Metaverse Football League: Top Flight Preview
The Diamond Dogs gear up to chase MFL's ultimate prize
The top tier of Metaverse Football League is the Diamond division, populated by 12 teams with relegation to the Platinum division on the line and untold riches awaiting the winner. Atop the six Division MFL pyramid, there is only one way from here - but we are an optimistic bunch by nature and it’s always fun to dream on the unlimited upside of the best players in the game. So for today’s post?
There are currently 10 Diamond licenses in the wild, with a further two Diamond licenses still held by the game for future promotion/give-a-ways. Of those 10 teams, four directly contributed to this post; one of the licenses is on the market. Today we’re covering rosters as built, understanding that there are still plenty of weeks, drops and transactions to happen. Clubs are listed in alphabetical order.
Barcelona - BSellers15
Better run than that other Barcelona club, Barça Diamantea has a solid ownership group, a deep roster and haven’t sold off their media rights to avoid the implications of Financial Fair Play (yet 😏). They have also reportedly secured the services of Tim Kirkpatrick - and may have a deal for Lorenzo Velasco waiting in the wings - as São Paulo faces significant organizational restructuring. That gives these Catalonian giants a certain Galactico vibe that feels slightly out of place for the region, but right at home in the division.
Not every club’s preferred formation is currently available, and an attacking five with two strikers, a CAM and two wing forwards boasts near unlimited attacking upside while placing a significant burden on the double pivot of Cristinel Maris and Kuzma Kovaleva. IF this is the final XI on opening day, Lothar Ehrhardt will have plenty of competition for Man of the Match, but all eyes will be on the 22 year old whose experience, skill and overall rating make him the focus.
Only four players (Arlindo Terto, Viggo Hansson, Lothar Ehrhardt, and Waseem Ahmed) have 94 overall ratings. It should not be a surprise that Barcelona boasts this much talent because it also boasts the largest confirmed ownership group in MFL.
The gauntlet has been thrown and the Agent system will be burning up the virtual transom as soon as it opens. Grab your fax machines, ready your sexual aide and get ready to harass dedicated reporters just trying to do their job - transfer deadline day is going to be a madness as the Diamond clubs rush to keep up with the 9 different Joneses funding Barça Diamantea’s first team.
Berlin - Unity
The old saying goes “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.” That might have to be revised to read “at the end the Germans draw 0-0”, because Berlin’s current roster boasts eleven Legendary players and five of them are center backs. A further three are CDM/CM and only one, Brazil’s Arlindo Terto, is an out and out attacker.
For this team to score, all they need to do is put the ball at the feet of their 94-rated striker who’s 94 shooting is the second-best in the game. It’s an open question who exactly will be able to get him the ball. The best RM on the roster is Tommy Ölund (57), a 19 year old Swedish second division player who was signed as depth for an Iron Division squad. The good and bad news is he’s also the highest rated LM on the roster; the next best is maybe Jefferson Das Neves who is rated 50 overall and is a LB/LWB so, yikes.
If, and it’s a pretty big if at this point, Berlin can retain their place in MFL’s top flight, they will be well positioned to hold that spot moving forward. This is one of the youngest collections of elite talent in the game.
Of the 234 Legendary players currently in MFL, there are only five 16 year olds - ons of them is signed to Berlin: Seong-Bin Ru (Korean | LB CB). Ru is joined by 17 year old Miquel Peral (Spain | CB), two 18 year olds and five 19 year olds, making the bulk of the eleven Legendary players here under the age of 20. It may be that Berlin is simply the world’s greatest source of elite young center backs, a skill which will undoubtedly net the club sizeable transfer fees but man cannot survive on clean sheets alone so they had better find someone, literally anyone, capable of hoofing a pig’s bladder 40 yards up the field and generally in the direction of Tertito.
Buenos Aires - bigwilbert
Welcome to the biggest league in the imaginary world, where an 82 overall rated right midfielder nearly feels out of place, but at least this is a well-constructed roster which has quality across the pitch.
Buenos Aires is one of only two teams (Paris) which doesn’t have a 90-rated player on the current roster. Staying up shouldn’t ever be an issue - I mean, sure they could be be one of those historic anomalies but there are 23 players rated 80+ on the roster which is quite impressive. It’s even more impressive when you consider that this is Buenos Aires and there are - wait for it - EIGHT actual Argentines on the books. Four of the local lads looking to make good could be part of a Diamond matchday squad: Francisco Montoya (CAM), Dionicio Gentile (CM/CDM), Guillermo Ocampo (RW/LW) and Enzo Parodi (CB/LB). 17 year old Guillermo Ocampo is the pick of the litter, not only because of his sublime tactical ability to switch wings during a match, but because his 83 pace, 92 dribbling and 85 passing make him one of the truly elite U18 attacking threats in MFL.
