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Sweeper, does it deserve to be the sole role of a player?

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 3:41 pm
by crystalthunder
Having followed soccer over a decade, it strikes me as odd that there should be a player in soccerproject whose sole role is to be a sweeper. I know that this is a common defensive position in lesser leagues, but in modern football the role coincides with that of the central defender when playing against a team with pacy attackers. For example, during the Champions League final last year, AC Milan had Jaap Stam play as a sweeper and Nesta playing in front of him. Stam, who is a CB & RB was responsible to cover the threat of Djibril Cisse who is one of the fastest strikers. For those of you who remember, Stam did a great job in that role and killed off all the attacks of Liverpool with great success - but he is a defender and NOT a sweeper. His functions during that game was the same as that of Nesta (playing as a CB) and hence he did not have any problems readjusting. This is only one example, but I think that it clarifies that the skills needed for the functions of a CB and SW are virtually the same.
In a 5-man defense, a sweepers role is to stay as the last man and clear the ball from the penalty area. This requires no more skill or experience than a normal CB would need to acquire, because this is also the function of a CB in a 4-man defensive line. We're not talking about Beckenbauer's style of play here, you never saw modern SWs attack in open play.
Hence with the limitation in the requirement of a sweeper and especially since in soccerproject he is limited to a position in a 5-man defense, it should be abolished. To have a player be trained as a sweeper and not be capable of playing as a defender, it makes no sense that they lose their ability to function at the same level. This game is not base on 5 year old kids who arguably wouldnt have the capacity to adapt to a difference in the location, but it is ridiculous to claim that a professional would be disoriented by this.
What I'm trying to say is that sweeper should not be a position but rather an 'individual order' of a central defender. This is not the same as for a central striker vs the forwards on the sides, since their roles and style of play differ. Usual role of CF is to be the finisher, player to hold up the ball, flick on or divert the defenders. The other 2 do not do any of that except for the latter 2. In teams like Manchester Utd and Dortmund it can be seen exceptionally well. Rooney & Ronaldo support Nistelrooy, but do not score quite as often as the latter since their main function is to bring the ball forward. This difference does not exist between a sweeper and a defender, they are basically the same thing.
All in all, abolishing sweepers will not affect soccerproject. It's popularity can be seen by their transfer price and usage. A completely unpopular position is still being supported by the game and I believe the time to get wrid of them should be now. The game has already acquired over 8000 users and is growing rapidly. The longer we wait, the more troublesome it would be to make changes such as this. If we do not act, the game will never change for the better of the game.

I'd love to hear some comments on this, so speak up :)

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 4:04 pm
by h00psta
Too much to read :shock:

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 5:21 pm
by Blue
And what happens when someone needs to have an ultra defensive central defender in a 5-3-2 formation? A central defender would be out of position and play terribly. Getting rid of sweepers would be condemning defensive stratergies to death.

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:11 pm
by crystalthunder
What does a CB need to learn in order to play as a sweeper?

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:35 pm
by andrei
I agree with crystalthunder, SW is just an individual order. He's a person who stays in the back, but still preforms the functions of a defender, therefore should be considered as CB.

Re: Sweeper, does it deserve to be the sole role of a player

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:06 pm
by ezzyezzy
crystalthunder wrote:Having followed soccer over a decade, it strikes me as odd that there should be a player in soccerproject whose sole role is to be a sweeper. I know that this is a common defensive position in lesser leagues, but in modern football the role coincides with that of the central defender when playing against a team with pacy attackers. For example, during the Champions League final last year, AC Milan had Jaap Stam play as a sweeper and Nesta playing in front of him. Stam, who is a CB & RB was responsible to cover the threat of Djibril Cisse who is one of the fastest strikers. For those of you who remember, Stam did a great job in that role and killed off all the attacks of Liverpool with great success - but he is a defender and NOT a sweeper. His functions during that game was the same as that of Nesta (playing as a CB) and hence he did not have any problems readjusting. This is only one example, but I think that it clarifies that the skills needed for the functions of a CB and SW are virtually the same.
In a 5-man defense, a sweepers role is to stay as the last man and clear the ball from the penalty area. This requires no more skill or experience than a normal CB would need to acquire, because this is also the function of a CB in a 4-man defensive line. We're not talking about Beckenbauer's style of play here, you never saw modern SWs attack in open play.
Hence with the limitation in the requirement of a sweeper and especially since in soccerproject he is limited to a position in a 5-man defense, it should be abolished. To have a player be trained as a sweeper and not be capable of playing as a defender, it makes no sense that they lose their ability to function at the same level. This game is not base on 5 year old kids who arguably wouldnt have the capacity to adapt to a difference in the location, but it is ridiculous to claim that a professional would be disoriented by this.
What I'm trying to say is that sweeper should not be a position but rather an 'individual order' of a central defender. This is not the same as for a central striker vs the forwards on the sides, since their roles and style of play differ. Usual role of CF is to be the finisher, player to hold up the ball, flick on or divert the defenders. The other 2 do not do any of that except for the latter 2. In teams like Manchester Utd and Dortmund it can be seen exceptionally well. Rooney & Ronaldo support Nistelrooy, but do not score quite as often as the latter since their main function is to bring the ball forward. This difference does not exist between a sweeper and a defender, they are basically the same thing.
All in all, abolishing sweepers will not affect soccerproject. It's popularity can be seen by their transfer price and usage. A completely unpopular position is still being supported by the game and I believe the time to get wrid of them should be now. The game has already acquired over 8000 users and is growing rapidly. The longer we wait, the more troublesome it would be to make changes such as this. If we do not act, the game will never change for the better of the game.

I'd love to hear some comments on this, so speak up :)
ya i do agree,theres something to be done about the sweeper cos majority dont use it..that includes me, sadly : :( :(

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:38 pm
by aciduzzo
Good ideea...swithcing to individual order iti seems to me as a reasonable change.

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 1:07 am
by Nistelrooy_10
yes I agree too, the swepper in the game is almost unimportant, is almost excluded for the majority of the player....

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 8:15 pm
by Randall Rovers
h00psta wrote:Too much to read :shock:
Very true.

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:50 pm
by crystalthunder
nice to know

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 2:33 pm
by howie
Why post if its to much to read :roll:
Something has to be done about the sweeper, I play 5 at the back but I dont have a sweeper. It would be pointless for me to buy one as am only testing a new formation out

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:11 pm
by Fjdelaba
i agree, SW should be an individual order

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:48 am
by Badbuffalo
What would you do with SW-players? Get rid of them? I won't agree then...

What you can do, I don't know if that's exactly what you mean, is put a SW in an other but 5-men-defense (4-3-3, 4-2-2, 3-5-2, 3-4-3), and create a new individual order: Sweeper. When you give a CB this IO, he will lose some points (in comparison with his normal role, CB); when you put a SW in defense, and you give him this special IO, he will play as in a 5-men-defense (the ratings would be the same). Now putting a SW on CB, make him lose 6 points, then, he won't lose any...

Is this what you mean, or is it still slightly different?

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:22 am
by Jeffrey
I sold my lone SW and bought lots of CBs :D

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 10:20 am
by lexazz
i say, do something with the SW's because onder the 70 - 80% they are useless. They dont play that well. Or just dont let any new SW's come into the game so they will flow slowly out of SP.