2026-06-16, 06:37 AM - Word count:
Alternate title: A look at positional need for defenders in the upcoming S27 draft
I don't think the draft is for like ten weeks but you can never start looking at your options too early. As the season starts I was interested in what organizations / clubs (I don't really know the right terms) might be interested in drafting me.
CLUB DEFENDERS
The average club has 8.67 defenders in their organization, and I apologize to anybody who got cut in thirds to make that statistic possible. This doesn't consider active vs inactive. Based on the average, I can hazard a guess that the teams with double digit number of defenders wouldn't be interested in drafting another one since they're well set. (I will apologize here that I am writing this in notepad and don't think I can make the fancy symbols some of the team names have)
Those teams are: Schwarzwaelder & Montreal, Buenos Aires & Athenai, Reykjavik & North Shore, Shanghai & Magyar. That's a total of 4.
There's also a good number of organizations with only 7, which means they could probably use a defender or two, which is good for me. Those are: Xelaju & Masques, Sao Paulo & Paris, Hollywood & Cape Town, Catalunya & Seoul for another 4 organizations.
FIT (A DEEPER LOOK)
I'm not sure how much teams draft for minors needs or if they even consider it at all, or if it's just a happy coincidence if things work out as they draft for the majors roster. Based on some skimming of the SSL Budget Sheet, it looks like minors organizations roughly mirror their majors, with a couple big exceptions. But, generally, within a player or two they're the same composition.
Minors Fit
This section will operate under the assumption that teams care about their minors success and team composition. It's really hard for me to guess when teams will promote players but I don't see many teams with players older than season 20/21 or so. Except for North Shore United. They're like, all in the teens. That makes me think they're not really invested in their minors, since it's mostly old IA players...? I'll break teams down into a couple tiers for this just for the sake of time.
I should also mention now that I have no idea how effective older players are, or how aggressive regression is. I just know it starts after 8 seasons (which I guess is actually draft season + 7 because of the Academy season?). Additionally, I think the earliest minors players move to the majors after roughly 4 or 5 seasons, based on the ages I've seen from the budget sheet, where there aren't many season 24 and on players.
Definite Need:
Athenai Football Club
North Shore United
Association Sportive de Paris
Krung Thep Football Club
I liked typing out the full names. Just going in order here; Athenai FC has 5 defenders on the squad, but 2 of those are inactive (and older) which puts them at 3. They run a lot of defenders in the majors so I'm assuming that they'll want to restock in the minors. Especially as some of the majors players are hitting regression.
As I mentioned in the intro, North Shore United is almost entirely aging players in the minors? I'm really confused by that one. Either way, they have a ton of defenders in regression (3 in the minors, 3 in the majors) so much like Kaapstad I think they'll need to replenish at defense soon.
AS Paris has only 2 defenders. That's the fewest of any minors squad. I assume they'll want more.
There are no defenders younger than season 23 on the Krung Thep FC squad. Their major roster is barely any older than the minors, so I don't think they'll need any help soon. BUT. Two of their four defenders are inactive, so I fully expect them to be in the market for another one.
Probable Need:
Football Club Kaapstad
Academie de Football Masques Scares de Duekoue
FC Kaapstad, which I'm just realizing is Cape Town, only has 3 defenders on their minor roster. They only have 4 defenders on their major team, but one is hitting the 10 season mark, so I expect there will be a slot or two open in the near term to back-fill.
What a name on this last club. They took 3 defenders last draft so you'd think they were set, especially since they only run 3 in the majors, but their fourth defender is IA. And I'm not sure the crop from last season are great earners - I just remember seeing them go late in the draft from my deep dive. So I would not be surprised if the Academie end up picking up one more defender.
Possible Need:
Inter London
Cairo City Football Club
Inter London has 3 very young defenders on their minors and only have 4 in the majors, but 2 are IA, and 3 are into regression. I don't think it's an immediate need, but I think they'll be interested in restocking the defender depth in the near future. It's not completely out of the question they pick one up this season, I just am not sure there's much urgency.
Despite having 6 defenders on Rapid Magyar SC, half of them are inactive. They did just take 2 defenders in the season 26 draft but they might need one more to flesh out the development system.
Cairo has taken 4 defenders in the last 3 drafts. They have three total inactive players, including two in regression. I could see them grabbing one more defender to sit in the minors for a little bit longer after their recent selections end up in the majors in two to three seasons. I could also see them not doing that. Thus, possible.
Not-So-Possible Need:
Montreal United
Seoul Mythic Football Club
Club Sportif Rova Mpanjaka
Montreal United has a lot of young players (4 in the last 3 drafts) in the minors at defender, and their oldest defenders are just starting to hit regression in the majors. I don't see a need for them to take a defender at all.
Seoul actually has more defenders in their minors than their majors. They're also not regressing in the majors, and pretty young in the minors. I don't see them needing a defender.
Much like the Seoul Mythic, CS Rova Mpanjaka (is that right?) has more defenders in the minors, and even more than that, none are older than season 23. So maybe in two or three seasons once they start getting into the majors there will be a spot, but for this draft I don't see it.
FINAL VERDICT (MOST LIKELY TEAM(S))
Combining the two categories of high need + lack of depth in the organization, my best guess is that the following two team is most likely to go defender in this draft. Which means they might pick me!
Uniao Sao Paulo & Association Sportive de Paris
See you in my DMs soon!
