Shaking it up - Premier League Full Fantasy Draft 5 Year Simulation

[db12]

Jan 2016

January 2016
At this first marker point during the season, let us evaluate this bold move by Chairman Bates to implement a full draft and a transfer ban on the 20 Premier League teams.

A quick look at the league table suggests that the big teams are now mediocre and down near the foot of the table. Both Man Utd and Chelsea have sacked their managers and sit 19th and 20th. Arsenal and Liverpool also find themselves in the bottom half of the table. Man City and Spurs have maintained some sort of competitive nature and sit just outside the Europa League positions but the real story is West Brom who lead the pack by 2 points at this stage of the season. They are followed by West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace completing the Champions League spots with Norwich and Southampton in Europa League positions.
In terms of the draft picks Norwich who had pick 5 find themselves in 5th place and are the best team in that regard. Pick 1 Watford are in 15th Pick 2 Leicester are 14th and pick 20 Chelsea are 19th.
View attachment 142153

A look at individual performances now. 6 Round 1 picks are in the top 10 for average ratings with Santi Cazorla of Spurs and Mesut Ozil of Sunderland both making the world team of the year. Chancel Mbemba has proven a great pick for Southampton bearing in mind he was an 11th Round pick.
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A look at the assist table now and Riyad Mahrez of West Brom leads with 12 assists and represents a solid Round 3 pick. Baba Rahman of Watford has 8 assists and as a Round 8 pick has shown his quality from left back. There are 5 players on 7 assists including Ozil, his German teammate Emre Can of Stoke, Dusan Tatic of Crystal Palace, Morgan Schneiderlin of Newcastle and his teammate Memphis Depay. Newcastle seem to be a creative force with Rosicky also in the top 10 for assists.
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Goals now. This is what really counts and finding himself joint top with Round 1 draft Eden Hazard is Fabio Borini who of course moved across Tyneside to Newcastle. 10 goals leads the way and Hazard has a quite ridiculous 10 goals from 16 shots. Sakho who stayed at West Ham, Lamela of Sunderland, Giroud of Swansea, top pick Aguero of Watford and Ayoze Perez of Bournemouth have 9 goals with Danny Welbeck of leaders West Brom and Pedro of Aston Villa making the top 10.
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This is how things stand on January 1st 2016. Will Tony Pulis lead West Brom to Premier League success? Are Chelsea and Man Utd going to remain basement boys? Has new Chairman Dylan Bates destroyed the Premier League?

So far you would have to say he has certainly created an anyone can win the league competition but there are certainly more questions than answers at this early stage of the new competition.

​

 

[db12]

May 2016

May 2016
Here we have it folks, the final table for the first season of Chairman Dylan Bates's new draft Premier League. The Champions for the first time ever are West Ham United!!! Newcastle, Leicester City and Man City finish the Champions League spots, with Norwich West Brom and Sunderland making the Europa League positions. At the foot of the table sees possibly the biggest shocks seen in Premier League history with Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea making the bottom 4!!
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In terms of player performance Aguero and Ozil led the way in player ratings both scoring an impressive 7.8 over 35 games each. Chancel Mbemba again kept up his stellar performances with Kompany also impressing defensively even with Arsenal's troubles.
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In terms of assists the king was Riyad Mahrez of West Brom with 17, followed by the aforementioned Ozil with 13, Schneiderlin of Newcastle had 12 and Kante and Baines had 11 each.
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Goalscoring is vital to winning games and Top Pick Sergio Aguero certainly delivered winning the golden boot with 23 strikes for Watford. Sakho remaining at West Ham clearly played a part in winning the title as his 20 goals had him in second with Borini of Newcastle in third.
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Awards
Footballer of the Year
Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
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Player's Player of the Year
Memphis Depay - Newcastle
Round 4 Pick 14
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Player's Young Player of the Year
Kevin de Bruyne - Everton
Round 1 Pick 3
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Manager of the Year
Slaven Bilic - West Ham
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Top Goalscorer
1st Sergio Aguero - Watford
Round 1 Pick 1
2nd Diafra Sakho - West Ham
Round 12 Pick 3
3rd Fabio Borini - Newcastle
Round 9 Pick 7
View attachment 141847

