Wonderstar Awards S113: Player of the Season (12/05/2014 00:06)

 

Welcome to Season 114! I hope you all had a successful or enjoyable season - or if not, that your team's incompetence and failure was at least somewhat entertaining, and you enjoyed sacking the worthless, money-grabbing layabouts. And of course a new season means time for a new set of Wonderstar Awards! This season we are expanding the awards. Look out for team/manager awards, and league awards, in separate posts soon.

 

But here we're introducing a new category: Players of the Season! Now I know what you're thinking - there are already awards, or at least rankings, for the top players in each league. So hopefully these will look a little different, and are calculated in slightly more sophisticated ways than just average performance. The awards are for division 1 players in any league, and include:

 

Goalkeeper Of The Season

Defender Of The Season

Defensive Midfielder Of The Season

Attacking Midfielder Of The Season

Attacker Of The Season

The Sad Keanu Award For The Biggest Superstar To Spend The Whole Season Sitting On The Bench On His Own Eating Sandwiches

For each of these awards I'll briefly explain the methodology, announce the winners for both Seasons 112 and 113, and then let the managers responsible for these players bask in reflected glory. All but the Sad Keanu Award also have youth equivalents, for player aged 23 or younger.

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Goalkeeper Of The Season

There are four components I'll be using to calculate Goalkeeper of the Season: Average performance, Strength of opposition, Matches played and (for Season 113 onwards) Save percentage. The rationale for this? A goalkeeper has the most specialised job on the field, and can't really be held responsible for the number of chances opponents are given. Fortunately performance in goalkeepers tends to reflect the amount they had to do, so we'll just remove half of the effect of opponent quality/teamstats (to take into account that it's harder to save against elite strikers). The approach is as follows: Correct performance and - if relevant - save percentage for opposition strength; determine how far above average these metrics were, given the number of matches played; and combine the two. By these measures the top goalkeepers were:

 

Season 112 Goalkeeper Of The Year: Steinar Gjelstad (Ф UNFORGIVEN Ф)

Season 112 Young Goalkeeper Of The Year: Nace Narobe (FC Ruwenda)

Season 113 Goalkeeper Of The Year: Norbert Németh (Levski Bulgaria)

Season 113 Young Goalkeeper Of The Year: Lei Vranckenm (Bombero AC)

 

Steinar Gjelstad put in an average performance of 67 against the best Bulgaria could offer in Season 112 - alas it was not enough to save Unforgiven from relegation, but he's still going at the ripe old age of 38 and may yet see one last season in the top flight. Season 112 was not a great one for young goalkeepers, but Nace Narobe emerged from FC Ruwenda's youth academy in Season 107, made the position his own at the tender age of 19, and by Season 112 was posting average performances of almost 60 in the German top division. Bulgaria seems to be the place to discover goalkeeping talent, since Season 112's 3rd highest rated keeper, Norbert Németh, went two places better last season, posting an exceptional average rating of 72 and averaging more than 5 successful saves per game. He can add Wonderstar Goalkeeper Of The Year to his glittering haul of awards. Unfortunately, the shame of relegation was too much for poor Norbert, who has since stolen the identity of Northern Irish legend Pat Jennings and scarpered to the greener grass of Munchen Carpet. A snip at $35m. For those of you in need of a top keeper and kicking yourselves at missing the opportunity, I'll just note that Vito Palumbo of Eresson - second best keeper of last season, and still in his twenties - is currently on the market at a generous 30% discount. Top young keeper Lei Vranckenm has just broken into the first team at AC Bombero in time for their first ever Super Cup campaign, and may be harder to prise away from his club.

