2025-03-07, 03:30 PM - Word count: 3962
(This post was last modified: 2025-03-07, 04:01 PM by Daleks. Edited 4 times in total.)
With half of the academy season now in the books and with the draft closing in, it is time to take a look at some potential top prospects that the top organisations will be keeping an eye on.
Specific draft predictions will be hard to make this season, as the introduction of two new expansion teams and the expansion draft makes predicting this far ahead close to impossible. So, we will be looking at the top prospects in each position in this season's academy and look at who might be the potential hottest round 1 picks. We will be looking at the top 2-3 players in each position, mostly ordered by TPE. I believe that all of them will have the potential to be picked round 1, especially if certain games have glaring gaps in some of their positions.
Note: All of this was written on the 7th of March. TPE values might already be very outdated by the time you read this. Players were also mostly ordered by total TPE. I did not realise that banked TPE counted as part of the total TPE already, so the ordering might seem slightly strange. Too much work to change it now.
I also apologise if your player is judged wrongly, it is difficult rating such a gigantic class 100% accurately :) Take it as a great opportunity to reply and participate in an interesting discussion!
GK
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GKs will be in huge demand, as there are only 17 active goalkeepers between 20 teams. 4 of those active goalkeepers are from the academy, so teams will be looking to potentially pick up a goalkeeper that will take care of their goalkeeper worries for many seasons to come.
Denis Mobek – (451 TPE, 3 banked, $1.2 M) @denismov
Istanbul star Mobek has been the star goalkeeper throughout the academy, only recently been outshone by the goalkeeper who will be next on this list. Mobek is known for his excellent aerial reach, one and ones and reflexes, but is let down by his lack of concentraction and composure in high pressure games.
Pablo Kawasaki – (452 TPE, 0 banked, $0 M) @Voodooman
Kawasaki has reached good form recently, impressing everyone with their quality goalkeeping. They appear to be a total opposite of Mobek. Good concentraction, composure and positioning makes up for their less than ideal aerial reach and ones on ones ability.
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CD
With 12 players able to play as CD, this makes tied with CAM for the role with the most amount of academy players. With the tiered leagues currently having 31 active CDs, this academy class will drastically change the CD landscape. CDs are usually highly sought after and picked first, but will this change with a class full of quality CDs?
Don Lorenzo – (456 TPE, 12 banked, $4.8 M) @tstols
Don Lorenzo and his team might not have impressed, but Lorenzo has potential that can't be understated. Talented with his feet and most suited to a wide centreback, Victoria Falls are unfortunately do not have the personel needed to play a 3 at the back, so Lorenzo's true potential is yet to be seen. He has good attributes in all the right places, so his foundation is a great start.
Jakob Fensterhausen – (464 TPE, 2 banked, $0 M) @Cycro
Fensterhausen has had a hot start to the season, being of the reason for Stockholms early dominance. However, a recent bad form has seen exposed some struggles. The Italian has one of the most impressive tackling abilities the academy has ever seen, and his succesful tackling rate is further proof of that. His passing also sees a lot of use. However, teams have begun figuring out his major weakness, his jumping reach. If he were to improve that flaw in his game, he might turn out to be a future defensive star.
Rokuv Gibraltar – (450 TPE, 0 banked, $3 M) @pboomg
Flying under the radar a bit, Gibraltar international Gibraltar has been partially outshone by his CD partner, but he has provided much needed to stability in a team that has had defensive struggles lately. Solid all around stats means he has a great foundation to work off.
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LD/LWB
A good LD/LWB/RD/RWB can be the key that unlocks teams. It is likely the most underated role in terms of impact in a football team. Teams will be keeping a close eye on the best performers in this category.
Draz Tathille – (459 TPE, 3 banked, $5.8 M) @Draz0000
Fullbacks tend to fall into two camps: the primarly defensive ones, or the primarly offensive ones. Draz Tathille falls into the former category. While they might not posses any dribbling or crossing ability, they are a physical beast who also have the mentals to make sure that the opposition wingers will have a hard time getting past them. With $5.8 M in the bank, a potential training course in the future could see them improve drastically.
Sergej Nadj – (457 TPE, 1 banked, $3.6 M) @nadj
And this player falls into the later category. Being a LWB, it makes sense that they would be more offensively inclined. They live up to that fact, as Sergej Nadj has proven to be a constant source of danger in the Istanbul team. With good crossing, dribbling and pace, alongside the traits of 'Gets Forward Whenever Possible' and 'Plays One-Twos', teams have to contend with two wingers on their opponents left side. With his high workrate, he also never takes a break. However, his non existent jumping ability, lack of concentraction and teamwork often leaves dangerous gaps in defense. If he were to improve that, he could be one of the stars in the tiered leagues.