Player's Team of the Year
GK Simon Mignolet - Southampton
Round 7 Pick 16
RB Chancel Mbemba - Southampton
Round 11 Pick 16
CB Vincent Kompany - Arsenal
Round 1 Pick 9
CB Andreas Christensen - Norwich
Round 14 Pick 16
LB Aaron Cresswell - Leicester
Round 9 Pick 2
RM - Eden Hazard - Norwich
Round 1 Pick 5
CM Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
CM Kevin de Bruyne - Everton
Round 1 Pick 3
LM Memphis Depay - Newcastle
Round 4 Pick 14
ST Sergio Aguero - Watford
Round 1 Pick 1
ST Diafra Sakho - West Ham
Round 12 Pick 3
View attachment 141841


So there you have it West Ham are the inaugural winners of the Draft Premier League and quite frankly the results are so unusual that Chairman Bates has to be happy with the unpredictability of the league but a winning total of 69 points is quite low. Of all the first round picks Alexis Sanchez seems to have struggled with 4 of the first 5 all in the team of the year. Will Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea move up the table next season? Will Man City go further? Are West Ham going to retain? The questions are endless as we head into year 2 of this experiment.
​

 

[db12]

Jan 2017

January 2017
It's now January 2017 and Leicester City are currently top of the table. The appointment of Jose Mourinho could be playing a part after finishing 3rd last season. West Brom again are near the top in 2nd, Swansea 3rd and Arsenal who finished 19th last season currently sit in 4th. Sunderland and Norwich however have gone from Europa League to the foot of the table. This new format of league really is unpredictable.
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In terms of player ratings Vincent Kompany seems to have settled into London life with a very impressive 7.87 in 17 games and 7 MOTM performances. Alexis Sanchez who last season was disappointing seems to have found form under Mourinho at Leicester playing a 7.78 after 20 games. Aaron Ramsey of Liverpool and Ozil (who again claimed a World Team of the Year place) sit joint 3rd in the table and last years Young Player of the Year Kevin de Bruyne makes the top 5.
View attachment 141655

In the assist table Mahrez again continues to impress notching up 11 assists. Alexis and Ramsey have 8 each explaining their increase in rating, de Bruyne has 7 and Ings (Swansea), Eriksen (Man City) and Cuadrado (Chelsea) have 6 each.
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Goalscoring again proves an unpredictable table with Ayoze Perez of Bournemouth leading the charts with 12 goals from 29 shots. Diafra Sakho (West Ham) again finds himself near the top with 11 goals in 20 shots and he is joined on 11 goals by Enner Valencia (Southampton), Romelu Lukaku (Everton) and Danny Welbeck (West Brom). Old teammates Alexis Sanchez (Leicester) and Oliver Giroud (Swansea) are on 10 goals each.
View attachment 141657


So that's the latest of the Draft Premier League. Team positions are nearly impossible to predict but can Leicester hold on? Will West Brom get the job done this season? Is Ozil the best player in the league? What has happened Aguero?

​

 

[naterr]

How are the teams doing in Europe this year? I assume the top 4 are still going into the champions league!

Table is looking nice and unpredictable!

I'll be routing for Bournemouth as always!

 

[db12]

How are the teams doing in Europe this year? I assume the top 4 are still going into the champions league!

Table is looking nice and unpredictable!

I'll be routing for Bournemouth as always!

Top 4 are still Champions League correct but they've been underwhelming in their performances in Europe to be honest so not really worth noting.

Bournemouth have a good squad and if Ayoze can keep banging them in they're bound to get European football for next season

 

[db12]

May 2017

May 2017
Another Draft Premier League season complete and for the second year a separate winner with Jose Mourinho's Leicester City being crowned champions. Improving on West Ham's winning total of 69 points but a still unimpressive total of 75 for the winners. Crystal Palace, Swansea and Bournemouth complete the top 4 but for some unknown reason Swansea have no European football with West Brom in 5th claiming the final Champions League spot. Spurs and West Ham claim Europa League football in 6th and 7th and Norwich who finished 19th also have Europa League football after winning the FA Cup. Man City fell completely and finished a disappointing 18th with Liverpool and Man Utd in the bottom half again. Arsenal and Chelsea had mid table finishes.
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In terms of player ratings Ozil upped his game from January and finished with a 7.96 rating. John Stones of Swansea improved as the year went on and had a solid 7.62 with Alexis Sanchez and Vincent Kompany close on his tail with 7.61 and 7.6 respectively. Juan Mata of Stoke and Kevin de Bruyne of Everton completed the top 5 with a 7.57 rating.
View attachment 141598

Assist King Riyad Mahrez (West Brom) again topped the assist charts for the second year with 16 in 33 games. Kevin de Bruyne (Everton) finished second on 13 with Cuadrado (Chelsea), Coutinho (Spurs), Wijnaldum (Aston Villa) and Alexis Sanchez (Leicester) all on 12.
View attachment 141597

