#2 Rookie Season

[jason97]

CPT #1

João Mendes entered the SSL Academy as a pretty raw prospect. The Benfica academy was hard competition, but this was a different beast. The SSL Academy bolsters the best prospects all around the world. Mendes was placed with Stockholm IK. In the 14 games that they played, they went 4-3-7, good enough for fifth place in the academy standings. They were only able to score 19 goals, but unfortunately, they conceded 33 in that same span.

Looking at Mendes' first season as a whole, he was able to play every minute of every game, which was exactly what he was looking for. The most important thing he wanted from the academy was playing time. He was asked to play in a much more defensive role for his team, so he was only able to provide one assist and no goals. His passing percentage was 91.43%, showing that he is very smart on the ball and is able to pick out an open teammate. Defensively, Mendes was a beast in the midfield, with 41 successful tackles, 19 interceptions, and 28 clearances. As Stockholm was usually on the opposite end of possession, Mendes was able to really work on his defensive abilities. He knows that he will be tasked with running the midfield in the future, so he can't have any flaws.

Overall, I would say it was a good learning experience for Mendes. He had some bad games, especially where he had 2 mistakes leading to goals, where he lost the ball in the midfield, letting the other team counter. Because his team was among the bottom of the league, the coaching and training sessions were much more focused on tactics and learning the SSL league. Results weren't that important towards the end of the season, so this was valuable experience moving into the draft and working with a new organization. It was also very fun knowing that every team had active midfield prospects, so he was able to learn from them as well and play against opponents that were playing hard every game.

[343 words]

Approved!

[Sizz]

CT #1

Max's academy season is now finished and and he was drafted in the first round by Dakar. Let's take a look back at how he fared in his initial season here in the SSL.

Playing on Port Royal FC, he helped them finish in the second spot in the table with 10 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in 14 matches. Port Royal was the highest scoring team with 40 total goals. They were also the team with the lowest goals allowed over 14 matches, having only let in 14. Unfortunately, they weren't able to overcome the prowess of Jakarta who only lost a single match, drew once and won 12 of their 14 matches.

On a personal level, Max played every minute (1260 in total) in all 14 matches in the academy league. Of the user players, he was second in total distance run with 196.4 km over 14 matches which averages out to just over 14 km per match. He averaged a bit over a shot per match at 16 with 10 of those on target. Of those 10 shots, 2 made their way past the opposing keeper. He was also responsible for assists on 5 other goals by Port Royal. He was also second in the league in dribbles past opponents with 50.

Looking at passing statistics, Max attempted 517 passes with 446 of those finding their mark giving him a pass completion percentage of 86.27%. Of those 446, 44 of the passes resulted in an attempted shot on goal which is recorded as a "key pass". One of Max's main contributions to Port Royal is his play on flank where he loves to cross. Max attempted 131 crosses with 25 finding a teammate. Only Captain Metalbeard attempted more from user players although Metalbeard had a much higher success rate with 35/132 reaching their mark. Another offensive statistic that is interesting to note is how many chances were created from Max's play. Max was tied for third in the league with 15 created chances. The two players above him on the list were also Port Royal teammates, Thomas Thunder (17) and Scott Newman (16).

Defensively, Max has some work to do. He attempted 49 tackles and won 33 resulting in a 67.35% tackle percentage. He only recorded 4 key tackles throughout the season. He managed 32 interceptions and 26 clearances. Fortunately, he wasn't responsible for any mistakes leading to goals in his 14 games. He does however need to clean up his play as he was given 4 yellow cards throughout the season, tied for the highest in the league.

On the whole though, Max had a very successful season in the academy with a player of the match in one game and an average rating of 7.56 which was second in the league.

I'm excited to see how Max fares in the Minor League Division 2 playing with CD Alfama.

Approved!