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RD/RWB
All the things said in the LD/LWB part applies here as well. Both players highlighted here
BigMac Johnson – (458 TPE, 0 banked, $1.5 M) @Newkbomb
Possesing great pace and acceleration alongside also having solid mental and decent technical ability, Johnson is on the path to be a reliable RD for any team that requires a good RD on their side.
Tyranno Criminal – (448 TPE, 0 banked, $0 M) @Triceracop
Criminal has two incredibly high very important stats, acceleration and pace. Throughout the academy season, he has been working to improve all the important mental and technical abilities that he has been
missing since the start. He still has a long way to go, but he can always rely on his speed when the games are not going his way.
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DM
The DM position always bring a lot of variety. You see defensive beasts, talented playmakers or the jack of all trades who prefer starting deep. Most popular formations use atleast one DM, with 2 DMs being very popular in 4-2-3-1 formations, as they provide good stability to a very offensive formation.
Ronflex – (450 TPE, 18 banked, $3 M) @UptownCord
Ronflex if one of those defensive beasts. Good marking, tackling and passing in the technical section, lots of great mentals (especially anticipation and determination) and great strength. With that determination, you can rely on this player to always perform at their best. Their traits of Stays Back At All Times and Marks Opponent Tightly further cement him as someone who focuses on the defensive part of the game. Lack of first touch will be a big flaw, as losing the ball in the deep areas of the pitch could lead to very dangerous goals.
Santiago Mitidiero – (440 TPE, 2 banked, $0 M) @santimit
With great passing, vision, decisions and anticipation, this player is more suited to the playmaking kind. With Comes Deep To Get Ball and Dictates Tempo, they will be a reliable vocal point from which the team will play off. Plays Short Simple Passes trait seems a bit counterintuitive, with it handicapping their good playmaking ability. Might end up being a candidate for getting changed out.
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CM
CMs have the greatest variety of any role. They can be fine tuned to such a great degree, that picking the right CM is perhaps one of the greatest challenges. While they not a guaranteed role in a team like a CD (mostly due to 2 dm variation of 4-2-3-1 being very popular), they are nonetheless used in most formations.
Marcel Voda – (459 TPE, 3 banked, $4.2 M) @Daleks
Your humble post writer will now write about their own player. Voda is a player known for their mental attributes and their reliability. Great decision making and passing means you can always rely on them to make the right pass. His good anticipation, teamwork, workrate and solid determination also means that they will always work hard to produce a result. So far, Voda has only had a below 6.7 rating once in the academy. Despite being mostly playing in the secondary position of CDM, Voda still managed to get a few clever goals with his Arrives Late in Opponent's Area trait in combination with their mentals. Dictates tempo trait has also let him take control of the game very well whenever needed. While Voda is a very flexible player than can play in a lot of parts of the game, there has been a slight focus in the offensive parts of the game with his latest improvements. With the conclusion of this post, Voda will have enough money to get another 18 TPE to spend soon. Very humble writing is over now.
Dunkler Sowerwine – (459 TPE, 3 banked, $3 M) @Oknom
Sowerwine is an intriguing player. They have stats in a lot of different places. Their high strength, speed, positioning, passing and the Comes Deep To Get Ball trait suggests that they are a player who are always available to be passed to and are very reliable in getting into position for the defensive phases of the game in a timely manner. They have good dribbling, finishing and crossing as well. They also have CAM and LM as secondary positions. However, their vision and off the ball is not good, nor is their first touch. Sowerwine might need to have a think on what their long term goal will be in terms of what role they would like to play in a team and specialize a bit more into it.
Tonto Tut – (460 TPE, 0 banked, $5.2 M) @TontoTut
A very versatile player, Tut has skills in a lot of attributes, but their only high attributes are aggression and long shots. However, their long shots are incredible. With the traits of Shoots from Distance and Shoots With Power, Tut will be the one that you fear can make a goal happen out of nowhere. With all these attributes, Tut appears to be a very natural box to box player. Time will see if they will stay this way, or if they are going to specialize in any specific direction. 5.2 M in the bank also means that a training is likely very close as well., making them perhaps a more enticing player than Sowerwine.
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CAM
CAM has always been a very popular position, and this season's academy class brings even more CAMs into the fold. They might have a hard time finding their place, some might be looking to reinvent themselves even. CAMs generally all have pretty similar stats as well, and the difference between the few roles in the CAM position is generally small as well, so I will not be able to provide deep commentary here.