Goalscorers now and Harry Kane must have had a real run of form from January as he came out of nowhere to be top goalscorer on 22. Ayoze of Bournemouth finished second on 19 tied with Enner Valencia (Southampton), Romelu Lukaku (Everton) and Saido Berahino (West Brom). Giroud (Swansea) and Welbeck (West Brom) finished with 18 each.
View attachment 141596

Footballer of the Year
Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
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Player's Player of the Year
Alexis Sanchez - Leicester
Round 1 Pick 2
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Player's Young Player of the Year
Phil Coutinho - Spurs
Round 2 Pick 8
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Manager of the Year
Jose Mourinho - Leicester
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Top Goalscorer
1st Harry Kane - Leicester
Round 2 Pick 19
2nd Ayoze Perez - Bournemouth
Round 8 Pick 15
3rd Enner Valencia - Southampton
Round 5 Pick 16
View attachment 141591

Player's Team of the Year
GK Petr Cech - West Brom
Round 1 Pick 8
RB Joel Ward - West Brom
Round 15 Pick 8
CB Vincent Kompany - Arsenal
Round 1 Pick 9
CB John Stones - Swansea
Round 4 Pick 11
LB Aaron Cresswell - Leicester
Round 9 Pick 2
RM Riyad Mahrez - West Brom
Round 3 Pick 8
CM Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
CM Kevin de Bruyne - Everton
Round 1 Pick 3
LM Alexis Sanchez - Leicester
Round 1 Pick 2
ST Harry Kane - Leicester
Round 2 Pick 19
ST Sergio Aguero - Watford
Round 1 Pick 1
View attachment 141590

So there we have it, another year another champion with an unpredictable league table. Bookies are calling it a nightmare as teams odds are so difficult to calculate with some agencies stating all teams will eventually be 20/1 due to the unpredictable nature of the league. Does that equal success in terms of quality? Can we say chairman Bates's bold idea is working? Is Ozil truly the best player in the Premier League? Can we see Leicester hold on to their title?

​

 

[db12]

Jan 2018

January 2018
Midway through the 3rd season now and yet again there is another team top of the table. This time it's Man City who lead the way and a traditional "Big 4" team has finally began to take control of the Draft Premier League leading by 6 points in January. Newcastle and West Ham sit tied in second bearing in mind West Ham are looking for their second title in this new format. Norwich make up the last Champions League spot with Southampton and Crystal Palace filling in the Europa League spots. Champions Leicester sit in 8th with Liverpool and Chelsea sitting mid table and Arsenal and Man Utd again struggling near the bottom.
View attachment 141326

In terms of player ratings Laurent Koscielny sits joint top of the table despite Man Utd's form and is joined by Leighton Baines (Sunderland) on a 7.74 rating. Defenders dominate the table with Luke Shaw (Aston Villa) 3rd, Harry Maguire (Newcastle) who is the first of the 14 day window signings to make an impression in 4th and that German superstar Mesut Ozil (Sunderland) completing the top 5.
View attachment 141325

Assists now and hardly a shock to see Riyad Mahrez (West Brom) top of the table again as he hunts for the top assists in the league for the 3rd season. Alexis Sanchez (Leicester) joins him on 9 assists, Henri Saivet (Crystal Palace) sits 3rd on 7 with Jeffrey Schlupp (Man City), Jack Wilshire (West Ham), Phil Coutinho (Spurs) and Christian Eriksen (Man City) all on 6 assists.
View attachment 141324

The goalscoring chart is probably the most competitive in years with just 2 goals separating the top 12 players. 6 players find themselves on 11 goals including Diafra Sakho (West Ham), Harry Kane (Leicester), Salomon Rondon (Sunderland), Daniel Sturridge (Man Utd), Romelu Lukaku (Everton) and Charlie Austin (Norwich).
View attachment 141322

So can Man City finally reclaim the Premier League?? Will that mean the return of the traditional "Big 4"? Are there a new "Big 4" starting to emerge? Would you deem the new format a success so far?

