2022-03-31, 02:27 PM - Word count:
I'm a commentator. I'm barely active as a user. I have no real loyalties to any team, nor do I care about them. But I do know about the league because I have to do the commentary twice a week. Therefore, in addition to having a fat ass, I also have correct opinions on everything. So here are my power rankings after week 1:
1. CF Catalunya
It's great that Catalunya is no longer boring to watch. They move quick, they keep the opposing defense pressured, and they absolutely choked out Cairo's wide play. They're on top of the standings for a reason and it's tough to see them coming down.
2. Hollywood FC
This is a team that should be on top of the Power Rankings and I think they should be concerned that they're not. After winning the double last season, they were supposed to be even better, mostly because the rest of the league gets a bit worse when you add expansion teams. Instead, they've taken a draw to what might be the worse of the two expansion teams. Their attack looked a bit limp, but the expectations on this team are high enough they they're only being knocked down to 2 this time around. Might be more in the future.
3. Sydney City
I don't think anyone really saw it coming that Sydney would not only win their first game, but that they'd win it in this way. While I wouldn't completely call it a dominant performance, they worked around Montreal's usual style of pulling around the opposing defensive line. Instead, they pushed on Montreal and they had no clue what to do. You have to give credit to the new team for anticipating what was coming to them.
4. Athenai FC
I'm not gonna give you bonus points for beating a team that's already down bad. Athenai did their job and honestly didn't do much that stood out. They had some good big shots and ate up what was handed to them by a much worse team. I'll wait until their next try to see if they should actually be up in the Top 3.
5. Buenos Aires
There's a problem you face when you're not sure if a strange result is due to the favorites failing or the underdogs succeeding. Maybe it's a mix of both. But you have to give a massive amount of credit to any team that can hold back Hollywood from dropping 4 goals on them.
6. Inter London
London won, but just barely. Yeah, the score was 3-0 about a half hour in, but I want to bring your attention to the xG. Their 3 goals were from a combined 0.58 xG. xG can be taken in many different ways, whether you're saying a team is overperforming or underperforrming, or in this case, lucky or unlucky. xG is a measure of how likely a shot is to score. To me, if you're overwhelming a team on the scoreboard but not on xG, take the win but go back to the drawing board to figure out how to get better probability chances. Because you're not gonna get lucky every game.
7. Seoul Mystic FC
While I did say that London got lucky, Seoul still had a bit of Rio left in them. Mayoi has been made their sole striker, which is good for her. Bad thing is that they still have no clue how to use her. One of her goals was a header, which is completely unexpected. And their defense is still struggling, switching to a 3 man backline in an attempt to at least focus on that centerback area. They have good potential, but it's like they're trying to figure out how to unlock it.
8. Montreal United
I've always been a fan of how Montreal plays, because it has a certain level of beauty to it. It's like a piece of thin cloth in water and while you can't outright rip it, you can force it to move in a way that creates an amount of space. And that's what Montreal does to opposing defenses. But this time, it was the space between their own defense and their midfield that was exploited by Sydney and led to this defeat. I have faith in them that they can figure it out, but they'll need to do a lot to get there.
9. Cairo City
One of the big things I keep mentioning when Cairo plays is the low crosses. Despite Torres' height, the majority of crosses for Cairo are sent low to the ground. And that means they need to get the ball wide and then players in the box. Unfortunately, they couldn't get the ball wide very often. And when they did, they couldn't find those low crosses. Maybe Cairo's trying something different, but they didn't look good last season either.
10. Tokyo SC
Tokyo is the meme team, unfortunately without their memes. Nootazuki, the absolute savior of the club, is gone. And with him, I think a lot of their power too. They've also given up Forty-Four, the top rookie goalscorer last season. Replacing him with Ryze was a good idea, but maybe they grabbed the wrong striker from Seoul, as they're trying to replace an over-the-top player with a tall target forward.
1. CF Catalunya
It's great that Catalunya is no longer boring to watch. They move quick, they keep the opposing defense pressured, and they absolutely choked out Cairo's wide play. They're on top of the standings for a reason and it's tough to see them coming down.
2. Hollywood FC
This is a team that should be on top of the Power Rankings and I think they should be concerned that they're not. After winning the double last season, they were supposed to be even better, mostly because the rest of the league gets a bit worse when you add expansion teams. Instead, they've taken a draw to what might be the worse of the two expansion teams. Their attack looked a bit limp, but the expectations on this team are high enough they they're only being knocked down to 2 this time around. Might be more in the future.
3. Sydney City
I don't think anyone really saw it coming that Sydney would not only win their first game, but that they'd win it in this way. While I wouldn't completely call it a dominant performance, they worked around Montreal's usual style of pulling around the opposing defensive line. Instead, they pushed on Montreal and they had no clue what to do. You have to give credit to the new team for anticipating what was coming to them.
4. Athenai FC
I'm not gonna give you bonus points for beating a team that's already down bad. Athenai did their job and honestly didn't do much that stood out. They had some good big shots and ate up what was handed to them by a much worse team. I'll wait until their next try to see if they should actually be up in the Top 3.
5. Buenos Aires
There's a problem you face when you're not sure if a strange result is due to the favorites failing or the underdogs succeeding. Maybe it's a mix of both. But you have to give a massive amount of credit to any team that can hold back Hollywood from dropping 4 goals on them.
6. Inter London
London won, but just barely. Yeah, the score was 3-0 about a half hour in, but I want to bring your attention to the xG. Their 3 goals were from a combined 0.58 xG. xG can be taken in many different ways, whether you're saying a team is overperforming or underperforrming, or in this case, lucky or unlucky. xG is a measure of how likely a shot is to score. To me, if you're overwhelming a team on the scoreboard but not on xG, take the win but go back to the drawing board to figure out how to get better probability chances. Because you're not gonna get lucky every game.
7. Seoul Mystic FC
While I did say that London got lucky, Seoul still had a bit of Rio left in them. Mayoi has been made their sole striker, which is good for her. Bad thing is that they still have no clue how to use her. One of her goals was a header, which is completely unexpected. And their defense is still struggling, switching to a 3 man backline in an attempt to at least focus on that centerback area. They have good potential, but it's like they're trying to figure out how to unlock it.
8. Montreal United
I've always been a fan of how Montreal plays, because it has a certain level of beauty to it. It's like a piece of thin cloth in water and while you can't outright rip it, you can force it to move in a way that creates an amount of space. And that's what Montreal does to opposing defenses. But this time, it was the space between their own defense and their midfield that was exploited by Sydney and led to this defeat. I have faith in them that they can figure it out, but they'll need to do a lot to get there.
9. Cairo City
One of the big things I keep mentioning when Cairo plays is the low crosses. Despite Torres' height, the majority of crosses for Cairo are sent low to the ground. And that means they need to get the ball wide and then players in the box. Unfortunately, they couldn't get the ball wide very often. And when they did, they couldn't find those low crosses. Maybe Cairo's trying something different, but they didn't look good last season either.
10. Tokyo SC
Tokyo is the meme team, unfortunately without their memes. Nootazuki, the absolute savior of the club, is gone. And with him, I think a lot of their power too. They've also given up Forty-Four, the top rookie goalscorer last season. Replacing him with Ryze was a good idea, but maybe they grabbed the wrong striker from Seoul, as they're trying to replace an over-the-top player with a tall target forward.
<img src='https://i.imgur.com/YZomhHU.png' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
