2026-06-15, 11:59 AM - Word count:
I was looking forward to the draft and considering positional impact (I created as a CD, and I have no real context for how important that position is, other than some people mentioning that apparently academy GMs don't get many CD creates). Which then lead me down the thought path of what ARE the most desired/important positions, and how to check that. I figured the draft is as good of a place as any, so I pulled the last 3 first rounds, grabbed the players, and looked up their positions. Then just ran some quick numbers.
If it's an important position then, presumably, good users will a) create at that position (if they're aware of the importance) and b) be drafted at that position. Obviously there's a few confounding variables here, namely:
1) User preference -> some people who are good users, and therefore will be drafted high, prefer to play certain positions/archetypes, even if they're not explicitly "high demand". (I prefer playing defense).
2) Club needs -> Every club will have different needs at different times, and when this intersects with what high earners have actually created at it can be hard to get a feel for what positions are actually the most important.
3) Out of Position / Swaps -> I believe the information I have is just an "as of now" view, which would inflate the totals of certain positions toward the most important ones (which is fine, ultimately). I also have no insight into what role these players are actually filling on the team, but that might be irrelevant.
4) User Fit -> Related to point 2, sometimes teams will draft for user fit much more than position fit.
5) Sample Size -> There's 36 total picks reviewed here, 3 first rounds out of 26 in the history of the league.
A lot of this writing is stream of conscious that got tidied up a bit after, so come on this journey with me. Also I accidentally started by looking at the S26 draft so we're just going backwards in time instead of forwards. It is what it is.
Season 26 Draft:
Unique Positions: CAM (1), LAM (2), CD (1), CDM (3), LD (2), RAM (1), GK (1), LWB (1)
A lot of midfielders went in the first round of this draft, with 7 of twelve players at midfield. Or what I assume is midfield based on the M. 3 of the other 5 were pure defenders with a bias towards left defense, and then a goalie and a LWB. I have no clue what LWB means. Left Wing/Wide Back? Is that offense?
Thoughts: Midfield is the runaway winner here, with an almost even split between attacking (what I assume the A means) and defending. This makes sense to me since midfield seems like it would generally be the most involved with the highest responsibility, ergo teams want high earners, and high earners want it for lots of touches? I'm a little surprised a goalie would go in the first since that's very counterintuitive to how other sim leagues work, with goalies in SHL almost never going round 1, and the same for special teamers in ISFL.
Season 25 Draft:
Unique Position: LD (1), CAM (1), CDM (1), ST (3), CD (3), GK (2), RAM (1)
There were 3 more CDs taken in this draft, bringing the total to 4 where it will stay. And again 2 goalkeepers - I guess they are just worth a lot more in the SHL? There must be an actual big impact to a max earning GK vs a lower/mid earning one. This is also the second LD taken, but no RD is far, and there's more LAM than RAM (and a rogue LWB). Is that just small sample size, or are left side positions more desirable? I guess if offensive players are right footed more often, they would end up going to the left side of the defense? I'd also be remiss to not mention the 3 strikers, the first true offensive players taken and a healthy 3 of 12 picks. I'm guessing now that strikers just aren't as important as midfielders, and teams can get by with less TPE at the position.
Season 24 Draft:
Unique Position: CDM (2), GK (1), LM (1), LAM (1), ST (1), CAM (3), RM (1), RWB (1), RAM (1)
Alright there's now a run of 3 players on the right side via RM/RWB/RAM. And even with 2 more joining on the left side, LM/LAM, I'm thinking it was just small sample size before since it's a 5/3 split now between the two sides. But, notably, there's only 2 LM/RM and 2 LWB/RWB so I think those positions don't matter too much in the grand scheme of things. However, there were 5 (!) more CAM/CDM taken in these twelve picks which just serves to reinforce my thinking about how important the midfield position(s) are.
Total: CDM (6), CAM (5), CD (4), GK (4), ST (4), LAM (3), LD (3), RAM (3), LWB (1), LM (1), RM (1), RWB (1)
Midfielders absolutely run away with it, being taken for just over half of the total picks at 19 out of 36. As I've said, the more I think on it the more sense that makes. From there, it's center defenders + goal keepers + strikers at 4 a piece, then left defender as the last multi-picked position. I'm coming around on the idea of LWB/RWB being offense positions because then you'd be at 7 defenders and 6 attackers for a near perfect balance.
Conclusions (if you're inclined to call it that): There seems to be a decent enough split between the four types of positions (Midfield, Offense, Defense, Goalkeeper) especially when you consider there's only one starting GK per squad. The power positions, as it were, appear to be CDM/CAM at the top of the pyramid followed by CD/GK/ST - from there it's kind of a dart throw at what people create/get drafted as. I'm a little surprised at CD being third most common based on the anecdotes I mentioned in the beginning. It seems like it's the most in demand defensive position, and it barely averaged one per draft, so I guess that's the root cause? But there's a pretty big spread of positions so I'm not sure. Last takeaway is that it seems like creating as an RD is trolling if you're trying to get drafted high, but again it could be sample size.