Daibhi Barr (471 TPE, 3 banked, $200k) @JeffreyDaniels
Barr is the playmaker type of CAM. Good decisions, passing, technique, vision. With Tries Killer Balls Often and Curls Ball, this player is capable of creating great defence splitting passes that will lead into easy goals.
Cade Power (453 TPE, 1 banked, $3.8 M) @Jumbo
Power is also good with playmaking, but they tend to dribble more and will likely have a few more shots on goal. They also have really good speed, which will really suit teams that favour a very fast style of play. Although, the trait of Runs With Ball Often is quite counterintuitive when they have only 8 dribbling.
Thomas Jimotheus (445 TPE, 1 banked, $3.6 M) @Hero19
Jimotheus is one of the players that has flown under the radar. Having great performances whenever played in the AMC position, and having a great distribution of stats. Great decision making and passing,
combined with amazing Anticipation, Dribbling and Pace means that Jimotheus will get into good position often, and end them with either an incredible pass or even have a succesful shot on goal.
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LAM/LM
We now reach our wingers. While there are a lot of wing players in the league, the fact their footedness is very important means that there is a big split between the left and right side. While they end up being the role with the lowest amount of primary positions in the league, they end up having the highest secondary position choices.
The LM selection is unfortunately poor this season, so the two players showcased are both LAM. In fact, the entire section is very small in general. Only two LAMs and two LMs.
Louis Ashworth – (460 TPE, 12 banked, $4.2 M) @louis
Being right footed and having good finishing, Ashworth makes for a natural inside forward. Good dribbling, agility, speed and balance makes it so that he will have good success getting into the right positions and keeping the ball. His off the ball and lack of long shots lets him down a little, but it should not be too difficult improve, considering the fact that he will likely end up getting enough money for some training.
Stefan Davidović – (460 TPE, 10 banked, $600k) @dsr1338
Managers looking to get a natural winger on the left might end up dissapointed, as our second player is also a natural inside forward. However, he is also a very good candidate. Davidović primary stats in speed, agility, balance, dribbling and finishing are close to the same with Ashworths. However, where the two players differ mainly is with crossing, passing, off the ball and strength. Davidović posseses good off the ball, which helps a lot with offensive play. His higher strength also enables him to bully his opponent off the ball more easily. However, his passing and crossing is worse. This does create issues with not being able to put his teammates into scoring positions, but his off the ball does make it so that he can be more dynamic in his own movement.
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RAM/RM
While LAM/RAM has been dissapointing, the other side of the pitch has shown great potential.
Marean Dohbra – (460 TPE, 8 banked, $5 M) @ahtuu
A very natural winger, Dohbra has had a lot of eyes on him. The first to breach 100 CA and also providing some very good individual performances, this winger has had a lot of success in the academy so far. Very natural playmaker with great passing, decisions and vision. His great speed and dribbling also allows him to get into good positions often. It is worth noting that he does have the Cuts Inside From Both Wings trait, meaning he can be quite unpredictable on the pitch. He currently has $5 M, meaning he is close to getting some extra training and become a bigger star.
Sam Albinson – (464 TPE, 0 banked, $2 M) @scoous
Another natural winger, but sacrifices playmaking ability but has a greater reading of the game and his agility and balance makes it so that it is trickier to take the ball of him. With his Likes To Try To Beat Offside trait, he will be looking to utilize that anticipation to throw the defense off with a well timed run. He might be looking to put some improvements into pace, as it would help him with both traits, especially since his other trait is 'Knocks Ball Past Opponent'.
Tony Delvecchio – (459 TPE, 1 banked, $1.2 M) @Tmoney6996
We have a lot of talented RAM/RMs, and I have showcased two RAMs so far, so let us see the most talented RMs. Delvecchio has... speed. That is quite literally it, but in his defense: it is literally 20 pace and 20 acceleration. They are very important attributes, and he is actively improving his passing abilities, which nicely synergizes with his 'Looks For Pass Rather Than Attempting To Score' trait.
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ST
Usually the stars of every team and this draft class has plenty of strikers who have stepped up to the task. You always need a striker, and with the new expansion teams, there might be an increased need for new reliable strikers.
Kim Minjeong – (478 TPE, 10 banked, $500k) @lemonoppy
A fan favourite player for many, Minjeong has great ambitions and will not rest until they are met. They have a great physical foundation that has helped them greatly so far. However, lack of mentals and technical ability has occassionaly lead to inconsistency. However, their early training and a desire for more means that whoever picks up Minjeong will have a player that they know is dedicated.
