<![CDATA[Simulation Soccer League - Articles]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/ Sat, 02 May 2026 21:54:10 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Introducing Leonardo Stone - PT]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9498 Sat, 02 May 2026 18:58:29 +0100 Frostbite]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9498
Stone is an extremely fast player, and has excellent pace, being able to outrun most team's best players. He plays smart, and knows when to pass the ball out to his teammates. And his best stat is of course his finishing. He continuously manages to outrun his defender and dribble left, right, and even through the defender sometimes. He's an absolute wizard on the field. With that said, he of course does not come with downsides. Stone is a terrible defender. Teams will have to find ways to hide him on defense until he is able to pick up the speed necessary. As of right now, I think even the opposing team's coach could score on him. But he is young and athletic, and based on our conversations with him he seems ready to work on it. Welcome to the SSL Stone.]]>
Stone is an extremely fast player, and has excellent pace, being able to outrun most team's best players. He plays smart, and knows when to pass the ball out to his teammates. And his best stat is of course his finishing. He continuously manages to outrun his defender and dribble left, right, and even through the defender sometimes. He's an absolute wizard on the field. With that said, he of course does not come with downsides. Stone is a terrible defender. Teams will have to find ways to hide him on defense until he is able to pick up the speed necessary. As of right now, I think even the opposing team's coach could score on him. But he is young and athletic, and based on our conversations with him he seems ready to work on it. Welcome to the SSL Stone.]]> <![CDATA[Dennis's and the academy's statistical performance]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9497 Sat, 02 May 2026 14:09:53 +0100 Jeanious]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9497 There is no midfielder impact yet as I kept breaking the app trying to make it, I gave up for now. Also there is no graph for most of the week 17 things, because I forgot to add them to the snapshot export, sorry :(

Intro
The season is now halfway done and Dennis is a bit more invested than he probably expected. What started as just showing up, scoring goals, and seeing where it goes has slowly turned into more.

So Dennis decided to take it a step further. Inspired by @McLumberjack, he ended up building his own app to track pretty much every statistic that is available in the academy index, uf it could be counted it was in there somewhere. At this point he’s clicking through charts like a man possesed, and there’s a real chance he now spends more time looking at numbers than actually playing football, which is probably not ideal but we’ll ignore that for now.

The idea is simple. If he wants to move past being just another striker in the league, he needs to understand where he statistically stands. Not where he thinks he stands after scoring one goal and feeling like prime Ruud van Nistelrooy for 10 minutes, but what the numbers say over time. Where he is ahead, where he is behind, and where he’s just… painfully average.

At the same time, digging through all those stats made something else pretty clear (I have no real use for these stats but let's ignore that for the sake if this article). Most people only talk about the players that show high numbers for goals or assists, but there are unsung hero's that barely get any mention. Defenders and goalkeepers, the players doing the 'ugly' work that doesn't show up in the highlights.

Dennis also realised something slightly concerning. Some defenders aren’t just there for their pretty face, they are statistically a problem. The kind that get compared to a ground to air interception system, blocks shots for fun, and somehow always stands in the correct spot.
So while Dennis is using all this data to improve his own game, he’s also started paying more attention to the rest of the league. Not just his competitor strikers, but the players making life difficult for them.

If there’s one thing Dennis has learned from his growing statistics obsession, it’s that defenders are not just “in the way”, they are basically weekly problems for attackers.

So instead of focusing only on goals or assists he decided to look at the broader picture, starting with defensive impact. A combined score built from shots blocked, clearances, interceptions, tackles won, successful headers, and appearances. Basically a way of measuring how annoying a player is to face over 90 minutes.

To get a clearer picture, he pulled together the first two weekly snapshots of the league.

Week 17 Defensive Impact

[Image: JKGx6X.jpg]

Week 17 gives the first real look at who is setting the tone defensively. At this stage, Geronimo Datbasted is leading the table with the highest impact score, closely followed by Peter Castellani and Don Banjo. Already a small group of defenders starts to separate themselves from the rest of the league.

Martin Krpan is also firmly in the top section, continuing to show that physical presence alone already translates into numbers in this system. Behind them, names like Scorp E. Unshark and Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited (what kind of name is that) are still contributing, just with slightly less consistancy.

At this point, the rankings still feel relatively open. Strong performances are visible, but nothing feels fully locked in yet.

Week 18 Defensive Impact

[Image: HZzIxl.jpg]

One week later, the graph changes, but not dramatically different.

Don Banjo moves into first placee, narrowly overtaking Geronimo Datbasted, who drops slightly but remains right at the top of the league. The gap between them is minimal, more of a shift in position than a real change in their match impact.
Peter Castellani stays steady in 3rd, proving for now to be a consistent performer. Martin Krpan also holds his place in 4th, continuing his trend of consistency without much movement either way.

The most noticeable change happens further down, where Ewan Purves enters the rankings and immediately impacts the lower half of the table. This pushes a few of the previous bottom names further down, tightening the competition in that section.
Across both weeks, the main takeaway is actually how stable the top end is. The same defenders keep appearing near the top, just trading positions around each other. Have these players found the perfect way to move around in these games?

For attackers like Dennis, that’s not exactly encouraging. Because if the defenders aren’t changing much, then the problem probably isn’t the data.
It’s what’s happening in front of goal.

After looking at defenders, Dennis did the most logical next step (for sure this is completely normal) and moved on to goalkeepers.

The goalkeeper impact score is made of course, different. It combines clean sheets, different types of saves, save percentage, expected save percentage, xG prevented, and appearances. It tries to measure how much a goalkeeper actually helps their team, or in some cases, how much they don’t (stats could be scewed if your defensive line is non-existant so you concede alot). And yes, negative impact is very much a thing.

Week 17 Goalkeeper Impact

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Week 17 shows a pretty clear standout goalkeeper. Tony Roberts is comfortably ahead of everyone else with a strong positive impact score, basically carrying his side compared to the rest of the league. Behind him, Albert Flowers holds second place, although already a noticable step down in overall influence.

Then things get a bit more interesting.

Moew enBach sits almost neutral in 3rd, which is either impressive or slightly worrying depending on how you look at it. From there, the table drops off quite sharply. Umaq Yupanqui is already in negative territory, and Eric Duic sits at the bottom with one of the lowest scores, suggesting a tough week between the posts.

At this stage, it already looks like there’s a clear standout goalkeeper from the rest.

Week 18 Goalkeeper Impact

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Week 18 brings some changes to the graph.

Tony Roberts remains at the top and in fact improves his score even more, now sitting at 4.32. He’s starting to look less like a goalkeeper with some good games and more like a consistent problem for any attacking team.
The biggest improvement comes from Moew enBach, who moves all the way up into 2nd place. That’s one of the more noticeable shifts across both weeks, suggesting a much better individual performance or a very busy week in goal.
Albert Flowers drops to 3rd, still positive but no longer pushing the top end as strongly as before, it seemed like he could have had a rough week. This could be due to the fact that he was caught in a bar the night before the game and had trouble with his double vision.
At the lower end, Eric Duic and Umaq Yupanqui remain in negative territory, with Umaq actually slipping further down compared to week 17. That kind of consistency is not the good kind.
Ian Degon enters the rankings in 6th with a heavily negative score, immediately landing in the “statistically rough week” category.

Across both weeks, one thing is clear. Goalkeeping impact is extremely volatile. One good week can shoot you up the rankings, one bad week can bury you deep into negative numbers.

And for attackers like Dennis, that means something simple.
Sometimes you’re not missing chances.
Sometimes you’re just running into a goalkeeper who is having a very good week.

Next up was probably the most chaotic stat of them all: mistakes leading to goals. A category that includes literally everyone that has set foot on the pitch in the academy.
This is the “suspicion of match fixing" category.

Week 17 Mistakes Leading to Goals

At the top of this very unwanted leaderboard sits Jay Pea with 2 mistakes leading directly to goals. Not exactly the kind of chart you want to be leading, but at least he's winning in something.
Right behind him is a crowded group of players on 1 mistake each, including Eric Duic, S Sei, Josh Harper and Joe Mormor. A strong reminder that mistakes are truly a team sport in this league.

What’s interesting though is how spread out this category is. It’s not just defenders or goalkeepers getting caught out. It’s literally everywhere. Midfielders losing focus, defenders overthinking, attackers pressing a bit too hard and suddenly everyone is involved.

Then you get to the most peaceful part of the chart: the zero mistake zone. Special shout out if you made it at random.
Alex Peña, Arsene Cardinet, Baptiste Azzola, and Barry McGlynn all sit comfortably on 0, meaning they have managed to avoid directly gifting goals to the opposition so far. Which in this league is basically the equivalent of being faultless.

Although even that doesn’t always tell the full story. Some players don’t even need to make mistakes to cause problems. They’re just difficult to deal with in general to the point where their own teammates sometimes look like they’re improvising around them.
In a way, this stat doesn’t just show errors. It shows pressure. Who’s under it, who’s causing it, and who occasionally forgets what team they’re on for a split second.

Week 18 Mistakes Leading to Goals

[Image: IqG8SC.jpg]

At the top of the chart, nothing really changes. Jay Pea is still leading with 2 mistakes leading to goals, which is starting to feel less like bad luck and more like a weekly tradition at this point.
Behind him, things get slightly more crowded but also slightly more consistent. S Sei, Josh Harper, Joe Mormor and Eric Duic all sit on 1 mistake each. A group that basically rotates depending on who has the worst possible moment of the week.

The interesting shift this week is not at the top, but in how clean the rest of the league has become.

Alex Peña holds his zero mistake record and is joined by new name Alexandre Canal, who enters the chart immediately with a calm and mistake-free debut. Arsene Cardinet stays firmly in the no error zone, doing their job without contributing to anyone else’s highlight (or lowlight) reel.
Bruce McAllister also appears in the rankings for the first time, rounding out the bottom of the list without any recorded mistakes.

Compared to week 17, the biggest takeaway is actually stability. The same names are still showing up at the top for all the wrong reasons.

After all the talk about defenders and mistakes Dennis also took a look at something a bit more constructive. Chances created. The stat that usually decides who’s actually doing the work before the highlight reels kick in, also part of the unsung hero's.
This one is a bit more straightforward. Or at least it should be.

Week 17 Chances Created

Week 17 is led by Alex Peña with 11 chances created, setting the early standard for the league. Behind him, Jack Pow, Walter Blanco, and Sadie Black are all closely together, showing a tight group of players consistently involved in attacking build-up.
Nick Kasak and Joe Mormor follow just behind, while Geronimo Datbasted appears further down, contributing from deeper positions rather than dominating the final ball.

Overall it is fairly balanced. A few clear top creators, but no real runaway player yet.

Week 18 Chances Created

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Week 18 shows the first signs of separation.

Alex Peña increases his lead to 13 and continues to look like the main creative engine of the league. Sadie Black also makes a strong jump into second place with 12, closing the gap.
Walter Blanco stays consistent in third, while Jack Pow drops slightly but remains firmly in the top group.
The more interesting movement happens just below that. Owen Bryant moves up, Barry McGlynn enters the rankings, and names like Christopher Bergmann and Bruce McAllister appear for the first time, immediately adding depth to the creative chart.

What stands out across both weeks is that creativity is starting to consolidate. A few players are clearly taking control, while the rest are rotating behind them trying to keep up.

After chances created, Dennis moved on to something "experimental" but somehow surprisingly accurate: predicted assists. A combined stat built from multiple underlying factors that supposedly estimates who should be getting assists. And weirdly enough, it does tend to match reality more often than you’d expect. (I compared the predictions to previous season outcomes)

Still, it sounds like something that could be wrong at any moment.

Week 17 Predicted Assists

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Week 17 starts with a shared lead between Alex Peña and Arsene Cardinet, both sitting at 14. At this point, they’re basically running the creative economy of the league, whether people realize it or not. 14 assists would also set a new draft league record.

Behind them Nick Kasak sits comfortably in third with 8, while a cluster of players including Gold Ship, Roberto Chávez, and Jack Pow are all grouped at 6. This section can change any week depending on the passing performance of the players.
Joe Mormor, Geronimo Datbasted, Josh Harper and Walter Blanco round out the lower half, still involved but less consistently in the final product.

Week 18 Predicted Assists

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Week 18 brings a slight change at the top.

Alex Peña remains in first, although his score drops slightly to 12. Arsene Cardinet also drops to 8 but holds onto second place, now sharing the same number as Nick Kasak, who stays steady in third.
Jack Pow and Joe Mormor remain consistent just behind them, continuing their involvement in build-up play without major jumps or drops.
Further down, Tim Quackareedoo makes his first appearance in the rankings, immediately landing in sixth place, which is either impressive or mildly suspicious depending on how you interpret debut entries this late into the dataset.
Gold Ship, Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited, Roberto Chávez, and Owen Bryant fill out the lower positions, all sitting in a tight cluster where small changes make a big difference week to week.

Now to the part Dennis cares about the most; striker impact. This is the combined metric that also includes wingers for now, meaning it’s not just pure strikers. (I intend to fix this sometime, maybe)
The score is built from a all aspects of attacking data. Goals, assists, xG, xA, shots, shots on target, chances created, key passes, header percentage, key headers, dribbles, xG overperformance, shot accuracy percentage, and appearances.

It tries to capture everything an attacking player does or gets involved with.

Week 17 Striker Impact

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Week 17 is led by Nacho Kusora, who sets the early benchmark with a strong 9.30 impact score. Efficient, and already starting to separate himself from the rest of the pack.
Nick Kasak sits in second with 7.06, while Dennis follows closely in third with 6.93. At this stage the gap between second and third is small enough that one good game could change the entire order.
Below the top 3 things drop off quickly. Chris Walker VI is already in negative territory, along with Kairo Vox, Blaise N’Kufo, and Jake Ronaldo, who all sit well below zero. Which for attacking players is not exactly where you want to be on a performance chart.

Week 18 Striker Impact

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Week 18 changes the picture slightly, but not at the very top.

Nacho Kusora jumps significantly to 12.97 (drug test in order?), pulling further ahead and starting to look like the clear reference point for striker output in the league. He is not just leading, he is becoming a statistical runaway.
Nick Kasak holds steady in second with 6.85, showing consistency even if he is not keeping pace with the leader’s jump.
Dennis remains in third though his score drops to 4.58(:(). Still in the upper tier but nowhere near the top spot.

The interesting movement comes behind him. Jack Pow enters the rankings in fourth with a positive impact score, suggesting a strong week and a sharp rise in involvement in attacking phases. Barry McGlynn also appears in fifth, just barely above zero, which in this system counts as progress.

Further down, Jake Ronaldo improves slightly but remains in negative territory, while Chris Walker VI drops further. Dante Von Wolfe, the man who just cannot seem to score, joins the table in eighth, immediately landing in negative impact alongside Kairo Vox and Blaise N’Kufo, who continue to struggle to convert involvement into actual positive output.

Next up is one of the more interesting attacking metrics: xG overperformance. Tthis shows who is scoring more goals than they 'should'.
And as always, reality tends to be a bit more chaotic than the numbers suggest.

Week 17 xG Overperformance

Week 17 sees Dennis at the top of the chart with 3.23, which immediately confirms what the eye test has been saying. He is finishing chances more chances than expected, even when the positions he finds himself in are not always the easiest.
Behind him, Ewan Purves sits in second with 2.91, closely followed by Nacho Kusora at 2.87. The top three are very tightly packed, suggesting a small group of players are currently outperforming expectation in similar fashion.
Further down, Che Youz, Joe Mormor, and Tim Quackareedoo form a middle cluster of positive overperformance, while Bruce McAllister, Mullet Man, Baptiste Azzola and Walter Blanco complete the lower end of the top ten with smaller but still positive margins.

Week 18 xG Overperformance

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Week 18 brings big changes.

