Tom's 7

I once rather grandiosely proclaimed that I could name the starting seven of any coach before a ball had even been thrown. “An idle boast”, you might say, but one of which I was supremely confident. Of course, there are many handball fans of each club at the VELUX EHF FINAL4 that could make the same boast. The basic premise is that if you put out your strongest, most balanced team, then you should have the best chance of winning a game, or at least being competitive against, perhaps, a superior force.

Of course, I said this over a beer to a friend, who squirreled the piece of information away like an autumn nut, to be brought out at a future date. The time is now, and I have to put my money where my mouth is. The chances of putting myself in the minds of some of the greatest coaches in the world are slim, but a certain amount of analysis and pattern can help. The question is whether the coaches will spring a surprise on unsuspecting adversaries, and this is a great possibility, but I have to go with season-long logic and see where it takes us.

“Si vis pacem, para bellum” is the basis of my hypothesis, whereby if the coaches want the peace of mind that a VELUX EHF Champions League title will bring, they must expose the opposition to the greatest weapons at their disposal. The awesome firepower of a back division, the shock and awe of the counter attack and the defensive walls that can repulse attack after attack!

To this end, I will only name the 7 players in attack, should the team start with the ball or their first attacking formation after they have regained possession. All teams are based on fitness of players on the day. All Diamond formations are from LB-RB.

THW Kiel

One of the smaller squads at the FINAL4, Gislason’s team is set in stone. His diamond at the centre will feature Jicha, Palmarrson and Vujin with Toft Hansen on the line. This quartet is fluid, quick and practiced. They understand the philosophy of the coach and have, of late, been awesome in their attacking capability. On the wings, although he has options, he will start with Sigurdsson and Sprenger. These two experienced players will get the nod ahead of Klein and Ekberg, even though he has started Ekberg in recent CL matches. The goalkeeper should be, on the day, Sjostrand, just getting the nod ahead of Palicka.

SG Flensburg Handewitt

Another small enough squad, this team is much more difficult to predict. However based on recent matches and how I see the team functioning I would go with Mogensen, Gottfridsson, Glandorf and Knudsen as my central diamond. (Mogenssen and Gottfridsson are interchangeable in the LB and C positions) The speed with which they play the game suits the concept of the coach, Vranjes. It denies the option of a big jump shooter on the left back position, but more than compensates with speed, breakthrough and intelligence. The wingers will be Eggert and Svan, because they are the best and of course the goalkeeper will be the evergreen Andersson.

MKB-MVM Veszprem

This team has much more options available to it than the previous two, but I cannot see Ortega upsetting the balance that he has achieved over the course of the season. His central diamond will be Ilic, Chema and Nagy with Sulic on the line. All three back court players have experience at the event which will be vital and although Ruesga may be vying for the central position, Chema just gives a little more stability, with Ruesga, more an impact player, who can function in all three positions should the need arise. Alilovic will start in goal, regardless of the injury update to Fazekas. The issue of the wingers is much more troubling. In recent games Ortega has taken to using both sets of left and right wingers almost in a 30 minute split. My feeling is that Ugalde will get the nod ahead of Gergo Invancsik on the left wing. Experience of the event, language and also the option for him to play in a 5-1 give the coach more options. The right wing is a toss-up between Gulyas and the other Ivancsik. I think he will go with Gulyas. Bigger and stronger he has the option to shoot from the right back as well and has struck up a greater understanding with Nagy.

FC Barcelona

It’s a strange thing to say, but Pascual has almost too many weapons at this disposal. It’s not a bad complaint to have, but makes second-guessing him almost impossible. Let’s start with the definite. Sterbik will start in goal and captain Victor Tomas will start on the right wing. The left wing is an area he has changed maybe due to the legs of Juanin, although he still looks as fit as ever. He has started Arino in recent matches, but I think he will go for Juanin due to his experience and general team play. The central diamond is the greatest conundrum for the coach. He has four players that would grace any court in the back division and two world class line players. 6 into 4 just won’t go. In the recent game against RNL he eventually solved this by playing Rutenka on the line, a move that reaped instant dividends. However I don’t think he will start this way. His preferred starting diamond is Karabatic, Entrerrios and Lazarov with Noddesbo on the line. However I am going to go for a surprise. I will say Rutenka, Karabatic, Lazarov with Noddesbo on the line. Whether that works without the playmaker style of Entrerrios is yet to be seen. What it does give is danger from every angle. The downside is two changes in defensive changeover and especially against fast-break specialists like Flensburg. Still, I’ll take the chance and see if I’m right.

That’s all folks! Like I said, I would never even dare to assume that I could second-guess these world class coaches. But it’s fun, n’est-ce pas.