Fantasy XIs - EPL - Players bought from Holland and Belgium vs Players bought from Germany

For the purposes of this, I have selected XIs based on the country the player played in before his current club. I will compare the overall quality of these composite XIs and consider the advantages and disadvantages of buying from certain countries. There are no limitations on how many players can come from each club but each nation will be in a 4-3-3, and selected to form a workable team, rather than just being collections of individuals.

Holland & Belgium – Eredivisie & Pro League

I have merged these two leagues as to provide a competitive unit. There is plenty of talent to be found here as we will see

Strengths

Defense and Power. They look immense at the back with the commanding Olsson flanked by Vlaar and Vermaelen. They have incredible strength and power and wouldn’t miss out to any side aerially. The defensive options were so strong in fact that I have had to field the elegant Jan Vertonghen in midfield where he can use his comfort on the ball to great affect. They also have the rock solid Cheik Tiote to shield them further. Fellaini and Benteke add yet more power to a side that would be very intimidating.

Weakness

Pace. It’s not that this side is slow as such, but they’re not quick. They don’t possess a lightning quick runner. Suarez has quick feet and glides around and Benteke tends to bustle about powerfully, but there’s no express pace.

How would they play?

With a defence as good as this, it’s a shame that they don’t really possess the necessary swiftness to be a counter attacking unit. They would be quite reliant on Suarez and Ruiz to create things and would be exceptionally dangerous at set pieces with 6 aerial goal threats. You’d see a lot of 1-0s.Advantage of buying in Holland or Belgium

Readymade for the Premier League. All of these players were bought from the relatively weaker low countries leagues, but were put straight in to Premier League teams and thrived immediately. You need someone right away? Look in Holland & Belgium.

Disadvantage of buying in Holland or Belgium

Price. Strangely enough, for a league that lacks in relative wealth, almost all of these players were on the expensive side. However, you pay for what you get and the big money gets you a player than can get straight down to business.Germany – Bundesliga

An abundant goldmine of talent which has been surprisingly untapped over the years. Still, they can put out a decent unit.

Strengths

Attack. Multidimensional looking unit with goals aplenty. The buzzing effervescence of Holtby & Kagawa would create a lot of chances for Dzeko, Cisse and Podolski. It’s a front 3 that would miss a lot but also score a lot. That midfield three is dripping in technical capability.

Weaknesses

Defence. There’s only really Kompany in there that you can rely on, the rest of them are not elite level players. They would be very flimsy down the flanks and against high speed attacking sides.How would they play?

They would have to be in full attack mode because they’d need to score enough goals to make up for the dodgy looking defence. One thing is for sure, with these players, they would create a boatload of chances. They would zip the ball around looking to thread passes in for that dangerous front 3.

Advantage of buying from Germany

Technical ability. These players reflect the national team’s own strong suit of technical capability. No more is ‘efficiency’ the by-word for German football.

Disadvantage of buying in Germany

For the highest scoring major European league, it’s not surprising that it’s hard to find top quality defenders.

Who would win if these teams played each other?

This would be a fascinating game; the immovable defence against the relentless attack. However, I think that the Dutch/Belgian XI would have enough to win this. The defence would be strong enough to hold up to the onslaught and their attack is far superior to the German unit’s lacklustre defensive unit.