​

 

[db12]

May 2018

May 2018
End of season 3 of the Draft Premier League experiment and Man City are Champions. Second place was Newcastle who finished 5 points short, Bournemouth and Watford make up the rest of the Champions League positions. Another strong performance by Bournemouth to maintain Champions League football from last season. West Ham and Norwich have Europa League football after another set of consistent seasons from them respectively. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd all found themselves 10th or lower again which is highlighting the changing of power in the league.
View attachment 141100

In terms of player ratings we had a first for the new format of league as a player not part of the draft claimed top spot. Harry Maguire whom Newcastle moved quickly to sign during the 14 day registration period topped the charts with a 7.76 rating. The German playmaker Mesut Ozil (Sunderland) again had a terrific season in 2nd place. Pick 1 Sergio Aguero (Watford) was third with Baines (Sunderland), Koscielny (Man Utd) and Matic (Spurs) completing the top 5.
View attachment 141099

Assists now and for the 3rd season in a row Riyad Mahrez (West Brom) leads the way in assists finishing 6 assists clear of Coutinho (Spurs) in second. Wilshire (West Ham), Drinkwater (Newcastle) and Eriksen (Man City) complete the top 5.
View attachment 141098

Goals win games and looking at the charts you'd have to hope that in game the England manager isn't losing to Iceland seeing as Harry Kane (Leicester) led the charts with 24 goals. On 19 was Charlie Austin (Norwich) and completing the trio of Englishmen was Daniel Sturridge (Man Utd) in 3rd. Diafra Sakho (West Ham) had another strong year and was joined by Giroud (Swansea), Ayoze (Bournemouth) and Lukaku (Everton) in 4th.
View attachment 141097

Footballer of the Year
Riyad Mahrez - West Brom
Round 3 Pick 8
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Player's Player of the Year
Phil Coutinho - Spurs
Round 2 Pick 8
View attachment 141095

Player's Young Player of the Year
Memphis Depay - Newcastle
Round 4 Pick 14
View attachment 141094

Manager of the Year
Gerardo Martino - Man City
View attachment 141093

Top Goalscorer
1st Harry Kane - Leicester
Round 2 Pick 19
2nd Charlie Austin - Norwich
Round 11 Pick 5
3rd Daniel Sturridge - Man Utd
Round 2 Pick 9
View attachment 141092

Player's Team of the Year
GK Kasper Schmeichel - Man City
Round 8 Pick 4
RB Etienne Capoue - Norwich
Round 6 Pick 16
CB Harry Maguire - Newcastle
Non Drafted
CB Laurent Koscielny - Man Utd
Round 1 Pick 12
LB Leighton Baines - Sunderland
Round 3 Pick 4
RM Riyad Mahrez - West Brom
Round 3 Pick 8
CM Eden Hazard - Norwich
Round 1 Pick 5
CM Christian Eriksen - Man City
Round 2 Pick 4
LM Phil Coutinho - Spurs
Round 2 Pick 8
ST Harry Kane - Leicester
Round 2 Pick 19
ST Sergio Augero - Norwich
Round 1 Pick 1
View attachment 141091

3 seasons in and 3 different winners, does this mean the league is going to be more successful? Will this help the England squad improve? Is Mahrez the best winger in the league? Can anyone stop Ozil's dominance? What do you think of the draft so far?

​

 

[db12]

Jan 2019

January 2019
January 2019 and last seasons champions find themselves 15th. Is this really making things more competitive or has Chairman Bates lost the plot and is destroying our league with no new foreign imports to grow our popularity? Southampton are currently leading the way this season 2 points clear of Leicester and West Brom who have both found good consistency with the new format. Bournemouth are in 4th another club happy with the new format no doubt. Everton and Man Utd make up the Europa League spots with Liverpool in 20th place.
View attachment 140799

Player ratings now and guess who's top of the table? Mesut Ozil of course who has another place on the World Team of the Year. Juan Mata (Stoke) sits in second having a burst of form later in his career with Sergio Augero (Watford) 3rd, Alexis Sanchez (Leicester) 4th and non drafted Dede (Arsenal) 5th. Interestingly enough all 5 players are 30.
View attachment 140797

Assists now and there's finally a couple of players challenging Riyad Mahrez for the most assists. Currently leading the way is Adnan Januzaj who switched Manchester colours, 2nd is Ayoze of Bournemouth and Nacer Chadli of Everton and then the kingpin Mahrez and Remy Cabella (Leicester) are joint 4th.
View attachment 140783

Goals now and West Brom have the top goalscorer in Saido Berahino who seems to have put behind his differences and is enjoying his football at the Hawthorns. Ayoze is having a great season with Bournemouth and along with his 8 assists he has 10 goals and is joined on 10 by Troy Deeney of Arsenal and Harry Kane of Leicester.
View attachment 140781

Another season another leader this time it's Southampton on top on the new year. Leciester are hungry for their second title in this new format, West Brom are looking to win their first after coming close on occasions and Bouremouth are also right in the mix and finally Man Utd can be seen improving. So who's your money on to be champions? What ever happened Liverpool?

