The Wall of Magyar: An SSL Minor League Defensive Powerhouse in the Making

[Beavie]

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY- To say the Shanghai/Magyar organization has had a fun season thus far would be accurate. Despite the recent expansion resulting in several users having to depart, the Dragons and mini-Dragons appear to be on track for growth, and in some ways exceeding our own expectations. The Dragons find themselves after 8 matches in the middle of the pack at 6th in the Majors. But Magyar are currently finding themselves in the fight for the top of the minors with powerhouse AS Paris, and Seoul Mystics FC and FC Kaapstad just behind.  This is quite the jump for them, going from 7th in the 10 team league the previous season to being a contender. The season is still young so whether this will be maintained will be seen. What has helped them?

There are a few reasons. One could be that other teams have lost users due to expansion and were unable to fill the voids left. Another could be just the general growth of the team on and off the pitch. Their overall TPE has grown season to season so it is to be expected. But the biggest factor which has made a difference is their defense. As our Organizational manager put when I shared that I was surprised how well my player was doing in our backfield-



While the SSL traditionally has seen some high-flying offenses, Magyar has been able to lock in and be a shutdown defense in the minors. While powerhouse AS Paris has only conceded 3 goals in Minors action, this is somewhat expected with their championship ambitions and with their league leading 27 goals, even without their defense they would likely find themselves at the top. In contrast, Magyar has only conceded 6 goals in 7 matches, but only scored 17 goals. Not just that, but if we consider Magyar’s goalkeeper, he himself has only let in 4 goals in 6 + a little matches due to an injury. So for this little piece of media, I want to see the pieces of our backfield, what’s been exciting about them, mention a specific game where the defensive might was truly highlighted, and my hopes for us in Magyar (and one day, Shanghai).

First an honourable mention to IA Renzo Milano. At a 6.79 for an average match rating throughout the entire season, he has not been phenomenal, but has filled a spot for the time being and with 21 clearances has been able to take some pressure off as a secondary CD.

But now, let’s look at the parts of the Wall.

The Pieces:

The STIG: Stig Stampe

The first brick of the wall is s20 Stig Stampe. Drafted in the 5th round of the large s20 draft, Stig fell under the radar in the draft and while some of his class has been able to hit the 1k TPE mark and he is still 200 TPE behind the top of the class, he’s provided something which has has helped the team and that is the counter attack and has performed above his TPE. A two time player of the match with  2 goals and three helpers overall throughout the season in both the Minors and the cup, while Magyar has not had an as potent offensive punch, he’s been flexible and able to contribute both sides of the field. At 14 clearances, 19 interceptions and 20 tackles, he doesn’t do one thing exceptionally better, and instead has found himself pitching in when needed. With his match rating being an average of 7.83, it is 12th overall in the ENTIRE SSL. He also finds himself in the top ten for chances created from his passes. This is outstanding.

Even with less TPE, with other members of “The Wall” exceeding him even with a later draft season, Stampe has been able to leave an imprint with his work on the field and with some continued growth, he’ll help the team’s Wall throughout the upcoming seasons.

The Swedish Prodigy: Petter Lind

The most defensively minded of the back line and son of the legendary Henrik Lind was drafted third overall in the s21 SSL draft and in terms of his build is mentally focused on one thing: Preventing goals. Though to say he isn’t producing on the other side of the pitch would be wrong. With an over 90% successful pass rate and getting two goals off of corners, he’s been able to put his best head forward. In fact, he’s been able to keep a 75.96% successful header rate and has had 14 key headers this season. Whether to put a shot on in a corner, or clear and prevent a chance, it is an underrated stat. While he’s found himself helping out areas of defense, with 19 clearances, 11 interceptions and 9 tackles, this ability to take pressure off the goal keeper in the box is something which has helped Magyar be able to keep their sheets relatively clean.

With the user himself being one of the commissioners of the league, there is a near guarantee that you will have a consistent earner on the team and while many users find themselves drawn to the offensive side, someone with a primary build towards stopping goals will help the organization stay true to the idea of “strong defense can win championships.”