If it's an important position then, presumably, good users will a) create at that position (if they're aware of the importance) and b) be drafted at that position. Obviously there's a few confounding variables here, namely:
1) User preference -> some people who are good users, and therefore will be drafted high, prefer to play certain positions/archetypes, even if they're not explicitly "high demand". (I prefer playing defense).
2) Club needs -> Every club will have different needs at different times, and when this intersects with what high earners have actually created at it can be hard to get a feel for what positions are actually the most important.
3) Out of Position / Swaps -> I believe the information I have is just an "as of now" view, which would inflate the totals of certain positions toward the most important ones (which is fine, ultimately). I also have no insight into what role these players are actually filling on the team, but that might be irrelevant.
4) User Fit -> Related to point 2, sometimes teams will draft for user fit much more than position fit.
5) Sample Size -> There's 36 total picks reviewed here, 3 first rounds out of 26 in the history of the league.
A lot of this writing is stream of conscious that got tidied up a bit after, so come on this journey with me. Also I accidentally started by looking at the S26 draft so we're just going backwards in time instead of forwards. It is what it is.
Season 26 Draft:
Unique Positions: CAM (1), LAM (2), CD (1), CDM (3), LD (2), RAM (1), GK (1), LWB (1)
A lot of midfielders went in the first round of this draft, with 7 of twelve players at midfield. Or what I assume is midfield based on the M. 3 of the other 5 were pure defenders with a bias towards left defense, and then a goalie and a LWB. I have no clue what LWB means. Left Wing/Wide Back? Is that offense?
Thoughts: Midfield is the runaway winner here, with an almost even split between attacking (what I assume the A means) and defending. This makes sense to me since midfield seems like it would generally be the most involved with the highest responsibility, ergo teams want high earners, and high earners want it for lots of touches? I'm a little surprised a goalie would go in the first since that's very counterintuitive to how other sim leagues work, with goalies in SHL almost never going round 1, and the same for special teamers in ISFL.
Season 25 Draft:
Unique Position: LD (1), CAM (1), CDM (1), ST (3), CD (3), GK (2), RAM (1)
There were 3 more CDs taken in this draft, bringing the total to 4 where it will stay. And again 2 goalkeepers - I guess they are just worth a lot more in the SHL? There must be an actual big impact to a max earning GK vs a lower/mid earning one. This is also the second LD taken, but no RD is far, and there's more LAM than RAM (and a rogue LWB). Is that just small sample size, or are left side positions more desirable? I guess if offensive players are right footed more often, they would end up going to the left side of the defense? I'd also be remiss to not mention the 3 strikers, the first true offensive players taken and a healthy 3 of 12 picks. I'm guessing now that strikers just aren't as important as midfielders, and teams can get by with less TPE at the position.
Season 24 Draft:
Unique Position: CDM (2), GK (1), LM (1), LAM (1), ST (1), CAM (3), RM (1), RWB (1), RAM (1)
Alright there's now a run of 3 players on the right side via RM/RWB/RAM. And even with 2 more joining on the left side, LM/LAM, I'm thinking it was just small sample size before since it's a 5/3 split now between the two sides. But, notably, there's only 2 LM/RM and 2 LWB/RWB so I think those positions don't matter too much in the grand scheme of things. However, there were 5 (!) more CAM/CDM taken in these twelve picks which just serves to reinforce my thinking about how important the midfield position(s) are.
Total: CDM (6), CAM (5), CD (4), GK (4), ST (4), LAM (3), LD (3), RAM (3), LWB (1), LM (1), RM (1), RWB (1)
Midfielders absolutely run away with it, being taken for just over half of the total picks at 19 out of 36. As I've said, the more I think on it the more sense that makes. From there, it's center defenders + goal keepers + strikers at 4 a piece, then left defender as the last multi-picked position. I'm coming around on the idea of LWB/RWB being offense positions because then you'd be at 7 defenders and 6 attackers for a near perfect balance.
Conclusions (if you're inclined to call it that): There seems to be a decent enough split between the four types of positions (Midfield, Offense, Defense, Goalkeeper) especially when you consider there's only one starting GK per squad. The power positions, as it were, appear to be CDM/CAM at the top of the pyramid followed by CD/GK/ST - from there it's kind of a dart throw at what people create/get drafted as. I'm a little surprised at CD being third most common based on the anecdotes I mentioned in the beginning. It seems like it's the most in demand defensive position, and it barely averaged one per draft, so I guess that's the root cause? But there's a pretty big spread of positions so I'm not sure. Last takeaway is that it seems like creating as an RD is trolling if you're trying to get drafted high, but again it could be sample size.