​

 

[db12]

May 2019

May 2019
West Brom are Champions!!! Tony Pulis and his magic hat have led them to the promised land. They ran out comfortable winners in the end with a 7 point lead over January leaders Southampton. Man City made a late break from Janaury moving from 15th to 3rd and Leicester have Champions League football again in 4th. Crystal Palace moved from 16th to 5th and Bournemouth and Man Utd make up the rest of the Europa League spots. Liverpool finished 19th and Arsenal 17th.
View attachment 140780

Player ratings and Ozil reigned supreme again. a very impressive 7.99 was nearly matched by Sergio Aguero on 7.76 with Alexis Sanchez in 3rd. These guys were top picks in the draft for a reason. Juan Mata of Stoke and Nacho Monreal of Watford make up the top 5.
View attachment 140779

Assists now and there was a West Brom man top of the tree for the 4th season but this time it was the Swiss wizard Xherdan Shaqiri who finished top of the table on 16 assists. Ayoze of Bournemouth finished second on 14, the German playmaker Ozil sat 3rd on 13 with Cabella (Leicester), Januzaj (Man City) and Hazard (Norwich) all on 13.
View attachment 140777

The goalscoring charts was a threeway tie at the top. West Brom man Danny Welbeck, Man City's Anthony Martial and Ayoze Perez of Bournemouth finished on 19 each. Interestingly Berahino only scored 3 times from January. Callum Wilson (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Leicester) and Troy Deeney (Arsenal) all finished on 18 in what proved to be a keenly contested competition.
View attachment 140776

Footballer of the Year
Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
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Player's Player of the Year
Sergio Aguero - Watford
Round 1 Pick 1
View attachment 140774

Player's Young Player of the Year
Will Hughes - Man Utd
Undrafted
View attachment 140772

Manager of the Year
Tony Pulis - West Brom
View attachment 140771

Top Goalscorer
1st Anthony Martial - Man City
Round 6 Pick 4
2nd Danny Welbeck - West Brom
Round 2 Pick 13
3rd Ayoze Perez - Bournemouth
Round 8 Pick 15
View attachment 140770

Player's Team of the Year
GK Simon Mignolet - Southampton
Round 7 Pick 16
RB Cesar Azpilicueta - West Ham
Round 1 Pick 18
CB Nicolas Otamendi - Man City
Round 1 Pick 17
CB Laurent Koscielny - Man Utd
Round 1 Pick 12
LB Nacho Monreal - Watford
Round 7 Pick 1
RM Riyad Mahrez - West Brom
Round 3 Pick 8
CM Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
CM Juan Mata - Stoke
Round 1 Pick 19
LM Alexis Sanchez - Leicester
Round 1 Pick 2
ST Sergio Aguero - Watford
Round 1 Pick 1
ST Anthony Martial - Man City
Round 6 Pick 4
View attachment 140769

So in the second last year of the experiment we have had our 4th winner of the Draft Premier League. In the final season will a team claim a second crown? Will Liverpool for the love of god do something?? Is Ozil laying a marker as the best player in the league? Is Ayoze Perez that good? Guess all will be answered in the final season of this experiment.

​

 

[db12]

Jan 2020

January 2020
The final season of the Draft Premier League is halfway through at Man City, Southampton and West Brom have a share of the lead on 35 points. City and West Brom are looking to add their second title of this system with Southampton looking to improve on the second placed finish. Crystal Palace is 6 points back in 4th with Bournemouth back in 5th and are joined by Man Utd and Spurs on 28 points.
View attachment 140435

Player ratings now and Nicolas Otamendi of Man City has an impressive 8.02 rating and leads the way from the usual suspect Mesut Ozil (Sunderland) on 7.91. Following Ozil is his old teammate Aaron Ramsey of Liverpool with Aguero (Watford), Januzaj (Man City) and Coutinho (Spurs) all trailing.
View attachment 140429

Assists now and there's been changes here from the usual leaders. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who returned to boyhood club Southampton leads the way on 8. Following back on 7 are Ramsey (Liverpool), Ozil (Sunderland) and Nordin Amrabat (Man Utd) who I had actually forgotten was part of this draft.
View attachment 140425

Goals now and leading the way is the Bournemouth man who's proven to be quite the pick Ayoze Perez who is on 14 goals and 3 clear of Christian Benteke (Watford) and Charlie Austin (Norwich). Saido Mane (Chelsea) is in 4th with 10 and a number of players trail back on 8 goals.
View attachment 140421