Roger Roger – (461 TPE, 41 banked, $4.6 M) @By-Tor
It is hard to completely judge this player, as they have 41 TPE banked still. They currently have solid physicals, solid mentals and good finishing. There are still a lot of gaps, such as off the ball, determination, jumping reach and heading. Any improvements to them would make Roger into a more complete player. They are also at risk of being cut down by a Jedi, a flaw that teams will have to be aware of greatly.
Predrag Dobrič – (458 TPE, 0 banked, $900k) @TooDear
Dobrić is perhaps the closet to being a complete striker so far. They are solid in all physicals, with their speed stats being really good. His good finishing is also supported by his solid dribbling and first touch. His mentals are also solid, with good anticipation, composure and decent decisions and off the ball making it so that he can get into good positions when needed. The biggest flaw in his game is his low determination, which can lead him to becoming very demotivated when his team is falling behind. And his concentraction can also lead him to him having a loss of focus in important moments.
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So, after writing close to 3000 words, what is the start of the draft going to look like? As mentioned, it is impossible to tell at this current moment. The expansion teams will shake up the roster of the established teams quite a bit and there is also a question on what the expansion teams will focus on. The power rankings of the academy players could also change as more people are earning more money to buy more training. It is also important to mention that there is a big focus on drafting the user instead of the player, and rerolls makes it so that players might look completely different attribute wise after the draft. If I had to make a vague round 1 prediction in no particular order, I'd probably say these 12 players:
-Andre Caetano: I did not write about him for two reasons. He is going to be autopicked due to being the owner of one of the new expansions. Second, he wasn't a top 3 player in terms of TPE. However, this is a pick that will 100% happen due to rules.
-Kim Minjeong: I am confident a striker will be picked, as strikers can really make and break a team and this shakeup with two new teams will likely create some chaos. Minjeong is a great pick + active user.
-Sergej Nadj (or Tathille): great left backs are very valuable, and I believe that Nadj will be prefered over Tathille due to offensive abilities. However, if Tathile ends up pulling ahead in TPE (or rerolls), then the story might change. However, Tathille does not have the LWB position at all, which could potentially leave him out of discussion for certain teams.
-Mobek (or Kawasaki): I fully believe a GK will be picked first round. There will be great demand for keepers, and honestly both of them could potentially be picked first round. Mobek I believe has stats in better places.
-Jakob Festerhausen and Don Lorenzo: Good CDs are always picked early. The number of CDs is getting large and the amount of CDs in this class is also big, so CD picks might be delayed to the second round. However, I think Festerhausen is a great round one pick due to having an active user. Don Lorenzo also has a high potential of being picked in the first round, as they are also really active and have a lot of TPE and money still in the bank.
-Marcel Voda (or Tonto Tut): uuuuh how do I write about myself without sounding very pretentious? As mentioned during the CM section, CMs come in a lot of varieties and there is always a need for CMs (although double DM 4-2-3-1 is quite popular). However, Voda and Tut will have a lot of TPE once the bounty money comes in and both have active users. I initially had this as Voda AND Tut, but then remembered Caetano is auto picked. I don't think 3 CMs in round 1 will happen.
-Louis Ashworth and Stefan Davidović: the LAM/LM situation in this class is dreadful, and both of these players are good. I am confident about both of them being picked first round.
-BigMac Johnson (or Tyranno Criminal): RDs are always valued, both also have RWB positions (with Criminal having him as his main). Johnson is more balanced and has more TPE, so he is my pick. I can see a world where Criminal is picked due to potentially better long term potential with all that pace. Though, rerolls exist.
-Dohbra (or Sam Albinson or Delvecchio) : good wingers are always useful. There are quite a few good picks here, but Dohbra and Albinson are currently on a class of their own. Slightly prefer Dohbra due to liking his stats more and having more bank balance.
Special mentions:
Daibhi Barr (and Cade Power and Thomas Jimotheus) – I don't think any CAMs will be picked first round. There is a lot of new CAMs in an already oversaturated spot and there is a lot of quality CAMs coming in. If any team was desperate, then Barr first due to being very active. The other two are also active and do follow the games and write on the forums, but tend to not talk in Discord.
Roger Roger: if there is a particularly high need for a striker by a team (which is not unlikely), Roger's high TPE, money and good user activity makes him a good target.
Predrag Dobrić – same story as above really. High TPE, good user activity and is working towards earning the bounty cap.
Ronflex – I don't think DMs are such an immediate need usually, especially with lots of CMs being able to cover for them. DMs also usually tend to be slightly more offensive from what I've seen in the top team tactics (segundo volante, deep lying playmakers and supporting defensive midfielders are popular, of which only DM support would suit Ronflex). Ronflex is great if you want a DM that is defensive, but might be outshone by the more aggressive oriented CMs that can play in the DM position. The rest of the DM class is too weak to be a round 1 pick.
