With all the new changed to MFL to get used to, and helping out with two extra teams this season, I didn’t find the time I’d usually dedicate to a review of the previous season. In that, I’d also include any transfer business I’d managed to get done ahead of the new season.

So, I’ll do what via a very quick recap before settling into Life in the Stone Age.

Players of the Season

Here’s my standout players from Madero Mayhem’s promotion winning Ice team.

Henrik Westman — The Quiet Enforcer

Westman finishing Season 16 with Mayhem’s highest average rating at 7.1 feels quite fitting, because very little about his season jumps off the stat sheet. He simply did the quiet things exceptionally well. Sitting at the base of midfield, his job was to shield the defence, break up play and then keep the ball moving without trying to be the hero.

Arnoud Hendriksen — The Golden Boot

The 6’5″ Dutchman finished Season 16 with 23 goals in just 2,040 minutes — an extraordinary 1.01 goals per 90. Seventeen of those came in the league, earning him the Ice 13 Golden Boot, with another three in the cup before he saved arguably his biggest contribution for last: a playoff hat-trick that fired Mayhem into Stone.

Ivo Dierckx — The Undervalued Creator

If ever there was a player who justified the Mayhem recruitment model, it was Ivo Dierckx. Identified by the model as the ideal deep creator, he spent Season 16 proving exactly why. In 1,680 minutes, Dierckx produced a team-high 7 assists — 0.38 per 90 — but the underlying numbers are arguably even more impressive. His 65 chances created equates to 3.48 per 90, while he attempted 42.5 passes per 90, showing just how heavily Mayhem relied on him to dictate possession and supply the attack.

Jakob Lindner — FC Mayhem Paris MVP

Turning attention briefly to our feeder club, who also played in Ice…

If anyone at Paris has earned the right to ask whether he belongs at Madero, it’s Jakob Lindner. The German RW was comfortably Paris’ standout performer, leading the squad for average rating (7.3), goals (9) and assists (8) across 1,980 minutes. His attributes might not immediately scream Stone, but his performances certainly deserve the opportunity to make his case.

Transfer Round-Up

When I saw the strength of teams in the Stone division I’m likely to go into, I did panic.

Whilst I was happy with the front 6 – but not the depth – the backline worried me. Whilst good players on paper/laptop screen, we shipped too many goals and kept only 2 clean sheets in our last 13 competitive games.

Our ‘keeper Gaspar Takacs (74 OVR) only managed a 6.8 average rating across the season, despite being behind the second best defence in the division and I wouldn’t have been at all confident with him as our starting ‘keeper in Stone.

Setting a Higher Standard (Literally!)

And what did a newly promoted Nottingham Forest team doing when struggling defensively? They bought in one of the best Goalkeepers in the world, Kaylor Navas.

So, following in their footsteps I bought in the best goalie I could pick up for the cheapest price… 6’7″ Spaniard, Eneko Sainz. Costing $15, with two seasons left, he should give us security in goal, whilst Takacs can hopefully develop a little behind him.

Next up, I wanted to protect Sainz as well as possible, That meant a new partner for Ramon van der Meer (77 OVR) as a much needed upgrade for Albrecth Janssen (73 OVR). Having played the last five seasons in Stone, in comes Mathias Werner. Having played most of his career in Stone, he joins for $20 and will give us the quality and pace needed in our backline.

My next two additions not only gave me an improvement over the previous fullbacks, but also bought versatility, allowing me to use them as wingbacks in a back five.

Matias Aznar is a playmaking fullback, who’s played in all levels from Spark to Iron. He’ll hopefully link up with right winger Castillo and could end up as our top playmaker at the end of the season. On the other flank is Ismael Das Gracas. Quick and a strong defender he’ll bring balance which allows Aznar more license to create. They join for a combined $57.

The final defensive addition is 32-year-old Englishman, Anthony Nicholls. Equally adept at playing central defender and left fullback and wingback, he’s got electric pace to add to his defensive ability and 6’4″ frame.

Big, quick, experienced. Anthony joins for $28.

Strengthing the Midfield

Despite Westman (DM) and Dierckx (CM) being in my stars of the season, it doesn’t make them safe for Season 17.

Our final three permanent signings will help provide strength and depth.

The first of the trio to join was defensive midfielder Ignacio Centurion. He offers a totally different profile to Westman. Centurion is a proper deep lying playmaker and should help when we need to control games. He joins for $29 from the Iron division.

Next up is 30-year-old American, Raul Waters. Joining for $13, he brings some much needed pace to our midfield. He’s a strong passer and a talented finisher when he gets into the right areas.

Finally, comes Florian Krebs ($21). Naturally a left midfielder, our scouting department think he’s much stronger as a right winger., where he can use his pace, dribbling and passing abilities terrorise tired defenders late in games.

With those 9 new additions, costing $183, and the return of star striker Elias Artistizabal, we had the 5th strongest starting 11 and top 16 in the division.

Pre-season testing was complete, with the squad now able to play both a back 4 and a back 5 at equal standards… it was time to live in the Stone Age.