So there we have it halfway through the final season and we have a keenly contested Premier League, will it be City, West Brom or Southampton? Will Bournemouth sneak their first title? What has gone so badly wrong for some clubs? All will be answered in the next few updates coming today.
​

 

[db12]

May 2020

May 2020
Our final Draft Premier League Champions are Crystal Palace who claimed the title on head to head from West Brom. Both teams had the exact same goal difference so head to head was used to sort a dramatic finish to the experiment. Manchester must be happy though with both City and Utd claiming Champions League football in 3rd and 4th. Everton and Southampton claimed the Europa League spots. Spurs and Liverpool made it to the top half of the table which is a big achievement.
View attachment 140413

Player ratings and it was the German playmaker who led the way again, Mesut Ozil claimed top spot with a highly impressive 7.94 rating. In second was January leader Nicolas Otamendi with fellow Argentine Sergio Aguero making the top 3. Aaron Ramsey was 4th with Juan Mata of bottom place Stoke making the top 5.
View attachment 140411

The assist leader was a new face breaking the West Brom dominance with Aaron Ramsey finishing with 16 assists, 3 clear of Amrabat and Oliver Torres a Man City signing during the 14 day window in 2015. January leader The Ox was joined by Ozil in joint 4th.
View attachment 140408

Top of the goalscoring charts was Ayoze Perez (Bournemouth) scoring 23 goals. Second was Charlie Austin (Norwich) on 22 with Sergio Aguero (Watford) on 20. Anthony Martial of Man City was in 4th with Benteke (Watford), Harnik (West Ham) a 14 day signing in 2015, Kane (Leicester) and Deeney (Arsenal) in joint 5th.
View attachment 140405

Footballer of the Year
Aaron Ramsey - Liverpool
Round 2 Pick 10
View attachment 140403

Player's Player of the Year
Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
View attachment 140401

Player's Young Player of the Year
Anthony Martial - Man City
Round 6 Pick 4
View attachment 140400

Manager of the Year
Slaven Bilic - Crystal Palace
View attachment 140399

Top Goalscorer
1st Ayoze Perez - Bournemouth
Round 8 Pick 15
2nd Charlie Austin - Norwich
Round 11 Pick 5
3rd Sergio Aguero
Round 1 Pick 1
View attachment 140398

Player's Team of the Year
GK Hugo Lloris - Crystal Palace
Round 1 Pick 14
RB Etienne Capoue - Norwich
Round 6 Pick 16
CB Nicolas Otamendi - Man City
Round 1 Pick 17
CB Laurent Koscielny - Man Utd
Round 1 Pick 12
LB Daley Blind - Sunderland
Round 5 Pick 4
RM Riyad Mahrez - West Brom
Round 3 Pick 8
CM Aaron Ramsey - Liverpool
Round 2 Pick 10
CM Mesut Ozil - Sunderland
Round 1 Pick 4
LM Christian Eriksen - Man City
Round 2 Pick 4
ST Ayoze Perez - Bournemouth
Round 8 Pick 15
ST Sergio Aguero - Watford
Round 1 Pick 1
View attachment 140397

So there we have it folks the experiment of a full draft in the Premier League is done and dusted. 5 different winners in 5 seasons, some amazing individual performances, some fantastic team efforts to try and win the league and some truly awful teams emerged from this experiment. In my next post I will offer my own thoughts on things such as awarding MVP over the 5 years, surprise packages, biggest flops, hardly shocks and an overall evaluation of the experiment as a whole but I just would like to take an opportunity to thank you all for the support. To have more likes than posts is something I would never have imagined when starting this little story.

Thank you so much.

​

 

[db12]

Thoughts and Awards

Personal Awards and Thoughts
So after 5 seasons my experiment of a full Draft to pick the 20 Premier League Teams is done and dusted. The main objective was to see if this would create a more balanced Premier League so that could be checked as achieved as 5 winners in 5 seasons is a more balanced league. I will run through some personal and fun awards before discussing team performances.

League MVP
This award is for the star man of the 5 seasons.

Nominees:
Sergio Aguero
Mesut Ozil
Riyad Mahrez
Aaron Ramsey
Ayoze Perez

Winner:
Mesut Ozil

Had to give the league MVP over 5 seasons to Mesut Ozil. If Big Sam had him in real life Sunderland wouldn't be in relegation danger every single season. But seriously Ozil has been phenomenal for Sunderland over the 5 seasons averaging a rating of 7.88 during that time. An honourable mention has to go to Riyad Mahrez who clearing fits into Tony Pulis's style as he dominated in assists and a special mention to Ayoze Perez who really was a shockingly good player.