Anyway, I will now stop writing as I think over 3.5k words is probably way overdoing this a slight bit. I only wanted $100k :D.
Specific draft predictions will be hard to make this season, as the introduction of two new expansion teams and the expansion draft makes predicting this far ahead close to impossible. So, we will be looking at the top prospects in each position in this season's academy and look at who might be the potential hottest round 1 picks. We will be looking at the top 2-3 players in each position, mostly ordered by TPE. I believe that all of them will have the potential to be picked round 1, especially if certain games have glaring gaps in some of their positions.
Note: All of this was written on the 7th of March. TPE values might already be very outdated by the time you read this. Players were also mostly ordered by total TPE. I did not realise that banked TPE counted as part of the total TPE already, so the ordering might seem slightly strange. Too much work to change it now.
I also apologise if your player is judged wrongly, it is difficult rating such a gigantic class 100% accurately :) Take it as a great opportunity to reply and participate in an interesting discussion!
GK
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GKs will be in huge demand, as there are only 17 active goalkeepers between 20 teams. 4 of those active goalkeepers are from the academy, so teams will be looking to potentially pick up a goalkeeper that will take care of their goalkeeper worries for many seasons to come.
Denis Mobek – (451 TPE, 3 banked, $1.2 M) @denismov
Istanbul star Mobek has been the star goalkeeper throughout the academy, only recently been outshone by the goalkeeper who will be next on this list. Mobek is known for his excellent aerial reach, one and ones and reflexes, but is let down by his lack of concentraction and composure in high pressure games.
Pablo Kawasaki – (452 TPE, 0 banked, $0 M) @Voodooman
Kawasaki has reached good form recently, impressing everyone with their quality goalkeeping. They appear to be a total opposite of Mobek. Good concentraction, composure and positioning makes up for their less than ideal aerial reach and ones on ones ability.
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CD
With 12 players able to play as CD, this makes tied with CAM for the role with the most amount of academy players. With the tiered leagues currently having 31 active CDs, this academy class will drastically change the CD landscape. CDs are usually highly sought after and picked first, but will this change with a class full of quality CDs?
Don Lorenzo – (456 TPE, 12 banked, $4.8 M) @tstols
Don Lorenzo and his team might not have impressed, but Lorenzo has potential that can't be understated. Talented with his feet and most suited to a wide centreback, Victoria Falls are unfortunately do not have the personel needed to play a 3 at the back, so Lorenzo's true potential is yet to be seen. He has good attributes in all the right places, so his foundation is a great start.
Jakob Fensterhausen – (464 TPE, 2 banked, $0 M) @Cycro
Fensterhausen has had a hot start to the season, being of the reason for Stockholms early dominance. However, a recent bad form has seen exposed some struggles. The Italian has one of the most impressive tackling abilities the academy has ever seen, and his succesful tackling rate is further proof of that. His passing also sees a lot of use. However, teams have begun figuring out his major weakness, his jumping reach. If he were to improve that flaw in his game, he might turn out to be a future defensive star.
Rokuv Gibraltar – (450 TPE, 0 banked, $3 M) @pboomg
Flying under the radar a bit, Gibraltar international Gibraltar has been partially outshone by his CD partner, but he has provided much needed to stability in a team that has had defensive struggles lately. Solid all around stats means he has a great foundation to work off.
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LD/LWB
A good LD/LWB/RD/RWB can be the key that unlocks teams. It is likely the most underated role in terms of impact in a football team. Teams will be keeping a close eye on the best performers in this category.
Draz Tathille – (459 TPE, 3 banked, $5.8 M) @Draz0000
Fullbacks tend to fall into two camps: the primarly defensive ones, or the primarly offensive ones. Draz Tathille falls into the former category. While they might not posses any dribbling or crossing ability, they are a physical beast who also have the mentals to make sure that the opposition wingers will have a hard time getting past them. With $5.8 M in the bank, a potential training course in the future could see them improve drastically.
Sergej Nadj – (457 TPE, 1 banked, $3.6 M) @nadj
And this player falls into the later category. Being a LWB, it makes sense that they would be more offensively inclined. They live up to that fact, as Sergej Nadj has proven to be a constant source of danger in the Istanbul team. With good crossing, dribbling and pace, alongside the traits of 'Gets Forward Whenever Possible' and 'Plays One-Twos', teams have to contend with two wingers on their opponents left side. With his high workrate, he also never takes a break. However, his non existent jumping ability, lack of concentraction and teamwork often leaves dangerous gaps in defense. If he were to improve that, he could be one of the stars in the tiered leagues.
