MFL Draft Day Simulation

Credit: Lionsgate

So, there I was sitting in front of my laptop at home, just browsing around the internet while I’m getting some stuff done. Then, I was tagged in a Twitter post by Mr Safirul Abu Bakar inviting me to take part in a draft-day simulation similar to how to the USA does it.

In this case, we become club owners of the teams in the Malaysia Super League. To be honest, I was willing to step aside and let someone else join in. I also don’t know fully how draft day works. I only have vague knowledge of it. But after some encouragement from Safirul, I figured: Why not? So, I signed up and waited which team I was going to be put with.

And then, I was appointed as the owner of Kuala Lumpur City (KL City). It’s ironic considering my affection for their Klang Valley rivals Selangor. Despite this, I have a duty to fulfil as their club owner despite them being my team’s rivals. And I also don’t want to do this half-hearted and set about to find out what the team perhaps need. You can refer who else got assigned to which team here.

As far as I was aware, I felt KL City is lacking in three departments: Wingers, strikers and full-backs. While I kept that in mind, I also see one KL player on the list that I feel is an important part of the team in a real-life context. Therefore, I already recognized four picks I want out of the six maximum based on the list given by Safirul.

However, because this is another team I’m managing (And it’s a team that my team are rivals with, mind you), I felt it was best to “appoint” a head coach. A head coach that loves KL and knows the team a lot more than I do. So who did I went and “appoint”? It’s none other than KL City expert, Mr Khairul Nizam.

I went about to contact Nizam via Whatsapp and explained the situation. After that, I asked him who would he draft from the list given. I wasn’t surprised by three of six picks as both of us had the same approach. It’s the other half I was surprised. I could’ve overruled him on those players and made my own picks, but decided against it. Why?

They’re players the head coach wants. I appointed someone who really knows KL City better than me. If I went and make my own choices, will there be a guarantee he will truly get the best out of them? Because ultimately, I hired him because I have faith in him. So it’s only fair that to show that faith, he gets to make those choices in order to lead the team as best as possible. I may disagree with some of the players he picked, but I have to show the same trust in those players as well like how I do with the head coach. Before we go further in the players we have, you can go to here for the list of players available for selection provided by Safirul.

And the list I was given by Nizam? Kylian Mbappe, Akram Mahinan, Kipre Tchetche, Irfan Zakaria, Paulo Josue and Kevin Ray Mendoza. Keep in mind that we have to pretend these players are not playing for anyone, so anyone can draft them in for their team.

The first three names were the ones I wasn’t surprised by. I knew at least KL City doesn’t have that much depth in the wings. And I know for a fact Akram is an important cog in the team’s machine at the heart of the midfield. KL City’s strike department is also severely lacking so I figured Nizam wanted a striker and while I had Bergson in mind, I don’t mind Kipre Tchetche at all.

I’ll admit I was skeptical with the other half given to me. The other three I was going to pick were Shahrul Saad, Matt Davies and Gonzalo Cabrera. But of course, Nizam decides to pick three other players he surely knows more than I do. I can understand Paulo Josue because of his immense creativity and lethal left foot.  But Irfan and Kevin Ray given there are other enticing options? Hmmm… Oh, well. If that is who Nizam wants, he will get them.

And so, the draft begins. Remember that the order of the draft depends on the positions of the teams, starting with the last-placed team. In this case, we use the current positions of this season’s Malaysia Super League. Therefore, UiTM FC gets the first pick, and then Melaka who is at 11th, then Perak who is at 10th and so forth.

Right off the bat though, my (And perhaps others) plans got derailed when Dito of UiTM FC picked Mbappe as hist 1st pick. Normally, one would curse at their first-choice picks getting taken. Thankfully, I consulted Nizam about his second choice picks. And because world-beaters will surely be taken first, I decided to go for this player despite him not playing in a position that the team urgently needs because world beaters are surely going to be picked first. So who was Nizam’s 2nd choice for world beater? Virgil Van Dijk.

So overall, I can’t complain about the pick. I was preparing to get Akram as my second pick. But Nizam messaged me and say priotize getting wingers, full-backs and strikers. So technically, it was a change of plans as the draft is underway. So I decided to put aside Akram and get a winger next for my 2nd pick. Safawi Rasid was among the second choices, but he got taken by Melaka United immediately after UiTM got Mbappe in the first round. So I went and got Arif Aiman, another player in Nizam’s second choice options, for the second round.

A full-back is next for the 3rd pick. I’ll admit I was thinking of going rogue and get Matt Davies instead of Nizam’s choice, Rizal Ghazali who was also among his second choices. But Davies was taken by Sabah just before my turn. Therefore, that made it easier for me. So Rizal Ghazali it is for my 3rd pick, a player I actually wouldn’t mind being in my team. However, Selangor got Akram immediately after that. Oh, well...

After three rounds, it’s break time as Safirul takes in questions by listeners on how draft day works. I’ll be honest with you, I forgot what was asked and said during the break as I was going through the list of players still available and the list Nizam gave me multiple times, hoping no one else would take them.

Thankfully, I did get the striker Nizam wants as my 4th pick, Kipre Tchetche. I can now prioritize getting the other first choice picks given to me. With Kevin Ray already taken by Sabah in the fourth round before I got Kipre, my focus turns to getting Irfan Zakaria and Paulo Josue as my two final picks.

I knew no one would get Irfan considering what went down a few days ago when Malaysia played against Bahrain in a friendly, so that’s why I waited until the 5th round to get him. I’ll admit I was worried someone else would get Paulo Josue given his ability. Thankfully, I got him as my 6th and final pick. If you want to know the results of the draft, you can click here.

To end the night, Safirul explains further and answers more questions about how draft day works in the USA. Turns out, it is way more complicated than the procedure we played out. Then all of a sudden, my phone suddenly logged out of Clubhouse. Oh, well. I decided to call it a night. You can read more about the draft day and how it works here and if you have more questions about it, you can tweet them to Safirul. Alternatively, you can watch the movie ‘Draft Day’ starring Kevin Costner to get a feel of how a Draft Day goes behind the scenes.

After recapping Nizam of the picks I got, we can both agree that we are happy about this and it was a satisfactory draft because we got the players Nizam wants as he gave me a seal of approval. Looking back, I’m also satisfied with the picks despite initially doubting some of them in the first place. Thank goodness I consulted with a KL City fan like Nizam.

Overall, it was a fun experience. But I’m definitely sure there is a lot more thinking over at the USA about not just getting the players they want, but also to maneuver around the draft order by making trades in order to skip the queue and get a player they want before other teams could get to them.

To end this article, I just want to say thank you to Safirul for inviting me and the rest for joining in an eventful and amazing session. Looking forward to do this or at least listen in on this more!