#2 Rookie Season

[anjro]

Career PT1
https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showt...#pid101760

Owen Goal was added to Port Royal.  However, his first match would be MD4 at home against Adowa Accra FC where Port Royal lost 0-2.  His next game was not much better.  It was away at Victora Falls where they would lose 1-7.  One of Owen Goal’s best games was probably the following game at home against PS Jakarta where Port Royal would go on to win 7-2.  He scored 2 goals and had opportunities to get a hat trick but could not capitalize.  MD7 was another poor outing by Port Royal, they would lose 0-4 against Istanbul FK.  Fortunately, in the next game against Stockholm IK, Owen Goal would get his first and only player of the match award of the season despite not scoring any goals in a win.  The next match was a boring 0-0 defensive battle away against Sydney City.  They would return home and beat Atletico 3-0.  They would then go onto lose their next 3 matches. Port Royal would finish the season against Istanbul FK and would win 3-2 with Goal getting the last goal for Port Royal to get the lead to 3-0.  Istanbul went on a run late in the match but it was a little too late.

In 8 appearances, Owen’s average rating was 7.04, good for 50th in the league.  Owen had the 7th highest xG at 4.54, but was 4th lowest in the league at -2.54 xG overperformance.  There were so many missed opportunities.  This mirrored the Port Royal season.  They would finish with 5 wins, 1 draw, and 8 losses.  A season which had so much promise with so many solid prospects including the first 3 picks of the season 26 SSL draft, for such a lackluster result.

Looking ahead, Owen Goal was drafted by Uniao Sao Paulo / AS Paris in the 2nd round, 14th overall.  As part of joining the team, he got shorter and changed his position from ST to RAM.

[PidgeyDestined]

Career PT1
https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showt...#pid102930

Saphira laid around in her Nest and thought back to her past season with the Jakarta squad. Although she had joined the struggling team in the middle of the season, the players seemed to play very cohesively, they just lacked a strong defensive presence. Saphira knew that was her specialty, and that Jakarta couldn't have found a better Defender. After she had joined the team, the went on a winning streak, and found themselves playing for the Cup in their last Academy game. In that final game against Atletico, Saphira had a breakout game, scoring 2 goals on headers from corner kicks as Jakarta would go on and win 6-1 giving them a 3-point lead of Victoria Falls for the Academy Championship.

Saphira was proud of her accomplishments, and even more proud of her team, but she knew she needed better competition if she were to achieve her main goal of becoming the best Defender in the entire sport of soccer.

Enter the next step of her Career.

Saphira waited outside of the draft halls, her body was too big to fit inside so they busted out a wall so that she could fit her large head inside to see and hear all that was going on during the draft presentation. She had had amazing conversations with a lot of the SSL teams before this and had no clue where she would fit in amongst her Season 26 peers. After all, there were no precedence to a Dragon being drafted into the SSL. She knew she had the talent to be a first round pick for somebody, but she didn't know if anyone wanted to take the chance on all the drafting a Dragon brings along with it. Just look at what they had to do to the draft hall just for her to be able to attend!

Three picks in she heard the first Defender get their name called. "With the third pick in the draft, A.C. Romana and Inter London select.... Jimothy Erikson". Saphira knew the name well. She and Jimothy were known as the top two Defenders in the Academy last season. Saphira accidentally blew smoke out of her nostrils when she heard the pick being called. She didn't think anything bad of Erikson, in fact she admired his game for being such a puny human defender, but she knew that at the end of the day, she was going to go down as the greatest defender in the SSL and she wouldn't let Jimothy or any other defender get in her way of achieving that goal.

She started to doze off, then she heard "...Dragons" and it woke her back up completely. It turned out to be S Sei being selected by the Shanghai Dragons with pick 5 in the draft.

"Some kind of Dragons they are, not even picking me, the greatest dragon the sport of soccer has ever seen? Pshh."

Her rant got cut short though as she heard the commissioner talking again at the mic. "with the 6th pick in the Season 26 draft, the Xelaju Cosmico FC and AF Masques Sacres select.... Saphira Brightscales, CD from PS Jakarta."

Saphira let out a load howl of accomplishment, and the entire draft hall ducked under their tables in fear.

"Xelaju?" Saphira thought to herself, "This is PERFECT!" Xelaju had been one of the teams that seemed most interested in her as a player, not just as a dragon defender. They had laid out big plans for her to swap from CD to LD in their scouting conversations, and Saphira had been keen on the idea, as her left foot had been her strongest. This also gave her opportunity to play up a little and prove that the 3 goals she scored in the Academy were not just due to lesser competition, but still hold true to her word on becoming the greatest defender in the SSL.

