Group D
Woking FC v. The Strongest
Newcastle United v. Real Madrid

MATCHDAY 2: Sunday (10/15) to Wednesday (10/18)
MATCHDAY 3: Thursday (10/19) to Sunday (10/22)

[Volcom]

Umm.. why am I in the play in when my team was one of the first completed?

Here's the draft status:

Completed sides (14):
Cruzeiro, Bayern Munich, Henchendorf All-Stars, Olympique Lyonnais, Newcastle United, AC Milan, Arsenal, The Strongest, Stuttgarter Kickers, Grasshopper FC, Deportivo Wanka, Woking FC, Tottenham Hotspur, Bolton.

Closest:
Galatasaray (16)
Real Madrid (15)
AS Roma (15)

Out:
Turkish Lions
Steaua Bucharest

Two of the closest three will be in. If Roma, Madrid, and Galatasaray don't finish, then Galatasaray would be in with 16, and Roma and Madrid would have a play in.

[crazyfan]

Originally Posted by Volcom

Umm.. why am I in the play in when my team was one of the first completed?

I'm not sure but your match against Real Madrid might well be the 1st match of the tournament

[Volcom]

I'm pretty sure he meant to put Roma in the play in going off what he said in the Discussion Thread.

He also didnt include my last two picks, Daniel Agger and Carlo Cudicini in the line ups. Must be a mistake.

[crazyfan]

ok then there must be an error. PM him.

[nguyen_milan]

Well, here is my Starting line up:
4-3-1-2

Gomes
Cicinho-Walter Samuel- Rio Ferdinand- Zambrotta
Simone Perrota- David Pizzaro- Mark Van Bommel
Kaka
Cassano- Hernan Crespo

Subs: Reina, Mexes, Kaladze, Vucinic, Del Piero, Zankulovski, Stankovic.

My team is pretty rounded up:
Gomes is a very solid goalkeeper, as my team Milan struggled againt PSV last 2,3 years, i know how the like Sheva, Kaka, Inzaghi felt how tough he was.

The back and midfield are very good. Im happy with Samuel and Rio Ferdinand as my centre backs , they are as hard as rocks. Good at both positioning and defending from air.I am really happy with Cicinho and Zambrotta as my wing backs. The threat from both wings is dangerous for any teams, they would be one of my main weapons. Zambrotta is clearly one of the best wing backs in the world, if not the best. He can play well at both wings, but speacially dangerous at the left wing so i put him there. Cicinho is the steal of the draft at 8th round, he needs to imporve defensively but offensively he is as good as anyone.

My midfield led by Kaka with David Pizzaro, van Bommel and Perrota. They very are creative but dont lack muscle with Pizzaro and van Bommel here. They all had good form recently. Kaka is nuff said but i have to talk about David Pizzaro. He is the backbone of the Roma`s midfield here,contributed a very big part of Roma`s early success, i think it was really a steal.

My strikers seem to be the weakest in the team but Crespo after coming back to Italy is just like a fish coming back to the ocean, he had an impressive form for Inter. After he was injured, Inter has had trouble immedietly. Cassano didnt have much chances now but i believe in the right enviroment he could shine, he is still the best young forwards in Italy.

My bench is also solid, versatile, can make impact from the subs with Stankovic and Del Piero. Kaladze in Milan is not only a good LB but he had a very good time at centre back last season. Vucinic, well, if anyone followed the Serie A would know he is a very talented young striker, he was not like some "wonderkid" like Walcott.. he was also tested in the hardest league in the world (he had 19 goals in 28 games in 04-05 i believe).

About my team` style, I want my team to play a style like Milan or Italy with the same information. Led by play maker Kaka and the threats from both wings, the clinical Crespo will not be hungry.. So, as i see, my team is pretty rounded up and has no real weakness, it would be compete well againt any teams

Last word, English is not my native language, since i went to the uni i didnt learn much English grammar as i did in high school so my writing is not very good. I am actually better at listening and reading but my grammar and writing are huge declining. Just hope you all understand what I mean hehe If you dont understand anywhere, tell me and I will try my best to make it clear hehe

[MonkeyBallZJr]

--------------------------Gregory Coupet----------------------

Ivan Cordoba-----Lilian Thuram-------Cristian Chivu------Urby Emanuelson

--------------------------Javier Mascherano--------------------

---------------------Michael Ballack---------------------------------

--------------------------------------Eidur Gudjohnsen--------------

Franck Ribery-----------------------------------------------Louis Saha--

--------------------------Michael Owen------------------------------

P.S. Don't worry about your writing Nguyen_Milan, I think it's very good.


Where to start about my team, hm I like it a lot. It's definitely an improvement over my last one. This time I focused my team on my midfield and that is pretty much the strength of my team.