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RD/RWB
All the things said in the LD/LWB part applies here as well. Both players highlighted here
BigMac Johnson – (458 TPE, 0 banked, $1.5 M) @Newkbomb
Possesing great pace and acceleration alongside also having solid mental and decent technical ability, Johnson is on the path to be a reliable RD for any team that requires a good RD on their side.
Tyranno Criminal – (448 TPE, 0 banked, $0 M) @Triceracop
Criminal has two incredibly high very important stats, acceleration and pace. Throughout the academy season, he has been working to improve all the important mental and technical abilities that he has been
missing since the start. He still has a long way to go, but he can always rely on his speed when the games are not going his way.
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DM
The DM position always bring a lot of variety. You see defensive beasts, talented playmakers or the jack of all trades who prefer starting deep. Most popular formations use atleast one DM, with 2 DMs being very popular in 4-2-3-1 formations, as they provide good stability to a very offensive formation.
Ronflex – (450 TPE, 18 banked, $3 M) @UptownCord
Ronflex if one of those defensive beasts. Good marking, tackling and passing in the technical section, lots of great mentals (especially anticipation and determination) and great strength. With that determination, you can rely on this player to always perform at their best. Their traits of Stays Back At All Times and Marks Opponent Tightly further cement him as someone who focuses on the defensive part of the game. Lack of first touch will be a big flaw, as losing the ball in the deep areas of the pitch could lead to very dangerous goals.
Santiago Mitidiero – (440 TPE, 2 banked, $0 M) @santimit
With great passing, vision, decisions and anticipation, this player is more suited to the playmaking kind. With Comes Deep To Get Ball and Dictates Tempo, they will be a reliable vocal point from which the team will play off. Plays Short Simple Passes trait seems a bit counterintuitive, with it handicapping their good playmaking ability. Might end up being a candidate for getting changed out.
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CM
CMs have the greatest variety of any role. They can be fine tuned to such a great degree, that picking the right CM is perhaps one of the greatest challenges. While they not a guaranteed role in a team like a CD (mostly due to 2 dm variation of 4-2-3-1 being very popular), they are nonetheless used in most formations.
Marcel Voda – (459 TPE, 3 banked, $4.2 M) @Daleks
Your humble post writer will now write about their own player. Voda is a player known for their mental attributes and their reliability. Great decision making and passing means you can always rely on them to make the right pass. His good anticipation, teamwork, workrate and solid determination also means that they will always work hard to produce a result. So far, Voda has only had a below 6.7 rating once in the academy. Despite being mostly playing in the secondary position of CDM, Voda still managed to get a few clever goals with his Arrives Late in Opponent's Area trait in combination with their mentals. Dictates tempo trait has also let him take control of the game very well whenever needed. While Voda is a very flexible player than can play in a lot of parts of the game, there has been a slight focus in the offensive parts of the game with his latest improvements. With the conclusion of this post, Voda will have enough money to get another 18 TPE to spend soon. Very humble writing is over now.
Dunkler Sowerwine – (459 TPE, 3 banked, $3 M) @Oknom
Sowerwine is an intriguing player. They have stats in a lot of different places. Their high strength, speed, positioning, passing and the Comes Deep To Get Ball trait suggests that they are a player who are always available to be passed to and are very reliable in getting into position for the defensive phases of the game in a timely manner. They have good dribbling, finishing and crossing as well. They also have CAM and LM as secondary positions. However, their vision and off the ball is not good, nor is their first touch. Sowerwine might need to have a think on what their long term goal will be in terms of what role they would like to play in a team and specialize a bit more into it.
Tonto Tut – (460 TPE, 0 banked, $5.2 M) @TontoTut
A very versatile player, Tut has skills in a lot of attributes, but their only high attributes are aggression and long shots. However, their long shots are incredible. With the traits of Shoots from Distance and Shoots With Power, Tut will be the one that you fear can make a goal happen out of nowhere. With all these attributes, Tut appears to be a very natural box to box player. Time will see if they will stay this way, or if they are going to specialize in any specific direction. 5.2 M in the bank also means that a training is likely very close as well., making them perhaps a more enticing player than Sowerwine.
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CAM
CAM has always been a very popular position, and this season's academy class brings even more CAMs into the fold. They might have a hard time finding their place, some might be looking to reinvent themselves even. CAMs generally all have pretty similar stats as well, and the difference between the few roles in the CAM position is generally small as well, so I will not be able to provide deep commentary here.
Daibhi Barr (471 TPE, 3 banked, $200k) @JeffreyDaniels
Barr is the playmaker type of CAM. Good decisions, passing, technique, vision. With Tries Killer Balls Often and Curls Ball, this player is capable of creating great defence splitting passes that will lead into easy goals.
