2022-08-21, 04:58 AM - Word count:
When I saw we had a Theme Week about a dream starting eleven, I tried to figure a way of subverting expectations. I'm not against the idea of a Dream Eleven or any similar concept, but I just thought it'd be fun to try a hand at something different. Now, I believe some of you recall polling about a version of the World Cup for the SSL - in rather good timing too, given how the one we're getting at the end of the year is... probably gonna be kinda shit? Speaking as someone from a football-crazed nation, I actually ain't looking forward to this tournament which I guess either says a lot about me not being able to divorce the image of the country that's hosting it or how fucked the situation is at Qatar. And if anyone from the place is reading this, don't worry - I'm sure there are plenty of people totally fine with overlooking all of the worker's abuse handed by the local authorities for the sickest thing FIFA ever did ever since the time they thought it was perfectly fine to play at stadia with political prisoners being tortured during games (Argentina 78, everyone).
So, to turn that on its head, what if, instead of that, we had a World Cup of our own? Well, not to rain on the parade but having national teams, in general, would be kinda difficult. Still, I took a look at what we have and tried to build up one full squad.
Originally, I was going to try and tackle an Italian national team, including both native players or people who you could perhaps make a case for as Italian (my own player, Squall Vercetti, comes to mind under that category) but then I took a look at the statistics section of the index and turns out there's one nation that I don't really need to jump over those hoops - the United States. Makes sense, most of the userbase is probably from the US of A after all and you do have people like me who are from an under-represented country... yet ended up picking somewhere else as a homeland.
Now, I didn't put a lot of thought into the tactics, I figured I'd use what I usually have on most football games (FM notwithstanding) and I imagined talent would guide this team into something decent. The goalie is obviously Scott Sterling
, probably one of the better names for the position in the league. Defensively, George Constanza and Superior Athlete, both out of 
came to mind originally as a double on the back but I figured the earlier could probably cover the side of the box while Tokyo's very own Mike Rup could probably use a partnering center-back without a Juvi history for a change. Sam Siege, formerly of Tokyo and now a teammate of Sterling should finish up that back four pretty well, given he does have some experience on the left.
Another
player, Gary Hog came to mind, although I did put him as a sort of defensive midfielder, my idea would be for him to fluctuate between that, libero and center mid, changing with Calavera out of 
whenever the opportunity appears. I had a bit of a hard time by the time I got to the midfield too (namely thanks to the Index crashing repeatedly so Blueberry Poptart out of got the nod with Maur Rivers (of ) being sneaked in as an Attacking Midfielder with a bit of shady left winger shenanigans. Up ahead, I went with the 
duo of Mojo Rizing and Dogwood Maple, who should genuinely handle it well.
That said, I must admit that this team is probably not optimal, anyone reading this should be free to pipe in. I mean, what's the damage on making something like this interactive, eh?
So, to turn that on its head, what if, instead of that, we had a World Cup of our own? Well, not to rain on the parade but having national teams, in general, would be kinda difficult. Still, I took a look at what we have and tried to build up one full squad.
Originally, I was going to try and tackle an Italian national team, including both native players or people who you could perhaps make a case for as Italian (my own player, Squall Vercetti, comes to mind under that category) but then I took a look at the statistics section of the index and turns out there's one nation that I don't really need to jump over those hoops - the United States. Makes sense, most of the userbase is probably from the US of A after all and you do have people like me who are from an under-represented country... yet ended up picking somewhere else as a homeland.
Now, I didn't put a lot of thought into the tactics, I figured I'd use what I usually have on most football games (FM notwithstanding) and I imagined talent would guide this team into something decent. The goalie is obviously Scott Sterling
, probably one of the better names for the position in the league. Defensively, George Constanza and Superior Athlete, both out of came to mind originally as a double on the back but I figured the earlier could probably cover the side of the box while Tokyo's very own Mike Rup could probably use a partnering center-back without a Juvi history for a change. Sam Siege, formerly of Tokyo and now a teammate of Sterling should finish up that back four pretty well, given he does have some experience on the left.Another
player, Gary Hog came to mind, although I did put him as a sort of defensive midfielder, my idea would be for him to fluctuate between that, libero and center mid, changing with Calavera out of whenever the opportunity appears. I had a bit of a hard time by the time I got to the midfield too (namely thanks to the Index crashing repeatedly so Blueberry Poptart out of got the nod with Maur Rivers (of ) being sneaked in as an Attacking Midfielder with a bit of shady left winger shenanigans. Up ahead, I went with the duo of Mojo Rizing and Dogwood Maple, who should genuinely handle it well.That said, I must admit that this team is probably not optimal, anyone reading this should be free to pipe in. I mean, what's the damage on making something like this interactive, eh?