That’s a thing I can write because I’ve looked at basically every top U18 player’s full profile.
Sure it might seem crazy to spend all this time evaluating all the players in a Division where I’m never going to play, but its a hobby. I don’t have a problem. I can stop any time I want.
Liverpool - BasilP
100 players. That’s the full talent pool that Liverpool can call upon currently and it’s unfortunately headlined by a 93-rated English defender named Neville.
This squad looks like it will be exceptionally tight defensively, with three of their best players an elite CB pairing and 20 year old Ecuador No. 1 Wilmer Serano between the sticks. An English core including Ray (CB), Max Brown (CM), Nicholas Deakin (CM) and lightening quick right fullback Liam Barker headlines most evaluations, but the youth in this squad should not be overlooked.
Des Sharp, the 17 year old Australian striker, is an absurd combination of speed (91) and finishing (94), but the kid has skills across the board an could quickly climb into the conversation for best player in the game - given his age it’s reasonable to think he could stay in that conversation for the next decade. We’ve already mentioned Neville Ray, but neglected to note the elite CB is only 19 years old and multi-talented Morocco youth international Said Yacoubi (RM, CAM, LM) will undoubtedly be making his full international debut just as soon as the 18 year old cracks the starting XI for his club side.
A trio of 18 year old, left-sided players are all rated 86 overall and boast a variety of complementary skills. Magne Rustad (Norway), Sounkarou Bathe (Senegal), Severino Nolasco (Brazil) have quickly settled on Merseyside and made the club, the city and the left side of the pitch their own. It will be interesting to see how the gaffer gets them all into the starting XI, but with that much talent it’s a question of when, not if, they’re all making regular first-team appearances.
Marseille - Joe B
The Marseille may be heard playing over many a trophy lift in the coming years, with parades planned through Vieux-Port celebrating the triumphs of club’s expected new captain: Eladio Pilarte (CB, 89, Ecuador), the 22 year old who boasts the fifth highest overall rating and longest tenure of this young squad.
A lethal, efficient club on the pitch and in the board room, Marseille have only 26 players under contract, and do not have a feed team to mention. Most scouts agree that the weakest link in the 26 is 21 year old Brazilian midfielder Bruno Figueira (66 overall), but O Lutador is better known for his combative spirit than his joga bonita bona fides. 18 of the 26 are legendary; there’s no fat on this squad with truly elite skills on display at every position highlighted by 95 shooting from Bruno Aguilera, 95 dribbling by Emmerich Müller and not one, not two, not th- but SIX players with 90+ passing. They may call Marseille home, but this squad looks like an elite Spanish side with their combination of possession, quickness and finishing and they’ll be short odds to claim the title this season.
The only thing missing from the current iteration of Les Sidérurgistes is a local son, and not only is there not a Marseillais on the roster, there’s not a single Frenchman. Swiss international Alexandre Weiss has been adopted as a local favorite, but adding Jean-Pierre Breton, Victor Louis, or Tony Guillon would be well received by the whole city.
Milan - Dionysos
The only Italian club in the top flight, the Porta Nuova based club feels right at home in the Diamond division. While the locals would love to see a native son signed to be the club’s talisman, for now they’ll make due with a collection of elite talent as unique and disparate in origin as the city’s famous architecture.
The best XI that’s been viewed in media accessible training sessions includes an attacking front four that maximizes CAM Ariel Ordoñez
The club’s ownership have 295 players currently under contract including 12 Legendary names and a further 54 Rare but the jewel of the Diamond roster is Krzysztof McGill, the Republic of Ireland No. 1 who looks destined to surpass Peter Shilton’s record for most appearances having made his senior club debut at age 17 and claiming his first national team cap a year later. If not for the ever-present steady hand of and head of Vincent Dobbs, McGill would be tipped as Milan’s captain for the next decade.
A quick glance at the team sheet might make you believe wingbacks Gerry Fowler and Ezequiel Marcial are the weak point but the duo each has a 92 DEF score making them among the top 75 defensive players in MFL. Given their respective passing (78+), physical (76+) and dribbling (74+) ratings, they should be able to secure the flanks against even the top attacking sides in the division.
Munich - Ronin
36 players rated Rare or better, including 19 Legendary players, give Munich’s owner one of the deepest rosters in MFL but which of the best of the best will make it into the opening day XI?