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Defender Of The Season

I'm not interested in your fancy-dan, marauding, Roberto-Carlos-lite full-back who spends his whole time in the opposition half attempting stepovers and taking free kicks. No - that's a midfielder. A real defender spends his time in his own box making blocks, clearances, headers, getting blood and sweat and dirt all over him and surreptitiously raking his studs down the opposing striker's hamstring. And he has excellent hair. With all that in mind, Defenders are calculated in a similar way to goalkeepers, except that as well as removing some of the effect of opponent strength, we'll remove ALL of the effect of assists and goals for defenders. We're not impressed. This leaves us with the bit of performance that comes from actually defending - and by that metric the Defenders of the Season are:

 

Season 112 Defender Of The Year: Kompany (TMS FC)

Season 112 Young Defender Of The Year: Vegard Killi (Dragunia Soccer)

Season 113 Defender Of The Year: Asis Nasseri (Melissokomoi)

Season 113 Young Defender Of The Year: Smidts (DansendHert)

 

When Team BWO went into hibernation in Season 111, Kompany moved to Singapore and hasn't looked back, posting ratings of between 71 and 77 in each of the last three seasons, helping TMS FC to second place in the league last year. Norwegian Vegard Killi is currently flying under the radar at Brazilian second-division club Dragunia, but had an impressive season in the top flight in S112, despite a relatively low Q rating of just 86. Last season Asis Nasseri was one of the few bright lights for Melissokomoi as they struggled in the Greek league, and despite having his best years behind him at 35, Asis is looking forward to a new challenge in Bulgaria at newly promoted AFC Dzhebel United. A Champions League Semi-Finalist - twice - before he was 23, last season Smidts was the most impressive pillar in one of ManagerLeague's most fearsome defensive units (only Seventh Heaven allowed fewer chances than DansendHert in any top division last season). Expect him to shut down the world's best strikers for another decade.

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Defensive Midfielder Of The Season

The top performers in any league are all the same type of player: Midfielders entrusted with the task of taking free-kicks and corners, who consequently rack up the assists and goals against weaker opponents. In fact, glance at a random team card and there will virtually always be one standout midfielder. Are they really the most important player on the team? Well sure, they might post sky-high performances, but if other players could do the same with set-piece duty, then they're not necessarily so special. And if you read a match report from time to time, you'll know there's another, less replaceable role - the all-action defensive midfielder, breaking up play, winning 50-50 balls and keeping your attacks flowing with accurate passes. Here we acknowledge those players by stripping away the effects of assists and goals from performance, to find which players have truly been running the show in a steady, unshowy way:

 

Season 112 Defensive Midfielder Of The Year: Marius Glad (SHARP United)

Season 112 Young Defensive Midfielder Of The Year: Aleksa Ašanin (Grien Bey Pakkers)

Season 113 Defensive Midfielder Of The Year: Mattéo Nguyen (Toreknall)

Season 113 Young Defensive Midfielder Of The Year: Adrien Leroy (millou_psg)

 

Marius Glad has been a model of consistency in the Swedish top division, and in Season 112 he posted a rating of 83 from just 4 goals and 4 assists. Meanwhile, Aleksa Ašanin was developing into the prototypical midfield destroyer for Grien Bey Pakkers, with 2 assists and 13 foul points in a suspension-shortened 23-game season. An average performance rating of 81 made him worth it. Toreknall emerged champions last season of what is probably the strongest and most competitive league in the world, and did so thanks to an exceptional defensive performance (only Goals Galore gave up fewer shots to their opponents in Norway). While Mattéo Nguyen spent the previous season racking up assists from set pieces, in S113 he played just as important a role protecting the defence and setting up chances for his teammates - posting a performance of 91 despite just ten assists and goals combined. And those of you looking for an elite central midfielder might take a look at Adrien Leroy of Millou_psg, who posted a performance rating above 90 from only 11 assists.

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Attacking Midfielder Of The Season

Time for the showboaters! This list is probably going to look quite similar to most people's "greatest midfielders in the world" guesses. The only real difference is that opposition strength is taken into account, so flat-track bullies in weaker leagues are slightly downgraded compared to those who've proven themselves against the elite. But assists and goals are given full credit, so if you racked up 75 assists from free-kicks then fair play to you!