A representative from Xelaju walked up to her and greeted her, "Saphira! So glad to finally meet you in person! You're a whole lot bigger than I expected, and I expected HUGE! I know this is a little quick, but we need to fly you out to the Ivory Coast to get acclimated with your new team as quick as possible."

Saphira laughed again, almost singing the hair completely off of the Xelaju reps, head. "Fly me? Who are you joking? I'll fly myself, and I'll beat the whole team there by a day!"

And thus began Saphira's journey into the top league in the sport, starting from AF Masques Sacres where she will hone her game, and realize her dreams of becoming the greatest defender in the sport of soccer.

[xyan]

Career Pt1: https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showt...#pid100076

As part of the media release of the biographies of each of the players that were drafted into the SSL, the league asked that players participate in the addition of pages to the wiki run by World of Sports online entertainment website.

This was a challenge for Sei, as he had never learned pure finger dexterity, let alone how to type and on a plane for that matter. His teammates traveling with him from Sydney helped him out.

"Unrealized Potential". The truth was glaring at him from the screen of the laptop, but he already had it in the back of his mind. He couldn't show his full self on the field due to the situation of a losing team clash, match after match. That wasn't all, though; he hasn't gotten good enough yet either. Josh Harper talked Sei into reality, leading him through the submission with facts that can't be denied.

Sei never stopped fighting the battle, even when in a blow out, or when Sei was exhausted. 193.2 km ran; only 0.5 behind the top person, and some of the matches he played in a role wandering the field less than other tactics. A lesser player would have walked, when Sei pushed himself to run.
Most of his productive chances in the box came earlier in the season, but Sei totaled 4 goals from 11 of 20 shots on target (totaling 2.89 XG, which is very clinical goal scoring).
He only had 1 assist, which is less exciting of a stat for his midfielder role than his goals, but other statistics proved much more positive in the passing topic. 574 completed passes of 671, for a total of 85.54% success rate, was a busy workload and pretty good work considering his tendency to look for risky killer passes. The passing work led to 14 key passes and 5 chances created at the goal.
His defensive work combined with the passing and attacking stats let the reality sink in that he was following his playing philosophy: working to control midfield and influence all parts of the game. He led the league in successful presses, at 63 out of 173. Added to this were 21 interceptions and 5 shots blocked, both in the higher batch of the players reported in the statistics.

All of this led to a pretty solid understanding that Sei played well, and played as a complete player. Had the season gone differently for Sydney, Sei could have even had a breakout and found more success.

That season is behind him now, and the SSL Minors with Magyar is the focus. Another stair to climb, on his way to being the best. Wolfe will be there again and again as an opponent, so he will have to be surpassed again. The sport is not a staircase, its a game of hopscotch played on a tightrope formed between effort and success.

[Frostbite]

Career Task #1


Leonardo Stone had a very up and down first year in the SSL. It took time for him to get noticed, and he was only picked up as a waiver player after spending a couple of days on the open market. He was picked up by Sydney, a team that had not performed well so far in the academy and needed a spark of energy. Unfortunately for them, in Stone's very first game, in just the 21st minute, he accidently kicked the ball backwards and started off his SSL career with an own goal and Sydney would go on to lose. Facing criticism from the media and managers alike, Stone knew he had to show them his prowess. Many fans had thought that it was just yet another example of Sydney failing, however, in his second game, Stone would show the SSL world that he belongs. And belong he did, with Stone getting his first (and only, for now) hat trick, upsetting one of the best academy teams. Stone would end the season getting a game with two goals as well, before finishing the season with 6 goals in 7 games (index is wonky with stats). And not only that, but Sydney was much more competitive in games post Stone acquisition, and performed multiple upsets that affected playoff standings in the academy.

Once the season was over, Stone knew that his draft stock would be limited. As well as he played in the academy, being one of the best players on your team does mean less when your team finishes last in the division, and Stone knew he wasn't as good as some of the others in his draft class, at least yet. Luckily, he was still good enough to get scouted by every SSL franchise, and he held high hopes still entering the SSL draft. The second round would go by... and still Stone had yet to even hear his phone vibrate. But then, with the second pick of the third round, Stone get a call from Tokyo/Cairo that would change his life forever. They want him on the team, and he will be the future of the striker position for their ball club. Stone had finally achieved he and his family's lifelong goal, and he was going to be able to live the dream he had since a child. But work never sleeps, and Stone has been seen training non stop over the offseason to prove he belongs in the same categories as the best players in his draft.