There may be questions at some positions but there is no doubt that 18 year old scoring phenom Rory Gaughan will be in the starting XI for years to come. Comparisons to Wayne Rooney were common before he made it to the first team last season, but his combination of shooting (94), dribbling (87), and passing (87) in a 6’3” frame that’s capable of running at opponents and standing them up have many touting him as the next coming of another Everton legend: Romelu Lukaku. It’s not just that Gaughan stands the same height as the Belgian forward, but his exceptional knowledge of the game have him in the right place at the right time, making the most of his exceptional array of skills - suggesting he could rival Rom’s early career scoring record.
The depth in the squad isn’t just in Overall scores, but this collection has seven different players with 91+ shooting (including Björn Engels 95 and three (3!!!) players with 94. Munich could also field a full outfield 10 with a minimum speed of 80, or a full squad where the lowest passing score belongs to Legendary CB Hans-Jürgen Böhm (72 passing, 87 overall). This is a team to be reckoned with and it’s set up take on all comers now and into the future.
Not pictured above is a pair of 19 year old goalkeepers: Saudia Arabia’s Asad Qureshi (90) and Sait Cömert (89) from Turkey. Only the Chicago Fire can boast this much top-end, U20 goalkeeping talent.
The ownership also fields teams in the Iron Division in Aalborg, Bonn, Jeonju, Kraków, Perugia, and Toulon which should keep plenty of talent following up for years to come.
Paris - Ortier
Paris may be looking to strengthen their starting XI, but the club has plenty of depth - particularly in the forward line with Gunther Hirsch (83) and Claudio Matias (82) pacing a collection of eligible strikers which also include Peader Lavery (72). The Republic of Ireland U20 may not have the strongest overall score, but his 80 finishing young age suggest he’s at least a bench option and a likely Silver starter if he’s sent on loan for experience.
Lavery is still well behind the presumptive starters with Hirsh (89 shooting; 84 dribbling) and Matias (90 shooting) the clubs preferred options to record the bulk of the shots.
The depth is there, but the elite talent runs dry quickly. Pundits expect to see Paris in the market for a elite CB pairing, and the club will need to make some tough decisions about their fullbacks as well. Moving to a 3-5-2 should maximize the opportunity for Keith Beech to earn the minutes he needs to maximize his potential but would place an exception burden on Washington Caravajal to carry the midfield, a role he doesn’t even have for his home nation of Ecuador.
The club is likely to have a hard decision this summer, with financial realities meaning one of Keith Beech (76, age 19) or Erik Zuniga (80, age 22) will be deemed surplus to requirements. Those funds should immediately be reinvested elsewhere in the squad.
Rio De Janeiro - FlyingFin82
An unexpected promotion to Diamond last season has left Rio De Janeiro with a roster which was wildly touted to be a mid-table Platinum side. Riding exceptional form from Ubaldo Osorio (0.86 goals allowed / 90’) who was pushed for the starting job by Domingo Arredondo all season long, at one time sitting for four straight matches as the younger Argentine shot-stopper pulled off three clean sheets. It’s a rivalry which also played out in Argentina’s U20 squad after Arredondo jumped from the U16s straight to the U20s.
The club has only two players with overall scores of 80+ which would make them heavy underdogs most weeks against Diamond’s elite side. But clubs have survived with similar rosters before; in this instance there are already a number of rumors floating that a glut of Third-Party Ownership groups are lining up deals to keep Rio in the top flight and claim a piece of the lucrative television deals and prize pools.
São Paulo - ZackB05
São Paulo, Brazil’s vibrant financial center, is among the world's most populous cities, with numerous cultural institutions and a rich architectural tradition.
The new owners of one of Brazil’s oldest and most venerated clubs may have rescued them from receivership, an Association enforced double-relegation, and all but certain dissolution, but once all the financial shoes fell it turned out the club only held the rights to three players in the squad. Without a youth set-up (sold by the prior owners to finance a faltering vineyard empire undone by supply chain issues, climate change and an ill-fated investment in non-alcoholic wine), the club was thought to be building around long-term deals tying 19 year old Scottish wunderkind Tim Kirkpatrick, Peruvian international Lorenzo Velasco and Jerko Katušić who was born in Croatia, but returned to his parents native São Paulo.
The 18 year old Katušić never progressed past the youth ranks for Slaven Belupo, where his father was the strength trainer but he’s currently in line for significant minutes with the senior side…yikes! But in a matter of months he might be the only remaining São Paulo player with Kirkpatrick and Velasco reportedly loaned to Barcelona Diamantea.
It’s been reported that the club, having been temporarily saved, is already back on the market with the new owners slapping on a fresh coat of paint, upgrading the bathroom fixtures and looking to lock in a quick flip profit. Buyer beware.
If you’re wondering which other Diamond clubs are still to be built in the future: MFL still holds London and Madrid licenses. Good luck!