 

Season 112 Attacking Midfielder Of The Year: Marius Log (Alidas)

Season 112 Young Attacking Midfielder Of The Year: Vadis Odjidja (Bruges Blues)

Season 113 Attacking Midfielder Of The Year: Tomasz Hołota (WKS SLASK)

Season 113 Young Attacking Midfielder Of The Year: Adrien Leroy (millou_psg)

 

Marius Log is posting his best performances at the tail end of a long career, and in Season 112 starred for Belgian team Alidas in both the league and (although it isn't counted here) the Super Cup. Interesting to note that he managed this with perception in the mid-70s, too. The best young prospect (at least back in the mists of time that were Season 112) was also plying his trade in the Belgian top division, as Vadis Odjidja rated 91 for Bruges Blues. Tomasz Hołota ran riot in the Polish league last season, with a performance rating of 97 and direct involvement in 48 league goals, more than half WKS Slask's league total. And Adrien Leroy? His performances for a generally weaker team were not just enough to win defensive midfielder of the year last season, but also attacking midfielder. A genuine all-round overperformer who has the potential to blossom if the team around hims improves, or if a bigger fish snaps him up.

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Attacker Of The Season

In a similar approach to goalkeepers, for this award we're going to combine performance with shooting accuracy (at least for Season 113, where we have the data). A quick note of caution - shooting accuracy is calculated per team (though generally the better performer on a team will have contributed the best shooting percentage anyway), and of course that places more of the focus on finishing, and less on carving out the chances themselves. But of course creating chances seems to have a very strong effect on performance anyway, so this combined measure might get a little closer to what most managers seek in a top striker: Impeccable goalscoring chops.

 

Season 112 Attacker Of The Year: Claudio Gonzalez (Los Cruzados)

Season 112 Young Attacker Of The Year: Czernia (DansendHert)

Season 113 Attacker Of The Year: Marco Arnautovic (FC GPRO)

Season 113 Young Attacker Of The Year: David Johnson (Classic Ipswich)

 

How do you become perennial champions of a league? Having a striker like Claudio Gonzalez helps a bit. The veteran posted a career-high season in S112 with 37 goals and an average performance of 86. Meanwhile, a 16-goal striker might seem like an odd tip, but when you take into account the team he was on, Kurniawan Firdaus actually put in a terrific shift for a relegated team with horrible teamstats. No surprise then to see multiple platinum boots in his trophy cabinet from less challenging seasons. His side now languish in the Indonesian 3rd division, playing (and losing) at low fitness, and Kurniawan is still in his prime... here is a striker with high potential elsewhere if his employers can be persuaded to cash in. As for younger prospects, DansendHert are putting together a scarily good future spine, and Czernia's 27-goal season (plus 4 Champions League goals) wins him Young Attacker of S112. Last season, Marco Arnautovic fired FC GPRO to the German title, hitting the target with around 5 in every 6 shots. And after a transitional year following his move from Multiple Scoregasms, David Johnson hit his stride for Classic Ipswich, scoring 34 goals in the league and Super Cup and posting an average rating of 78.

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Sad Keanu Award For The Biggest Superstar To Spend The Whole Season Sitting On The Bench On His Own Eating Sandwiches

This award goes to the highest Q outfield player to have played no league or international matches all season. Try tempting their owner with a cheeky bid!

 

 

Shareef al-Hamadhani circa S112. (Q95, Emperor of Thorns. Took a season break in S112 but was back last season.)

 

Thierry Henry circa S113. (Q96, Sauda. Wondering when he is finally going to be trusted to break into the first team.)

 

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Kudos to everyone who has helped train these players, and especially their teams who are playing a system which gets the best out of them! Looks like just in real life, Belgium is a real hotbed of talent right now.

 

 

 

 

  

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