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The New England Revolution will participate in some 11v11 practice games before their first playoff game on Nov. 30. Although these affairs will likely pit the starters against the reserves, we couldn’t help but wonder what the teams would look like if they were picked “playground style.” With this in mind, Seth and Sam took turns drafting teams. Here are the results.
Draft
Player Draft
| Seth | Sam |
|---|---|
| Seth | Sam |
| Gil | Buksa |
| Bou | Tajon |
| Polster | Jones |
| Turner | Kessler |
| Farrell | McNamara |
| Boateng | Bye |
| Bell | Bunbury |
| Caicedo | Kaptoum |
| Mafla | Traustason |
| DeLaGarza | Knighton |
| Rivera | Kizza |
| Maciel | Verfuth |
| Caldwell | Rennicks |
| Edwards Jr. |
Team Seth
My draft strategy was to have a strong spine, which I accomplished by using my first five picks to select Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou, Matt Polster, Matt Turner, and Andrew Farrell. I then solidified the back line by drafting Jon Bell, Christian Mafla, and AJ DeLaGarza. My last picks were spent on filling out the roster.
The end product is a team that I think would be best suited to line up in a 4-2-3-1. I have a lot of confidence in my back line, especially since Polster and Caicedo will provide coverage. Bou being the lone striker isn’t ideal, but we’ve seen him do it in the past.
My biggest concern is about my outside midfielders. Boateng has been very good off the bench this year, but he’s only made four starts. Damien Rivera has talent, but he’s only made one first team appearance, so putting him on the right flank is a big ask. I could swap Rivera for Maciel or Scott Caldwell.
Team Sam
Like my fantasy football drafts, there isn’t a lot of strategy when I pick a team but I’ll try and explain my thought process.
I feel like this team will be good on the attack. DeJuan Jones and Brandon Bye can provide service into the box which Buksa should be able to take advantage of. As much as I love Farrell and Bell, the Polish striker should be able to take advantage. Between my outside backs and outside midfielders, I think Damian Rivera could have a rough go.
Still Seth has Turner which is a big factor and the combination of Gil and Bou will cause problems for Henry Kessler and Colin Verfurth. I’m also requiring Wilfrid Kaptoum and Arnor Traustason to play at their full potential and not get ejected from the match or make silly turnovers.
I do have Edward Kizza on the bench which could make things interesting when he likely comes on for Bunbury, but I think my side will need Turner to have a subpar performance in net.
But feel free to let us know who has the better team in the comment section as well as on Twitter by tagging @SethMan31 or @sam_minton22