[PBubs900]

CPT1

Bonnibel Bubblegum had a great Academy season as their debut to the SSL world, playing as a striker for Stockholm, where she was a strong and noteworthy player. Stockholm had an up and down season where they allowed a lot of goals, but also had a very prolific offense, with Bubblegum as the min fixture of that offense. She was in the battle for Academy goal leader up until the very last matchday of the season, ultimately losing the race to Tex Star, coming in second with 13 goals, 1 goal behind Star's 14. While she was not the most outspoken and attention grabbing player off the pitch, she treated everyone with kindness and respect, was a good teammate, and also helped out tactically by being the creator of Stockholm's tactical style for the season. Due to the combination of these factors, Bubblegum was able to propel herself into the position to be drafted fairly highly in the S27 Entry Draft. While she did not go in round 1 or with the Supplemental Picks, Bubblegum managed to be selected early in the second round by a new expansion franchise, Dakar and Alfama. This has seemed like a great destination so far, teaming up with former Stockholm teammate Daan Wouters. Bonnie is very excited to be apart of an original draft class of a new franchise and help build the club from the ground up, from an unknown and weaker squad to hopefully a legendary franchise in the future. She even gets to continue her work on the tactics side, also becoming the club's tactician, earning herself a but of extra money and experience on and off the pitch. This first season in Division2 of the minors should be a great learning experience with many opportunities for growth for herself and the club as a whole.
Approved!

[khens4]

CPT #1 - LINK


Academy came to a close after 14 long weeks of ups and downs. The squad of Victoria Falls started off really hot winning our first 4 games in a row, with Tex Star leading all the league in goals scored. And although Tex kept scoring in most games the hot start quickly simmered as you saw Victoria Falls fall from the Top of the league standings to slowly but surely the middle of the pack losing 4 games in the next 7 weeks. Tex Star Credits the boss though for sticking with it changing the tactic and helping Victoria climb back to 3rd to finish the season at a record of 8 Wins 1 Draw 5 Losses. Tex Star after not scoring in a couple games in a row, became in a goal Scoring race with Bonnibel Bubblegum the last few games. Tex ended up edging the Goal Scoring title out with 14 goals in 14 games, with one of the last games being a masterclass of 4 goals scored. Bonnibel finished with 13, and is a true Ace at striker as well, so you see how tight that race went to the very end. Tex also Tied with Adrian Scochnikov for most Players of the game with 3, Tex also was a top player in Average rating with 7.39, and a top player in passing accuracy finishing the season with 90%.

When draft night came around Tex talked to almost every franchise beforehand, so he was sure it would be an early selection, but it would be a matter of where? Being the face of a new franchise would be cool, but also going to play around superb/established talent would probably be better for developing. So in the 1.5 round the only pick Hollywood had on the night they took Tex Star with the 17th overall pick, and it has been a match for sure. Stars belong in Hollywood they said and its also a need of the team, why not Tex Star?

Approved!

[DarkViper2]

CPT #1


The long 14 game Acadamey season is over and the draft is complete. While Port Royal FC finished 2nd in the table, Scott Newman was a huge player for the team scoring 7 goals and recorded 2 assists on the season. He was also named player of the match 2 times, that's not bad considering the fact that he only had 13 caps while most of his classmates had the full 14. His main goal from the jump was to go out there and show the SSL scouts what he can do. He also was able to work on his pace and acceleration with extensive training. When he first showed up to the academy he was completely out of shape and just couldn't keep up with his teammates. As the season went on, he was able to keep up with them more consistently and at times showed a bit better on the stamina. During the season scouts started approaching him with off the pitch interviews and Newman soaked up every minute of this as he was also trying to get a gauge on how well run each organization was ran

Scouts loved Newman's willingness to play for any team and some even double checked to see if he was comfortable coming into a team that's in a rebuild. On draft day Liffeyside Celtic FC took him with the 11th pick in the first round. The team fell in love with his work ethic and they weren't going to pass up the opportunity. In his post draft interview he said that he was excited to be a part of this origination and is ready to once again get to work and prepare for the new season and that he'll sign the intial contract the get presented to him

Now Scott is on CS Rova Mpanjaka and is ready to help them push for the minors division 1 title in the future. His main goal this season is to go out there and prove why he was taken 11 OA and put up some solid stats that can get him put on the rookie watch list. He also plans on once again working on his pace and acceleration along with his work rate. He also plans on taking the time to work on his weak foot as his old rating isn't going to cut it now that he's no longer on the academy. He is also expecting the team to finish around 4th or 5th in the minors D1 standings this season