Nacho Kusora takes the top spot with a 5.66, which is a significant increase to week 17 and shows a very efficient infront of goal. He is consistently exceeding expectations by a large margin.
Dennis drops to second with 3.17, still in the top group of finishers. His numbers remain stable, which is usually a good sign in a stat like this.
Ewan Purves holds steady in third, continuing his consistent overperformance across both weeks.
Joe Mormor also moves up slightly, while Bruce McAllister improves into fifth with a noticeable jump in output efficiency. Jake Ronaldo appears in the rankings for the first time in sixth, suggesting a improvement in finishing form.
Further down, Che Youz and Tim Quackareedoo remain in the mix, while STAR SCREAM and Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited enter the chart at the bottom end of the top ten with modest but positive overperformance.

Across both weeks, one pattern stands out clearly. Dennis remains one of the most efficient finishers in the league consistently outperforming expected output, even as others begin to surge around him. And for Nacho Kusora, performance enhancing drugs are expected to be in play.
The difference now is that he is no longer at the top.
And in a league like this, that usually means the race is only just getting started.

To round off the attacking metrics, Dennis also looked at predicted goals. A model based estimate of how many goals each player is expected to end up with based on their current output, finishing trends, and underlying involvement.
Basically, where the numbers think things are heading if nothing dramatically changes.

Week 17 Predicted Goals

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Week 17 shows a very tight race at the top between Mullet Man (goat) and Dennis, both sitting on 20 predicted goals. They are effectively projected to finish the season as the main goal threats in the league. But it sadly won't break the record of 22.

Just behind them, Nacho Kusora sits on 17, still very much in striking distance and clearly part of the same top tier.
Below that, Joe Mormor and Che Youz form the next group of consistent contributors, while Arsene Cardinet and Bruce McAllister sit slightly further back but still within a strong attacking range.

The lower end of the top ten includes Chris Walker VI, Barry McGlynn, and Ozzy Boudreaux, all projected to contribute but not necessarily lead.

Week 18 Predicted Goals

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Week 18 brings a a big change to the top.

Nacho Kusora moves into first with 19 predicted goals, taking over the lead and reinforcing his position as the most dangerous attacking projection in the league at this point.
Dennis drops to second with 17, still in the elite bracket and still in the race, but now behind the new leader who seemed to have a fantastic week 18.
Joe Mormor holds steady in third, continuing his consistent output projection, while Bruce McAllister climbs into fourth with a noticeable improvement.
Mullet Man drops slightly to fifth, suggesting a small dip in projection despite a strong starting position in week 17.

Further down, Owen Goal enters the rankings in seventh with a solid debut projection, immediately placing himself in the upper attacking group. Arsene Cardinet, Ozzy Boudreaux, and S Sei complete the lower end of the top ten, all still projected to contribute but with less upward movement compared to the leaders.

Outro
As the season moves past the halfway mark the numbers are starting to settle into something that could setup the "race for number 1" in their respective statistic. It is not perfect, not fully predictable, but clear enough that patterns are beginning to show. Certain names keep appearing at the top, others are stuck fighting for consistency, and a few are just trying to survive week to week.

For Dennis, it’s become less about just scoring and more about thinking of the future, after the academy and the draft. Even where the chances come from, who creates them, who stops them, and who occasionally turns a simple situation into a highlight for the wrong reasons are increasing in interest.

There is still a long way to go and matches to be played. Gaps in the statistics are starting to matter more after every new game played. But there is still room for big changes. A good run of games can change everything and anything.

For now though, the data is what it is. Some players are pulling away, some are holding steady, and some are probably hoping the next set of graphs doesn’t exist.
And if you read this all you're actually insane.]]> There is no midfielder impact yet as I kept breaking the app trying to make it, I gave up for now. Also there is no graph for most of the week 17 things, because I forgot to add them to the snapshot export, sorry :(

Intro
The season is now halfway done and Dennis is a bit more invested than he probably expected. What started as just showing up, scoring goals, and seeing where it goes has slowly turned into more.

So Dennis decided to take it a step further. Inspired by @McLumberjack, he ended up building his own app to track pretty much every statistic that is available in the academy index, uf it could be counted it was in there somewhere. At this point he’s clicking through charts like a man possesed, and there’s a real chance he now spends more time looking at numbers than actually playing football, which is probably not ideal but we’ll ignore that for now.

The idea is simple. If he wants to move past being just another striker in the league, he needs to understand where he statistically stands. Not where he thinks he stands after scoring one goal and feeling like prime Ruud van Nistelrooy for 10 minutes, but what the numbers say over time. Where he is ahead, where he is behind, and where he’s just… painfully average.

At the same time, digging through all those stats made something else pretty clear (I have no real use for these stats but let's ignore that for the sake if this article). Most people only talk about the players that show high numbers for goals or assists, but there are unsung hero's that barely get any mention. Defenders and goalkeepers, the players doing the 'ugly' work that doesn't show up in the highlights.

Dennis also realised something slightly concerning. Some defenders aren’t just there for their pretty face, they are statistically a problem. The kind that get compared to a ground to air interception system, blocks shots for fun, and somehow always stands in the correct spot.
So while Dennis is using all this data to improve his own game, he’s also started paying more attention to the rest of the league. Not just his competitor strikers, but the players making life difficult for them.

If there’s one thing Dennis has learned from his growing statistics obsession, it’s that defenders are not just “in the way”, they are basically weekly problems for attackers.

So instead of focusing only on goals or assists he decided to look at the broader picture, starting with defensive impact. A combined score built from shots blocked, clearances, interceptions, tackles won, successful headers, and appearances. Basically a way of measuring how annoying a player is to face over 90 minutes.

To get a clearer picture, he pulled together the first two weekly snapshots of the league.

Week 17 Defensive Impact

[Image: JKGx6X.jpg]

Week 17 gives the first real look at who is setting the tone defensively. At this stage, Geronimo Datbasted is leading the table with the highest impact score, closely followed by Peter Castellani and Don Banjo. Already a small group of defenders starts to separate themselves from the rest of the league.

Martin Krpan is also firmly in the top section, continuing to show that physical presence alone already translates into numbers in this system. Behind them, names like Scorp E. Unshark and Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited (what kind of name is that) are still contributing, just with slightly less consistancy.

At this point, the rankings still feel relatively open. Strong performances are visible, but nothing feels fully locked in yet.

Week 18 Defensive Impact

[Image: HZzIxl.jpg]

One week later, the graph changes, but not dramatically different.

Don Banjo moves into first placee, narrowly overtaking Geronimo Datbasted, who drops slightly but remains right at the top of the league. The gap between them is minimal, more of a shift in position than a real change in their match impact.
Peter Castellani stays steady in 3rd, proving for now to be a consistent performer. Martin Krpan also holds his place in 4th, continuing his trend of consistency without much movement either way.

The most noticeable change happens further down, where Ewan Purves enters the rankings and immediately impacts the lower half of the table. This pushes a few of the previous bottom names further down, tightening the competition in that section.
Across both weeks, the main takeaway is actually how stable the top end is. The same defenders keep appearing near the top, just trading positions around each other. Have these players found the perfect way to move around in these games?

For attackers like Dennis, that’s not exactly encouraging. Because if the defenders aren’t changing much, then the problem probably isn’t the data.
It’s what’s happening in front of goal.

After looking at defenders, Dennis did the most logical next step (for sure this is completely normal) and moved on to goalkeepers.

The goalkeeper impact score is made of course, different. It combines clean sheets, different types of saves, save percentage, expected save percentage, xG prevented, and appearances. It tries to measure how much a goalkeeper actually helps their team, or in some cases, how much they don’t (stats could be scewed if your defensive line is non-existant so you concede alot). And yes, negative impact is very much a thing.

Week 17 Goalkeeper Impact

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Week 17 shows a pretty clear standout goalkeeper. Tony Roberts is comfortably ahead of everyone else with a strong positive impact score, basically carrying his side compared to the rest of the league. Behind him, Albert Flowers holds second place, although already a noticable step down in overall influence.

Then things get a bit more interesting.

Moew enBach sits almost neutral in 3rd, which is either impressive or slightly worrying depending on how you look at it. From there, the table drops off quite sharply. Umaq Yupanqui is already in negative territory, and Eric Duic sits at the bottom with one of the lowest scores, suggesting a tough week between the posts.

At this stage, it already looks like there’s a clear standout goalkeeper from the rest.

Week 18 Goalkeeper Impact

[Image: padLfj.jpg]

Week 18 brings some changes to the graph.

Tony Roberts remains at the top and in fact improves his score even more, now sitting at 4.32. He’s starting to look less like a goalkeeper with some good games and more like a consistent problem for any attacking team.
The biggest improvement comes from Moew enBach, who moves all the way up into 2nd place. That’s one of the more noticeable shifts across both weeks, suggesting a much better individual performance or a very busy week in goal.
Albert Flowers drops to 3rd, still positive but no longer pushing the top end as strongly as before, it seemed like he could have had a rough week. This could be due to the fact that he was caught in a bar the night before the game and had trouble with his double vision.
At the lower end, Eric Duic and Umaq Yupanqui remain in negative territory, with Umaq actually slipping further down compared to week 17. That kind of consistency is not the good kind.
Ian Degon enters the rankings in 6th with a heavily negative score, immediately landing in the “statistically rough week” category.

Across both weeks, one thing is clear. Goalkeeping impact is extremely volatile. One good week can shoot you up the rankings, one bad week can bury you deep into negative numbers.

And for attackers like Dennis, that means something simple.
Sometimes you’re not missing chances.
Sometimes you’re just running into a goalkeeper who is having a very good week.

Next up was probably the most chaotic stat of them all: mistakes leading to goals. A category that includes literally everyone that has set foot on the pitch in the academy.
This is the “suspicion of match fixing" category.

Week 17 Mistakes Leading to Goals

At the top of this very unwanted leaderboard sits Jay Pea with 2 mistakes leading directly to goals. Not exactly the kind of chart you want to be leading, but at least he's winning in something.
Right behind him is a crowded group of players on 1 mistake each, including Eric Duic, S Sei, Josh Harper and Joe Mormor. A strong reminder that mistakes are truly a team sport in this league.

What’s interesting though is how spread out this category is. It’s not just defenders or goalkeepers getting caught out. It’s literally everywhere. Midfielders losing focus, defenders overthinking, attackers pressing a bit too hard and suddenly everyone is involved.

Then you get to the most peaceful part of the chart: the zero mistake zone. Special shout out if you made it at random.
Alex Peña, Arsene Cardinet, Baptiste Azzola, and Barry McGlynn all sit comfortably on 0, meaning they have managed to avoid directly gifting goals to the opposition so far. Which in this league is basically the equivalent of being faultless.

Although even that doesn’t always tell the full story. Some players don’t even need to make mistakes to cause problems. They’re just difficult to deal with in general to the point where their own teammates sometimes look like they’re improvising around them.
In a way, this stat doesn’t just show errors. It shows pressure. Who’s under it, who’s causing it, and who occasionally forgets what team they’re on for a split second.

Week 18 Mistakes Leading to Goals

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At the top of the chart, nothing really changes. Jay Pea is still leading with 2 mistakes leading to goals, which is starting to feel less like bad luck and more like a weekly tradition at this point.
Behind him, things get slightly more crowded but also slightly more consistent. S Sei, Josh Harper, Joe Mormor and Eric Duic all sit on 1 mistake each. A group that basically rotates depending on who has the worst possible moment of the week.

The interesting shift this week is not at the top, but in how clean the rest of the league has become.

Alex Peña holds his zero mistake record and is joined by new name Alexandre Canal, who enters the chart immediately with a calm and mistake-free debut. Arsene Cardinet stays firmly in the no error zone, doing their job without contributing to anyone else’s highlight (or lowlight) reel.
Bruce McAllister also appears in the rankings for the first time, rounding out the bottom of the list without any recorded mistakes.

Compared to week 17, the biggest takeaway is actually stability. The same names are still showing up at the top for all the wrong reasons.

After all the talk about defenders and mistakes Dennis also took a look at something a bit more constructive. Chances created. The stat that usually decides who’s actually doing the work before the highlight reels kick in, also part of the unsung hero's.
This one is a bit more straightforward. Or at least it should be.

Week 17 Chances Created

Week 17 is led by Alex Peña with 11 chances created, setting the early standard for the league. Behind him, Jack Pow, Walter Blanco, and Sadie Black are all closely together, showing a tight group of players consistently involved in attacking build-up.
Nick Kasak and Joe Mormor follow just behind, while Geronimo Datbasted appears further down, contributing from deeper positions rather than dominating the final ball.

Overall it is fairly balanced. A few clear top creators, but no real runaway player yet.

Week 18 Chances Created

[Image: krDM6u.jpg]

Week 18 shows the first signs of separation.

Alex Peña increases his lead to 13 and continues to look like the main creative engine of the league. Sadie Black also makes a strong jump into second place with 12, closing the gap.
Walter Blanco stays consistent in third, while Jack Pow drops slightly but remains firmly in the top group.
The more interesting movement happens just below that. Owen Bryant moves up, Barry McGlynn enters the rankings, and names like Christopher Bergmann and Bruce McAllister appear for the first time, immediately adding depth to the creative chart.

What stands out across both weeks is that creativity is starting to consolidate. A few players are clearly taking control, while the rest are rotating behind them trying to keep up.

After chances created, Dennis moved on to something "experimental" but somehow surprisingly accurate: predicted assists. A combined stat built from multiple underlying factors that supposedly estimates who should be getting assists. And weirdly enough, it does tend to match reality more often than you’d expect. (I compared the predictions to previous season outcomes)

Still, it sounds like something that could be wrong at any moment.

Week 17 Predicted Assists

[Image: eThnDV.jpg]

Week 17 starts with a shared lead between Alex Peña and Arsene Cardinet, both sitting at 14. At this point, they’re basically running the creative economy of the league, whether people realize it or not. 14 assists would also set a new draft league record.

Behind them Nick Kasak sits comfortably in third with 8, while a cluster of players including Gold Ship, Roberto Chávez, and Jack Pow are all grouped at 6. This section can change any week depending on the passing performance of the players.
Joe Mormor, Geronimo Datbasted, Josh Harper and Walter Blanco round out the lower half, still involved but less consistently in the final product.

Week 18 Predicted Assists

[Image: iGMAQJ.jpg]

Week 18 brings a slight change at the top.

Alex Peña remains in first, although his score drops slightly to 12. Arsene Cardinet also drops to 8 but holds onto second place, now sharing the same number as Nick Kasak, who stays steady in third.
Jack Pow and Joe Mormor remain consistent just behind them, continuing their involvement in build-up play without major jumps or drops.
Further down, Tim Quackareedoo makes his first appearance in the rankings, immediately landing in sixth place, which is either impressive or mildly suspicious depending on how you interpret debut entries this late into the dataset.
Gold Ship, Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited, Roberto Chávez, and Owen Bryant fill out the lower positions, all sitting in a tight cluster where small changes make a big difference week to week.

Now to the part Dennis cares about the most; striker impact. This is the combined metric that also includes wingers for now, meaning it’s not just pure strikers. (I intend to fix this sometime, maybe)
The score is built from a all aspects of attacking data. Goals, assists, xG, xA, shots, shots on target, chances created, key passes, header percentage, key headers, dribbles, xG overperformance, shot accuracy percentage, and appearances.

It tries to capture everything an attacking player does or gets involved with.

Week 17 Striker Impact

[Image: 2qHBky.jpg]

Week 17 is led by Nacho Kusora, who sets the early benchmark with a strong 9.30 impact score. Efficient, and already starting to separate himself from the rest of the pack.
Nick Kasak sits in second with 7.06, while Dennis follows closely in third with 6.93. At this stage the gap between second and third is small enough that one good game could change the entire order.
Below the top 3 things drop off quickly. Chris Walker VI is already in negative territory, along with Kairo Vox, Blaise N’Kufo, and Jake Ronaldo, who all sit well below zero. Which for attacking players is not exactly where you want to be on a performance chart.