The League & Cup

We got off to a poor start, with a 0-1 defeat (Real Brasilia) on the opening day, followed by a 2-2 draw with Geneva Town. Both despite dominating the games, and to make thing more annoying, we conceded the 3 goals from 3 shots on target!

A 4-1 win over The Warehouse, who we’d previously battled with in Ice, gave us our first win before we bored everyone to tears, with three 0-0 draws followed by a 1-1.

At least we weren’t losing!

In this frustrating run, we accumulated 7.07xG versus just 1.85xGA, but has scored just once.

We went back to the lab and tweaks were made to make our central midfielders take a few more risks, and to get the striker into better positions (with a little help from Rootcoors!).

The changes worked.

Over the next three games we scored 10 goals, conceding 0.

Next followed a 15-0 demolition of the divisions whipping boys, Odesa Waves.

Our final 4 games of the first half of the season saw us win 3 and lose 2, our first defeats in 11 games since the opening day.

The defeats came against 9th placed Spartan Dragons and runaway leaders L33T MFC, ran by my boss in Diamond, Bruce L33t.

Heading into the mid-season break, after a brief stint in 2nd, we find ourselves in a very promising 3rd place – exceeding expectations. (Note: I forgot to take a screenshot, but luckily we have the position tracker!)

We’ve scored the 2nd most goals (27) and have the second best defence, conceding just 7 goals (the defensive upgrades looking well worth it!).

We also finished top of our cup group and progress through to the knock out stages.

Player Review

Star-stiker Elias Aristizabal was the main beneficiary of the tweaks made after the run of draws and now leads the team with 17 goals, and is tied for 3rd top scorer in the division with 11.

Our right fullback/wingback Matias Anzar is living up to expectations and has 8 assists in the season, with 6 coming in the league.

We’re also seeing much better production from the wingers in this new engine. A relentless source of struggle last two seasons. Elver Castillo already has 4 goals and 5 assists, whilst on the opposite flank, Aydin Tatli has 4 goals and 1 assist.

At the current rate, both will far surpass their totals from last season, and in a tougher league.

A Quick Trip to Paris

Despite being 7th in the team rankings, FC Mayhem Paris are having an excellent season and lead their Ice division.

Using the same tactics as Madero Mayhem, they’re massively exceeding expectations and it’s been a fun ride.

The cup group was a little tougher and we scraped through, claiming 2nd place on goal difference.

The main catalysts of these very strong performances were mainly down to two players: central midfielder Anthony Maillot, with 3 goals and 8 assists, and – once again – winger Jakob Lindner with 5 goals a 6 assists.

Maillot was a player I signed a few seasons ago but he never really managed to hold down a place in the Madero Mayhem side. However, he had youth on his side so I sent him on loan for 1.5 seasons to a manager I trust, where he managed 7 goals and 8 assists and progressed from a 71 overall to 73 – (thanks Keep_Walking_13!)

Another player who found himself out of my immediate plans, but is also on a redemption arc is striker Nestor Zamorano.

After struggling in Spark in season 14, he’s been out on loan since then, but has progressed nicely and is now the main striker on FC Mayhem Paris and is second top scorer in the division, with 14 league goals.

Promotion…. from within!

I had a decision to make.
The entire reason for having two teams is to give players in the feeder club (Paris) a route through to the main team (Madero Mayhem) if they progressed and performed well.

So, it would be hypocritical of me not to promote both Maillot and Lindner.

However, moving them up would deny Paris of their best two players, when they’re in the middle of a promotion push.

Decision, decision.

Luckily though, I can move a couple of players around and actually strengthen Paris and leave Madero in a similar level as before.

And so, the first two players in the Mayhem System graduate from the “academy” to the first team squad.

They’ll both be backups, but the higher level, better standards in training and being part of a stronger squad should give them a better opportunity to develop, despite fewer minutes.

Moving the other way are, strangely, two of last season’s MVPs:

Due to splitting time between a back 4 and back 5, I no longer need two defensive midfielders. This gives Henrik Westman, as the younger of the two, the opportunity to strengthen the Paris midfield trio.

Also moving to Paris as a direct swap with Anthony Maillot is deep creator Ivo Dierckx, he found the step up to Stone a tough one, so hopefully he can dominate in Ice once again.

The final move to Paris is fellow German winger Florian Krebs. He was doing well in Stone, with 5 goals and 3 assists, as backup to Castillo, but Lindner deserves a chance to step up. Krebs will also benefit being a starter and can hopefully take Paris to the next level and help secure our first league title in MFL.

Looking ahead

Both teams are over-achieving and are in strong positions.

They are also both in the cup competitions so it’s going to take some careful juggling to keep both competitive in both.

I’m desperate for FC Mayhem Paris to win their Ice division as we have no silverware yet, and I’d love Madero Mayhem to make it through to the playoffs.

Both of those would be a huge achievements and make season 17 a massive success.

No other transfers were made to either teams so I’m keeping faith in the current batch of players.

Can we achieve both goals?

RELEASE THE MAYHEM!!