Page 4 - London XI vs Merseyside XI vs Manchester XI

London XI vs Merseyside XI vs Manchester XI

The strengths

London – Balanced squad

The Londoners are a well-balanced unit with an incredibly solid defence and arguably the best goalkeeper of the lot guarding their net. Their midfield has that unique blend of steel and flair that can boss matches regardless of opposition and their attack is as deadly as they come – fast, direct and ruthless.

Possible strategy – As comfortable as the side will be with the ball in possession, Mourinho’s general tactics of drawing the opponent in before going for the kill looks the more likely strategy

Merseyside – Youthful attacking verve

The Merseysiders with that heavy Liverpool influence and aided and abetted by the sparkling Ross Barkley are a wonderfully vibrant side full of youthful verve and immense attacking talent. Their pace, ability to run with the ball at opposition and their ability to carve out intricate pathways at breakneck speed make them slippery customers to deal with.

Add to this the potent forward runs of Coleman and Baines (which can happen only with the solidity that Barry offers) and you have some guaranteed entertainment.

Possible strategy – Counter attack at break neck speed

Manchester – Varied and deadly attack

The Mancunians are packed to the rafters with attacking talent of a varied and deadly nature. Just have a look at the bench – Mata, RVP and Rooney, these guys, would walk into most teams’ dressing rooms and lift the quality by just being there!

The starting lineup has its share of incisive passers (in Silva), mazy dribblers (in Di Maria), powerful bulldozers (in Toure) and ruthless finishers (Aguero and Falcao). With Silva drifting inside, Di Maria’s natural tendency to waft towards the wings would stretch teams and if these two keep exchanging positions as they are eminently capable of doing, the defence will a hard time pining them done.

One word comes to mind when we picture all these players on the same pitch; Goals (emphasis on the plural)

The Weaknesses

London – Lack of real width

As talented as the outfit is, they are filled with wide players who work best when the cut inside powerfully. Sanchez and Hazard are both at their best once they come into that middle portion of the end third, and so are Schurrle, Eriksen and Ozil on the bench. Now can you can say that I’m missing the bleeding obvious in the pocketsize dynamo shaped hole in the squad that Theo Walcott’s absence results in, but Walcott himself really doesn’t want to be a winger as he’s stated multiple times. And discontent breeds incompetence.

Possible counter strategy – Park the bus against this outfit and wait to hit on the counter and you may just frustrate a (relatively) less varied attack.

Merseyside – Lack of real steel in midfield

The reason Gareth Barry pipped the legendary Steven Gerrard to the midfield is to add a measure of defensive solidity to that Merseyside eleven. But even with the grit of Barry in it, the midfield lacks that biting, commanding presence of a Matic or a Fernandinho that can make all the difference in the world in a tight match.

Possible counter strategy – Once the inevitable early tsunami of attacks from the youngsters is weathered, gaps will start opening up in this Merseyside outfit, and a team willing to, and capable of, mixing it up in the middle of the park may just gain the upper hand

Manchester – Lack of cover in defence

As talented as the starting four are, the defence is a real concern for both Mancunian teams. A lack of defensive cover will hurt the team when coming up against high-intensity, high quality team, even with the steel and discipline of Fernandinho and the formidable presence of Yaya Toure.

Possible counter strategy – focus on putting as much pressure as possible on the (relatively shaky) defence with a concerted high-pressing game plan

Who wins?

Comparisons amongst teams are at the best of times fraught with uncertainties (unless of course, they end up playing on the same pitch) but take hypothetical teams, a collection of mammoth talents and even bigger egos at that and you have with you something more uncertainly volatile than sticks of nitroglycerine in the back of a truck riding the potholes of Bangalore

No one can be sure of the kind of chemistry say a Sanchez and a Costa would enjoy or whether a strike partnership of Falcao and Aguero can really share the kind of telepathic understanding that sets apart the greatest strike partnerships (think Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke in their prime)

Having said that, the superior balance of the capital outfit comes through in my view as the more complete side, comfortable in attack and defence and eminently capable of bossing any midfield both in terms of strength or ability to keep ahold of the ball and move it about intelligently (although the Mancunian midfield is on par with it on both counts, if not slightly better).

Add to this potent mix a manager like Mourinho, who seems to exist for the sole purpose of wining on a big occasion and you can see why they have the slight edge over the northern neighbours

Although dealing with the scary attacking threat on show for the northern sides would be the greatest test for this tough capital city defence, for me the Londoners narrowly edge out the Mancunians who I can see beating off the challenge from Merseysde (if they can weather that early onslaught, that is),

Verdict

London > Manchester > Merseyside