Cade Power (453 TPE, 1 banked, $3.8 M) @Jumbo
Power is also good with playmaking, but they tend to dribble more and will likely have a few more shots on goal. They also have really good speed, which will really suit teams that favour a very fast style of play. Although, the trait of Runs With Ball Often is quite counterintuitive when they have only 8 dribbling.
Thomas Jimotheus (445 TPE, 1 banked, $3.6 M) @Hero19
Jimotheus is one of the players that has flown under the radar. Having great performances whenever played in the AMC position, and having a great distribution of stats. Great decision making and passing,
combined with amazing Anticipation, Dribbling and Pace means that Jimotheus will get into good position often, and end them with either an incredible pass or even have a succesful shot on goal.
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LAM/LM
We now reach our wingers. While there are a lot of wing players in the league, the fact their footedness is very important means that there is a big split between the left and right side. While they end up being the role with the lowest amount of primary positions in the league, they end up having the highest secondary position choices.
The LM selection is unfortunately poor this season, so the two players showcased are both LAM. In fact, the entire section is very small in general. Only two LAMs and two LMs.
Louis Ashworth – (460 TPE, 12 banked, $4.2 M) @louis
Being right footed and having good finishing, Ashworth makes for a natural inside forward. Good dribbling, agility, speed and balance makes it so that he will have good success getting into the right positions and keeping the ball. His off the ball and lack of long shots lets him down a little, but it should not be too difficult improve, considering the fact that he will likely end up getting enough money for some training.
Stefan Davidović – (460 TPE, 10 banked, $600k) @dsr1338
Managers looking to get a natural winger on the left might end up dissapointed, as our second player is also a natural inside forward. However, he is also a very good candidate. Davidović primary stats in speed, agility, balance, dribbling and finishing are close to the same with Ashworths. However, where the two players differ mainly is with crossing, passing, off the ball and strength. Davidović posseses good off the ball, which helps a lot with offensive play. His higher strength also enables him to bully his opponent off the ball more easily. However, his passing and crossing is worse. This does create issues with not being able to put his teammates into scoring positions, but his off the ball does make it so that he can be more dynamic in his own movement.
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RAM/RM
While LAM/RAM has been dissapointing, the other side of the pitch has shown great potential.
Marean Dohbra – (460 TPE, 8 banked, $5 M) @ahtuu
A very natural winger, Dohbra has had a lot of eyes on him. The first to breach 100 CA and also providing some very good individual performances, this winger has had a lot of success in the academy so far. Very natural playmaker with great passing, decisions and vision. His great speed and dribbling also allows him to get into good positions often. It is worth noting that he does have the Cuts Inside From Both Wings trait, meaning he can be quite unpredictable on the pitch. He currently has $5 M, meaning he is close to getting some extra training and become a bigger star.
Sam Albinson – (464 TPE, 0 banked, $2 M) @scoous
Another natural winger, but sacrifices playmaking ability but has a greater reading of the game and his agility and balance makes it so that it is trickier to take the ball of him. With his Likes To Try To Beat Offside trait, he will be looking to utilize that anticipation to throw the defense off with a well timed run. He might be looking to put some improvements into pace, as it would help him with both traits, especially since his other trait is 'Knocks Ball Past Opponent'.
Tony Delvecchio – (459 TPE, 1 banked, $1.2 M) @Tmoney6996
We have a lot of talented RAM/RMs, and I have showcased two RAMs so far, so let us see the most talented RMs. Delvecchio has... speed. That is quite literally it, but in his defense: it is literally 20 pace and 20 acceleration. They are very important attributes, and he is actively improving his passing abilities, which nicely synergizes with his 'Looks For Pass Rather Than Attempting To Score' trait.
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ST
Usually the stars of every team and this draft class has plenty of strikers who have stepped up to the task. You always need a striker, and with the new expansion teams, there might be an increased need for new reliable strikers.
Kim Minjeong – (478 TPE, 10 banked, $500k) @lemonoppy
A fan favourite player for many, Minjeong has great ambitions and will not rest until they are met. They have a great physical foundation that has helped them greatly so far. However, lack of mentals and technical ability has occassionaly lead to inconsistency. However, their early training and a desire for more means that whoever picks up Minjeong will have a player that they know is dedicated.
Roger Roger – (461 TPE, 41 banked, $4.6 M) @By-Tor
It is hard to completely judge this player, as they have 41 TPE banked still. They currently have solid physicals, solid mentals and good finishing. There are still a lot of gaps, such as off the ball, determination, jumping reach and heading. Any improvements to them would make Roger into a more complete player. They are also at risk of being cut down by a Jedi, a flaw that teams will have to be aware of greatly.