Week 18 Striker Impact

[Image: V3GIm1.jpg]

Week 18 changes the picture slightly, but not at the very top.

Nacho Kusora jumps significantly to 12.97 (drug test in order?), pulling further ahead and starting to look like the clear reference point for striker output in the league. He is not just leading, he is becoming a statistical runaway.
Nick Kasak holds steady in second with 6.85, showing consistency even if he is not keeping pace with the leader’s jump.
Dennis remains in third though his score drops to 4.58(:(). Still in the upper tier but nowhere near the top spot.

The interesting movement comes behind him. Jack Pow enters the rankings in fourth with a positive impact score, suggesting a strong week and a sharp rise in involvement in attacking phases. Barry McGlynn also appears in fifth, just barely above zero, which in this system counts as progress.

Further down, Jake Ronaldo improves slightly but remains in negative territory, while Chris Walker VI drops further. Dante Von Wolfe, the man who just cannot seem to score, joins the table in eighth, immediately landing in negative impact alongside Kairo Vox and Blaise N’Kufo, who continue to struggle to convert involvement into actual positive output.

Next up is one of the more interesting attacking metrics: xG overperformance. Tthis shows who is scoring more goals than they 'should'.
And as always, reality tends to be a bit more chaotic than the numbers suggest.

Week 17 xG Overperformance

Week 17 sees Dennis at the top of the chart with 3.23, which immediately confirms what the eye test has been saying. He is finishing chances more chances than expected, even when the positions he finds himself in are not always the easiest.
Behind him, Ewan Purves sits in second with 2.91, closely followed by Nacho Kusora at 2.87. The top three are very tightly packed, suggesting a small group of players are currently outperforming expectation in similar fashion.
Further down, Che Youz, Joe Mormor, and Tim Quackareedoo form a middle cluster of positive overperformance, while Bruce McAllister, Mullet Man, Baptiste Azzola and Walter Blanco complete the lower end of the top ten with smaller but still positive margins.

Week 18 xG Overperformance

[Image: 7GcgZj.jpg]

Week 18 brings big changes.

Nacho Kusora takes the top spot with a 5.66, which is a significant increase to week 17 and shows a very efficient infront of goal. He is consistently exceeding expectations by a large margin.
Dennis drops to second with 3.17, still in the top group of finishers. His numbers remain stable, which is usually a good sign in a stat like this.
Ewan Purves holds steady in third, continuing his consistent overperformance across both weeks.
Joe Mormor also moves up slightly, while Bruce McAllister improves into fifth with a noticeable jump in output efficiency. Jake Ronaldo appears in the rankings for the first time in sixth, suggesting a improvement in finishing form.
Further down, Che Youz and Tim Quackareedoo remain in the mix, while STAR SCREAM and Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited enter the chart at the bottom end of the top ten with modest but positive overperformance.

Across both weeks, one pattern stands out clearly. Dennis remains one of the most efficient finishers in the league consistently outperforming expected output, even as others begin to surge around him. And for Nacho Kusora, performance enhancing drugs are expected to be in play.
The difference now is that he is no longer at the top.
And in a league like this, that usually means the race is only just getting started.

To round off the attacking metrics, Dennis also looked at predicted goals. A model based estimate of how many goals each player is expected to end up with based on their current output, finishing trends, and underlying involvement.
Basically, where the numbers think things are heading if nothing dramatically changes.

Week 17 Predicted Goals

[Image: qstpR6.jpg]

Week 17 shows a very tight race at the top between Mullet Man (goat) and Dennis, both sitting on 20 predicted goals. They are effectively projected to finish the season as the main goal threats in the league. But it sadly won't break the record of 22.

Just behind them, Nacho Kusora sits on 17, still very much in striking distance and clearly part of the same top tier.
Below that, Joe Mormor and Che Youz form the next group of consistent contributors, while Arsene Cardinet and Bruce McAllister sit slightly further back but still within a strong attacking range.

The lower end of the top ten includes Chris Walker VI, Barry McGlynn, and Ozzy Boudreaux, all projected to contribute but not necessarily lead.

Week 18 Predicted Goals

[Image: g98mMZ.jpg]

Week 18 brings a a big change to the top.

Nacho Kusora moves into first with 19 predicted goals, taking over the lead and reinforcing his position as the most dangerous attacking projection in the league at this point.
Dennis drops to second with 17, still in the elite bracket and still in the race, but now behind the new leader who seemed to have a fantastic week 18.
Joe Mormor holds steady in third, continuing his consistent output projection, while Bruce McAllister climbs into fourth with a noticeable improvement.
Mullet Man drops slightly to fifth, suggesting a small dip in projection despite a strong starting position in week 17.

Further down, Owen Goal enters the rankings in seventh with a solid debut projection, immediately placing himself in the upper attacking group. Arsene Cardinet, Ozzy Boudreaux, and S Sei complete the lower end of the top ten, all still projected to contribute but with less upward movement compared to the leaders.

Outro
As the season moves past the halfway mark the numbers are starting to settle into something that could setup the "race for number 1" in their respective statistic. It is not perfect, not fully predictable, but clear enough that patterns are beginning to show. Certain names keep appearing at the top, others are stuck fighting for consistency, and a few are just trying to survive week to week.

For Dennis, it’s become less about just scoring and more about thinking of the future, after the academy and the draft. Even where the chances come from, who creates them, who stops them, and who occasionally turns a simple situation into a highlight for the wrong reasons are increasing in interest.

There is still a long way to go and matches to be played. Gaps in the statistics are starting to matter more after every new game played. But there is still room for big changes. A good run of games can change everything and anything.

For now though, the data is what it is. Some players are pulling away, some are holding steady, and some are probably hoping the next set of graphs doesn’t exist.
And if you read this all you're actually insane.]]> <![CDATA[Mullet Man Three Game Reflection]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9496 Sat, 02 May 2026 06:04:33 +0100 Ogreishh]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9496
Mullet Man was introduced into the SSL a week or so ago. He ending up joining Adowa Accra, with them being the only team who which found the correct shirt size for Mullet Man and his beer belly. In his few weeks in the SSL, he has had some major ups and some major lows already.

Starting with where his career started (where else would I start?), Adowa Accra vs Atletico Medellin. The game where which would decide whether Adowa would go on top (with the scenario if Stockholm lost prior to the Adowa game. They did lose, but not prior to Adowa's win, but there's probably some time travelers in the Adowa lockers knowing what happened at Stockholm's game.). Mullet Man knew what expectations there were, and scored two goals on his debut, the most of any player on the pitch that game. (If we ignore @Ewan1245 Ewan Purves who scored two goals, but this article is purely about Mullet Man, it's not called 'Ewan Purves Three Game Reflection'.) The FM gods gave their next god an 8.5 match rating.

Riding on a high, Mullet Man went into his next game, the number one placed team versing the second placed team, two teams in the fight for the title. If you couldn't guess Adowa Accra vs Stockholm, I'm not surprised, that was a hard one to get right. The prior five words I had just wrote was how Mullet Man's performance was, missing many chances at goal and even a penalty! (guess I'll have to change the render... can't be Ronaldo without putting in penalties.) Eventually, Stockholm came home to win 2 - 0, with the FM Gods now bullying poor god Mullet Man with a 5.9 performance rating!

(I'd like to add prior to this next game, I originally wrote it from the Stockholm game, so there'd be two Stockholm games that ended the exact same way, I'm very sorry for nearly spreading misinformation for the sake of getting 6 TPE. All is deleted now.)
Mullet Man, during his trip to Victoria, Australia, he Falls off his high car from the Stockholm game (which was why he was riding on a high) then gets attacked by wedge tailed Eagles all shaming him over his missed penalty. Now lower than ever before, Mullet Man heads into his next game against the team who I've already named somewhere in this paragraph. I didn't watch the game, but from rewatching, he faked out Jarrow Legend and the Adowa player of @nckkss Nick Kasak scored. Then another goal happened for Adowa Accra, except I don't really know about it, lacked a bit of Mullet Man goalscoring. (on a serious note, congratulations to @McTruffles Blaise N'Kufo). The game ended 2 - 2 and Mullet Man got his first assist of his career and getting a good rating of 7.3.

We talked to Mullet Man about his three mixed performances and he said to us "What games? I only remember the Medellin victory? Are you one of the new time travellers in the Adowa lockers?! Can't wait to see yous next game in the lockers."

Question for the readers?
What new render should I have, considering I missed a penalty? I can't be Ronaldo if I don't prioritise on my penalties.]]>
Mullet Man was introduced into the SSL a week or so ago. He ending up joining Adowa Accra, with them being the only team who which found the correct shirt size for Mullet Man and his beer belly. In his few weeks in the SSL, he has had some major ups and some major lows already.

Starting with where his career started (where else would I start?), Adowa Accra vs Atletico Medellin. The game where which would decide whether Adowa would go on top (with the scenario if Stockholm lost prior to the Adowa game. They did lose, but not prior to Adowa's win, but there's probably some time travelers in the Adowa lockers knowing what happened at Stockholm's game.). Mullet Man knew what expectations there were, and scored two goals on his debut, the most of any player on the pitch that game. (If we ignore @Ewan1245 Ewan Purves who scored two goals, but this article is purely about Mullet Man, it's not called 'Ewan Purves Three Game Reflection'.) The FM gods gave their next god an 8.5 match rating.

Riding on a high, Mullet Man went into his next game, the number one placed team versing the second placed team, two teams in the fight for the title. If you couldn't guess Adowa Accra vs Stockholm, I'm not surprised, that was a hard one to get right. The prior five words I had just wrote was how Mullet Man's performance was, missing many chances at goal and even a penalty! (guess I'll have to change the render... can't be Ronaldo without putting in penalties.) Eventually, Stockholm came home to win 2 - 0, with the FM Gods now bullying poor god Mullet Man with a 5.9 performance rating!

(I'd like to add prior to this next game, I originally wrote it from the Stockholm game, so there'd be two Stockholm games that ended the exact same way, I'm very sorry for nearly spreading misinformation for the sake of getting 6 TPE. All is deleted now.)
Mullet Man, during his trip to Victoria, Australia, he Falls off his high car from the Stockholm game (which was why he was riding on a high) then gets attacked by wedge tailed Eagles all shaming him over his missed penalty. Now lower than ever before, Mullet Man heads into his next game against the team who I've already named somewhere in this paragraph. I didn't watch the game, but from rewatching, he faked out Jarrow Legend and the Adowa player of @nckkss Nick Kasak scored. Then another goal happened for Adowa Accra, except I don't really know about it, lacked a bit of Mullet Man goalscoring. (on a serious note, congratulations to @McTruffles Blaise N'Kufo). The game ended 2 - 2 and Mullet Man got his first assist of his career and getting a good rating of 7.3.

We talked to Mullet Man about his three mixed performances and he said to us "What games? I only remember the Medellin victory? Are you one of the new time travellers in the Adowa lockers?! Can't wait to see yous next game in the lockers."

Question for the readers?
What new render should I have, considering I missed a penalty? I can't be Ronaldo if I don't prioritise on my penalties.]]> <![CDATA[Weekly PT #232 Fav Game so Far]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9495 Sat, 02 May 2026 04:31:12 +0100 Starscream]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9495 <![CDATA[Port Royal: Up then Down - MD 6 & MD 7]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9494 Fri, 01 May 2026 22:12:04 +0100 Definia]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9494 Port Royal: Up then Down
MD#6 & MD#7

It's a new week here at the SSL Academy and with that new week brings us two matchdays! Last week was a week to forget for Port Royal so I'm not going to dwell on it and instead look forward to a week of new games where they can hopefully change their fortunes and turn their season around. Up first in MD#6 they are playing against PS Jakarta and in MD#7 they will be facing Istanbul FK.

Matchday #6 - Port Royal FC vs PS Jakarta

The game today saw a bit of a formation change for the Royals, manager Piza clearly wanted to see what a change could do to galvanise the team, since really with their recent form they don't really have much to lose from here on. They changed from the usual 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 hybrind formation utilizing 3 central midfielders and players out wide on either side.
It brings a change of position for someplayers, bringing Barry McGlynn out to the left hand side in LAM instead of his usual CAM role behind the striker and Owen Bryant was brought more central next to StarScream with Munro playing that holding DM role just behind and in front of the defence. Piza would be hoping that this could maybe the key that unlocks the teams potential!

The start of the game seemed to continue the usual high fire start that the Royals have shown this season already, an early interception from Gerard Legend with a header just on the halfway line to Bryant, who passed forward to McGlynn on the left hand side, he ran forward to the edge of the box and passed across the 18 yard line to Scream who squared it to Sadie Black and her effort fizzed low past the right hand side post.

Minutes later, a Tenderloin Legend header from a Sadie Black corner just went over the crossbar. Then an opportunity for Bryant came from a nice lobbed pass into the box from Reece Munro however Bryant could only put his header over the crossbar again. As usual a good start from the Royals here, with three good efforts in the first 10 minuts of play.

Then bang on the 11th Minute saw a fantastic piece of team play from the Royals, Unshark intercepted a pass intended for Chicken Legend, he ran forward with the ball down the right hand side, squared it to the center for Bryant, who slotted a through ball to McGlynn on the left hand side of the box who cut a nice a pass across the 6 yard box to Owen Goal who passed the ball into the open net for his first goal of the game and season! Absolutely beautiful piece of play from the Royals to find themselves up 1-0!

Not 2 minutes later in the 13th minute brought another great team play by the Royals, Tenderloin Legend had the ball at the halfway line passing to Scream who then knocked it onto Sadie Black, he travelled with the ball and passed back to Scream who knocked it to Bryant, Bryant then played a throughball for McGlynn on the left side of the box who taken a shot but was only able to watch the ball bounce off the right hand post, however the ball bounced kindly to Sadie Black who made a follow up run into the box and he slotted the ball home to make it 2-0!
I'm sure McGlynn will agree with the commentators and the ball bouncing off the post to Black was indeed planned! He'll want to claim the assist but I don't think it tends to work like that!

Unshark again had another interception on right hand side, heading the ball Black, who travelled forward into the box and passed to Owen Goal whose effort was tipped wide by the Jakarta goalkeeper! The following corner didn't amount to much wioth the ball ending up out of the pitch for a throw in to the Royals, they kept play going and it fell to Scream who played a one-two with Unshark out right and then his effort on goal from 18 yards was perfectly placed as it slotted right past The Heretic Legend into the bottom corner and it was 3-0 to the Royals! All inside 20 minutes of play.

In the 34th minute we saw a long patient period of possession from the Royals come to fruition, as eventually McGlynn has the ball on the left hand side, he played a pass forward to Bryant who found himself with some time and space, ran forward into the box and squared it across to Owen Goal who rifled his first time shot in the box past the Jakarta keeper and it was just like that the Royals astoundingly found themselves up 4-0 in the first half here against PS Jakarta!

Minutes later saw the Royals bombing forward looking to keep the momentum up and extend their lead, Black ran through the middle of the park and passed out left to McGlynn, he then centered it to Bryant whose effort from 20 yards was tipped by the Jakrta keeper onto the crossbar and it bounced kindly for Owen Goal who inexplicably skied the ball into row Z from just 6 yards out with the goalie on the floor! Unfortunately he was unable at that moment to seal his first half hattrick!

The 41st minute seemed to bring more woes for PS Jakarta, as the referee pointed to the penalty spot after he spotted an infringement in the 6 yard box after the corner was sent in, Unshark stepped up to the penalty spot to hammer the ball in to the bottom right corner as the Jakarta keeper dived the wrong way. 5-0!

Half Time

What a dominant display from the Royals in that first half, picking up 5 goals from their 16 shots! Their xG soared to 4.05! Here's hoping a generational collapse doesn't occur for them in the second half!

Bryant had an early effort after the break soar over the crossbar after travelling up the park and managing to beat his defender, the shot unfortunately was never going to trouble the goalkeeper.