My defense is solid but maybe not as good as some others. Thuram and Chivu form a formidable CB pairing, Thuram showed at the WC that he still has it, and Chivu is as good as any top CB, the only thing stopping him from earning that world class reputation is due to not playing for a bigger club. Since I am playing a 4-3-3, I lack width from midfield so I put two defenders that are capable of going forward. Ivan Cordoba has been claimed the fastest defender in football. Even though he plays CB for Inter, he has no problem playing RB. His speed will help out Thuram who is a bit slower now. Urby Emanuelson, the future LB for Holland, very much like Ashley Cole and going forward he is very good, good pace, a good cross and can even beat his man one on one. Defensively he is solid.

Midfield - Since everyone seems to hate on Carrick so much, I decided to leave him out. Good thing I had an equally good replacment in Eidur Gudjohnsen. My midfield consists of two world class players and a very close to worldclass one. With Mascherano I have one of the best defensive midfielders in the world covering my backline (exclude his form for West Ham), With Ballack I have one of the best and most complete midfielder in the game, he will play a more deeper role like he did for Germany in the WC this summer and will carry some defensive load off of Mascherano. Eidur Gudjohnsen is probably pretty underrated but he is a very good and creative player, a very versatile player but his best position is to play an attacking midfield role where he can link up with the striker.

Forwards - I know I kinda have a weakness up here, Owen is not the ideal player to play as the target player in a 4-3-3, but Barcelona have Eto'o who isn't your typical targetman but he provides movement and pace, Owen use to provide that back in his earlier days but now he still provides some movement off the ball but is mainly a poacher, however his finishing is worldclass. Franck Ribery provides width and the ability to beat players and provide goals. Louis Saha has the speed and ability to play in this LWF role, once Emanuelson overlaps as he should, Saha can drift forward and help out Owen. Saha's form this season has been incredible, IMO he is a better and more complete player then Trezeguet. He's also proven he can score in Europe as well.

Subs:

Michael Carrick
Jonathan Woodgate
Steven Pienaar
Jesus Navas
Yohan Gourcuff
Giorgio Chiellini
Julio Cesar

My bench has great depth, I have a potential world class defender if he stays fit. Carrick is good enough to be starting. Pienaar another good player that can play as an attacking midfielder or as a winger. Jesus Navas, this guy has world class potential, he was crucial in Sevilla's UEFA cup last season. If only he could get past his depression problem then a much bigger club will pick him up soon. Yohan Gourcuff is another up and coming French talent, he has been playing awesome for Milan this season and is already starting to gain a starting spot. Giorgio Chiellini, I'd thought for sure he'd be the starting LB for Italy this past summer, I did not know that Grosso was that good. Julio Cesar is a steal, didn't think he'd still be around in the 18th round, good enough to start for most clubs in the world.

[bbasok]

^^that's a good squad, I'll vote for you

[LiamBrady]

---------------------Crouch--------------------Inzaghi------------

-------------------------------Rooney-----------------------------

--------J. Cole-------------------------------------Lennon--------

---------------------------------Baraja----------------------------


---Belletti--------Puyol (C)--------Senderos--------Neville-----


----------------------------Robinson------------------------------

Subs:
Rafael Sobis (FC/AMC)
Peter Crouch (FC)
Mohammed Sissoko (DMC/MC)
Luisao (DC)
Park Ji-Sung (MR/ML)
Julio Arca (DL)
Sebastien Frey (GK)
Alexander Frei (FC)

TBH, now that I look at my team, it's pretty crap. Anyhow, I'll attempt to explain my logic. Rooney has a free role in the gap between the opponents goal and our goal, and just pretend it's the Rooney of last season, not this season. He'll run around like a madman, and produce some quality stuff.

His partner upfront is Inzaghi, this may seem crap, but Rooney has one of the best and most accurate shots in the world and many goalkeepers will struggle to hole onto his shots, and guess who will be there? One of the best goal poachers in the world, Inzaghi. Even though he has struggled for form in recent seasons, I believe he managed to recapture his form last year, with 16 goals in 29 games but with only 17 starts, more than a goal every 2 games, and he got 4 goals in 5 Champions League games. Also, this year with Shevchenko gone from AC Milan he will get more opportunities to start and will enjoy being the number one striker at the club, he already has 4 goals in 8 games this season. But I will admit, I hate him personally.

Crouchy upfront with Inzaghi, brings a new dimension to the attack as a serious threat in the air and is good for link up play between Inzaghi and Rooney, he drops a little deeper than Inzaghi would.

Just pretend Lennon isn't injured and you will have him running by any left back you put against him, the boy's speed just kills. Again Inzaghi will be looking to get on the end of those crosses, and so will Crouch, or if Frei is subbed on he can just as easily take advantage of Lennon's good wing play.

On the left is Joe Cole, I love this guy, and I'm convinced he's not English, wonderful tricks, always looking to make so