[o1playz]

Career PT #1

Well, Josh's brief time in Istanbul has come to an end. To be honest, he is really sad about it. Getting to share that time with his teammates in the academy has been beyond special and he really enjoyed talking with his manager, teammates, and occasional opponents but only on the field. Joshua was really happy with his rookie season, he managed to knock 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points in his 14 appearances. His biggest attributes came off the score sheets. He managed to go top 5 in the academy in both Interceptions and Blocks. One thing that really stood out about his gameplay with his grit. Not only was he 1st place in yellow cards in the academy this season with 6, but he also placed 11th in fouls with 20. Joshua proved to the academy that he is ready to get dirty on the pitch, someone who would give you 110% of what he has and he would be able to beat you almost every time.

Sitting at the draft board wondering where he would go next. He questioned if this grit he had would either bring up his draft stock or tank his draft stock. Additionally, a tweet he had made talking about wanting to play for an expansion team early in the season had resurfaced and GMs had caught on to it pretty quick. He was sitting there with his Istanbul buddies and some of his closest former opponents in the academy. Watching one name get called, then three names, then 7 names, and then 11 names, and he had yet to hear the one name that he had dreamed of hearing on the loudspeaker. When the 12th pick in the draft rolled around, it was Joshua. Heading to FC Kaapstad and eventually Hollywood FC, his hometown state. 

He was so thrilled to be part of the team he called his home when he was younger, that he could really never choose to leave a team that was so special to him. He grew up watching Hollywood games for crying out loud, he gets to experience that fan base that was united in the stands every single matchday, and it has never been more special of a moment to him.

Code:

377 words

[Bloodless]

CPT #1
In the Academy Season it is hard to stand out when you join late.
You need a story, something to draw attention to your existence ... and even then, it rarely culminates in anything but passing interest from a few teams.

The Wolfe of Istanbul.
Fiery and passionate.
The most goal-obsessed player in the league.
Goal or nothing.
The only player who actively hates when his team scores and he isn't the finisher.

The young Canadian Striker had heard the criticism, but he didn't care about any of that. To him, he only thought of how he could score more goals ... as a bonus, scoring goals gave his team a better chance to win games. After all, the sport boiled down to one simple truth above all else. Whoever can score more goals wins. There was never any deviation from that singular truth, and that alone was all the proof Dante needed. He liked to keep things simple, take the path of least resistance. His 10 goals during the Academy season were undeniable proof of the truth. Istanbul's record after starting off scoring one goal in their first three Academy matches combined was irrefutable proof. His two Player of the Match Awards were proof that others agreed with his goal scoring philosophy, and that slowly but surely Dante was convincing the league that his way of life was not only viable, but winning.

With a week left until the draft, Dante already had 4 teams scout him! Surely this was an impressive number ... right?
He messaged Sei, and was a little confused after hearing that every team had scouted him already. It seemed incredulously biased against Strikers, regardless of whether they were good or not. Dante Von Wolfe was tall, fast, and had flashed serious upside through his dozen or so matches in the Academy, finishing as one of the top goal scorers in the league and adding on 5 assists for good measure.

Three days left until the draft.

It happened extremely quickly, with 4 more teams reaching out all in the span of a single day. It was as if they had just forgotten about him despite his attempts to be vocal amongst Academy League circles, despite his affiliation as the top forward of one of the best Academy Teams. He had expected a few teams to at least reach out yet not truly consider him an option because of his unwavering conviction to play as a Striker at the next level, and those teams likely wouldn't need a Striker for awhile ... but half the teams hadn't bothered contacting him at all. As confused as he was, Dante was more just annoyed that he'd wasted so much time actually paying attention and waiting for those teams to bother contacting him, even if the some of the scouting conversations were much more shallow then others showing a lack of interest.

Reykjavik
Shanghai
Schwarzwälder
Liffeyside

He'd remember the teams that didn't reach out at all. 
Just like how teams doubted his prowess until he dropped 4 goals in one game during the Academy Season.
Just like how he had at least one goal or assist in almost every game for Istanbul.
Just like how Dante had helped drag Istanbul from winless and almost scoreless to a powerhouse in just a few weeks.

He was certain that he'd look back on this moment with even more indifference then usual, maybe he'd smirk at the teams that passed on him and let him fall to Kaapstad, and even worse the one's who didn't even scout him.

His goals will put them in the dirt.