Minor League Preseason Rankings

[Jumbo]

As we get closer to the new season for the SSL. What a better way to recap the whole offseason then by making a league ranking. We will look at the final standings of S21, the Expansion draft, Prospect Draft, and then the preseason friendlies.  So lets dive in. 

The final standings of S21 Minor League 

It came down to the last week as FC Kaapstad, Montreal United, and AS Paris were all in the running to capture the coveted Championship. But Kaapstad would not let go of their lead in the standings and fended off the other two teams to claim the trophy. 
As the offseason rolled in. We had big things happening with the expansion draft and the prospect draft. Also young players being called up to their respective Major team. So lets take a look at how each team was affected by the this. What they lost and what they gained. 

Expansion Draft Players Lost
AS Paris - Chicken McTendie (GK), Samson Okoro (RD), Leandro Dybala (CAM)
Athênai F.C. - Sören Panda (LAM), Kuba Kunicki (CAM)
Cairo City - None
F.C. Kaapstad - Goku Atliketwopercent (RD)
Inter London - None
Krung Thep FC - Berit Skovgaard (CD)
Montréal United - Kori Mizukana (CDM), Takeda Takahashi (LM), Aleksandr Skovgaard (CM)
North Shore United - Denis Mobek (GK), Chris Warrick (RD)
Rapid Magyar SC - Snor Lax (GK), Sam Albinson (RAM), Dissa Pointment (ST)
Seoul MFC - Day Walker (LM), Alex Stain (LD)

Prospect Draft
AF Masques Sacrés - Benjamin Munro, Resetti Moretti, Remi Taarel, Capybara Chevalier, Jóse Días, Taylor Smith-Jones
AS Paris - Silver Tarandus, Eden Empire IV, João Cancelo
Athênai F.C. - Mikko Rashford IV
Cairo City - Skiba D'Alessandro Rizzo, Jay Burns
CS Rova Mpanjaka (2 picks went to Major - Liffeyside) - Tlacaelel Tepoztli, Heung-Man Smalls, Harvey Danger, Orla Hughes-Galloway, Otis Boudreaux Jr, Doc McStuffins
F.C. Kaapstad - None
Inter London - Ozzy Trent Kovács, Doctor Wad, Shai Madueke, Ryan O'Neill
Krung Thep FC - Gianlugia Bufoon, Larv Itar, JG Wentworth, 
Montréal United - Aimo Silakka, Siddhartha Kilgannon, Grimace
North Shore United - Henry Andrews Jr, Fiery Chicken, Killua Zoldyck jr
Rapid Magyar SC - Greg Evil, Franz van Grimbergen
Seoul MFC - Maarten Slothlenburg, Alejandro Fuecoco, Damian Kroetch

Trades involving expansion players or prospects
*Reykjavik sends: S23 Reykjavik 2nd
Buenos Aires sends: Mikko Rashford IV (rostered on North Shore United) 

*XCFC Receives: SHA S22 2nd (16 OA)  + Aidan Hutchinson Jr.
SHA Receives : Sam Albinson (rostered back with  Rapid Magyar SC) + HOL S22 2nd (24th OA)

*USP Receives : Aidan Hutchinson Jr. (rostered on AS Paris) 
XCFC Receives: USP S22 3rd (34oa)

Players lost to promotion to Majors
AS Paris - none
Athênai F.C. - Don Lorenzo (CD), Tyranno Criminal (RWB)
Cairo City - Dalton Canders II (GK)
F.C. Kaapstad - Alex Calderon (CD), Caspian Skovgaard (CDM)
Inter London - Jesper Sjöman (RAM), Eisinda Wayns (LD), Black Leg Sanji (ST), Stephan Lichsteiner (RD), Pope Francis (CM), Brannigan Stoush (LM)
Krung Thep FC - Sandro da Silva (RWB), Billy Elliott (LAM), Roger Roger (ST), Dom Patterson (ST), Andre Caetano (CM)
Montréal United - Cameron Millwall (CDM), Maggie Sinclair (ST), Zoe Clarke (LWB), Dina Skovgaard (RD)
North Shore United - Bimitar Derbatov (ST)
Rapid Magyar SC - Thomas Jimotheus (CAM), 
Seoul MFC - Dáibhí Barr (CAM), Pablo Kawasaki (CD)