I don't think the draft is for like ten weeks but you can never start looking at your options too early. As the season starts I was interested in what organizations / clubs (I don't really know the right terms) might be interested in drafting me.
CLUB DEFENDERS
The average club has 8.67 defenders in their organization, and I apologize to anybody who got cut in thirds to make that statistic possible. This doesn't consider active vs inactive. Based on the average, I can hazard a guess that the teams with double digit number of defenders wouldn't be interested in drafting another one since they're well set. (I will apologize here that I am writing this in notepad and don't think I can make the fancy symbols some of the team names have)
Those teams are: Schwarzwaelder & Montreal, Buenos Aires & Athenai, Reykjavik & North Shore, Shanghai & Magyar. That's a total of 4.
There's also a good number of organizations with only 7, which means they could probably use a defender or two, which is good for me. Those are: Xelaju & Masques, Sao Paulo & Paris, Hollywood & Cape Town, Catalunya & Seoul for another 4 organizations.
FIT (A DEEPER LOOK)
I'm not sure how much teams draft for minors needs or if they even consider it at all, or if it's just a happy coincidence if things work out as they draft for the majors roster. Based on some skimming of the SSL Budget Sheet, it looks like minors organizations roughly mirror their majors, with a couple big exceptions. But, generally, within a player or two they're the same composition.
Minors Fit
This section will operate under the assumption that teams care about their minors success and team composition. It's really hard for me to guess when teams will promote players but I don't see many teams with players older than season 20/21 or so. Except for North Shore United. They're like, all in the teens. That makes me think they're not really invested in their minors, since it's mostly old IA players...? I'll break teams down into a couple tiers for this just for the sake of time.
I should also mention now that I have no idea how effective older players are, or how aggressive regression is. I just know it starts after 8 seasons (which I guess is actually draft season + 7 because of the Academy season?). Additionally, I think the earliest minors players move to the majors after roughly 4 or 5 seasons, based on the ages I've seen from the budget sheet, where there aren't many season 24 and on players.
Definite Need:
Athenai Football Club
North Shore United
Association Sportive de Paris
Krung Thep Football Club
I liked typing out the full names. Just going in order here; Athenai FC has 5 defenders on the squad, but 2 of those are inactive (and older) which puts them at 3. They run a lot of defenders in the majors so I'm assuming that they'll want to restock in the minors. Especially as some of the majors players are hitting regression.
As I mentioned in the intro, North Shore United is almost entirely aging players in the minors? I'm really confused by that one. Either way, they have a ton of defenders in regression (3 in the minors, 3 in the majors) so much like Kaapstad I think they'll need to replenish at defense soon.
AS Paris has only 2 defenders. That's the fewest of any minors squad. I assume they'll want more.
There are no defenders younger than season 23 on the Krung Thep FC squad. Their major roster is barely any older than the minors, so I don't think they'll need any help soon. BUT. Two of their four defenders are inactive, so I fully expect them to be in the market for another one.
Probable Need:
Football Club Kaapstad
Academie de Football Masques Scares de Duekoue
FC Kaapstad, which I'm just realizing is Cape Town, only has 3 defenders on their minor roster. They only have 4 defenders on their major team, but one is hitting the 10 season mark, so I expect there will be a slot or two open in the near term to back-fill.
What a name on this last club. They took 3 defenders last draft so you'd think they were set, especially since they only run 3 in the majors, but their fourth defender is IA. And I'm not sure the crop from last season are great earners - I just remember seeing them go late in the draft from my deep dive. So I would not be surprised if the Academie end up picking up one more defender.
Possible Need:
Inter London
Cairo City Football Club
Inter London has 3 very young defenders on their minors and only have 4 in the majors, but 2 are IA, and 3 are into regression. I don't think it's an immediate need, but I think they'll be interested in restocking the defender depth in the near future. It's not completely out of the question they pick one up this season, I just am not sure there's much urgency.
Despite having 6 defenders on Rapid Magyar SC, half of them are inactive. They did just take 2 defenders in the season 26 draft but they might need one more to flesh out the development system.
Cairo has taken 4 defenders in the last 3 drafts. They have three total inactive players, including two in regression. I could see them grabbing one more defender to sit in the minors for a little bit longer after their recent selections end up in the majors in two to three seasons. I could also see them not doing that. Thus, possible.
Not-So-Possible Need:
Montreal United
Seoul Mythic Football Club
Club Sportif Rova Mpanjaka
Montreal United has a lot of young players (4 in the last 3 drafts) in the minors at defender, and their oldest defenders are just starting to hit regression in the majors. I don't see a need for them to take a defender at all.
Seoul actually has more defenders in their minors than their majors. They're also not regressing in the majors, and pretty young in the minors. I don't see them needing a defender.
Much like the Seoul Mythic, CS Rova Mpanjaka (is that right?) has more defenders in the minors, and even more than that, none are older than season 23. So maybe in two or three seasons once they start getting into the majors there will be a spot, but for this draft I don't see it.
FINAL VERDICT (MOST LIKELY TEAM(S))
Combining the two categories of high need + lack of depth in the organization, my best guess is that the following two team is most likely to go defender in this draft. Which means they might pick me!
Uniao Sao Paulo & Association Sportive de Paris
See you in my DMs soon!
![[Image: LeBbUkk.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/LeBbUkk.gif)