Another effort from the Royals came after Saide Black picked up the ball on the right hand side, played in a high cross and Owen Goal managed to jump up over the towering CDs and header the ball towards the goal, however The Heretic Legend did make a good save and tip the ball onto the crossbar and the ball was cleaered away for a corner by the Jakarta defence.
The resulting corner saw Erickson have a headed effort collected by The Heretic Legend.

Just about the first effort from Jakarta came in the 53rd Minute as Thessenvitz Legend had the ball down the right hand side, made a very high cross to the back post where Chicken Legend was able to jump higher than Unshark and header the ball past Degon in nets and it was 5-1! Jakarta with the consellation goal.

57th Minute and a long ball forward by Jakarta was headed back up the park by Tenderloin Legend and the ball made its way to Scream who passed forward to Bryant, a pass then to Black at the edge of the box who laid it off for Owen Goal, he was tackled and the ball fell staright to Scream who smashed it from 18 yards past The Heretic Legend and it was 6-1 and the Royals picked up their 5-goal lead again!

The 60th minute and Scream who had travelled well with the ball at his feet to the 18 yard box, had his shot tipped wide for a corner by the Jakarta goalkeeper. The resulting corner didn't really amount to much with Jakarta picking up possession of the ball.

However, 5 minutes later in the 65th minute saw Port Royal with another corner, Sadie Black played a great cross in, quite low, and it found Erickson at the 6 yard box who volleyed the ball with venom into the Jakarta net and it was now 7-1! Port Royal were having an absolute field day out there on the park!

77 minutes in to the game and this time Jakarta with the ball, Theseenvitz with the ball on the right hand side sideline again, swinging in a very high cross to the backpost again where Chicken Legend was lurking unmarked, left by his defender Unshark, and he headed the ball home for the second time in the game today to make it 7-2 and at least giving Jakarta something to glad for in this game.

The remaining 15 minutes of the game just saw a header from Owne Bryant for the Royals just bounce past the post and Jakarta had a headed effort from a corner see itself go over the head and crossbar of Ian Degons goal. Who had somewhat a not very busy day, however out of Jakarta's 4 shots, 2 were on target and he had to pick them both out of his net so whilst a dominant performance from the team, I believe Degon will feel he could've maybe done better.

The full time whistle was blown and it was a superb dominant performance from Port Royal winning 7-2, something they definitely feel was coming and hoped would come sooner rather than later to help alleviate all the fears of the fans for the rest of the season. Superb performances across the board however props to be given to special performances from Owen Goal and Star Scream both picking up a brace!


Matchday #6 - Istanbul FK vs Port Royal FC.

Port Royal went with an unchanged formation and the same lineup that saw them come out 7-2 winners in a jaw dropping performance against Jakarta. Today, however, they were up against a team starting to come into a bit of form with 2 wins in their last 2 games.

A few minutes and as usual Port Royal comes out all guns blazing, McGlynn picks up the ball at the half way line, making use of his pace he dribbles up the park taking on his man, wizzes past and to the left side of the box he cuts a pass across to Owen Goal at the 6 yard box who skies it horrifically over the goal from so close where it was definitely harder to miss than score. Especially after his last time out, picking up 2 goals.

Immediately after Istanbul hit Port Royal on the counter attack, the ball is passed to Jake Ronaldo who travels up the park, to the by line, squares it across to Von Wolfe who just had to tap it in and it was 1-0 in the 4th minute to Istanbul! Literally a carbon copy chance that the Royals just had however Von Wolfe was able to score where Owen Goal couldn't.

McGlynn again creating opportunities for his team, crossing the ball in from the left side into Owen Goal who knocked his header over to Bryant who unfortunately headed the ball right into "The Headhunters" hands.

A chance for the Royals as Tenderloin Legend got onto the end of a Sadie Black corner however the shot just hit the wrong side of the side netting.

Another corner for the Royals as this time Bryant saw his headed effdot bounce off the crossbar and the ball was cleared away from the line by Istanbul!

Istanbul then had a chance as Bergman crossed in the ball from the right hand side and found Lopta Legend however the effort went over the crossbar.

The 25th minute comes and Istanbul has a throw in down the left hand side, Lopta Legend collects the ball and passes to John Warhurst on the edge of the box whose first time effort squeezes past the out-stretched Degon and rolls round the side netting into the back of the net and it was now 2-0 Istanbul! They have been much more clinical than the Royals that's for sure.

5 minutes later and Istanbul find themselves with a comfortable 3-0 lead, Castellani received a pass in the middle of the park and played a through ball straight down the middle to Jake Ronaldo, who moved it forward on his left side and his shot went back across the goal into the bottom right corner past Ian Degon. Port Royal finding themselves in their usual uphill struggle and it's only been 30 minutes of play.

In the 37th minute and Istanbul came rushing forward outnumbering the Royals at the back and a pass was made to Homme III Esquire who ran with the ball into the box and with a tight angle was able to bury the ball past the Port Royal GK, who absolutely should never be beaten from that angle under any circumstance. Terrible goalkeeping. 4-0 to Istanbul!

Half Time
That was the last of the first half action as the referee blew his whistle for the break. A much needed break in the play for Port Royal after a terrible first half performance, Istanbul will be delirious though!

In the 53rd minute, Dante Von Wolfe managed to break through the middle of the defence, getting himself into a 1v1 with Degon but he somehow managed to put the shot wide of the goal. He'll not be happy with that effort.

10 minutes later and Istanbul had the ball in the back of the net after a nice bit of teamplay saw Ronaldo put the ball in the net from a Bergman cross but Berman was deemed to be in an offside position.

Sadie Black then saw his effort fly over the crossbar and Port Royal are onto slim pickings for chances this second half so far. One such chance saw Scream send in a high cross to McGlynn who headed the ball off the post, something he continues to do at least once per game!

McGlynn shortly after had another headed effort unfortunately go about a yard over the crossbar. Definitely seems to be not his day! He also managed to get into a dangerous position with the ball at the left side of the 6 yard box and squared it across the goal but not a single Royal player within 5 yards to tap it into the goal. No final third intuition by the Royal attackers.

The final 10 minutes of the game saw a flurry of chances as, to their credit, Port Royal continued to pepper the Istanbul goal with shots but none of them anywhere near clinical enough to have even grabbed a consolation goal

The referee blew his whistle at 90+1 and the final score was 4-0 to Istanbul!

A short summary of this match is it was definitely a game of two halves... however Istabul converted the chances they had into goals and Port Royal seemed to just trun their shots into corners.... which doesn't win games. Another bitterly disappointing result for Port Royal, hopefully next week sees them pick up a more favourable result!]]> Port Royal: Up then Down
MD#6 & MD#7

It's a new week here at the SSL Academy and with that new week brings us two matchdays! Last week was a week to forget for Port Royal so I'm not going to dwell on it and instead look forward to a week of new games where they can hopefully change their fortunes and turn their season around. Up first in MD#6 they are playing against PS Jakarta and in MD#7 they will be facing Istanbul FK.

Matchday #6 - Port Royal FC vs PS Jakarta

The game today saw a bit of a formation change for the Royals, manager Piza clearly wanted to see what a change could do to galvanise the team, since really with their recent form they don't really have much to lose from here on. They changed from the usual 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 hybrind formation utilizing 3 central midfielders and players out wide on either side.
It brings a change of position for someplayers, bringing Barry McGlynn out to the left hand side in LAM instead of his usual CAM role behind the striker and Owen Bryant was brought more central next to StarScream with Munro playing that holding DM role just behind and in front of the defence. Piza would be hoping that this could maybe the key that unlocks the teams potential!

The start of the game seemed to continue the usual high fire start that the Royals have shown this season already, an early interception from Gerard Legend with a header just on the halfway line to Bryant, who passed forward to McGlynn on the left hand side, he ran forward to the edge of the box and passed across the 18 yard line to Scream who squared it to Sadie Black and her effort fizzed low past the right hand side post.

Minutes later, a Tenderloin Legend header from a Sadie Black corner just went over the crossbar. Then an opportunity for Bryant came from a nice lobbed pass into the box from Reece Munro however Bryant could only put his header over the crossbar again. As usual a good start from the Royals here, with three good efforts in the first 10 minuts of play.

Then bang on the 11th Minute saw a fantastic piece of team play from the Royals, Unshark intercepted a pass intended for Chicken Legend, he ran forward with the ball down the right hand side, squared it to the center for Bryant, who slotted a through ball to McGlynn on the left hand side of the box who cut a nice a pass across the 6 yard box to Owen Goal who passed the ball into the open net for his first goal of the game and season! Absolutely beautiful piece of play from the Royals to find themselves up 1-0!

Not 2 minutes later in the 13th minute brought another great team play by the Royals, Tenderloin Legend had the ball at the halfway line passing to Scream who then knocked it onto Sadie Black, he travelled with the ball and passed back to Scream who knocked it to Bryant, Bryant then played a throughball for McGlynn on the left side of the box who taken a shot but was only able to watch the ball bounce off the right hand post, however the ball bounced kindly to Sadie Black who made a follow up run into the box and he slotted the ball home to make it 2-0!
I'm sure McGlynn will agree with the commentators and the ball bouncing off the post to Black was indeed planned! He'll want to claim the assist but I don't think it tends to work like that!

Unshark again had another interception on right hand side, heading the ball Black, who travelled forward into the box and passed to Owen Goal whose effort was tipped wide by the Jakarta goalkeeper! The following corner didn't amount to much wioth the ball ending up out of the pitch for a throw in to the Royals, they kept play going and it fell to Scream who played a one-two with Unshark out right and then his effort on goal from 18 yards was perfectly placed as it slotted right past The Heretic Legend into the bottom corner and it was 3-0 to the Royals! All inside 20 minutes of play.

In the 34th minute we saw a long patient period of possession from the Royals come to fruition, as eventually McGlynn has the ball on the left hand side, he played a pass forward to Bryant who found himself with some time and space, ran forward into the box and squared it across to Owen Goal who rifled his first time shot in the box past the Jakarta keeper and it was just like that the Royals astoundingly found themselves up 4-0 in the first half here against PS Jakarta!

Minutes later saw the Royals bombing forward looking to keep the momentum up and extend their lead, Black ran through the middle of the park and passed out left to McGlynn, he then centered it to Bryant whose effort from 20 yards was tipped by the Jakrta keeper onto the crossbar and it bounced kindly for Owen Goal who inexplicably skied the ball into row Z from just 6 yards out with the goalie on the floor! Unfortunately he was unable at that moment to seal his first half hattrick!

The 41st minute seemed to bring more woes for PS Jakarta, as the referee pointed to the penalty spot after he spotted an infringement in the 6 yard box after the corner was sent in, Unshark stepped up to the penalty spot to hammer the ball in to the bottom right corner as the Jakarta keeper dived the wrong way. 5-0!

Half Time

What a dominant display from the Royals in that first half, picking up 5 goals from their 16 shots! Their xG soared to 4.05! Here's hoping a generational collapse doesn't occur for them in the second half!

Bryant had an early effort after the break soar over the crossbar after travelling up the park and managing to beat his defender, the shot unfortunately was never going to trouble the goalkeeper.

Another effort from the Royals came after Saide Black picked up the ball on the right hand side, played in a high cross and Owen Goal managed to jump up over the towering CDs and header the ball towards the goal, however The Heretic Legend did make a good save and tip the ball onto the crossbar and the ball was cleaered away for a corner by the Jakarta defence.
The resulting corner saw Erickson have a headed effort collected by The Heretic Legend.

Just about the first effort from Jakarta came in the 53rd Minute as Thessenvitz Legend had the ball down the right hand side, made a very high cross to the back post where Chicken Legend was able to jump higher than Unshark and header the ball past Degon in nets and it was 5-1! Jakarta with the consellation goal.

57th Minute and a long ball forward by Jakarta was headed back up the park by Tenderloin Legend and the ball made its way to Scream who passed forward to Bryant, a pass then to Black at the edge of the box who laid it off for Owen Goal, he was tackled and the ball fell staright to Scream who smashed it from 18 yards past The Heretic Legend and it was 6-1 and the Royals picked up their 5-goal lead again!

The 60th minute and Scream who had travelled well with the ball at his feet to the 18 yard box, had his shot tipped wide for a corner by the Jakarta goalkeeper. The resulting corner didn't really amount to much with Jakarta picking up possession of the ball.

However, 5 minutes later in the 65th minute saw Port Royal with another corner, Sadie Black played a great cross in, quite low, and it found Erickson at the 6 yard box who volleyed the ball with venom into the Jakarta net and it was now 7-1! Port Royal were having an absolute field day out there on the park!

77 minutes in to the game and this time Jakarta with the ball, Theseenvitz with the ball on the right hand side sideline again, swinging in a very high cross to the backpost again where Chicken Legend was lurking unmarked, left by his defender Unshark, and he headed the ball home for the second time in the game today to make it 7-2 and at least giving Jakarta something to glad for in this game.

The remaining 15 minutes of the game just saw a header from Owne Bryant for the Royals just bounce past the post and Jakarta had a headed effort from a corner see itself go over the head and crossbar of Ian Degons goal. Who had somewhat a not very busy day, however out of Jakarta's 4 shots, 2 were on target and he had to pick them both out of his net so whilst a dominant performance from the team, I believe Degon will feel he could've maybe done better.

The full time whistle was blown and it was a superb dominant performance from Port Royal winning 7-2, something they definitely feel was coming and hoped would come sooner rather than later to help alleviate all the fears of the fans for the rest of the season. Superb performances across the board however props to be given to special performances from Owen Goal and Star Scream both picking up a brace!


Matchday #6 - Istanbul FK vs Port Royal FC.

Port Royal went with an unchanged formation and the same lineup that saw them come out 7-2 winners in a jaw dropping performance against Jakarta. Today, however, they were up against a team starting to come into a bit of form with 2 wins in their last 2 games.

A few minutes and as usual Port Royal comes out all guns blazing, McGlynn picks up the ball at the half way line, making use of his pace he dribbles up the park taking on his man, wizzes past and to the left side of the box he cuts a pass across to Owen Goal at the 6 yard box who skies it horrifically over the goal from so close where it was definitely harder to miss than score. Especially after his last time out, picking up 2 goals.

Immediately after Istanbul hit Port Royal on the counter attack, the ball is passed to Jake Ronaldo who travels up the park, to the by line, squares it across to Von Wolfe who just had to tap it in and it was 1-0 in the 4th minute to Istanbul! Literally a carbon copy chance that the Royals just had however Von Wolfe was able to score where Owen Goal couldn't.

McGlynn again creating opportunities for his team, crossing the ball in from the left side into Owen Goal who knocked his header over to Bryant who unfortunately headed the ball right into "The Headhunters" hands.

A chance for the Royals as Tenderloin Legend got onto the end of a Sadie Black corner however the shot just hit the wrong side of the side netting.

Another corner for the Royals as this time Bryant saw his headed effdot bounce off the crossbar and the ball was cleared away from the line by Istanbul!

Istanbul then had a chance as Bergman crossed in the ball from the right hand side and found Lopta Legend however the effort went over the crossbar.

The 25th minute comes and Istanbul has a throw in down the left hand side, Lopta Legend collects the ball and passes to John Warhurst on the edge of the box whose first time effort squeezes past the out-stretched Degon and rolls round the side netting into the back of the net and it was now 2-0 Istanbul! They have been much more clinical than the Royals that's for sure.

5 minutes later and Istanbul find themselves with a comfortable 3-0 lead, Castellani received a pass in the middle of the park and played a through ball straight down the middle to Jake Ronaldo, who moved it forward on his left side and his shot went back across the goal into the bottom right corner past Ian Degon. Port Royal finding themselves in their usual uphill struggle and it's only been 30 minutes of play.