So lets see the breakdown for each team 
AS Paris - lost 3 players to expansion, and then 3 prospects add to team.
Athênai F.C - Lost 2 players to expansion, Lost 2 players to promotion to Majors.  
Cairo City - Lost 1 player to promotion to Majors, and then added 2 prospects to team. 
F.C. Kaapstad - Lost 1 player to expansion, Lost 2 players to promotion to Majors
Inter London - Lost 6 players to promotion to Majors, and then added 5 prospects to team.
Krung Thep FC - Lost 1 player to expansion, lost 5 players to promotion to Majors, then added 2 prospects to team 
Montréal United - Lost 3 players to expansion, lost 4 players to promotion to Majors, then added 3 prospects to team 
North Shore United - Lost 2 players to expansion, lost 1 player to promotion to Majors, then added 3 prospects to team 
Rapid Magyar SC - Lost 3 players to expansion, lost 1 player to promotion to Majors, then added 2 prospects to team 
Seoul MFC - Lost 2 players to expansion, lost 2 players to promotion to Majors, then added 3 prospects to team 

Some teams lost more than others. Some teams replaced what they lost. The 2 new expansion teams surely acquired solid pieces to start the foundation for their organizations. 

What does this all mean? oes any of this above matter?  It could be argued that all that matters is how the team plays on the pitch. And with the new squads formed, the only matches we have are the Friendlies to go on. So lets see how each team did for the 2 Games. 

Minor League | Friendlies Day 1
F.C. Kaapstad - 4
CS Rova Mpanjaka - 0

Athênai F.C. - 2
Seoul MFC - 2

AF Masques Sacrés - 2
AS Paris - 0

Cairo City  - 0
Montréal United  - 2

North Shore United - 6
Krung Thep FC - 2

Inter London  - 2
Rapid Magyar SC - 5

Minor League | Friendlies Day 2
Krung Thep FC - 4 
Inter London - 2

AS Paris - 5
Cairo City - 2

CS Rova Mpanjaka - 4
AF Masques Sacrés - 3

Montréal United - 2
Seoul MFC - 3

North Shore United - 0
F.C. Kaapstad - 5

Rapid Magyar SC - 0
Athênai F.C.  - 1


Here are the standings from the Friendlies

So now onto the rankings before we kick off the new season

PRESEASON RANKINGS
1.   F.C. Kaapstad - They lost 3 players sure. But they had some depth and clearly still are the top team to beat. Did not even allow a goal in the friendlies. 
2.    AS Paris - AS Paris has a track record for success. And with Eric Belmont still on team they will be at the top. 
3.  Montréal United - Montréal lost some of their key players. But with Dobrić, Power, and Xavier they still should be able to hold their own and could still challenge for the title. 

4.   Seoul MFC - I think Seoul could take the step towards fighting for top of the league.  I thought about putting them at 3. But currently they lack a true Striker for goalscoring. 

5.   North Shore United - You can always count on North Shore to be towards the top. Its hard to put them at 5 but i like the 4 above more right now. 
6.   Athênai F.C. - Lost 4 players from squad and added no one. Tough break but still got a squad. 
7.   Rapid Magyar SC - I think Rapid takes the spot that Krung had last season. Could be a surprising team this season. 
8.   CS Rova Mpanjaka -  I think they have a solid squad to start their season. Had a great comeback win in game 2 friendly against fellow expansion team, AF Masques Sacrés.
9.   Krung Thep FC - They lost 6 players from their squad last season, which includes their top 2 scorers. I think it may be a downtick season for them. 

10.    Cairo City - They did not really lose much in the offseason. But did they do enough to make them better.  
11.   AF Masques Sacrés - The friendly shutout of AS Paris was very surprising. So I could see them swapping with Krung Thep FC. But a first year team doesnt get the benefit of the doubt yet. 
12.    Inter London - Its hard to pick a team for last. But they were last season, and they promoted alot of their better young players

[norththegreatestshowman]

That is some great job ! My main problem in the ranking is Rova, the team lacks the strenght ti be that high for me.

[FuriousChicken]

Nice article, little addition to the North Shore list, we also lost Kika Bahl due to an expansion trade, and Chicken due to retiring. However we did get Gaisberg send down from Reykjavik (and also let both IA, O'Sullivan and Knezevic go, although they didn't really play games last season).

[Jumbo]

I had to pick one team above which was Rova. Their squad is similar in TPE To Krung. Got to get the people talkin lol

I knew I would miss some traded players. Or possibly players going from Majors to Minors.

[TDenstroyer]

I like see kaapstad near the top of that list. Not allowing a goal during friendlies is really impressive. I wonder if that is something that has been done before, even though friendlies are a teams best positioning, not giving up a single goal is insane. Sad to see a team like Inter London at the bottom but seems like they are doing really well in player development, sometimes a bottom minors team can equate to top club success. I enjoyed reading this and gives me a good outlook of the minors from someone who doesn't understand soccer at all!

[DivogoJota]

What a fantastic article! It goes into great detail on the data (qualitative and quantitative). A deserved 5/5.

5/5