Rookie of the Draft
This award is for a player who was 21 or younger at the start of the experiment and was in Round 5 or later in the draft.

Nominees:
Anthony Martial
Ayoze Perez
Adnan Januzaj
Diafra Sakho
Etienne Capoue

Winner:
Ayoze Perez

Ayoze really did surprise me. He scored a great amount of goals for Bournemouth and had one or two amazing seasons featuring high in assists and goals. Diafra Sakho would be a close second here because who really expected him to score 20 goals in a season and help West Ham to a title.

Flop of the Draft
This is exclusively for Round 1 Picks and a player who I felt didn't live up to the expectation.

Nominees:
David de Gea
Willian
Joe Hart
Samir Nasri
Juan Cuadrado

Winner:
Samir Nasri

What where Southampton thinking? The overpaid and overrated Samir Nasri was their first pick in the draft and was an uninspiring move. He didn't feature in any charts over the 5 years and clearly was a poor choice. Special mention to Willian because Liverpool were muck and also Joe Hart with Aston Villa.

Team of the Draft
This is an award for a team who excelled from this new system improving their fortunes greatly.

Nominees:
Bournemouth
Crystal Palace
Leicester
West Brom

Winners:
West Brom

As much as I would love to give this reward to Bournemouth who have been a revelation, I cannot look past the consistency West Brom have shown over 5 seasons. 6th, 5th, 7th, 1st and 2nd they have consistently been challenging for European football which I'm sure any Baggie fan would take.

Wooden Spoon Award
This is for the team who finished 20th the most over the 5 years.

Nominees:
Chelsea
Sunderland
Stoke
Aston Villa

Winners:
Stoke

Stoke managed to finish bottom on 2 occasions and their highest finish was 12th. A poor performance for the Potters.

Fall from Grace Award
This award is for the team who should have been near the top but never reached Europa League let alone a title.

Nominees:
Liverpool
Chelsea
Arsenal

Winners:
All 3.

These were way and ahead the worst performers in this experiment. Chelsea's finishes read as 20th, 11th, 14th, 9th and 12th, Liverpool's 17th, 14th, 10th and 19th and 8th they also released half their draft team after the 19th place finish and Arsenal's finishes read as 19th, 10th, 12th, 17th and 14th. Truly awful performances.

Manager of the Draft
The manager who found the most success during the draft.

Winner:
Slaven Bilic

Bilic enjoyed good success with West Ham before getting the sack and returning to winning ways with Crystal Palace.

That's the awards done and dusted congratulations to all especially you Nasri ;-)

On to my thoughts of how I felt the experiment went. Overall the league was quite competitive with close finishes in most seasons. The winning margins did seem to be low points totals with mid 70's enough to win the league (maybe that's a good total seems low).

Obviously given that my computer program didn't factor in player positions some teams overloaded in certain positions which was a factor beyond control really. This didn't seem to have a huge bearing but probably did have an impact as some teams picked a lot of full backs or keepers instead of a striker they needed.

The 14 day window before kicking the transfer ban was a good idea I felt. This should have allowed teams to pick up scraps in the free agency as any undrafted player became a free agent. Of course you give a team with money any chance and they'll sign players which led to Oliver, Harry Maguire and Will Hughes all featuring. But overall 3 players is a small amount and some teams did pick up free transfers in that time. I had it set at 5 days previously but then some free transfers didn't get registered and couldn't play. Also to note teams continued to sign players during this experiment and played in he FA Cup only which was interesting too.

Finally I would have to say this was an enjoyable and most importantly for me a quick experiment. I have kinda finished up with FM16 with only one long term save keeping my interest so this was a really fun experiment to take on and didn't take long to complete in game time. The creation of the program for the draft is obviously my main interest given that is the degree I studied in college but it can easily be applied to other leagues.

The final word goes to you who are reading this and have followed this story from start to finish. This is my 2nd attempt (maybe 3rd) at a story here on this site (which I think is fantastic, great community) and this time I finished it yay me but seriously thank you to any and every one who has taken the time to read this and I'm honestly grateful. To think this story has more likes than posts is a shock to me and a credit to you the FM Base Community.

Thank You.

​

 

[naterr]

Awesome story, really enjoyed it! I always love an "experiment" type of game!