In the 37th minute and Istanbul came rushing forward outnumbering the Royals at the back and a pass was made to Homme III Esquire who ran with the ball into the box and with a tight angle was able to bury the ball past the Port Royal GK, who absolutely should never be beaten from that angle under any circumstance. Terrible goalkeeping. 4-0 to Istanbul!

Half Time
That was the last of the first half action as the referee blew his whistle for the break. A much needed break in the play for Port Royal after a terrible first half performance, Istanbul will be delirious though!

In the 53rd minute, Dante Von Wolfe managed to break through the middle of the defence, getting himself into a 1v1 with Degon but he somehow managed to put the shot wide of the goal. He'll not be happy with that effort.

10 minutes later and Istanbul had the ball in the back of the net after a nice bit of teamplay saw Ronaldo put the ball in the net from a Bergman cross but Berman was deemed to be in an offside position.

Sadie Black then saw his effort fly over the crossbar and Port Royal are onto slim pickings for chances this second half so far. One such chance saw Scream send in a high cross to McGlynn who headed the ball off the post, something he continues to do at least once per game!

McGlynn shortly after had another headed effort unfortunately go about a yard over the crossbar. Definitely seems to be not his day! He also managed to get into a dangerous position with the ball at the left side of the 6 yard box and squared it across the goal but not a single Royal player within 5 yards to tap it into the goal. No final third intuition by the Royal attackers.

The final 10 minutes of the game saw a flurry of chances as, to their credit, Port Royal continued to pepper the Istanbul goal with shots but none of them anywhere near clinical enough to have even grabbed a consolation goal

The referee blew his whistle at 90+1 and the final score was 4-0 to Istanbul!

A short summary of this match is it was definitely a game of two halves... however Istabul converted the chances they had into goals and Port Royal seemed to just trun their shots into corners.... which doesn't win games. Another bitterly disappointing result for Port Royal, hopefully next week sees them pick up a more favourable result!]]> <![CDATA[Vacation for Fry]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9493 Fri, 01 May 2026 20:43:26 +0100 CuriousShadow]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9493
Meanwhile - for the match, Fry's clone put in a tolerable shift.  The programming had been upgraded, but clearly was a bit off.  He wandered here and there, particularly when the attack came up the right side, his designated spot.  Nevertheless, the clone put in a number of excellent shots, none of which connected.  Fortunately, Cataluna picked up a slick goal scored by Bonito on a through ball, and our Slothful goalkeeper stood on his head to ensure a clean sheet.  A below average performance, but again it was Fry's clone taking his place on the pitch.

On vacation, Fry found some unusual beers at the local stores, including one that his compatriots described as "obviously nasty".   Fry purchased that beer.

While out, Canadice approved the new contract, and interestingly enough gave Fry a raise.  Apparently the club had been trying to lowball Fry *again* and Canadice stepped in to give him the minimum salary.  Savages.

Our TPE has been spent, and the news from back home is dire.  Roberto has been moved in to Fry's apartment while Fry was away on vacation.  Once Fry returns, we'll see how things are working out.]]>
Meanwhile - for the match, Fry's clone put in a tolerable shift.  The programming had been upgraded, but clearly was a bit off.  He wandered here and there, particularly when the attack came up the right side, his designated spot.  Nevertheless, the clone put in a number of excellent shots, none of which connected.  Fortunately, Cataluna picked up a slick goal scored by Bonito on a through ball, and our Slothful goalkeeper stood on his head to ensure a clean sheet.  A below average performance, but again it was Fry's clone taking his place on the pitch.

On vacation, Fry found some unusual beers at the local stores, including one that his compatriots described as "obviously nasty".   Fry purchased that beer.

While out, Canadice approved the new contract, and interestingly enough gave Fry a raise.  Apparently the club had been trying to lowball Fry *again* and Canadice stepped in to give him the minimum salary.  Savages.

Our TPE has been spent, and the news from back home is dire.  Roberto has been moved in to Fry's apartment while Fry was away on vacation.  Once Fry returns, we'll see how things are working out.]]> <![CDATA[Weekly PT 232]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9491 Fri, 01 May 2026 14:29:20 +0100 lemonoppy]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9491 <![CDATA[Mooninite arrives in Jakarta]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9490 Fri, 01 May 2026 14:24:08 +0100 AustinP0027]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9490 PS Jakarta. Yes, I chose them. They did not choose me. Let us be clear.

I have reviewed your results. Four wins. One draw. Two losses. Twelve goals scored and sixteen allowed.

Sixteen.

That is... unacceptable. Even for Earth. On the Moon, we do not “allow” sixteen goals.

We allow none. Or, if we are feeling generous, less than none. Which is possible on the Moon. You would not understand.

But now I am here to play your defense, which clearly is not up to the Moon standards, as the offense has been running freely inside your half. This will stop, as I will play defensive midfielder, the position of maximum control. Because on the Moon, control is not shared, it is imposed.

Your midfield will no longer be a place where things “happen.” It will be a place where things are approved.

Your opponents will attempt to advance. They will be denied.

Their passes will be intercepted. Not intercepted... Moon intercepted, which is clearly superior, because it is from the Moon.

These sixteen goals you have allowed? That number will not grow.

Because under Moon supervision, numbers behave differently. They improve. Out of respect.

So continue your season. Track your standings. Count your wins. But understand this:

The era of your defense being optional is over.

PS Jakarta now operates under Moon supervision.

You are welcome.]]> PS Jakarta. Yes, I chose them. They did not choose me. Let us be clear.

I have reviewed your results. Four wins. One draw. Two losses. Twelve goals scored and sixteen allowed.

Sixteen.

That is... unacceptable. Even for Earth. On the Moon, we do not “allow” sixteen goals.

We allow none. Or, if we are feeling generous, less than none. Which is possible on the Moon. You would not understand.

But now I am here to play your defense, which clearly is not up to the Moon standards, as the offense has been running freely inside your half. This will stop, as I will play defensive midfielder, the position of maximum control. Because on the Moon, control is not shared, it is imposed.

Your midfield will no longer be a place where things “happen.” It will be a place where things are approved.

Your opponents will attempt to advance. They will be denied.

Their passes will be intercepted. Not intercepted... Moon intercepted, which is clearly superior, because it is from the Moon.

These sixteen goals you have allowed? That number will not grow.

Because under Moon supervision, numbers behave differently. They improve. Out of respect.

So continue your season. Track your standings. Count your wins. But understand this:

The era of your defense being optional is over.

PS Jakarta now operates under Moon supervision.

You are welcome.]]> <![CDATA[Minor Divison 2 - Flipped turned upside down]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9489 Fri, 01 May 2026 12:19:55 +0100 fathands3k]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9489
With 3 points from 6 matches, 9 goals scored and 16 goals conceded, it's clear they are being carved open too easily and not scoring enough goals. Easy to diagnose, tough to fix. So we thought we'd do a similar albeit smaller dive in to the teams of the Minor 2nd Division and see what really is going on. In the below table we will see each team and their total TPE when adding the top 11 players in their squad, the average per player and what position this equates to within the league table:

Inter London
8227 Total TPE
747.91 TPE per player
1st

Cairo City
6872 Total TPE
624.73 TPE per player
2nd

CS Rova Mpanjaka
9309 Total TPE
846.27 TPE per player
3rd

Athenai FC
7244 Total TPE
658.55 TPE per player
4th

Montréal United
9012 Total TPE
819.27 TPE per player
5th

Seoul MFC
9936 Total TPE
903.27 TPE per player
6th

So based on this information and based on who has the most TPE the table SHOULD look like this if we rank it on who has the "best" players:

1st: Seoul MFC (Actual - 6th)
2nd: CS Rosa Mpanjaka (Actual - 3rd)
3rd: Montréal United (Actual - 5th)
4th: London United (Actual - 1st)
5th: Athénai FC (Actual - 4th)
6th: Cairo City (Actual - 2nd)

Table has almost been flipped turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town call Bel-Air..........sorry, old habit. ANYWAY....division 2 seems to be impossible to call this season. Seoul, seem to be getting hit the hardest, should be fighting for the trophy, but instead down in the basement. Cairo City who on paper should be struggling, doing a Leicester (from 2015-16, not this season) and challenging when maybe that shouldn't be the case. Each of the 3 "best" teams are under performing where they maybe should be and the 3 "worst" teams all over performing where THEY should be.

At the end of the day this is highlighting its not what you have, it's how you use it. Making sure the formation works to get the best out of your players. But consider this reported stumped at how well the 3 "weaker" teams of the division are doing against on paper at least, the "superior" teams in their division. Will the season continue on in this fashion or will it start to even out as the season goes on?]]>
With 3 points from 6 matches, 9 goals scored and 16 goals conceded, it's clear they are being carved open too easily and not scoring enough goals. Easy to diagnose, tough to fix. So we thought we'd do a similar albeit smaller dive in to the teams of the Minor 2nd Division and see what really is going on. In the below table we will see each team and their total TPE when adding the top 11 players in their squad, the average per player and what position this equates to within the league table:

Inter London
8227 Total TPE
747.91 TPE per player
1st

Cairo City
6872 Total TPE
624.73 TPE per player
2nd

CS Rova Mpanjaka
9309 Total TPE
846.27 TPE per player
3rd

Athenai FC
7244 Total TPE
658.55 TPE per player
4th

Montréal United
9012 Total TPE
819.27 TPE per player
5th

Seoul MFC
9936 Total TPE
903.27 TPE per player
6th

So based on this information and based on who has the most TPE the table SHOULD look like this if we rank it on who has the "best" players:

1st: Seoul MFC (Actual - 6th)
2nd: CS Rosa Mpanjaka (Actual - 3rd)
3rd: Montréal United (Actual - 5th)
4th: London United (Actual - 1st)
5th: Athénai FC (Actual - 4th)
6th: Cairo City (Actual - 2nd)

Table has almost been flipped turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town call Bel-Air..........sorry, old habit. ANYWAY....division 2 seems to be impossible to call this season. Seoul, seem to be getting hit the hardest, should be fighting for the trophy, but instead down in the basement. Cairo City who on paper should be struggling, doing a Leicester (from 2015-16, not this season) and challenging when maybe that shouldn't be the case. Each of the 3 "best" teams are under performing where they maybe should be and the 3 "worst" teams all over performing where THEY should be.

At the end of the day this is highlighting its not what you have, it's how you use it. Making sure the formation works to get the best out of your players. But consider this reported stumped at how well the 3 "weaker" teams of the division are doing against on paper at least, the "superior" teams in their division. Will the season continue on in this fashion or will it start to even out as the season goes on?]]> <![CDATA[A Ship Appears]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9488 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:00:16 +0100 AustinP0027]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9488
As it lands, a small green figure steps out.

"Greetings, Earthlings. I am Ignignokt. And this is Err…wait, no. I did not bring Err.

Err is on an important mission.You would not understand it. It involves…higher thinking.

I'm here to participate in your soccer league. You see, we have already perfected soccer thousands of your Earth years ago. On the Moon, where we live. Because we are from the Moon.

I see you have a ball, it's quaint. On the Moon, we play with 4 balls, and 3 goals. Sometimes the goals move, somtimes they do not. It depends on how we feel. Our game is a collection of chaos that only the strong can survive.

Now you ask, 'Ignignokt, what position will you play?'. You are asking that, I can tell.

I will play defensive midfielder, because it is the position of maximum control and minimum tolerance for your nonsense.

On the Moon, defense is a skill only performed by the smartest beings. This is why I am the one doing it.

Here, on your planet, I will show you the ways of the Moon and instruct your simple offenses in the ways of shutting down the field. You call them 'interceptions', but on the Moon, we call them...Moon...Moon interceptions. Which is clearly superior.

I'm bringing you an education, which is much better than your little minds could ever conceive because it is from the Moon, where we have advanced beyond the need of your 'rules' and 'regulations'. Because on the Moon, we do whatever we want, to whomever we want, at all times.

So, welcome me Simulation Soccer League, because the Moon has come down to your Earth, which some would say is our moon. But we don't, because that would belittle the name of our moon, which is, The Moon."]]>
As it lands, a small green figure steps out.

"Greetings, Earthlings. I am Ignignokt. And this is Err…wait, no. I did not bring Err.

Err is on an important mission.You would not understand it. It involves…higher thinking.

I'm here to participate in your soccer league. You see, we have already perfected soccer thousands of your Earth years ago. On the Moon, where we live. Because we are from the Moon.

I see you have a ball, it's quaint. On the Moon, we play with 4 balls, and 3 goals. Sometimes the goals move, somtimes they do not. It depends on how we feel. Our game is a collection of chaos that only the strong can survive.

Now you ask, 'Ignignokt, what position will you play?'. You are asking that, I can tell.

I will play defensive midfielder, because it is the position of maximum control and minimum tolerance for your nonsense.

On the Moon, defense is a skill only performed by the smartest beings. This is why I am the one doing it.

Here, on your planet, I will show you the ways of the Moon and instruct your simple offenses in the ways of shutting down the field. You call them 'interceptions', but on the Moon, we call them...Moon...Moon interceptions. Which is clearly superior.

I'm bringing you an education, which is much better than your little minds could ever conceive because it is from the Moon, where we have advanced beyond the need of your 'rules' and 'regulations'. Because on the Moon, we do whatever we want, to whomever we want, at all times.

So, welcome me Simulation Soccer League, because the Moon has come down to your Earth, which some would say is our moon. But we don't, because that would belittle the name of our moon, which is, The Moon."]]> <![CDATA[Thriving In the Desert Pt. 1 - A Story about Joshua Homme III]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9486 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 01:11:44 +0100 o1playz]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9486 September 22nd, 2025



“Are you ready to give your first try at the academy?” A scout was talking over the phone with Homme, who was beaming with excitement. “I couldn’t be more ready” Homme responded. He was still sitting in his law firm’s office, just trying to hear over the commotion next door. As he watched, clicking the pen on his desk, waiting for the clock to hit 6:00 so he could finally get home. The hand of the minute pointing at the twelve, and he beams out of the door. He was speeding down the highway, just waiting to get home through this rush hour traffic. “Fuck this” Homme said to himself, and he turns off the highway, speeding down to his home.


“14 minutes, I got home 9 minutes early. Not bad.” Homme rushes straight to his room, grabs out his suitcase. On the shelf hung his Sunday league jersey, his shorts, and his cleats on the floor beside them. He stuffs them in the suitcase at the bottom. Above them, he puts in some of his workout shirts, shorts, and some suits that he wears regularly to the firm. After grabbing the rest of the chargers and other stuff he needs, he bolts out of the door, zipper not fully zipped up behind him.


June 3rd, 2025


Homme stands up next in line, his degree from law school is finally ahead of him. Something his parents have wanted for him his entire life. Over the loudspeaker, “Valedictorian, Joshua Homme!” Applause around his close family, but his parents were both missing. Where the hell could they be?


After the ceremony, his little cousin Bucket Sennecke runs up to him and congratulates him. “Congrats big bro!” He says enthusiastically. “Thanks little guy” he responds, giving him a piggyback ride. Bucket… What kind of name did they give him? “Wheres mom and dad?” Josh asked his uncle. “They went to the desert this morning,” he responded. “Jauan sent his congratulations too. I’m proud of ya buddy.” Josh gave him a big hug before heading for his car. 


“2 hours, 27 minutes” a little robotic voice told him in his ear. “Not bad” Josh said to himself, and drove off the campus without a celebration. The trip from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree was always a difficult one, the first hour and a half always happened because of the traffic. After a few near crashes on the freeway, and a long 2 hour 45 minute trip later “god damn liars” Homme told himself. All the stars in the desert were bright, the night sky was so dark but also so bright, it is always a sight to see. Homme opens the door to his parent’s cottage. Smoke starts to pour out the door.