Predrag Dobrič – (458 TPE, 0 banked, $900k) @TooDear
Dobrić is perhaps the closet to being a complete striker so far. They are solid in all physicals, with their speed stats being really good. His good finishing is also supported by his solid dribbling and first touch. His mentals are also solid, with good anticipation, composure and decent decisions and off the ball making it so that he can get into good positions when needed. The biggest flaw in his game is his low determination, which can lead him to becoming very demotivated when his team is falling behind. And his concentraction can also lead him to him having a loss of focus in important moments.
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So, after writing close to 3000 words, what is the start of the draft going to look like? As mentioned, it is impossible to tell at this current moment. The expansion teams will shake up the roster of the established teams quite a bit and there is also a question on what the expansion teams will focus on. The power rankings of the academy players could also change as more people are earning more money to buy more training. It is also important to mention that there is a big focus on drafting the user instead of the player, and rerolls makes it so that players might look completely different attribute wise after the draft. If I had to make a vague round 1 prediction in no particular order, I'd probably say these 12 players:
-Andre Caetano: I did not write about him for two reasons. He is going to be autopicked due to being the owner of one of the new expansions. Second, he wasn't a top 3 player in terms of TPE. However, this is a pick that will 100% happen due to rules.
-Kim Minjeong: I am confident a striker will be picked, as strikers can really make and break a team and this shakeup with two new teams will likely create some chaos. Minjeong is a great pick + active user.
-Sergej Nadj (or Tathille): great left backs are very valuable, and I believe that Nadj will be prefered over Tathille due to offensive abilities. However, if Tathile ends up pulling ahead in TPE (or rerolls), then the story might change. However, Tathille does not have the LWB position at all, which could potentially leave him out of discussion for certain teams.
-Mobek (or Kawasaki): I fully believe a GK will be picked first round. There will be great demand for keepers, and honestly both of them could potentially be picked first round. Mobek I believe has stats in better places.
-Jakob Festerhausen and Don Lorenzo: Good CDs are always picked early. The number of CDs is getting large and the amount of CDs in this class is also big, so CD picks might be delayed to the second round. However, I think Festerhausen is a great round one pick due to having an active user. Don Lorenzo also has a high potential of being picked in the first round, as they are also really active and have a lot of TPE and money still in the bank.
-Marcel Voda (or Tonto Tut): uuuuh how do I write about myself without sounding very pretentious? As mentioned during the CM section, CMs come in a lot of varieties and there is always a need for CMs (although double DM 4-2-3-1 is quite popular). However, Voda and Tut will have a lot of TPE once the bounty money comes in and both have active users. I initially had this as Voda AND Tut, but then remembered Caetano is auto picked. I don't think 3 CMs in round 1 will happen.
-Louis Ashworth and Stefan Davidović: the LAM/LM situation in this class is dreadful, and both of these players are good. I am confident about both of them being picked first round.
-BigMac Johnson (or Tyranno Criminal): RDs are always valued, both also have RWB positions (with Criminal having him as his main). Johnson is more balanced and has more TPE, so he is my pick. I can see a world where Criminal is picked due to potentially better long term potential with all that pace. Though, rerolls exist.
-Dohbra (or Sam Albinson or Delvecchio) : good wingers are always useful. There are quite a few good picks here, but Dohbra and Albinson are currently on a class of their own. Slightly prefer Dohbra due to liking his stats more and having more bank balance.
Special mentions:
Daibhi Barr (and Cade Power and Thomas Jimotheus) – I don't think any CAMs will be picked first round. There is a lot of new CAMs in an already oversaturated spot and there is a lot of quality CAMs coming in. If any team was desperate, then Barr first due to being very active. The other two are also active and do follow the games and write on the forums, but tend to not talk in Discord.
Roger Roger: if there is a particularly high need for a striker by a team (which is not unlikely), Roger's high TPE, money and good user activity makes him a good target.
Predrag Dobrić – same story as above really. High TPE, good user activity and is working towards earning the bounty cap.
Ronflex – I don't think DMs are such an immediate need usually, especially with lots of CMs being able to cover for them. DMs also usually tend to be slightly more offensive from what I've seen in the top team tactics (segundo volante, deep lying playmakers and supporting defensive midfielders are popular, of which only DM support would suit Ronflex). Ronflex is great if you want a DM that is defensive, but might be outshone by the more aggressive oriented CMs that can play in the DM position. The rest of the DM class is too weak to be a round 1 pick.
Anyway, I will now stop writing as I think over 3.5k words is probably way overdoing this a slight bit. I only wanted $100k :D.
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