BigTimeFootball Cup ... PART 1

During the European break I got to sit back and look at a lot of the National sides. I thought about writing a post featuring the top players from each nation. But then I thought it would be more fun to pick all-star squads from each of the top divisions and play out a fictional cup tournament. So I bring you...

The inaugural BigTimeFootball Cup

The Breakdown:

• Select a starting 11 from clubs in the top European leagues
• The Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and The Bundesliga
• No more than two players per club team can make the starting lineup of their league team. For Example, the la Liga team can only feature 2 Barcelona players in it's starting 11. However they are allowed one more bench player for a total of three.
• The four teams will be placed in one pot and drawn together to make 2 semi-final  fixtures. Single elimination knockout format.

The Squads:

Premier League: 4 - 4 - 2

                                                Tim Howard (Everton)

Glen Johnson (Liverpool) - Phil Jones (Manchester United) - John Terry (Chelsea) - Leighton Baines (Everton)

Davild Silva (Man City) - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) - Luka Modric (Tottenham) - Gareth Bale (Tottenham)

                         Sergio Aguero (Man City) - Luis Suarez (Liverpool)

Subs: Peter Cech - Robin Van Persie - Samir Nasri - Ashley Young - Ashley Cole - Ryan Shawcross

Manager: Alex Ferguson

Trying to pick out the top two players from Man U and Man City was very tough. Leaving Steven Gerrard out of my squad just doesn’t feel right in my soul. I did not pick a holding mid-fielder. This just seems more fun. Playing a 4 - 4 - 2 formation seems right with this group as well. Having Gareth Bale out on the wing with Aguero and Suarez upfront will be a nightmare for the other leagues. The EPL is far and away the deepest league in Europe. Anyone could easily pick three different starting 11’s and each one of those teams could easily win the BTF Cup

La Liga: 4 - 3 - 3

                        Gustavo Munua (Levante)

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) - Diego Godin (Athletico Madrid) - Gerard Pique (Barca)  - Filipe Kasmirski (Athletico Madrid)

            Jesus Navas (Sevilla) - Ever Banega (Valencia) - Santi Carzola (Malaga)

    Leo Messi (Barcelona) - Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao) - Christiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Subs: Roberto Soldado - Xavi - Mesuit Ozil - Carlos Marchena - Andres Palop – Falcao

Manager: Jose Mourinho ... I can't think of a better manager to piss off and defeat SAF.

Barca manager Pep Guardiola is excellent but he is too classy for this tournament. Picking a starting 11 from La Liga is tough because the top talent is concentrated at Madrid and Barcelona. I did pick a holding midfielder in this 11. The two best holding midfielders in La Liga play for Madrid and Barca (Busquets and Xabi Alonso respectively), but neither one of them is worth picking over Messi, Ronaldo, Ramos or Pique. And Ever Banega is pretty good. He is an Argentine international who is strong in the tackle and an above average passer. It also made sense to pick a holding midfielder in this tournament if La Liga runs up against the English juggernaut. Any team featuring both Messi and Ronaldo has to like their chances in a shootout.

Bundesliga: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1

                                    Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Borussia M’Gladbach)

Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim)    Mats Hummels (Dortmund)    Filip Daems (M’Gladbach)   Steven Cherundolo (Hannover)

                Bastian Schweinsteiger (FC Bayern)   Marko Marin (Werder Bremen)

Arjen Robben (FC Bayern)         Mario Götze (Dortmund)                        Eren Derdiyok (Leverkusen)

                                                Lucas Padolski (Cologne)

 Subs: Jerome Boateng - Ron-Robert Zieler (Hanover 96) - Andre Schürrle (Leverkusen) -

Cacau - Kevin Großkreutz - Marcell Jansen

Manager: Jürgen Klopp... Duh!

Picking only 3 (2 starters and 1 on the bench) Bayern Munich Players was tough. I went with the Cool head of Schweinsteiger to anchor the midfield and the lethal Arjen Robben to slice up the right side of the attack. I chose M'Gladback keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen over Manuel Neuer. Stegen is only 19 year old, he has surrendered 6 goals in 9 games including clean sheets against FC Bayern and Hamburg.

Serie A: 4 - 3 - 3

                        Maarten Stekelenburg (Roma)

Maicon (Inter)       Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)      Thiago Silva (Milan)       Burdisso (Roma)

Marek Hamsik (Napoli)      Arturo Vidal (Juventus)           Clarence Seedorf (Milan)

Edinson Cavanni (Napoli)    Antonio Di Natali (Udinese)   Wesley Sneijder (Inter)

Subs: Lucio - Sebastion Giovinco - Antonio Cassano - Ezequiel Lavezzi - Daniele De Rossi - Federico Marchetti

Manager: Who the hell is going to manage this team? The top clubs in Italy change managers like crazy. There is no stability. Therefore before the tournament begins I will hold a fight club between Ultra's from Roma, Lazio and Juventus. The last knife wielding lunatic left standing gets to call the shots.

When I first started researching the starting 11 for the Italian club side I thought they would not stand a chance. But with Seedorf in the middle pulling the strings for Hamsik, Vidal, Cavanni and Sneijder. This lineup can score with the best of them.

The Draw:

The four nations were thrown in a pot and the draw shook out like this …

Game 1 – Premier League v Bundesliga … Wembley

Game 2 – La Liga v Serie A … Camp Nou

Part 2 … Coming Soon