“Ohhhhh” a long pause, “heyyyyyy Jawwsh” his mom was in the living room, the smoke all around her. Eyes red, barely sitting up, large eyebags. “Are you sto– you know what I don’t even need to ask that. Do you want some water?” Josh asked his mom. “Nahhh nahh, I just need a nap. Your dad is somewhere over there I think.” and she falls asleep in her lounge chair. Josh is looking around for his dad, and finds him with headphones on producing a song. “Hey champ” he said to Josh, the room was clear enough for Josh to see his eyes growing increasingly red under the light. “Sorry we didn’t make it to your graduation, work has been super busy.” He reaches out for Josh, and Josh begrudgingly lets him. “Super busy that you and mom needed to get stoned tonight?” A stern tone in Josh’s voice startled his dad, “I graduated from law school dad, and you weren’t there. That’s the career you wanted for me my ENTIRE life and neither of you could be there. Now I find mom laying stoned on the couch. Your eyes have gotten more red in the 5 minutes I’ve been here. Where were you for the moment that mattered most?” Josh walked out before his dad could give him a relative answer, and he went to pick up a hotel in a nearby town. Applying to any law firm that would take him, before he headed to bed for the night.


June 18, 2025


A little over two weeks after the incident with his parents, and he has not been looking to talk to them. He prepared himself in his most fancy suit, brushed his teeth longer than usual, and made sure to slick his hair back for the interview with his first law firm. Even whilst driving, he makes sure to drive and park with extra precision, the last thing he would need is to get into an accident. He arrives at the firm, adjusts his tie in the car, and makes his way toward the office.


“You’re a little young to be in here, aren’t you?” The receptionist asks him. “Well I'm 19, so maybe a little young.” They share a laugh as he sits down in the chair closest to the door. He sits there for a bit, messing with his thumbs when he receives a text. ‘REMINDER: New Season begins TOMORROW 4:00pm, Falcons FC vs FC Stealers. Be there or be square!!’ Joshua puts down his phone, you best believe he's going to be there for his Falcons. As soon as he puts his head up from his phone, “Joshua” someone calls out his name from the door, and he walks inside to a lawyers office.


“Good to meet you Josh, you might be the youngest I’ve had in my office” The two share a laugh and the lawyer gets to the point. “I see you’re applying to be an attorney here at Morgana and Parker” Morgana says to him with a deep serious tone, he was not playing. “That is correct” Josh responds. He starts to go through the interview process, and after a long hour process, he is finally done. “Well Josh, you definitely have impressed me here today. We’ll reach out to you in a couple days about our decision, and we’ll get back to me.” Morgana’s tone is slightly more happy, and that gave Homme the hope he succeeded. Once he exits the firm, he washes his gear for tomorrow’s game. 


July 8, 2025


Third game of the season, Joshua Homme has been dominant at LWB this season, with his 2nd assist of the game and 5th on the year, he has been strong on the attack. “Homme! You’re getting a call” his coach shouts on the pitch, and he subs off to answer the call. “Hello?” Homme answers with confusion. “Glad to hear from you, hope I'm not interrupting, but we hope to see you tomorrow. We would like to bring you on as an attorney for Morgana and Parker!” Morgana tells him enthusiastically over the phone. “Of course, thank you for the opportunity!” Homme responds, and gets back to the game. Running up the pitch, he is alone with their striker to stop a goal as the clock expires. The remainder of the team rushes the pitch to celebrate their commanding 3-0 start to the season. Homme takes home his 2nd team MVP of the season, and has been dominating the league so far, leading the league in assists. After his on-field celebration, he gets back to the locker room, packs up his stuff and gets to the car. Someone walks up behind him. “Excuse me, you’re Joshua right?” the figure asks him. “Yeah, that’s me” Josh responds, “Do you need something?” The scout reaches out in his pocket and pulls out a card. “I’m with the SSL Academy, the season started recently. I think next season we can really get you the development you need in the big leagues.”


“I appreciate that” Homme lets him know as he walks off. He puts his gear in the car and drives off.


July 28, 2025


“Morgana and Parker” Homme answers the phone. He has not gotten many opportunities on big cases, only small cases and advising people on what and what not to sue for, most people want to sue for something that would not hold up in court anyway. It has been a boring few weeks, but the paycheck comes nicely with it. Tomorrow is matchday for Homme, and he has been anticipating this one for a while. After his 5th game, he is officially up to 2 goals and 7 assists on the year, continuing to absolutely dominate his league.


Additionally, Homme has started talking to his parents again after a kind of long hiatus. It's hard taking the hit of your parents abandoning your graduation, but he's just glad to resolve things. 


“Jeez, when does this job actually get interesting” Homme asks himself, he's starting to wonder if maybe taking the attorney job was a bad idea. The SSL Academy card was starting to collect dust, he knew that this was maybe his only chance. 


After he gets off his shift, he heads straight to the pitch. Every ounce of practice that he could get would count. He needs to impress the SSL scouts enough to at least make the academy, something he had been dreaming of since he was a child. The escape when his parents would bury him deep in his schoolwork, and for what? Two hours full of dribbling up field, shooting from deep, and suicides. The most gruesome workout he has had for this sport was finally over. As the lights to the pitch finally go dim, he packs up his stuff and gets ready to do the same thing tomorrow.


August 15th, 2025


“Jeez Homme, you look tired” Akira Morgana told him as he walked into the office. “Thanks” he responded, "It's been an exhausting week, but I'm doing good.” Homme walks by approaching his office, when Morgana interrupts him “Actually stay here real quick. We had somebody coming in looking for you.” He has a stern tone in his voice. “I can’t recall his name. Something Gibson, that's what I remember.” Homme realized what he was talking about. John Gibson, the name on the SSL business card. He goes in to his office, gives the number a call and checks up to see what he could be looking for him about.


“Hello?” Gibson answers the phone. “It’s Homme, the player from that Falcons game a couple months back.” He responds, and Gibson answers with a slow tone in his voice. “Well, the Academy tryouts are about to open up. It’s a bit of a ways away. If you want to get some reps in, I recommend you start driving up tonight.” and the line goes silent. His Friday shift was almost over before he got some time off this weekend, a ton of time he hasn’t really gotten to have due to all the work as a beginning attorney. The most boring time of his life. 


“Hey Akira, I need to take the day off. I need to drive up to see my parents” a lie, Homme had always been good at lying, “I’ll cover Saturday next week if I have to.” Morgana is a little disappointed. “We are a bit backed up Homme, but if you come in Saturday then yes you should be able to go just fine.” Homme grabs his suitcase and rushes out the door to start the drive up to the academy tryouts.


Seven hours of driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Homme finally makes his way near the academy building to check in. “Name.” the receptionist asked him firmly. “Joshua Homme III” Homme responds, and he is directed to take a seat. The moment felt oddly familiar to the very first time he applied for an internship with Morgana and Parker. The room felt formal for such a sport, the water dispenser beside him, and the patterns on the walls beside the receptionist with a giant SSL logo in the middle. Something about this felt truly familiar to him for the first time. 


“Homme” a person called out to him. When he looked up, It was John, the scout that brought him through it all. “Glad to see you buddy, ready to get started?” He asked. “Yes sir, I couldn’t be more excited to get this chance.” Homme responds enthusiastically. This moment was so surreal to him, and it almost did not feel real. “Well, glad you managed to get here. Here's some new practice clothing”, the SSL logo stared at him on the front, and his lucky number #37 sat below his name on the back of the shirt. “Let me know when you’re ready, go put that stuff on and I'll meet you on the pitch.” John directed him to the bathroom down the hall.


The walk down the hall never felt more awkward to him. The pitch was directed straight down the stairs that stood on the other end of the hall. People were outside, whistles occasionally going off. A lot of noise outside. It was nerve-wracking to Josh, but to prove that he was worthy of putting up with the groups, he had to go out and do his best. As he steps outside, there is a pickup game going on. 11v11. Joshua subs in for the Left Wing Back that was in his place, and he went out there and played like his life depended on it.


Play after play, Joshua set his forwards up for countless passes, rarely missing and rarely failing. Players that came up toward him managed to shut down with takeaways and blocks to go with it. By the time he spent 45 minutes out there, he had managed to secure 2 assists, 3 takeaways, and 2 blocks. John jogged up to him, giving him some of the early news. “I gotta say Josh, that was a spectacular performance you had. Tell you what, we’ll get you a hotel in the area, you did get here pretty late so get some rest, report back here tomorrow at 10am.” John laid out the base, and Homme was ready to keep building. He thanks John, hops into his car still dressed in his practice clothing, and drives to the hotel about 10 minutes away. “Room for one please” he asked the front desk. “Room 118” he was told in response. He walks to the hotel down the hall, changes out of his practice clothes into some sweats, and passes out on the bed immediately.


August 16th 2025


The alarm rings beside Homme, and keeps ringing, and keeps ringing. Homme, disgruntled, hits the snooze on the alarm clock and gets out of bed. The clock shined 9:20am on it. “Shit, that's a little later than I would’ve liked” Homme told himself, getting into the shower for a quick rinse before another day. The 10 hours of sleep he got is really gonna help today, he gets out the shower with his practice clothing on. Bringing his water bottle and towel with him. He runs to his car and gets down to the facility. “Just in time” Gibson said, the time on the wall clock marked to be around 9:58am. He gets on to the pitch, where people already waited for him.


He started with about a 30 minute scrimmage of 11v11. His statline consisted of 1 assist, 3 turnovers, no blocks. Not the best outing, but you can only get so far in half an hour, so it was nice for him. Then he had to do his least favorite exercise ever, cardio. Joshua has always had weak pacing, it never worked out well for him. 


After running a bit for cardio, he finished off his run with another scrimmage, this time 6v6 where he got to play left wing. His statline after 90 minutes was 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 takeaways and 1 block, his best statline so far. Something felt off about him tho, all of a sudden he felt like a new person. Before the actual soreness hit his leg. It wasn’t injured, but he could barely walk and he had no idea why at first, until he realized that it was just soreness. “Maybe that's something to work in the offseason too” Homme thought to himself. He walks over to Gibson as his night is now over. Thanking him a ton for the opportunity he was given.


“Thank you so much John, it means a lot.” Homme told him heartfeltly, the experience was life changing. “Glad we could find someone as deserving as you” John responded, “I’m glad you got to enjoy it. I’ll reach out to you near the end of the season to let you know what happens.” Gibson and Homme handshake goodbye, and Homme heads for the seven hour drive back to his home, waiting for when the call might reach him.


September 22nd 2025


Another day at the office for Homme. He was discussing a small court claim with a client when his phone started ringing. He excused the client to make the call. “Hey Homme, It’s John. Glad to see you’re still doing well for yourself. We have finally made the calls to let people in the academy, we think it would be silly not to bring you in to join us here at the academy.” Homme began to get a bit emotional, was this the moment he had finally been waiting for? “With that being said, are you ready to give your first try at the academy” Gibson asked him. Homme with absolutely no hesitation responded “I couldn’t be more ready.”


“Perfect, we hope to see you down at the academy soon. Get ready for the experience of a lifetime Homme. Good talking to ya, and congratulations!” He says before he hangs up. Homme begins packing his stuff in his briefcase. The client outside “Sorry, we will have to reschedule, a bit of an emergency going on”. Homme shakes his hand goodbye, and runs out the door of Morgana and Parker. The clock had just hit 6pm, and he was officially off his shift rushing his way home. It was a 23 minute drive, something he remembered specifically in his routine. Practice gear still in the trunk, he rushes home to grab some of the necessities he needs. Speeding down the highway. Cars honk at him continuously, as he shifts from lane to lane, taking new side roads his GPS would recommend just to get him there slightly faster. Anything he could do to get down to the academy as quickly as possible, he would do. He ran into his house, grabbed anything he could find. Sunday league jersey, cleats, shorts, even when he didn’t need him. In a span of 10 minutes, all his toiletries, messily organized clothing, and any food that he could carry to his car. Everything he could carry for the time being he would hold on to, and as he finally finished his very short packing trip. He ran out of the door of his home, and sped off on his way toward the SSL academy.

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]]> September 22nd, 2025



“Are you ready to give your first try at the academy?” A scout was talking over the phone with Homme, who was beaming with excitement. “I couldn’t be more ready” Homme responded. He was still sitting in his law firm’s office, just trying to hear over the commotion next door. As he watched, clicking the pen on his desk, waiting for the clock to hit 6:00 so he could finally get home. The hand of the minute pointing at the twelve, and he beams out of the door. He was speeding down the highway, just waiting to get home through this rush hour traffic. “Fuck this” Homme said to himself, and he turns off the highway, speeding down to his home.


“14 minutes, I got home 9 minutes early. Not bad.” Homme rushes straight to his room, grabs out his suitcase. On the shelf hung his Sunday league jersey, his shorts, and his cleats on the floor beside them. He stuffs them in the suitcase at the bottom. Above them, he puts in some of his workout shirts, shorts, and some suits that he wears regularly to the firm. After grabbing the rest of the chargers and other stuff he needs, he bolts out of the door, zipper not fully zipped up behind him.


June 3rd, 2025


Homme stands up next in line, his degree from law school is finally ahead of him. Something his parents have wanted for him his entire life. Over the loudspeaker, “Valedictorian, Joshua Homme!” Applause around his close family, but his parents were both missing. Where the hell could they be?


After the ceremony, his little cousin Bucket Sennecke runs up to him and congratulates him. “Congrats big bro!” He says enthusiastically. “Thanks little guy” he responds, giving him a piggyback ride. Bucket… What kind of name did they give him? “Wheres mom and dad?” Josh asked his uncle. “They went to the desert this morning,” he responded. “Jauan sent his congratulations too. I’m proud of ya buddy.” Josh gave him a big hug before heading for his car. 


“2 hours, 27 minutes” a little robotic voice told him in his ear. “Not bad” Josh said to himself, and drove off the campus without a celebration. The trip from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree was always a difficult one, the first hour and a half always happened because of the traffic. After a few near crashes on the freeway, and a long 2 hour 45 minute trip later “god damn liars” Homme told himself. All the stars in the desert were bright, the night sky was so dark but also so bright, it is always a sight to see. Homme opens the door to his parent’s cottage. Smoke starts to pour out the door.


“Ohhhhh” a long pause, “heyyyyyy Jawwsh” his mom was in the living room, the smoke all around her. Eyes red, barely sitting up, large eyebags. “Are you sto– you know what I don’t even need to ask that. Do you want some water?” Josh asked his mom. “Nahhh nahh, I just need a nap. Your dad is somewhere over there I think.” and she falls asleep in her lounge chair. Josh is looking around for his dad, and finds him with headphones on producing a song. “Hey champ” he said to Josh, the room was clear enough for Josh to see his eyes growing increasingly red under the light. “Sorry we didn’t make it to your graduation, work has been super busy.” He reaches out for Josh, and Josh begrudgingly lets him. “Super busy that you and mom needed to get stoned tonight?” A stern tone in Josh’s voice startled his dad, “I graduated from law school dad, and you weren’t there. That’s the career you wanted for me my ENTIRE life and neither of you could be there. Now I find mom laying stoned on the couch. Your eyes have gotten more red in the 5 minutes I’ve been here. Where were you for the moment that mattered most?” Josh walked out before his dad could give him a relative answer, and he went to pick up a hotel in a nearby town. Applying to any law firm that would take him, before he headed to bed for the night.


June 18, 2025


A little over two weeks after the incident with his parents, and he has not been looking to talk to them. He prepared himself in his most fancy suit, brushed his teeth longer than usual, and made sure to slick his hair back for the interview with his first law firm. Even whilst driving, he makes sure to drive and park with extra precision, the last thing he would need is to get into an accident. He arrives at the firm, adjusts his tie in the car, and makes his way toward the office.


“You’re a little young to be in here, aren’t you?” The receptionist asks him. “Well I'm 19, so maybe a little young.” They share a laugh as he sits down in the chair closest to the door. He sits there for a bit, messing with his thumbs when he receives a text. ‘REMINDER: New Season begins TOMORROW 4:00pm, Falcons FC vs FC Stealers. Be there or be square!!’ Joshua puts down his phone, you best believe he's going to be there for his Falcons. As soon as he puts his head up from his phone, “Joshua” someone calls out his name from the door, and he walks inside to a lawyers office.