The Lucky Rabbit: Allie Bunson

Now time for the ego pick again. Allie Bunson, 2nd overall pick in the s21 draft has remained in the top five of the draft class for TPE and while she started as a Right Attacking Midfielder in the academy, showed a willingness to train and focus on becoming a right wing back. Speaking as the user, my hopes long-term for the build is to focus on speed and being able to fill multiple roles on the pitch with strong playmaking and defense. Putting my more hockey minded brain to work, it’d be like a mobile two-way defenseman. But upon switching positions, I knew to invest into Allie’s defensive stats to help out on the back end.

And upon looking at my defensive stats out of curiosity, it sparked this entire article as I was shocked that she was beginning to excel. Sadly she has only had one yellow card this season, but her defense has been firmly on the ground attack. Right now she has 24 tackles with a successful rate of 78.12. Though due to her small statue as a Scorbunny (Sorry, she will keep her everstone) she only has 8 blocks, the biggest thing she has done is intercept the opposing passes. She has 35 interceptions, leading the entirety of the minors and is top 5 in the entire SSL in that category. Also, according to Daleks, she has had possession won 120 times. That leads the minors.

Small, cute, mighty, Allie’s adjusted well to the position switch and I am excited to help her round things out in the future.

The Departed: Snor Lax

This will be short because the other half of what was the PokeDuo was taken from us in Expansion. But in s21 Snor Lax was the keeper for Magyar and despite some CHALLENGING GAMES, he thrived. Over 70% save percentage with him ending up in the SSL’s top ten, a huge normal type blocking shots proved to be effective as a strategy. With two player of the match performances and at times being the best player on the losing side in Rapid Magyar losses, he was a great part of the team. As another top earner in the s21 class (usually at the top) he will be missed in the org as a player, though rumour has it, after the match between Rapid Magyar SC and CS Rova Mpanjaka, Lax and Allie reunited over some ice cream snacks. He's doing well in the land of Penguins (according to a movie) so we wish him well.

The Reinforcement: James Aspreay

If you’re going to lose the best goaltending prospect for nothing, you need to find a strong replacement and Magyar found a coup. Leaving Seoul MFC, James Aspreay joined the Shanghai/Magyar organization. The goalkeeper last season had 7 clean sheets, the least goals conceded, and as an s20, is the highest earning goalkeeper of the class, adding to the organization’s 3 top 5 earner’s from said class. Though successful last season, there was one team Seoul struggled against. Rapid Magyar. With losses in the cup and the regular season, it is one of the unexpected burdens for the team.

So how has James done since joining Rapid Magyar SC?

Fantastic.

86.96 save percentage, leading the entire SSL. 7.5 average match rating, only being beaten by Shanghai’s goalkeeper, and has 7.66 xg Prevented. The back line has helped him, as seen when he went down with injury against FC Kaapstad and they managed to keep the minor club of powerhouse Hollywood FC to only 2 goals, leading to a 4-2 win, but James has been a big part of Magyar’s emergence into a contender. After joining the one club his previous team couldn’t beat, he’s been able to build off his individual success and finds himself on a young club on the upswing. Even as Seoul has been able to rise in the meantime, he may have created an entertaining rivalry too with Catalunya drafting a strong successor in Maarten Slothlenburg. Things have worked for both clubs but for Rapid Magyar, they have managed to create a strong backline thanks to him.

Where now?

The Shanghai Dragons organization with the s21 draft made it their mission in round one to draft a strong backfield with a CD, a RWB convert, and a goalkeeper being drafted within the first round. Though there was a wrench thrown into their plans, they are beginning to see the fruits of that effort in Rapid Magyar as both clubs are beginning to rise the ranks. There is still room to grow in that front, with one user still relatively low in TPE but still performing well, two members still being young in their careers, and one inactive, but they have the room to focus their draft efforts on other positions of need. With their minor club not having one specific goal scorer excelling, they could add some ammunition in front of their back-line to create a more balanced approach, already showing they at least have the depth scoring to win games.

Building a competitor in any league is not done with one draft or one trade, it is just a step towards it, but in a league where offense is the shiny toy, Rapid Magyar SC has opted to build a strong defensive foundation. The minors club has become a defensive beast, and the organization hopes that the Wall of Magyar may become the new Great Wall of China in Shanghai.

Thanks for listening to my Beav Talk.

Enjoy some Cozy emotes.

 

[DivogoJota]

Incredible article that dives deep into the players and the successes of the Rapid Magyar team.

5/5