 

[spireross]

This was a brilliant idea and fantastically written, really enjoyed reading this!

 

[Jden86]

Let's just remind ourselves of the Rules. Watford were chosen for Pick 1 meaning in round 2 they will have pick 20 and Chelsea who are Round 1 Pick 20 will have Round 2 Pick 1 and so on.

And with that out of the way let us begin the draft.

Watford are first to the podium. "We at Watford are honoured to be part of this famous moment in Premier League history and we have decided that there is no better player to lead us in this new direction but the Argentinian striker Sergio Kun Aguero".
- Aguero to Watford.

Leicester are next out. "Thankfully we have a favoured draw following our last gasp survival last season. Under new manager Ranieri's guidance our first pick is Alexis Sanchez!!"
- Sanchez to Leicester.

Everton take the stage. "We have reached a decision in conjunction with what we feel is the best way to approach this new system by signing one of the best youngsters in the world Kevin de Bruyne"
- de Bruyne to Everton.

Sunderland boss Big Sam takes the floor. "German's know how to win and we want that Ozil lad".
-Ozil to Sunderland.

Norwich next out. "He was player of the year when Chelsea won the league and we pick Eden Hazard"
- Hazard to Norwich.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe now. "Thank you to new Chairman Dylan Bates for this opportunity. We will look to build from the back therefore Thibaut Courtois is our first pick".
- Courtois to Bournemouth.

Newcastle next. "We want the best keeper in the league. David De Gea"
-de Gea to Newcastle.

West Brom's Tony Pulis next. "If you wanted the best keeper in the league you needed this guy!! We pick Petr Cech"
-Cech to West Brom

Arsene Wenger next for Arsenal. "We need to be solid at the back and I have always admired a leader of men and that man is Vincent Kompany"
-Kompany to Arsenal

Swansea to the podium now. "We have always played a certain way and value creativity highly therefore this was an obvious choice for us. Spanish playmaker David Silva"
- Silva to Swansea

Jurgen Klopp to the floor. "We have to play with fire and play rock and roll football. The board were keen on this player before and I am delighted to announce Brazilian Willian as our first choice"
- Willian to Liverpool

Man Utd next out. "Famous defenders like Ferdinand, Vidic, Stam and Blanc have always been the backbone of our success and we have announced Lourent Koscielny as our debut pick"
-Koscielny to Man Utd

Spurs are up. "Famous and infamous switches across London have plagued us in the past so we are delighted to announce Spaniard Santi Cazorla as our first pick"
- Cazorla to Spurs

Palace manager Alan Pardew next out. "Keepers are vital as you've seen from other teams picks therefore we would like Hugo Lloris as our pick please"
-Lloris to Crystal Palace

Aston Villa to the floor. "You've all picked the wrong keeper's so far. We will have Joe Hart as our pick"
- Hart to Aston Villa

Southampton are next. "We are going to take a strategic risk here on a player capable of unlocking any defence. Samir Nasri!!"
- Nasri to Southampton

Man City. "We have lost our captain which is disappointing but we won't be losing his centre back partner Nicolas Otamendi is our pick"
- Otamendi remains at Man City

West Ham now. "We value creativity from defensive positions therefore this was a no brainer Cesar Azpilicueta"
- Azpilicueta to West Ham

Stoke City's Mark Hughes. "Simple really, we need creativity to fuel our goal chances. Therefore we'd like Juan Mata"
- Mata to Stoke

Chelsea are last out. "The draw could have been kinder however we will have first pick next round. Our round 1 pick however is a player we already had on our books Juan Cuadrado"
- Cuadrado remains at Chelsea (loan to Juve terminated)


So that'll round up the first round of our Premier League draft. Expect round 2 to kick off in the next few minutes. What do you think of the first round? Any surprises? Who won round 1?​

Man Utd - Worst 1st round pick in the history of drafts in all sports.

 

[Znik]

Very well done on this! Cool concept, and well written.

 

[db12]

Man Utd - Worst 1st round pick in the history of drafts in all sports.

Laurent Koscielny turned out to be quite the pick in the end!!

Awesome story, really enjoyed it! I always love an "experiment" type of game!

It was really enjoyable to do and didn't take up too much time barring the draft itself which was so fun and crazy.

This was a brilliant idea and fantastically written, really enjoyed reading this!

Very well done on this! Cool concept, and well written.

Thank you so much to both for the kind comments. As a kid I toyed with the idea of journalism specifically in sports but as I grew older technology took over but I am grateful to everyone for their kind words.