“Good to meet you Josh, you might be the youngest I’ve had in my office” The two share a laugh and the lawyer gets to the point. “I see you’re applying to be an attorney here at Morgana and Parker” Morgana says to him with a deep serious tone, he was not playing. “That is correct” Josh responds. He starts to go through the interview process, and after a long hour process, he is finally done. “Well Josh, you definitely have impressed me here today. We’ll reach out to you in a couple days about our decision, and we’ll get back to me.” Morgana’s tone is slightly more happy, and that gave Homme the hope he succeeded. Once he exits the firm, he washes his gear for tomorrow’s game. 


July 8, 2025


Third game of the season, Joshua Homme has been dominant at LWB this season, with his 2nd assist of the game and 5th on the year, he has been strong on the attack. “Homme! You’re getting a call” his coach shouts on the pitch, and he subs off to answer the call. “Hello?” Homme answers with confusion. “Glad to hear from you, hope I'm not interrupting, but we hope to see you tomorrow. We would like to bring you on as an attorney for Morgana and Parker!” Morgana tells him enthusiastically over the phone. “Of course, thank you for the opportunity!” Homme responds, and gets back to the game. Running up the pitch, he is alone with their striker to stop a goal as the clock expires. The remainder of the team rushes the pitch to celebrate their commanding 3-0 start to the season. Homme takes home his 2nd team MVP of the season, and has been dominating the league so far, leading the league in assists. After his on-field celebration, he gets back to the locker room, packs up his stuff and gets to the car. Someone walks up behind him. “Excuse me, you’re Joshua right?” the figure asks him. “Yeah, that’s me” Josh responds, “Do you need something?” The scout reaches out in his pocket and pulls out a card. “I’m with the SSL Academy, the season started recently. I think next season we can really get you the development you need in the big leagues.”


“I appreciate that” Homme lets him know as he walks off. He puts his gear in the car and drives off.


July 28, 2025


“Morgana and Parker” Homme answers the phone. He has not gotten many opportunities on big cases, only small cases and advising people on what and what not to sue for, most people want to sue for something that would not hold up in court anyway. It has been a boring few weeks, but the paycheck comes nicely with it. Tomorrow is matchday for Homme, and he has been anticipating this one for a while. After his 5th game, he is officially up to 2 goals and 7 assists on the year, continuing to absolutely dominate his league.


Additionally, Homme has started talking to his parents again after a kind of long hiatus. It's hard taking the hit of your parents abandoning your graduation, but he's just glad to resolve things. 


“Jeez, when does this job actually get interesting” Homme asks himself, he's starting to wonder if maybe taking the attorney job was a bad idea. The SSL Academy card was starting to collect dust, he knew that this was maybe his only chance. 


After he gets off his shift, he heads straight to the pitch. Every ounce of practice that he could get would count. He needs to impress the SSL scouts enough to at least make the academy, something he had been dreaming of since he was a child. The escape when his parents would bury him deep in his schoolwork, and for what? Two hours full of dribbling up field, shooting from deep, and suicides. The most gruesome workout he has had for this sport was finally over. As the lights to the pitch finally go dim, he packs up his stuff and gets ready to do the same thing tomorrow.


August 15th, 2025


“Jeez Homme, you look tired” Akira Morgana told him as he walked into the office. “Thanks” he responded, "It's been an exhausting week, but I'm doing good.” Homme walks by approaching his office, when Morgana interrupts him “Actually stay here real quick. We had somebody coming in looking for you.” He has a stern tone in his voice. “I can’t recall his name. Something Gibson, that's what I remember.” Homme realized what he was talking about. John Gibson, the name on the SSL business card. He goes in to his office, gives the number a call and checks up to see what he could be looking for him about.


“Hello?” Gibson answers the phone. “It’s Homme, the player from that Falcons game a couple months back.” He responds, and Gibson answers with a slow tone in his voice. “Well, the Academy tryouts are about to open up. It’s a bit of a ways away. If you want to get some reps in, I recommend you start driving up tonight.” and the line goes silent. His Friday shift was almost over before he got some time off this weekend, a ton of time he hasn’t really gotten to have due to all the work as a beginning attorney. The most boring time of his life. 


“Hey Akira, I need to take the day off. I need to drive up to see my parents” a lie, Homme had always been good at lying, “I’ll cover Saturday next week if I have to.” Morgana is a little disappointed. “We are a bit backed up Homme, but if you come in Saturday then yes you should be able to go just fine.” Homme grabs his suitcase and rushes out the door to start the drive up to the academy tryouts.


Seven hours of driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Homme finally makes his way near the academy building to check in. “Name.” the receptionist asked him firmly. “Joshua Homme III” Homme responds, and he is directed to take a seat. The moment felt oddly familiar to the very first time he applied for an internship with Morgana and Parker. The room felt formal for such a sport, the water dispenser beside him, and the patterns on the walls beside the receptionist with a giant SSL logo in the middle. Something about this felt truly familiar to him for the first time. 


“Homme” a person called out to him. When he looked up, It was John, the scout that brought him through it all. “Glad to see you buddy, ready to get started?” He asked. “Yes sir, I couldn’t be more excited to get this chance.” Homme responds enthusiastically. This moment was so surreal to him, and it almost did not feel real. “Well, glad you managed to get here. Here's some new practice clothing”, the SSL logo stared at him on the front, and his lucky number #37 sat below his name on the back of the shirt. “Let me know when you’re ready, go put that stuff on and I'll meet you on the pitch.” John directed him to the bathroom down the hall.


The walk down the hall never felt more awkward to him. The pitch was directed straight down the stairs that stood on the other end of the hall. People were outside, whistles occasionally going off. A lot of noise outside. It was nerve-wracking to Josh, but to prove that he was worthy of putting up with the groups, he had to go out and do his best. As he steps outside, there is a pickup game going on. 11v11. Joshua subs in for the Left Wing Back that was in his place, and he went out there and played like his life depended on it.


Play after play, Joshua set his forwards up for countless passes, rarely missing and rarely failing. Players that came up toward him managed to shut down with takeaways and blocks to go with it. By the time he spent 45 minutes out there, he had managed to secure 2 assists, 3 takeaways, and 2 blocks. John jogged up to him, giving him some of the early news. “I gotta say Josh, that was a spectacular performance you had. Tell you what, we’ll get you a hotel in the area, you did get here pretty late so get some rest, report back here tomorrow at 10am.” John laid out the base, and Homme was ready to keep building. He thanks John, hops into his car still dressed in his practice clothing, and drives to the hotel about 10 minutes away. “Room for one please” he asked the front desk. “Room 118” he was told in response. He walks to the hotel down the hall, changes out of his practice clothes into some sweats, and passes out on the bed immediately.


August 16th 2025


The alarm rings beside Homme, and keeps ringing, and keeps ringing. Homme, disgruntled, hits the snooze on the alarm clock and gets out of bed. The clock shined 9:20am on it. “Shit, that's a little later than I would’ve liked” Homme told himself, getting into the shower for a quick rinse before another day. The 10 hours of sleep he got is really gonna help today, he gets out the shower with his practice clothing on. Bringing his water bottle and towel with him. He runs to his car and gets down to the facility. “Just in time” Gibson said, the time on the wall clock marked to be around 9:58am. He gets on to the pitch, where people already waited for him.


He started with about a 30 minute scrimmage of 11v11. His statline consisted of 1 assist, 3 turnovers, no blocks. Not the best outing, but you can only get so far in half an hour, so it was nice for him. Then he had to do his least favorite exercise ever, cardio. Joshua has always had weak pacing, it never worked out well for him. 


After running a bit for cardio, he finished off his run with another scrimmage, this time 6v6 where he got to play left wing. His statline after 90 minutes was 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 takeaways and 1 block, his best statline so far. Something felt off about him tho, all of a sudden he felt like a new person. Before the actual soreness hit his leg. It wasn’t injured, but he could barely walk and he had no idea why at first, until he realized that it was just soreness. “Maybe that's something to work in the offseason too” Homme thought to himself. He walks over to Gibson as his night is now over. Thanking him a ton for the opportunity he was given.


“Thank you so much John, it means a lot.” Homme told him heartfeltly, the experience was life changing. “Glad we could find someone as deserving as you” John responded, “I’m glad you got to enjoy it. I’ll reach out to you near the end of the season to let you know what happens.” Gibson and Homme handshake goodbye, and Homme heads for the seven hour drive back to his home, waiting for when the call might reach him.


September 22nd 2025


Another day at the office for Homme. He was discussing a small court claim with a client when his phone started ringing. He excused the client to make the call. “Hey Homme, It’s John. Glad to see you’re still doing well for yourself. We have finally made the calls to let people in the academy, we think it would be silly not to bring you in to join us here at the academy.” Homme began to get a bit emotional, was this the moment he had finally been waiting for? “With that being said, are you ready to give your first try at the academy” Gibson asked him. Homme with absolutely no hesitation responded “I couldn’t be more ready.”


“Perfect, we hope to see you down at the academy soon. Get ready for the experience of a lifetime Homme. Good talking to ya, and congratulations!” He says before he hangs up. Homme begins packing his stuff in his briefcase. The client outside “Sorry, we will have to reschedule, a bit of an emergency going on”. Homme shakes his hand goodbye, and runs out the door of Morgana and Parker. The clock had just hit 6pm, and he was officially off his shift rushing his way home. It was a 23 minute drive, something he remembered specifically in his routine. Practice gear still in the trunk, he rushes home to grab some of the necessities he needs. Speeding down the highway. Cars honk at him continuously, as he shifts from lane to lane, taking new side roads his GPS would recommend just to get him there slightly faster. Anything he could do to get down to the academy as quickly as possible, he would do. He ran into his house, grabbed anything he could find. Sunday league jersey, cleats, shorts, even when he didn’t need him. In a span of 10 minutes, all his toiletries, messily organized clothing, and any food that he could carry to his car. Everything he could carry for the time being he would hold on to, and as he finally finished his very short packing trip. He ran out of the door of his home, and sped off on his way toward the SSL academy.

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]]> <![CDATA[Sydney City Press Conference: State of the Academy Season]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9485 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 23:16:15 +0100 xyan]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9485 Sei has had a long day. 


It’s been only a couple days since their last academy match loss, so training has been grueling. Just since lunch break, Sei has done the following:
ran two sets of shuttle drills between each box on the field for a total of 5 mile runs for each
did a placement passing exercise where he had to get the ball to certain spots on the field while maintaining specific ball travel speeds
did reaction drills where a laser was pointed on the field at random spots up to 100 feet away from where he was and he had to dribble there at high speed with control of the ball

Today is not a quiet day though, which hasn’t allowed Sei to focus much. The press has been in the academy trying to get info for their stories. There is also a conference that started recently, spearheaded by the manager, CamGoldenGun. As Sei leaves training, the press actually draws his attention for once.

“What is your response to fan’s accusations that the streak of losses is the fault of the staff?” asked one of the reporters.

Cam quickly responds, “Every loss is difficult, but we are doing what we can to guide our young players and prepare well for every match. We do not give up any games because we lost some.”

“You have been known to use unusual formations, as pointed out by the game hosts. Why haven’t you figured out what works for the team to get wins?”

Sei thinks to himself, ‘what a naive question; formations are just one part of any gameplan, let alone team preparation’. Cam keeps a more professional response, though. “Unusual may be a word to use, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work for our team. Different teams in history have used different formations. We lost because the other team played better.”

“Rumors have spread since your last speaking to the media. You care so little about the matches that you don’t even know what days of the week they happen.”

Cam was about to answer, but Sei had already stepped on stage, took a seat at the table in place of the head trainer and queued up his microphone.

“Every day of the week is a match day. If we don’t wake up each morning and work both body and mind to our fullest, we won’t be ready to perform in matches and  we won’t keep up with the competition in growth of skill, let alone gain an advantage.”

The crowd of reporters were split between shock that a player that wasn’t on the docket for interviews had interrupted the conference, and writing notes down with haste about the turn of events that are taking place.

After  a pause, another reporter speaks up. “Sei was it? Can you clarify your manager’s motivations to us, as to know if their focus is on the team and  matches enough to avoid any concerns?”

“It would be 24/7, if it weren’t for the needs of rest, nutrition, and press conferences.”

Another pause, only broken by a cough. This time, the mood of the room stiffens as this was taken as an insult. Cam tries to interject to pull the attention off Sei, but…

“Every single duty a manager must take on is as necessary as the others; if Cam didn’t care, he wouldn’t be taking the time to answer questions that he can and alleviate the concerns of the public regarding the team.”

He had saved the situation caused by the previous comment with a professional explanation for what he said, even if he meant it as an insult.

“Rumors are that Cam has ignored or overstepped suggestions by the coaching and training staff on how best to use the players in tactics or gameplans. Is that true?”

Another attack, disguised as a tough question. “Not at all, they work closely with each other and there is a good rapport in both the locker room and the front office. Even the players get attentive conversation out of Cam when it comes to ideas on the field. Sometimes, one idea or plan just works better than another.”

“Has your manager and other staff made changes to try and overcome the current performance?”

“Sure, and sometimes they wish to also try to control our minds to build our bodies more efficiently in training and make less mistakes on the field, too.”

A few chuckles actually happened amongst the reporters. ‘Pheww, the mood has changed,’ thought Cam. At this point, Sei finds himself responding more naturally, not having to think for the right words to defend their side eloquently.

“So far that has been unsuccessful, but what do you think is the current direction the team is trying to take to make up for the current situation? What are your opinions on what the team should do before next gameday?” 

“Fairly simple. They are trying different ideas to see what has the best success against the type of competition we face each match. When typical ideas don’t seem to work on the field, we have to make a change to try and gain an advantage in a different way. Last game, our defensive outlook was poor, so  instead the plan was to push extra pressure into the attack. It did work out well in the first half, and gave us many chances all game to score, but we still ended up challenged defensively.”
“My suggestion would be to accept there are aspects to the gameplan beyond our control, and that we can only do so much to make up for some weaknesses. We need to plan to use our strengths more and make it more apparent than the potential for our weaknesses to come  up. Maybe an all out tactic was good on paper, and a regular tactic gave the impression that it wouldn’t normally work, but we got to do what we can and make ideas happen. Just because an idea might not work consistently, doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea.”

“You mentioned weaknesses. Would you elaborate on them? How can the team fix them?”

“Fix is a strong word. It is possible, but development takes time. The team is in the locker room, training pitch, or tape watching areas as much as we can. The staff guides us in a way to be most effective with our time and efforts, without letting health become a factor sacrificed. Our biggest weaknesses are  speed and central defense. We have stronger players on the attacking side of the ball than defending, and most of our squad doesn’t match our competition step for step. Unfortunately, that is something that improves slowly. We will get there as long as the players make it a goal and continue to work hard.”

“Do you think those players are the cause of several losses then?”

“Every single player and member of staff are at fault for a loss. It is a team sport, and every piece has to work together and make a win happen. Sometimes a piece will cause a weakness, sometimes luck will ruin an advantage, and sometimes opponents just play better. Even I am at fault for our losses. I’m not good enough yet turn the tide in this kind of situation. I am far from the world’s best. However, I will get there and make it known. Every day, I get several steps closer to that goal, and it doesn’t stop there…”

As the press conference comes to a close, the media eats up the final words before thanks and wishes of good luck the next gameday are shared.

“... Whatever team I am on after my academy stay, I will do everything possible to elevate them and give a world class performance.”



Somewhere out there, Dante von Wolfe feels a shift in the air. Change is coming…]]> Sei has had a long day. 


It’s been only a couple days since their last academy match loss, so training has been grueling. Just since lunch break, Sei has done the following:
ran two sets of shuttle drills between each box on the field for a total of 5 mile runs for each
did a placement passing exercise where he had to get the ball to certain spots on the field while maintaining specific ball travel speeds
did reaction drills where a laser was pointed on the field at random spots up to 100 feet away from where he was and he had to dribble there at high speed with control of the ball

Today is not a quiet day though, which hasn’t allowed Sei to focus much. The press has been in the academy trying to get info for their stories. There is also a conference that started recently, spearheaded by the manager, CamGoldenGun. As Sei leaves training, the press actually draws his attention for once.

“What is your response to fan’s accusations that the streak of losses is the fault of the staff?” asked one of the reporters.

Cam quickly responds, “Every loss is difficult, but we are doing what we can to guide our young players and prepare well for every match. We do not give up any games because we lost some.”

“You have been known to use unusual formations, as pointed out by the game hosts. Why haven’t you figured out what works for the team to get wins?”

Sei thinks to himself, ‘what a naive question; formations are just one part of any gameplan, let alone team preparation’. Cam keeps a more professional response, though. “Unusual may be a word to use, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work for our team. Different teams in history have used different formations. We lost because the other team played better.”

“Rumors have spread since your last speaking to the media. You care so little about the matches that you don’t even know what days of the week they happen.”

Cam was about to answer, but Sei had already stepped on stage, took a seat at the table in place of the head trainer and queued up his microphone.

“Every day of the week is a match day. If we don’t wake up each morning and work both body and mind to our fullest, we won’t be ready to perform in matches and  we won’t keep up with the competition in growth of skill, let alone gain an advantage.”

The crowd of reporters were split between shock that a player that wasn’t on the docket for interviews had interrupted the conference, and writing notes down with haste about the turn of events that are taking place.

After  a pause, another reporter speaks up. “Sei was it? Can you clarify your manager’s motivations to us, as to know if their focus is on the team and  matches enough to avoid any concerns?”

“It would be 24/7, if it weren’t for the needs of rest, nutrition, and press conferences.”

Another pause, only broken by a cough. This time, the mood of the room stiffens as this was taken as an insult. Cam tries to interject to pull the attention off Sei, but…

“Every single duty a manager must take on is as necessary as the others; if Cam didn’t care, he wouldn’t be taking the time to answer questions that he can and alleviate the concerns of the public regarding the team.”

He had saved the situation caused by the previous comment with a professional explanation for what he said, even if he meant it as an insult.

“Rumors are that Cam has ignored or overstepped suggestions by the coaching and training staff on how best to use the players in tactics or gameplans. Is that true?”

Another attack, disguised as a tough question. “Not at all, they work closely with each other and there is a good rapport in both the locker room and the front office. Even the players get attentive conversation out of Cam when it comes to ideas on the field. Sometimes, one idea or plan just works better than another.”

“Has your manager and other staff made changes to try and overcome the current performance?”

“Sure, and sometimes they wish to also try to control our minds to build our bodies more efficiently in training and make less mistakes on the field, too.”

A few chuckles actually happened amongst the reporters. ‘Pheww, the mood has changed,’ thought Cam. At this point, Sei finds himself responding more naturally, not having to think for the right words to defend their side eloquently.

“So far that has been unsuccessful, but what do you think is the current direction the team is trying to take to make up for the current situation? What are your opinions on what the team should do before next gameday?” 

“Fairly simple. They are trying different ideas to see what has the best success against the type of competition we face each match. When typical ideas don’t seem to work on the field, we have to make a change to try and gain an advantage in a different way. Last game, our defensive outlook was poor, so  instead the plan was to push extra pressure into the attack. It did work out well in the first half, and gave us many chances all game to score, but we still ended up challenged defensively.”
“My suggestion would be to accept there are aspects to the gameplan beyond our control, and that we can only do so much to make up for some weaknesses. We need to plan to use our strengths more and make it more apparent than the potential for our weaknesses to come  up. Maybe an all out tactic was good on paper, and a regular tactic gave the impression that it wouldn’t normally work, but we got to do what we can and make ideas happen. Just because an idea might not work consistently, doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea.”

“You mentioned weaknesses. Would you elaborate on them? How can the team fix them?”

“Fix is a strong word. It is possible, but development takes time. The team is in the locker room, training pitch, or tape watching areas as much as we can. The staff guides us in a way to be most effective with our time and efforts, without letting health become a factor sacrificed. Our biggest weaknesses are  speed and central defense. We have stronger players on the attacking side of the ball than defending, and most of our squad doesn’t match our competition step for step. Unfortunately, that is something that improves slowly. We will get there as long as the players make it a goal and continue to work hard.”

“Do you think those players are the cause of several losses then?”

“Every single player and member of staff are at fault for a loss. It is a team sport, and every piece has to work together and make a win happen. Sometimes a piece will cause a weakness, sometimes luck will ruin an advantage, and sometimes opponents just play better. Even I am at fault for our losses. I’m not good enough yet turn the tide in this kind of situation. I am far from the world’s best. However, I will get there and make it known. Every day, I get several steps closer to that goal, and it doesn’t stop there…”

As the press conference comes to a close, the media eats up the final words before thanks and wishes of good luck the next gameday are shared.

“... Whatever team I am on after my academy stay, I will do everything possible to elevate them and give a world class performance.”



Somewhere out there, Dante von Wolfe feels a shift in the air. Change is coming…]]> <![CDATA[Heartbreak at the Colosseo...]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9484 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 23:02:41 +0100 Moka26]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9484

I was watching a game in the analysis room when I got the mail. Ryan had something to announce.
I did my best to assemble everyone from the club in the room, but the rest were following remotely. Or maybe they will receive a summary of what was said, I don't know at this point.

Then he told us. Ryan van Eyndhoven decided to step away from his role as Organization Manager for Romana/London. It was about lacking the energy and other priorities, and not able to keep overseeing the Major and Minor teams. He told us he won't go until the end of the season, but his decision was taken. Concerning the functions, it will probably be Predag's job to carry over progressively. He'll count on us to help and shoulder him.

He was really happy with where the teams are, not only sportively, but also as a team and a roster. He was happy with the activity, and really grateful for Predag's role, implication and dedication.

He is a Max Verstappen fan. So as a farewell gift, I got different ideas flowing in : we could offer him a ride in a GT painted with the Verstappen.com livery, there's also the possibility of offering him a tour of the Red Bull facilities in Milton Keynes, or the Red Bull museum to sit in Max's RB19 in which he won his first WDC, or the ultradominant RB21...

I'm also thinking about a team photo or at least a photo of the duo Ryan-Predag to put on the wall of the organization headquarters. I just need the time to put this together, or maybe pay an artist to do it...
He finally found the time to tell us, even if it's after the Cup's match win against Xelaju. That makes me think... I want us to bring a trophy home this season, to honour Ryan's stepdown (and probable farewell) as it should.

ACR]]>

I was watching a game in the analysis room when I got the mail. Ryan had something to announce.
I did my best to assemble everyone from the club in the room, but the rest were following remotely. Or maybe they will receive a summary of what was said, I don't know at this point.

Then he told us. Ryan van Eyndhoven decided to step away from his role as Organization Manager for Romana/London. It was about lacking the energy and other priorities, and not able to keep overseeing the Major and Minor teams. He told us he won't go until the end of the season, but his decision was taken. Concerning the functions, it will probably be Predag's job to carry over progressively. He'll count on us to help and shoulder him.

He was really happy with where the teams are, not only sportively, but also as a team and a roster. He was happy with the activity, and really grateful for Predag's role, implication and dedication.

He is a Max Verstappen fan. So as a farewell gift, I got different ideas flowing in : we could offer him a ride in a GT painted with the Verstappen.com livery, there's also the possibility of offering him a tour of the Red Bull facilities in Milton Keynes, or the Red Bull museum to sit in Max's RB19 in which he won his first WDC, or the ultradominant RB21...

I'm also thinking about a team photo or at least a photo of the duo Ryan-Predag to put on the wall of the organization headquarters. I just need the time to put this together, or maybe pay an artist to do it...
He finally found the time to tell us, even if it's after the Cup's match win against Xelaju. That makes me think... I want us to bring a trophy home this season, to honour Ryan's stepdown (and probable farewell) as it should.

ACR]]> <![CDATA[A sudden press conference...]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9482 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 22:22:46 +0100 Malino8444]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9482
A sudden press conference had been called at Romana’s home ground, the Colosseo.

Journalists from across Europe gathered quickly, curiosity spreading through the crowd. Representatives from Fraudwatch, The Team, ESPN, L'Echo du Poteau, and many more took their seats, all speculating about what could warrant such a late announcement.

At 22:15 CET, Head Coach Malino entered the room and sat down. The noise of murmuring voices continued for a moment before slowly settling down.

“I am here to announce…” he started, pausing for a moment as if he was preparing himself. “My departure from the role as head coach of A.C. Romana and Inter London.”

The room instantly erupted, journalists jumping in with questions. It took quite a while for the press chief to get them back in check.

“This is not a decision I take easily,” Malino continued. “But for some time now, I have been struggling with the motivation that is required of being a head coach. and I can no longer give this club what it deserves.”

He looked down for a moment before continuing.

“I would like to thank all the players and staff who have been part of this beautiful journey over the past year. We have shared moments I will never forget, and I truly believe this group can go on to achieve great things.”

“So to the players, the staff, and all the fans of these incredible clubs, I want to say thank you for your support. I wish you nothing but success in the future.”

A brief pause.

“I will not be taking any questions at this time.”

Malino stood, emotion visible on his face, and walked out of the press room. Behind him, the now frustrated journalists called out, hoping for at least some answers.

From the back of the room, a grumpy old Swiss journalist muttered under his breath,
“Told you… that’s what happens when you demote Poggio.”

---

Thank you Romana and London, I loved managing you guys. 

- Malino

ACR LON]]>
A sudden press conference had been called at Romana’s home ground, the Colosseo.

Journalists from across Europe gathered quickly, curiosity spreading through the crowd. Representatives from Fraudwatch, The Team, ESPN, L'Echo du Poteau, and many more took their seats, all speculating about what could warrant such a late announcement.

At 22:15 CET, Head Coach Malino entered the room and sat down. The noise of murmuring voices continued for a moment before slowly settling down.

“I am here to announce…” he started, pausing for a moment as if he was preparing himself. “My departure from the role as head coach of A.C. Romana and Inter London.”

The room instantly erupted, journalists jumping in with questions. It took quite a while for the press chief to get them back in check.

“This is not a decision I take easily,” Malino continued. “But for some time now, I have been struggling with the motivation that is required of being a head coach. and I can no longer give this club what it deserves.”

He looked down for a moment before continuing.

“I would like to thank all the players and staff who have been part of this beautiful journey over the past year. We have shared moments I will never forget, and I truly believe this group can go on to achieve great things.”

“So to the players, the staff, and all the fans of these incredible clubs, I want to say thank you for your support. I wish you nothing but success in the future.”

A brief pause.

“I will not be taking any questions at this time.”

Malino stood, emotion visible on his face, and walked out of the press room. Behind him, the now frustrated journalists called out, hoping for at least some answers.

From the back of the room, a grumpy old Swiss journalist muttered under his breath,
“Told you… that’s what happens when you demote Poggio.”

---

Thank you Romana and London, I loved managing you guys. 

- Malino

ACR LON]]> <![CDATA[Academy Task 5: Turning the season around Interview]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9481 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 20:13:33 +0100 Bergmau]]> https://forum.simulationsoccer.com/showthread.php?tid=9481
Interviewer: After last weeks interview, in which you pointed out how much the team believed in themselfs and their coach. Istanbul F.K. managed to take down both, the at that point undefeated Stockholm IK, and Sydney City, 5:2 and 4:1 respectively. Netting there first 6 points of the season after a disappointing streak of 4 defeates to start the season. How does it feel?

Christopher Bergmann: It feels great, getting the first points of the season, in such a dominant way against a good opponent was a huge boost to our confidence. Right now we are really looking forward to our next game. We would like to continue this form. 

Interviewer: Your next game is against Port Royal F.C., right now they are sitting one point behind you in the standings. This game will show who of the two can keep up with the upper half and who fights in the trenches. The game also marks the halfway point of the season. How important do you think this game is?

Christopher Bergmann: As you pointed out, its a 6 point game for us. We want to go out there tomorrow and win. But we have to keep in mind, that there is still a lot of football to be played this season. Nonetheless we will fight tooth and nail tomorrow and take home 3 points. 

Interviewer: While you pointed it out yourself, there is still a lot of games left this season, surely you are looking towards the draft, right?

Christopher Bergmann: Yes indeed. With the draft class being on the larger side, scouts are currently working overtime to assess all players that will be available.

Interviewer: Did you have any contact with some teams yet?

Christopher Bergmann: I have talked to some scouts. We shared good conversations, talked about what needs their teams are looking to fill. 

Interviewer: So, who have you talked to?  

Christopher Bergmann: Right now I prefer not to reveal who I have had talks with. Maybe you can ask me that question again, once we get closer to the draft or afterwards. All I can say is, I am on the radar of some, time will tell where I will land. For now the focus is on Istanbul F.K., we want to play the best season we can and for that we all, me included, need to be focused on our games 100% of the time. 

Interviewer: As much as we would all love to hear where you might be landing, I can understand your hesitation to tell so early on in the season. Last question, a couple of days ago, a new teammate joined Istanbul F.K., Snowy. How is it going so far with him?

Christopher Bergmann: He is the much needed presence in the locker room goalkeeper department we were looking for. Of course, with him just joining and being new, we will need to see how he develops but we are all happy to have him on board.

Interviewer: Thank you for your time and best of luck.

Christopher Bergmann: Thank you very much. Always a pleasure.]]>
Interviewer: After last weeks interview, in which you pointed out how much the team believed in themselfs and their coach. Istanbul F.K. managed to take down both, the at that point undefeated Stockholm IK, and Sydney City, 5:2 and 4:1 respectively. Netting there first 6 points of the season after a disappointing streak of 4 defeates to start the season. How does it feel?

Christopher Bergmann: It feels great, getting the first points of the season, in such a dominant way against a good opponent was a huge boost to our confidence. Right now we are really looking forward to our next game. We would like to continue this form. 

Interviewer: Your next game is against Port Royal F.C., right now they are sitting one point behind you in the standings. This game will show who of the two can keep up with the upper half and who fights in the trenches. The game also marks the halfway point of the season. How important do you think this game is?

Christopher Bergmann: As you pointed out, its a 6 point game for us. We want to go out there tomorrow and win. But we have to keep in mind, that there is still a lot of football to be played this season. Nonetheless we will fight tooth and nail tomorrow and take home 3 points. 

Interviewer: While you pointed it out yourself, there is still a lot of games left this season, surely you are looking towards the draft, right?

Christopher Bergmann: Yes indeed. With the draft class being on the larger side, scouts are currently working overtime to assess all players that will be available.

Interviewer: Did you have any contact with some teams yet?

Christopher Bergmann: I have talked to some scouts. We shared good conversations, talked about what needs their teams are looking to fill. 

Interviewer: So, who have you talked to?  

Christopher Bergmann: Right now I prefer not to reveal who I have had talks with. Maybe you can ask me that question again, once we get closer to the draft or afterwards. All I can say is, I am on the radar of some, time will tell where I will land. For now the focus is on Istanbul F.K., we want to play the best season we can and for that we all, me included, need to be focused on our games 100% of the time. 

Interviewer: As much as we would all love to hear where you might be landing, I can understand your hesitation to tell so early on in the season. Last question, a couple of days ago, a new teammate joined Istanbul F.K., Snowy. How is it going so far with him?

Christopher Bergmann: He is the much needed presence in the locker room goalkeeper department we were looking for. Of course, with him just joining and being new, we will need to see how he develops but we are all happy to have him on board.

Interviewer: Thank you for your time and best of luck.

Christopher Bergmann: Thank you very much. Always a pleasure.]]>